MPG after first full tank

[DavidA]

So I've just refilled the tank after running the car for a week and worked out that brim-to-brim it has returned 47.6 mpg - is this about right for a 15 year old car with 169,000 miles on the clock ? I seem to recall getting about 50 in P reg xtdt a few years back, this one is a T reg Meridian non-HDi.

Aside from running on veg oil, is there any way of improving it ? And does anyone have a picture of the Bosch pump so that I can see what I've got fitted to my car ?

[powerandtorque]

Sounds about normal for a standard 1.9 TD to me.

Veg won't increase economy per se - indeed it dropped a little for me when I used to run it - but it dramatically drops the cost per mile due to the reduced cost per litre.

[DavidA]

Cost per mile is definitely a consideration as I'm doing over 100 miles a day from Warminster to Weymouth...

[Andy annear]

My XUD does about 40mpg, mostly small roads though, no motorway miles.

[DavidA]

So I'm not doing to badly then...just not quite the 64mpg I was getting from my Corsa previously - but I must admit I prefer the 306 !

[powerandtorque]

It's not going to be though - the XUD's are an old design now that's nowhere near as efficient as modern direct injection engines.

Even a 306 HDi - a first generation common rail diesel - will typically only average 50-55mpg in normal use.

[DavidA]

But I assume that on the other hand they are also a lot easier to put right if something goes wrong...which is always a good thing.

[THE_Liam]

Yeah the XUD is immensly strong and simple. To be honest your economy figures sound great, best I've ever had on a run from Leeds to Cornwall in the middle of the night at 70mph all the way was 51mpg, and on that same run I've had 47mpg from a 106 GTI and 45mpg from a 2.0 Audi 80. XUDs aren't amazing, but then when you run it on 74p a litre veg oil it's very cheap.

[Andy annear]

Work out the cost of running veg and convert it to pump prices, I pay 30 ppl for my WVO, works out around 140mpg at pump prices, it's as good as free as far as running costs are concerned...

[DavidA]

Just got to hope that I've got a Bosch pump and start buying up the stock at the local supermarket then !

[THE_Liam]

Join Costco, £14.29 for 20 litres

[DavidA]

Just checked and I think it's a Lucas...[attachment=16048] can ANY veg oil be used with this ?

[THE_Liam]

Yeah Lucas. You'll probably find a couple of extra miles per gallon on a Bosch as well

[Kezzieboy]

Seems pretty good to me, 20MPG less than my HDi, but your fuel costs near as damnit half as much

[THE_Liam]

Oh sorry, didn't read your post properly. It isn't a good idea to use SVO with a Lucas due to the design of the pump, however no one really seems to have tried it. For the sake of 80 quid and a days work I wouldn't risk a snapped cam belt.

[powerandtorque]

Whilst perhaps not on here, people certainly have tried SVO on a Lucas and it will fail, just a matter of when.

You'll likely get away with running a reasonable veg/diesel mix now that the weather has warmed up, but how strong and for how long is open to debate. Plenty of info and other peoples experiences out there if you search.

As above, if you're handy with a set of spanners then swapping over to a Bosch setup is the way to go - with the mileage that you're doing you're recoup the cost very quickly by being able to run SVO.