C250TD - Still crap MPG. Problem?

[paulfoel]

OK. Still getting only 30/31 mpg.

Trying to drive pretty carefully and although I have'nt done any long motorway journeys, my driving has been a mix of short motroway trips and local trips.

I know the official figures state around 25mpg for urban, with 38mpg for combined but I was hoping to get closer to the 38mpg...

I'm beginning to wonder if theres a problem somewhere. I've chcked the tyre pressures etc...

anybody got any idea what could be wrong ?

Its only been a month since I bought it from MB dealer so I might take it back to them. Hopefully, I won't get charged for this...

 

[jimmy]

No problem it's normal I'm afraid.

Town and local driving only gets me 28ish mpg. On a longer trip I have got 43mpg but that was sticking to below 80mph.

How many miles has it done? Might be worth trying a diesel injector cleaner. Incidentally my MPG has improved alot since fitting the TD tuning box.

 

[RichardM]

Have you tried taking it on a run on a motorway, for about 30 miles at 70mph to see what you get? I guess thats only easy if you have the trip computer. Driving round town and short trips really will kill the mpg. My average is only higher, nearer 40mpg as I drive 30 miles to work on the motorway.

 

[paulfoel]

Originally posted by jimmy
No problem it's normal I'm afraid.

Town and local driving only gets me 28ish mpg. On a longer trip I have got 43mpg but that was sticking to below 80mph.

How many miles has it done? Might be worth trying a diesel injector cleaner. Incidentally my MPG has improved alot since fitting the TD tuning box.

I'm amazed that theres such a difference between mpg. Never had a car that made that much difference on long trips.

I've had an Audi A4 Tdi that would do around 50mpg regrdless of where you went and how you drove it.

My last car - a Hyundai Coupe - did about 30mpg around town and about 32mpg on the motorway.

Cars done 47K now. Did try a diesel cleaner last week.

 

[jaymanek]

yes does make a big difference im afraid with most mercs, always has. My E220 also gives me significantly less in town, even with gentle driving, same with my 123 and most mercs ive owned.

The CDI engines are much more balanced...the C220 i had, was great in all sorts of driving..

 

[paulfoel]

Hmmm. I know you're average merc is not really a 'runaround' car but bloody hell 25mpg out of a diesel !!!!!

 

[rirhill]

I am quite surprised as I drive A2 to Blackwall tunnel Mon-Fri so its traffic and a short run and I get from 27 at the worst to 30mpg.
On a run doing around 80-90 motorway I get 32. Not bad for an E320 but its petrol. I would expect more from a diesel even with the turbo.

Cheers
Ian

 

[GregE240]

Ditto Ian.

Still mildly surprised at my fuel figures....I was expecting around 25 average, still not got it below about 28. Best I've had was 34mpg.

Good figures for a 320...wish I'd gone for one now.

 

[fuzzer]

I used to average about 17-18 with my C240.

 

[Robbo]

the 320 engine gives pretty much the same economy as the 240. indeed, if you look at the MB specs, the 320 is actually slightly better than the 240. Lots of gain with no pain:bannana:

 

[Big Ed]

Makes me happy hearing this - my M3 is getting around 28mpg and nearly matching a diesel!!! Admittedly, that's on a run - the 17mpg round town isn't quite as good

Test drove a VW Touareg the other week - had the instant MPG figure down to 4.2 MPG at one point:bannana: :bannana: :bannana:

 

[fuzzer]

Can we get a picture of your Rear GSM/GPS fin Big ed ?

 

[jimmy]

Originally posted by paulfoel
Hmmm. I know you're average merc is not really a 'runaround' car but bloody hell 25mpg out of a diesel !!!!!

The worst you will get is 25mpg you should average in the mid 30's, I do overall. But that is still better than an petrol engined Mercedes with equivalent performance. Don't forget the C250TD was the smoothest, quickest diesel car in its time and everybody raved about it and still do.

Admittedly the newer CDi technology is more efficient but I have driven C220CDi's and they dont compare to do 250 for sheer grunt and performance. I guess the 270CDi is the equivalent and the 320CDi has to be the best diesel engine around.

I have a friend who has a Peugeot 406 2.1TD and his is the same, terrible for local driving but much better on long runs. If I wanted the ultimate economy around town, I would drive the Smart everywhere.

 

[PJH]

A friend of mine had poor MPG from his Mazda pic-up.
1. Is the turbo working correctly ?
2. Is there some wear in the accelerator linkage ?

 

[se97mlm]

Not all Diesel engines are super economical sadly.

The 250 TD is firstly and indirect injection engine, which will lose out 15-25% in economy terms to a similar sized direct injection engine, however it will be quieter.

Being a distributor pump fuelled engine, and not a common rail one will also lose you about 10-15% economy for the same power output and size

Compare the 25/38 mpg to a similar sized petrol engine and it looks good, but it is not a fair comparison against the newer CDi common rail DI motors.

 

[paulfoel]

Originally posted by jimmy
The worst you will get is 25mpg you should average in the mid 30's, I do overall. But that is still better than an petrol engined Mercedes with equivalent performance. Don't forget the C250TD was the smoothest, quickest diesel car in its time and everybody raved about it and still do.

Admittedly the newer CDi technology is more efficient but I have driven C220CDi's and they dont compare to do 250 for sheer grunt and performance. I guess the 270CDi is the equivalent and the 320CDi has to be the best diesel engine around.

I have a friend who has a Peugeot 406 2.1TD and his is the same, terrible for local driving but much better on long runs. If I wanted the ultimate economy around town, I would drive the Smart everywhere.

Oh yeh. Agreed. In terms of power its great for a diesel. Like you said, I'm assuming petrol would be much worse.

Out of interest, what sort of driving do you do to get mid-30s?

Maybe its because I've not done any long runs just local with 'some' motroway that I have'nt noticed the difference.

 

[Steve_Perry]

Originally posted by paulfoel
... Like you said, I'm assuming petrol would be much worse...

Paul,
By way of comparison, I get low 20's mpg driving around town, sometimes worse if I'm really being a hooligan and the very best I can achieve on long distance motorway cruising is approx mid 30's mpg.

S.

 

[jimmy]

Originally posted by paulfoel
Oh yeh. Agreed. In terms of power its great for a diesel. Like you said, I'm assuming petrol would be much worse.

Out of interest, what sort of driving do you do to get mid-30s?

Maybe its because I've not done any long runs just local with 'some' motroway that I have'nt noticed the difference.

My usual daily driving consists of driving to work and back along country roads, a bit of dual carriageway and stop-start through town for 5 miles. I then do about 30 miles a day local through town stopping at customers. This is when I get 28mpg.

If I do any longer trips then my average will go upto the mid thirties. It is only on long motorway trips that I have managed over 40mpg. My last car, a C180 only used to average 22-25mpg day to day and the best I ever got was about 33mpg on long trips.

I too was a bit dissapointed as I have had diesels in the past that have done well over 40 all the time. I accept it because it is a brilliant car and I would not change it for a Passat, A4 or the likes no matter what the economy was.

 

[Dieselman]

Paul

Although your diesel lump is not as efficient as a direct injection engine it shouldn't be too bad. Try to drive in the torque band for the engine and don't be too gentle on the loud pedal as this will keep the car in low gear for a longer duration. Drive at 2,000-2500 revs.

It's not really the engine at fault here it's the autobox. You will lose about 5mpg in general driving and more around town due to the losses of the box.

I guarentee you havn't achieved low average fuel consumptions in any car fitted with a hydraulic auto gearbox, either petrol or diesel.

You pays your money....

 

[Big Ed]

Originally posted by fuzzer
Can we get a picture of your Rear GSM/GPS fin Big ed ?

Jason,

your wish is my command......

I've put a couple more pics of the shark fin thingy on my web page (links in my signature)

Sad, I know..........