V70 T5 Average MPG

[JamesT5]

Hi

I'd like to do a little 'survey' here as well as get some advice.

I'm getting about 25mpg average out of my 2001 V70 T5, although I've just put a can of BG44K in the tank the other day to see if I can clear 225,000 miles worth of carbon deposits from the fuel injection system (it might help!).

Can anyone tell me whether they are managing anymore than 25mpg average fuel consumption in the same model of car and if so, how much are you getting and are there any 'tricks' to achieve it. I know these cars haven't exactly won any awards for fuel efficiency.

I found using cruise control on the dual carriageway doing 55 - 60mph the other day managed to get me an extra 0.5 miles per gallon (wow!), but I wasn't going long distance.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards

James

[WHITE999-T5]

I have been getting 28-29 mpg but the engine in mine has done 157k, no real tips just different types of driving, some sedate and some a bit more vigorous. I have found since owning it that it has gone up as i have used it, give it a bit of a thrashing every now and then when the engines up to temp, thats all i have done.

[Jamest5r]

1998 v70 t5 my Mrs manages 18mpg, i had it for the day the other week and i was getting 26 around town, bloody women cost a fortune to run :)

[t5 pete]

98 v70 r auto getting 17-18 mpg knocking around but will do over 30mpg on a good run it just doesnt like knocking around and drinks petrol like its going out of fashion maybe using the kick down so often doesnt help lol

[pigfight]

simply out of interest on this topic, are you all submitting mpg simply on what the in dash computer reading says? or are you doing it the 'old school' way of zeroing the trip counter, brimming the tank, doing a few hundred miles, then brimming the tank again and taking note of how many litres/gallons you put in against the mileage youve actually done?

[dalhousie2008]

I get around 30 at 80mph. I've had 39 at 55mph. Those sound about right and I get 21mpg from autos around town 24-25 from manuals

[Jamest5r]

98 v70 r auto getting 17-18 mpg knocking around but will do over 30mpg on a good run it just doesnt like knocking around and drinks petrol like its going out of fashion maybe using the kick down so often doesnt help lol


You drive like my Wife :)

[V70 Graham]

Out at the weekend, vinyling mrp's roof and Haynes do, over 400 miles and averaged 34mpg :D
The Mrs will testify it is like driving Miss Daisy.....which suits me 90% of the time, I know it's boring but looking well ahead saves more fuel than you think.
The other 10% of the time I can 'drive it like you stole it' and not worry too much about the 15-18 mpg :P

[Jamest5r]

Out at the weekend, vinyling mrp's roof and Haynes do, over 400 miles and averaged 34mpg :D
The Mrs will testify it is like driving Miss Daisy.....which suits me 90% of the time, I know it's boring but looking well ahead saves more fuel than you think.
The other 10% of the time I can 'drive it like you stole it' and not worry too much about the 15-18 mpg :P

I know what you mean exactly how i drive lol, i spend all day in a truck and im amazed at the amount of t.ossers that fly past me and cut me up then 3miles down the road ive caught them up so made no gains at all, so i cut them up out of spite and spoil their day :)

[M-R-P]

23-25mpg average, I reset the counter every saturday. If youre getting 25 from an engine with 220+k on it then your engine is very healthy and your driving is fine. you can use cruise control at 21 mph in 4th and 28 in 5th and that shows 55 mpg on mine at 30 ;)

[big fan volvo]

An interesting question. Firstly there appears to be no difference between trip computer mpg and old fashioned fill to top calculation. Have 2 volvo 1997 V70R's, one awd, both 200+ k miles and serviced tip top.
Air con makes about 4 mpg difference when working hard. Regular driving around town will achieve 25mpg and 22mpg respectively. On longer mixed driving, 27.5 and 24.7.
On long drives where everything warms up, 32 and 28.

Very high speed long distance driving on continent with roof boxes and fully loaded will still achieve 32 and 29. When either driven out of there skins can get as low as you want!

If cruise control set at 60mph on long runs will achieve 35 mpg on longer runs, but easily get bored

Seems a set of plug replacements and clean air filter makes a difference, and now changed at every service if I remember. Finally fuel type seems to make a difference, 99 vs 95 octance adds to both performance and fuel economy, although choice driven by price difference. Seems to prefer main stream rather than discount fuel, makes about 2. 5 mpg difference. Over tracking fuel consumption over many years, car as efficient now as it was 14 years ago at 10k

[JUDGENINJA]

Long drive - 27-30mpg
Town driving - 18-25mpg

These fugires are usually lower when 'Red mist' kicks in

[zip929]

Currently getting between 25 and 27 mpg.
Could probably improve on that if I were to drive less briskly, but I will not sacrifice driving pleasure for a few extra mpg. ;)

[lance]

Mines currently on 25 mpg mainly urban I can get 40 plus mpg if I chuck in 6th and keep to speed limits on a run. I regularly get more than 30 mpg and sitting at indicated 80 mph (77 Mph) sees around 34-37 mpg but mine is lighter and has 6 gears. However on the track I only get 7.6 MPG!

My 2000 P2 V70 averaged 23-25 urban and regularly did 28-33 mpg on run and that included a bit of fun.

If you really need better than 25 mpg real world low speed cruising almost defeats the object of a T5, consider a D5 nearly as quick in the real world and 35-55+ MPG depending how you drive em.

[JamesT5]

simply out of interest on this topic, are you all submitting mpg simply on what the in dash computer reading says? or are you doing it the 'old school' way of zeroing the trip counter, brimming the tank, doing a few hundred miles, then brimming the tank again and taking note of how many litres/gallons you put in against the mileage youve actually done?

Both. I've done both methods and the trip computer on mine is just about dead on I would say. Mine is a manual model which will help with the economy slightly. I love the way some people are getting nearly 40mpg out of their car (apparantly)... Must be rolling it all the way to point B! :-)

[JamesT5]

Mines currently on 25 mpg mainly urban I can get 40 plus mpg if I chuck in 6th and keep to speed limits on a run. I regularly get more than 30 mpg and sitting at indicated 80 mph (77 Mph) sees around 34-37 mpg but mine is lighter and has 6 gears. However on the track I only get 7.6 MPG!

My 2000 P2 V70 averaged 23-25 urban and regularly did 28-33 mpg on run and that included a bit of fun.

If you really need better than 25 mpg real world low speed cruising almost defeats the object of a T5, consider a D5 nearly as quick in the real world and 35-55+ MPG depending how you drive em.

"indicated 80mph (77mph)"..... Odd you should say that because I think my speedometer is also over reading my 2 - 3 mph. Maybe I should get it calibrated so it reads almost exactly....

[M-R-P]

Speedos are designed to over read rather than under read for obvious reasons. It's only police cars that have them calibrated. It sounds like your speedos aren't that bad, I've used some that are 5mph out at 50!

[lance]

Speedos are designed to over read rather than under read for obvious reasons. It's only police cars that have them calibrated. It sounds like your speedos aren't that bad, I've used some that are 5mph out at 50!

Yeap most of the volvos I have driven are a few mph over my audi s4 on larger rs4 wheels was most accurate 158 mph at an indicated 160 mph I suspect the jag xjr was least accurate as that hit the supposed 155 limiter at an indicated 165 mph none of these tests were done on a public road in this country.

[a lex]

My 01 V70 T5 averaged about 23mpg combined over the 6k miles I did in it (auto gear tronic, 150k miles).

Best ever was about 28mpg, worst was about 20mpg over a tank. That gave a range of about 300-360 miles per tank.

(Just to compare, my D5 with the exact same driving style and speeds is currently showing 46mpg average, 320 miles driven with 400miles remaining in range).

[LeeT5]

Speedos are designed to over read rather than under read for obvious reasons. It's only police cars that have them calibrated. It sounds like your speedos aren't that bad, I've used some that are 5mph out at 50!

Interestingly, when i had my classic V70R my speedo would be about 10% more than what the sat nav gps speed was registering. However, on my current R they are precisely the same.
ie, if my odo is sitting on 70mph then when i look at my Road Angel she is saying 70mph.

As far as mpg goes...Manual, 6spd, 123k.
I get 36mpg doing 65mph on a long run.
Around town and general driving about i am averaging 21mpg. The worst i have ever seen it is 20.7mpg average.

If i didn't have such a heavy right foot then i reckon i could easily get 25mpg ave. But then i'd be bored!!

[Rhys]

Last time I looked I as getting around 24mpg, not tried doing an economy run yet.

[merc85]

My fuel computer is about 1.5 mpg out, i always set the trip and then fill to work out the mpg.

The trip to Haynes last wkend i got 29.89mpg on the way down there, and 31mpg on the back. cruising at around the legal limit stretched its legs a few times on the way down.

i have had 39mpg driving steady at 58mph over 30miles, but also had it down to 12ish too lol

She always get run on BP ultimate.

[d2k]

i think im making about 27mpg (comp reads 28.7mpg, but its a little less than that.... & thats with plenty of smiles, certainly not driving like a preacher.

but its alot easier to be fuel efficient with a manual, if im in town surrounded by 30 zones the car never really goes above 1500rpm in all gears (in 5th 1500rpm can get me to about 50mph), ive seen a good few youtube vids of ppl driving P2 volvo's (not race vids) & theyre cruising @ high rpm..???? no wonder some ppl are seeing less than 20mpg from their T5's.

its all about the way you drive...:)

[T5RPete]

On my drive of 220miles from Shropshire to Norfolk the other day with a set of wheels and a push bike in the back of the car, I got an idicated 32.9mpg. But then I do drive like a granny!

I would have used the 'old school method' aswell, however the mechanical trip distance counted 363 miles on the same trip (confusing...).

My speedo reads 70mph bang on with the satnav showing 70mph too. That may explain the trip odometer...

[MoleT-5R]

simply out of interest on this topic, are you all submitting mpg simply on what the in dash computer reading says? or are you doing it the 'old school' way of zeroing the trip counter, brimming the tank, doing a few hundred miles, then brimming the tank again and taking note of how many litres/gallons you put in against the mileage youve actually done?

What, can you really afford to fill it at todays prices:splat:...lol.....the only problem with having a full tank is that, i'm more likely to floor the loud pedal:B_thumb:

[MoleT-5R]

Hi

I'd like to do a little 'survey' here as well as get some advice.

I'm getting about 25mpg average out of my 2001 V70 T5, although I've just put a can of BG44K in the tank the other day to see if I can clear 225,000 miles worth of carbon deposits from the fuel injection system (it might help!).

Can anyone tell me whether they are managing anymore than 25mpg average fuel consumption in the same model of car and if so, how much are you getting and are there any 'tricks' to achieve it. I know these cars haven't exactly won any awards for fuel efficiency.

I found using cruise control on the dual carriageway doing 55 - 60mph the other day managed to get me an extra 0.5 miles per gallon (wow!), but I wasn't going long distance.

Thanks for any advice.

Regards

James


I was getting 5.5mpg in both the T-5R and the V70R awd amazing how alike the two of them are......bet you can guest where I got that...lol:rolleyes2

[Sharkey R]

Out at the weekend, vinyling mrp's roof and Haynes do, over 400 miles and averaged 34mpg :D
The Mrs will testify it is like driving Miss Daisy.....which suits me 90% of the time, I know it's boring but looking well ahead saves more fuel than you think.
The other 10% of the time I can 'drive it like you stole it' and not worry too much about the 15-18 mpg :P

You're not the only one. I drive mine sedately a lot of the time then I don't feel so bad about having a blast now and then. Even on a sedate run though the 'R' won't average an more then 33mpg.

[Santa]

You're not the only one. I drive mine sedately a lot of the time then I don't feel so bad about having a blast now and then. Even on a sedate run though the 'R' won't average an more then 33mpg.

Managed 32mpg last weekend coming down to Haynes meet but that was on slightly thinner tyres then I should be running.

[sylva_phoenix]

About 25mpg is normal for mixed driving (traffic and urban commute). more like 30-33 on motorway.

Cheers
L

[JamesT5]

Just filled up this week....

The car says 25.5 - 25.7mpg. I reset the tripometer last week with a full tank, filled up again today and I'd done 355 miles on 57 litres (12.55 gallons approx) = 28.2mpg average. I fill the tank to the brim, the same time each time so I know I'm not far off the mark. Looks like the car mpg calculator is slightly pessimistic.

Oddly, I put come fuel injector cleaner (BG44K), in the car last week after filling up and getting 25mpg average the week before. Looks like the stuff could actually be working!
Regards

James

[JamesT5]

I was chatting to some traffic cops the other day who were out in their unmarked 61 plate S60 D5. They said the force are swapping over to the diesel cars because they were only getting 17mpg out of the T5 V70's. I explained I have to drive my T5 like a granny to squeeze 25mpg out of it.

Crazy!

Regards

James

[JUDGENINJA]

I do 4miles to and from work and only get 20-23mpg.
Runs over to Haynes without speeding saw 30mpg.

I think it is possible to get good mpg..... But then why bother having a turbo'd car?

[Turbodave]

I use man maths...

My 850R auto with return around 25mpg during normal useage - round the doors, few short trips etc, though it will do 32 to 35mpg on a steady run.

My V70TDi will do 40mpg trundling about on a daily basis and has cracked 55mpg on a steady run with the tyres at 1,000PSi and the mirrors folded in.

On that basis... my average 'normal' fuel economy is 32.5mpg and by motorway cruising average economy is 43.5mpg.

My missus doesn't understand my logic that having the R and the TDi is basically the same as having two 'normal' cars that do 32.5mpg trundling around and 43.5mpg on a run. Ie, if we had two 1.8 to 2.0 16v petrol powered cars.

Hence, buy a TDi and thus you can justify having an R... until you get all gung ho and excited and return 11mpg from said R during it's last outing. Woohoo!

[JamesT5]

I use man maths...

My 850R auto with return around 25mpg during normal useage - round the doors, few short trips etc, though it will do 32 to 35mpg on a steady run.

My V70TDi will do 40mpg trundling about on a daily basis and has cracked 55mpg on a steady run with the tyres at 1,000PSi and the mirrors folded in.

On that basis... my average 'normal' fuel economy is 32.5mpg and by motorway cruising average economy is 43.5mpg.

My missus doesn't understand my logic that having the R and the TDi is basically the same as having two 'normal' cars that do 32.5mpg trundling around and 43.5mpg on a run. Ie, if we had two 1.8 to 2.0 16v petrol powered cars.

Hence, buy a TDi and thus you can justify having an R... until you get all gung ho and excited and return 11mpg from said R during it's last outing. Woohoo!

Did you really drive around with the mirrors folded in? Lol

[ColinSS]

Hi BigFanVolvo,
I've just joined the group - have owned two manual T5s first was a 850 & current V70 T5. I also find that the branded petrol (mainly Shell) makes a difference to fuel consumption. I currently make the same 220 mile round trip every week down the M1/A14 & I average around 32mpg at 70-80 average (yes I travel fairly early!). Car is a 51 plate on 190k & I've had it from 50k.

I would be interested to hear if you or others have tried different oil? I found with the 850 that 100% synthetic (Mobil 1) made a difference to consumption & so have used it exclusively since. The V70 uses hardly any oil between services.
Cheers.


An interesting question. Firstly there appears to be no difference between trip computer mpg and old fashioned fill to top calculation. Have 2 volvo 1997 V70R's, one awd, both 200+ k miles and serviced tip top.
Air con makes about 4 mpg difference when working hard. Regular driving around town will achieve 25mpg and 22mpg respectively. On longer mixed driving, 27.5 and 24.7.
On long drives where everything warms up, 32 and 28.

Very high speed long distance driving on continent with roof boxes and fully loaded will still achieve 32 and 29. When either driven out of there skins can get as low as you want!

If cruise control set at 60mph on long runs will achieve 35 mpg on longer runs, but easily get bored

Seems a set of plug replacements and clean air filter makes a difference, and now changed at every service if I remember. Finally fuel type seems to make a difference, 99 vs 95 octance adds to both performance and fuel economy, although choice driven by price difference. Seems to prefer main stream rather than discount fuel, makes about 2. 5 mpg difference. Over tracking fuel consumption over many years, car as efficient now as it was 14 years ago at 10k

[laughjimbo]

Mine is a 2001 T5 Manual with 160k on the clock. Fuel computer is pretty darn close to actually consumption. I get around 20-24mpg around town and usually about 28-34mpg on a run at 70-85mph on cruise control. My speedo is about 5mph out so reading 70mph at actual 65mph on gps.
I don't use my car for getting to work, I use a beaten up peugeot 206 1.9 D for that which saves me quite a few quid every year.