E230 fuel economy

[DITTRICH]

I had a look on that site,appears to be American so mpg figures would be different.They have one 230 listed which appears to be around the same figure though.

I dropped the car into the bodyshop earlier for a couple of bits to be done.When I get it back in a few days I'll take it for a long run and see how it fares.

The american gallon is 1.20 united kingdom gallons

 

[Frankie]

I understand what you mean.I think just filling up the pipe to the brim is probably ok if you're not silly.As you get nearer the top the clicks get more frequent anyway so you know it is time to stop.

 

[jefrs]

regarding american mpg
The US pint is 16-fl.oz whereas the Imperial pint is 20-fl.oz
That means that the US gallon is 20% smaller than the Imperial gallon (16/20 = 80%)
and that the Imperial gallon is 25% bigger than the US gallon (20/16 = 125%).
That means that our fuel consumption should be 25% better than american mpg
An american mpg should be 20% worse than ours.
I.E. if american mpg is quoted as 24mpg then we should get 30mpg (and vice versa).

 

[jefrs]

And today as I fill up with 75 litres, just to prove me wrong, it returns 23mpg (E320 petrol).

 

[Frankie]

That's still better than mine,you should be pleased

 

[jefrs]

To give an idea,I drive only a few miles to work at 30 ish.In the Mondeo I had I would average 26mpg at worst to 29mpg at best on this trip.
On the rare occasion I went on a trip on the motorway I could get 44mpg.

Now I'm driving the E230 like a saint and getting terrible economy.I'm about to pop out in a bit to run the remaining tank to halfway and fill up.I'm assuming I have a 70 litre tank, soo it should take about 35 litres from halfway?

The E is a much bigger car than a Mondeo. So it takes more force to shift it. Sometimes a big car with a small engine will return less mpg than a big engine because the little engine has to work so much harder.

The consumption rate is determined by swept capacity per mile.
Let's see if I can get me sums right when I'm tired ;-)
If a V6 3.2 is doing 2000rpm at 70mph then we get: 3 firings per revolution (half the engine capacity) therefore 1.6x2000 litres/minute = 192000 litres/hour (that's litres of fuel/air mix)
If a 4-cly 2.3 is doing 3200rpm at 70mph then we get: 2 firings per rev (half the engine capacity) therefore 1.15x3200 litres/minute = 220800 litres/hour.
And 220800/192000 = 1.15
So the 3.2 is 1.15 times more efficient than the 2.3


Most of the time the E320 bumbles along at 1500-2000rpm
Last fill-up was bizarre 43.56 litres for 432 miles = 45mpg. I don't think I forgot to reset the trip. I been using W mode and gentle on the ice.

 

[Cabe]

That's the best reasoning for a big lazy V8 I have ever seen.

Also 50+ mpg FTW.

 

[jefrs]

The E is a much bigger car than a Mondeo. So it takes more force to shift it. Sometimes a big car with a small engine will return less mpg than a big engine because the little engine has to work so much harder.

The consumption rate is determined by swept capacity per mile.
Let's see if I can get me sums right when I'm tired ;-)
If a V6 3.2 is doing 2000rpm at 70mph then we get: 3 firings per revolution (half the engine capacity) therefore 1.6x2000 litres/minute = 192000 litres/hour (that's litres of fuel/air mix)
If a 4-cly 2.3 is doing 3200rpm at 70mph then we get: 2 firings per rev (half the engine capacity) therefore 1.15x3200 litres/minute = 220800 litres/hour.
And 220800/192000 = 1.15
So the 3.2 is 1.15 times more efficient than the 2.3


Most of the time the E320 bumbles along at 1500-2000rpm
Last fill-up was bizarre 43.56 litres for 432 miles = 45mpg. I don't think I forgot to reset the trip. I been using W mode and gentle on the ice.

No! That 43mpg can't have been right!

I must have missed resetting the odo. I seem to remember topping up the tank from about half full around then, but that is still about 27mpg.

 

[Frankie]

Well I've improved about 1mpg. Last was 24.22mpg,same journeys. The car is only just warm by the time I get to work,not ideal. I won't get a proper sense of my mpg until next summer driving to Portugal.

 

[Frankie]

I know this is an old thread,seemed the best place to put this though. I've just achieved 34mpg on a run, 70ish with the odd heavy foot moment.

 

[newt888]

You mentioned a smell of petrol , this shouldn't happen maybe you have a slightly swept pipe or a fault ie sensor or something
Even my c 32 doesn't smell of petrol

 

[Frankie]

If you read it again you'll see I said "It doesn't have a strong smell of fuel from outside.Faulty gauge perhaps?"

I think all is as it should be. I just thought it might be useful to someone at some point if there is a record of mpg for this car. When it drops,then the cause and solution etc.

 

[Value Motering]

Tyre pressures are checked cold, that's fine, so people who do short trips will not tend to get tyre pressures warm like people who do longer trips, this could tend to be worse in winter.

Tracking.

Servicing/air fuel filters ???

Poss binding/draging brake/brakes ??? after a gentle drive from cold, stop at a safe place, maybe touch all wheels and tyres and see if you find any hot or much hotter than others.

Take any anvils out of the boot.

Accel and d-cell gentle, read the road ahead well.

Idle running of engine when cold uses lots of fuel compared to hot engine.

I wonder if using those super fuels could improve MPG to cover the cost of the extra charge for the super fuel ??? I would guess not, but poss worth a try.

Poss try using one of those fuel additives in the fuel/fuel line cleaner or whatever they are called, maybe try it once, you never know.

I also don't like getting low MPG, have been getting the mid 50s for years in my taxi type diesel cars I have been using, looking to buy a Merc 3.0 Diesel at the moment, so I will be saying good by to those mid 50s.

Good luck in your search for better MPG....

 

[newt888]

If you read it again you'll see I said "It doesn't have a strong smell of fuel from outside.Faulty gauge perhaps?"

I think all is as it should be. I just thought it might be useful to someone at some point if there is a record of mpg for this car. When it drops,then the cause and solution etc.

Silly me lol