22 mpg? Why?

[Alpine003]

Under 3k rpm for acceleration...

I must drive like a granny... I almost always shift under 2.5k (usually under 2.3k) and I get about 29MPG with about 50/50 highway/urban CHICAGO driving. Not to say I spend half my time on the highway either, it's just that when I do hit the highway I go fast... LOTS of urban driving though.

For the guys getting 28+ mpg, do you have stock wheels/tires? and how many miles do you have on your car?

[Deutschbag]

Good info, pretty much what I expected. I'm gonna go ahead and do the plugs + wires and O2 sensor when I get some cash. I just did the rear diff oil and it was a breeze, quieted down that LSD quite a bit.

[individualist]

I have stock wheels, well stock everything with 196,000+ on the odometer. I run 87 octane, 75% highway driving and I consistantly get 29 to 30 mpg. I don't tax this car at all on takeoff or any other time, just normal driving 70 to 80 mph. I bought this car 4 months ago for $350 just for economy as my other vehicle is a 04 Lariet with a 5.4L, supercrew 4X4 that gets 16mpg if I baby it. I wasn't looking for a 318is it just kind of fell in my lap and now it's really grown on me. My family thinks I'm nuts for parking my truck and at first wouldn't ride in it. Now that I've put a beefed up sound system in it they seemed to have lowered their standards a bit.

[twinpop171]

I usually pull 22ish around town driving somewhat fast, 27ish when behavnig.  Highway...30ish if I am going 85-100, 36ish if I stay under 80.

This is about the same for me.  Stock weaves and tires, 134k, I run 93 octane.  I beleive that I've got a 3:73 open diff. in mine though BTW.

I'd do the tune up you are planning and also clean the air intake system, idle control valve and check/replace the notoriously bad vacuum lines.  Do a search here for that.

Good luck and keep us posted, Dan.

[automatic]

I have stock wheels, well stock everything with 196,000+ on the odometer. I run 87 octane, 75% highway driving and I consistantly get 29 to 30 mpg. I don't tax this car at all on takeoff or any other time, just normal driving 70 to 80 mph. I bought this car 4 months ago for $350 just for economy as my other vehicle is a 04 Lariet with a 5.4L, supercrew 4X4 that gets 16mpg if I baby it. I wasn't looking for a 318is it just kind of fell in my lap and now it's really grown on me. My family thinks I'm nuts for parking my truck and at first wouldn't ride in it. Now that I've put a beefed up sound system in it they seemed to have lowered their standards a bit.

Car runs ok on 87 octane?

This is about the same for me.  Stock weaves and tires, 134k, I run 93 octane.  I beleive that I've got a 3:73 open diff. in mine though BTW.

I'd do the tune up you are planning and also clean the air intake system, idle control valve and check/replace the notoriously bad vacuum lines.  Do a search here for that.

Good luck and keep us posted, Dan.

I am on my second tank of gas and I got 28.8 mpg. I also checked the accuracy of my odometer and it appears to be right on.

My suspicion is that those with odometers that are reading 10% off is that they have wheels/tires in a different size then stock.

[Alpine003]

Now that I've put a beefed up sound system in it they seemed to have lowered their standards a bit.

You mean raised their standards? :p

[dbgrubbs]

Car runs ok on 87 octane?



I am on my second tank of gas and I got 28.8 mpg. I also checked the accuracy of my odometer and it appears to be right on.

My suspicion is that those with odometers that are reading 10% off is that they have wheels/tires in a different size then stock.

This is true in my case but then why would the odometer be reading less than the actual mileage and the speedometer be reading high? Seems as though if the odometer was too low, the speedo would be too. Just not the case. And 10% low on the odometer from one size up? Don't think so.

[nickmpower]

I saw over 30 per tank with some freeway and some city, week after week

[tim_s]

i know different continent, different temps, different fuel (95RON), but 35mpg on motorway runs is no probs. 30mpg around town. not sure why such a large difference, its an interesting one!

[dino245]

tim s I think one thing needs to be clearafied. A US gallon is smaller than the UK or imperial gallon. So you would naturaly get a better milage calculation.

[dino245]

I found this conversion 1Gallon(uk)=4.546 liters   1Gallon(US Liquid)=3.785 liters

[individualist]

Car runs ok on 87 octane?

I know you are supposed to run higher octane rating but I just never have. Car runs great on 87, been running it for 4 months now.

You mean raised their standards?

Yeah, my daughter says it looks ghetto, just yesterday I took the day off from work (comp time) and went out to the 318 to give her a ride to school and she asked "are we taking that"? I said what's wrong with it? She had no reply so I figured she felt she'd be stoned by her peeps as soon as she steps out of it at school. So we jumped in my wifes car and off we went. I guess she'll go just about anywhere in it BUT school.

[Katz Tsubai]

This is true in my case but then why would the odometer be reading less than the actual mileage and the speedometer be reading high? Seems as though if the odometer was too low, the speedo would be too. Just not the case. And 10% low on the odometer from one size up? Don't think so.

It is unlikely, but is there any chance that speedo and odometer operate independently on these cars?  

One time, the odometer on my beater '85 318 quit working momentarily for about 15~20 miles.  The speedo functioned properly all the while.

On my '91, I currently run 225/50R15s.  Their loaded radii are within fraction of inches to that of stock tires.  Speedo is still off (as if the tires are small), but odometer is pretty accurate according to GPS.

My car averages about 25mpg, 60/40 city/highway.

[Vladi]

This is what i usually get driving out of town. It's in liters/100km, i don't know to convert it to miles/gallon.:rolleyes:

[silverblades181]

6.6L/100km is awesome....the best I did was 7.8L/100km and that was on the highway...I did 9L/100km driving around town and 13L/100km on the track. I think my 02 sensor was busted though