Fuel consumption

Thanks to all. She is a 30 year old van and I do envy you who talk bout a 6th gear! This has four and the gear and as for top speed the engine is racing anything over 60mph (something about the gear ratio?).

Cheers
 
Wow.. after reading this thread I feel better :lol-053:, I feel Im doing well on my Merc Hymer B540, I average about 25mpg, and its a 4 speed manual, 2.3 Petrol, I dont really go above 2 thou rpm occasionally take it upto 4 thou on hills, but dont get much more than 60mph out of it, and its as aerodynamic as an house brick.. So much for diesels being more economical :scared:..
 
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My 1991 Fiat Ducato 2.5 td diesel FFB coachbuilt 3100 kg, returns in the region of 28.4 mpg - mind you I don't travel much over 55 mph - no rev counter on her, but just take it easy through the gears until at cruising speed. A lovely mh to drive - prefer it to the car!
 
Performance chip

I have just fitted a performance chip to the van.
chips take 5 mins to fit and can easily be removed
I have a panel van but it's the biggest Fiat make so plenty of space.
I hope that when on a motorway I can get 35MPG but was getting 30MPG before the chip (yet to take it on a long run with chip fitted)
I have chip'ed both muy car and the wife's car years ago and they really do increase the MPG and fuel economy.
The van chip lifts the torque from 350 ft lb to 438 ft lb and 148HP to 176HP so is far more pleasant to drive
 
strange you might think but i find the ones that travel the most and do real long travels worry less about fuel consumption . but care more for reliability and comfort .
 
strange you might think but i find the ones that travel the most and do real long travels worry less about fuel consumption . but care more for reliability and comfort .

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the mpg info. Can you do me a favour and let me know the available size in your cab behind the front 2 seats. Our thoughts on a 5th Wheel are back again but it is having room for the dogs in the cab. Can you give me the depth of space mainly (with seats stripped out). Also, remind me of the engine options in the Mitsubishi pickups.

Thanks.
 
hi.if you removed the back seats in a canter like mine you could fix a board as a shelf and have 3ft x3ft x 5ft6ins long .
the seats are about 4 inches squab or back rest . a board could be made just to block off the foot well .
i keep thinking of removing my seats and making it like a sleeper cab . ideal for weekend or odd nights at parties etc .
the cab is a seven seater 3in front 4 in back . (tight though).
3liter in the 3.5ton
mine is 6.3 ton and 3.9ltr .
i recomend mine then if you wanted voluntary drop the gvw to 3.5ton but you keep the train weight .
i havent . as mine is a true artic minimum 20%of load imposed on tow unit .its mot exempt . the trailer i lowered from 5 ton to 3,5ton gvw so that ios mot exempt as well . all depends on what you want to pull .
feel free to ask more . i,m becoming knowledgable on these ,.hee hee.
 
Thanks Alan, that is good info.

We are thinking of a British made 5th wheeler, probably around 26 to 28 feet long. A slightly smaller one might do if we could manipulate the layout a bit. I don't know what one of those would weigh but not a lot I would think. We are still at the early stage of weighing up the implications as it would limit our wilding to some degree. There are plenty of forum meets and we use quite a lot of C&CC THS sites from April to September. Normally we have a lot of shortish winter trips which will be difficult to replace.

All year round sites like Haven are dirt cheap over the winter but limit the number of dogs you can have. :(
 
2002 Mercedes Sprinter LWB Hi Roof panel van, 316cdi, 5 cylinder 2.7litre 160hp (200,000 miles). 5 speed manual, high ratio differential 3.62:1, cruise control.

Just done 2756 round trip to Valencia used 428 litres of diesel (94.27 gallons) = 29.23 to the gallon

I think the key is the fact I keep it in top cog nearly all of the time with power in reserve for those arse nipping moments when power is required. :)
 
Mpg

Climb up through the gears gently without over revving up to 55 mph then just cruise at that speed. I get about 27 mpg out of my 20 odd years old 2.5 TDI Talbot express rust bucket. If I climb over 60 mph :scooter: it leaps up on its back wheels :tongue: begging for drink at every garage we pass. It makes a huge difference to the consumption and my pension, so its usually gently Bentley for me.
.... Tom ....
 
hi.if you removed the back seats in a canter like mine you could fix a board as a shelf and have 3ft x3ft x 5ft6ins long .
the seats are about 4 inches squab or back rest . a board could be made just to block off the foot well .
i keep thinking of removing my seats and making it like a sleeper cab . ideal for weekend or odd nights at parties etc .
the cab is a seven seater 3in front 4 in back . (tight though).
3liter in the 3.5ton
mine is 6.3 ton and 3.9ltr .
i recomend mine then if you wanted voluntary drop the gvw to 3.5ton but you keep the train weight .
i havent . as mine is a true artic minimum 20%of load imposed on tow unit .its mot exempt . the trailer i lowered from 5 ton to 3,5ton gvw so that ios mot exempt as well . all depends on what you want to pull .
feel free to ask more . i,m becoming knowledgable on these ,.hee hee.

Slight thread hijack but I see you're just up the road from me Alan :wave:

As for MPG I drive a 6.5v8 turbo diesel RV very much a brick when it comes to aerodynamics but can comfortably achieve 18 to the gallon, drops to about 15 when using smaller roads below 50mph
 
hi wylie call in if passing on the way to the victoria pub . cant miss where . my neighbour as a white man truck conversion in his garden . i have a garden full of vehicles .hee hee .
 
As (nearly) everybody knows, air drag is directly proportional to the square of the speed.

If you need 30 BHP to move at 50MPH you will need 120BHP to move @ 100MPH, and obviously a large increase in fuel used.
 
I've noticed on my van, that at anything at up to 40-50 mph I never get flies hitting the windscreen. They seem to be able to fly around in front of the screen and then get swept to the side of the van. This must be due to the overcab chanelling air back down to the windscreen and stopping them getting splattered all over it.
This must create a lot of drag, but I still get 30 - 32 MPG.
 
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Wind turbulence and overcabs.I think it's a well known fact that to drive some of those overcab M/homes over 50mph legally you need a pilots license!
 
Wind turbulence and overcabs.I think it's a well known fact that to drive some of those overcab M/homes over 50mph legally you need a pilots license!

Always have a nice clean windscreen though!:D
 
hi david.on a diesel usually from the alternator . might have to have a tapping made into it .
 
thats the standard way of doing it . in my vw lt i had a click n go clutch . or electric clutch fitted . to get the revs signal they drilled the casing and made a new connection .
 

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