740 MPG Musings - UK

[David WE Roberts]

Hi,

due to various circumstances I have been driving a 740 TD Estate for a
bit, and a 740 GLE saloon for a bit.

I tend to fill vehicles to the top and note the trip mileage, then record
this on the receipt. Later (sometimes much later) I put the information
into a spreadsheet which calculates MPG.

I now have two reading for the 740 GLE - one 28.693 MPG and the other
28.697 MPG. Pretty consistent.

I also have two reading for the 740 TD - 31.59 and 32.44 MPG.

The difference is less than I expected; less than 4 MPG at best.

So is it worth getting the diesel version?
It is noisier and with less overall performance.
The fuel costs more in the UK.

I suspect that it is not a true comparison because the Saloon feels higher
geared than the Estate but I also suspect that for a given year and
mileage the petrol version is going to be a bit cheaper than the diesel
equivalent.

What does the team think?

Cheers

Dave R

 

[Randy G.]

Hi,

due to various circumstances I have been driving a 740 TD Estate for a
bit, and a 740 GLE saloon for a bit.

I tend to fill vehicles to the top and note the trip mileage, then record
this on the receipt. Later (sometimes much later) I put the information
into a spreadsheet which calculates MPG.

I now have two reading for the 740 GLE - one 28.693 MPG and the other
28.697 MPG. Pretty consistent.

I also have two reading for the 740 TD - 31.59 and 32.44 MPG.

The difference is less than I expected; less than 4 MPG at best.

So is it worth getting the diesel version?
It is noisier and with less overall performance.
The fuel costs more in the UK.

I suspect that it is not a true comparison because the Saloon feels higher
geared than the Estate but I also suspect that for a given year and
mileage the petrol version is going to be a bit cheaper than the diesel
equivalent.

What does the team think?

When figuring out mileage it is always a good idea to do an odometer
check. WHile many Volvos seem to be accurate, it doesn't take much of
an eooro to throw off the figures. use highway mile markers to check
it, and do it at least twice to verify. There are two such sections of
marked highway, one on each side of a local town. The highway workers
were under the influence on one of the marking jobs because they do
not at all agree. Once you find the error it can be applied as a
percentage factor to the miles driven figure.
__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvos
'90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
"Shelby" & "Kate"

 

[John Robertson]

I have a turbo 740 sedan and on long trips get 31 mpg imperial miles to the
gallon .Use synthetic oil always and high 98 octane petrol .Won a fuel
economy run recently when we got 54 to the gallon by filling the two tanks
up drip by drip over two days .I believe I get an extra 8 or nine litres in
that way .Shake the car a little more wait then a little more till its
absolutely full.Then of course after 150 kilometer's when you top it up it
wont fill as its full any way and clicks off.I came clean with the club any
way ,but it was fun to get em back Just put 225x 50 x16 tyres on the car
with poly bushes and bilstein 4 shockers goes nicely with no scrubbing .My
old Pirellis 6000 were hard and spun easy as well in the wet they were
dangerous .The Fulda extremo seem quiet grippy and responsive .

 

[Andy Dingley]

When figuring out mileage it is always a good idea to do an odometer
check.

What are an "odometer" and a "fuel gauge" ?
I have a 740GLE. Expecting _both_ of these to work at the same time is
rather over-optimistic! Expecting to be able to see them at night when
the dashboard lights fail again is impossible.