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So I had to take yesterday a 220 mile trip. Decided to take the 221 as it is my winter beater and doesn't get exercised much during the fair seasons.
Filled her up, rolled front windows down, turned off hvac and cruised at 70 all the way. Once close to home I filled her up again and she took 5.3 gallons of fuel. That comes to about 41 mpg. Mpg meter on dash indicated 42 mpg at average speed of 58 mph
Oh absolutely- I still remember that episode of mythbusters but that is what I got with the windows down. I wasn't trying to hypermile (i.e. Draft, put in neutral when going downhill, maintain 60ish mph speed)... I saw the 42 mpg on the dash and I was like- no way that is accurate. Turned out it is so I had to share
EPA only got 31mpg highway so you must have been going down hill both ways.
BTW, what made you buy a $100,000 oil burner? Hoping to save a couple hundred a year on fuel or what?
"or what"
i have a few 10-15 mpg vehicles in my stable so the fuel cost is of no consequence to me.
however, we live in times when a 5000 pound luxury barge can get 40 mpg without even trying and that is something worth mentioning. engineering feats and all
I got a little over 21 on the only mini road trip I've ever taken with my pig. Drove through several small towns on that trip too. I was shocked when I saw that number as I'm used to around 13.
EPA only got 31mpg highway so you must have been going down hill both ways.
BTW, what made you buy a $100,000 oil burner? Hoping to save a couple hundred a year on fuel or what?
I can say I almost purchased one after driving an S350, but I couldn't find a clear used one with any options. They all seemed to be either base, bad CarFax, or great with options and way over priced.
Then fast forward a year later with crashing fuel prices and the huge German Diesel scandal and I thank myself every time I get into my S550 that I didn't get one. If he keeps the car for 10 years, fuel prices go way up, and the scandal is long past, his car will be worth quite a bit more than a similar S550 and he'll save a bunch in fuel. Looks at the prices of 1990's S350's or even 300/350SD's from the late 80's/early 90's. Find a good one and its worth a lot.
So I had to take yesterday a 220 mile trip. Decided to take the 221 as it is my winter beater and doesn't get exercised much during the fair seasons.
Filled her up, rolled front windows down, turned off hvac and cruised at 70 all the way. Once close to home I filled her up again and she took 5.3 gallons of fuel. That comes to about 41 mpg. Mpg meter on dash indicated 42 mpg at average speed of 58 mph
And there you have it folks.
I just did about 400 miles on a roundtrip to Seattle and back in my S350, with some city driving while there, and i got a 35.3 avg mpg. Freeway speed bout 75
Recently took two short trips, car typically does less than 25 miles a week - not my DD car. The readings from my speedo
1. Ave speed 69 mph on first trip, (161 miles, 32mpg, AC on all the way).
2. Ave speed 69 mph and a little higher on the second trip (221 miles, 32 mpg,
AC on all the way), also hit traffic jams on highway and on 6 city miles on the second trip.
Also 34 city miles outside of both trips.
Measured mpg using fillup (first click of fuel nozzle) for 406 total miles (2 trips and 66 city miles) - 31.2 mpg.
Without the city miles, I am thinking, I would have averaged 33mpg or more.
Recently took two short trips, car typically does less than 25 miles a week - not my DD car. The readings from my speedo
1. Ave speed 69 mph on first trip, (161 miles, 32mpg, AC on all the way).
2. Ave speed 69 mph and a little higher on the second trip (221 miles, 32 mpg,
AC on all the way), also hit traffic jams on highway and on 6 city miles on the second trip.
Also 34 city miles outside of both trips.
Measured mpg using fillup (first click of fuel nozzle) for 406 total miles (2 trips and 66 city miles) - 31.2 mpg.
Without the city miles, I am thinking, I would have averaged 33mpg or more.
Those are great numbers. I'm getting 15 miles to the gallon city and a little highway.
On 100 mile plus road trips 23.4 and I have a heavy foot.
Just about 36 MPG on a night time drive with some stop and go from the East Bay suburbs to meet someone at SFO. This was taken about a year ago when diesel was around $1.95/gal in the Bay Area.
Just about 36 MPG on a night time drive with some stop and go from the East Bay suburbs to meet someone at SFO. This was taken about a year ago when diesel was around $1.95/gal in the Bay Area.
if you did pen and paper you would notice that this is actually closer to 38-39 mpg in real fuel used
dave, yes- 4500 rpms... and it is plenty as the diesel is geared longer to take advantage of the torque it makes at lower rpms the only issue is that at higher speeds (say above 100 mph) the longer gearing is a bit too much even for the diesel. but in a hindsight this is also a problem on the v12 tt with its 5 speed tranny. my sl65 (with the same 5 speed) is a beast between 80 and 130-140... below 80 it cant put the power to the ground and above 140 sort of falls flat on its face due to tall gearing despite the prodigious torque output
if you did pen and paper you would notice that this is actually closer to 38-39 mpg in real fuel used
dave, yes- 4500 rpms... and it is plenty as the diesel is geared longer to take advantage of the torque it makes at lower rpms the only issue is that at higher speeds (say above 100 mph) the longer gearing is a bit too much even for the diesel. but in a hindsight this is also a problem on the v12 tt with its 5 speed tranny. my sl65 (with the same 5 speed) is a beast between 80 and 130-140... below 80 it cant put the power to the ground and above 140 sort of falls flat on its face due to tall gearing despite the prodigious torque output
38-39 mpg in an S-class? That might actually be better than real world Prius numbers.
Yeah, the longer you go, the mpg seems to rise a bit. I was averaging 34 mpg for a while, ten, I got happy feet on the second trip and was following (trying to follow) an S550 for a while
07-13-2016, 08:57 AM
but that is what I got with the windows down. I wasn't trying to hypermile (i.e. Draft, put in neutral when going downhill, maintain 60ish mph speed)... I saw the 42 mpg on the dash and I was like- no way that is accurate. Turned out it is so I had to share 
the only issue is that at higher speeds (say above 100 mph) the longer gearing is a bit too much even for the diesel. but in a hindsight this is also a problem on the v12 tt with its 5 speed tranny. my sl65 (with the same 5 speed) is a beast between 80 and 130-140... below 80 it cant put the power to the ground and above 140 sort of falls flat on its face due to tall gearing despite the prodigious torque output
