latent

OK I mainly do town driving. But my first tank of diesel has delivered an average of 26mpg and I am not an aggressive driver. Could do better me thinks

glojo

You are a one!!!!! Been there, done that, seen the mileage. Just imagine if it was a 3.2litre petrol engine. My neighbour has a Cayenne and around town he is lucky to get 12 - 14mpg. We do a lot of town driving and I think that is why we only get an average of 34mpg. A diesel engine takes a long time to 'warm-up' and get to its efficient working temperature. A very good tip is to 'use' the torque of the engine. "Feel the Force"

Obviously you must accelerate safely, but once moving around town you will hardly need the throttle. Do NOT use SBC STOP!!!! Before you ask page 242 When in town always think of those petrol guzzling cars next to you drinking all those £. s. d.

If all that fails I will share some of my medication with you.

Happy motoring
John
Cool, but sunny Torquay

Brother Benz

13,200 miles on a 2004 E320 4Matic. Average milage = 23.1

kort677

and your point is??

I have almost 10k miles on my cdi, avg. mpg 31 mpg

Brother Benz

Just a benchmark my friend. No need to get snippy!

glojo

That would appear an impressive return for a four wheel drive version. I should imagine you are quite pleased.

Regards,
John
Cloudy with some sunny spells in Torquay

DavidNJ

1. It will probably get better as the miles add on. Especially the first few thousand.

2. Mileage various will driving style. The diesels biggest advantage is in part throttle operation. At 100+ we could barely get above 28. In city driving and stop and go towns around 23. Running with the cruise at 70-75 it jumped to 30-34.

And a little cruise control regulated run at the space saver spare maximum speed, was, well, higher. More on that later.

saffrontiger

Fuel economy will go up with mileage. I was getting those numbers with my first hundred miles but increased over time. Presently have approx 4000 miles. Averaging about 28 mpg city (or stuck in traffic on freeway) and 36-38 mpg hwy. The AC and engine temp are big variables for mpg but just drive as you normally would and I think you will be pleased that your enjoying a fantastic car with amazing engineering. The fuel economy is an added bonus. Happy motoring!

Green E-300 DT

Sure it could be better. You're talking 26 mpg on the Imperial gallon, aren't you?

Sometimes with my '99, we get only 20 mpg (U S gallon) driving strictly in town where we spend more time
stopped than moving.

Here are a few little tricks that you might try to use to see if your town mileage will improve.

Try using the second gear start feature that is available in your CDI. It is the "C" position, I think.
On mine, it is the "W" position.

As you roll away from your stopped location, try easing into the throttle, thus allowing the
engine to operate in the lower RPM ranges where it has its Maximum torque.
As you may already understand, these motors do not need to be wound up like the high RPM
low torque small gas buggies!
As the car is accelerating and you reach the point where it will upshift to the next higher gear
(that gears' minimum speed after that upshift,) try easing up on the throttle which will allow
the tranny to upshift at the earliest possible speed, thus coming into that next higher gear at the
low end of the engines maximum torque range, and repeat this until you get to your proper speed.
In other words, make it work by using the torque and not the revs.
This gets to be second nature after you've done it for awhile.
You've got to put that tremendous 369 ft/lb of torque to maximum use don't you know?

Keeping the motor wound up at high revs as David has discovered worsens the fuel economy.

And perhaps when the motor has a few more miles, the economy will improve slightly?
Mainly, fuel economy in the city is determined by the position of your right foot, and how you control the tranny.

See if this doesn't help just a little.

glojo

It is nice to see someone else 'singing from the same hymn sheet'. or, 'Talking the torque'.

How would you like to join the 'campaign'?

Kind regards,
John
Dusk at Torquay

johna1

A little tip if you use the speed limiter function....

At 50km or 30mph the car will stay in third.

At 52km or 31 mph it will shift into fourth.

I use this around town all the time, just set the limit and keep your foot flat to the floor. It is actually more efficient than driving normally, because you end up accelerating faster, but not going so fast between lights etc. so where I used to go up to maybe 65 (kms) in a block, now I spend a bit longer in 'cruise' before I have to brake.

Also, obviously, it removes the possibility of a ticket.

I am currently getting 31mpg (26us) around town over 10,000 km and a lot more on trips e.g. 40+mpg recently.

Just for a laugh, my colleague, who bought a Ford Falcon (5.4litre V8) (like a new version of the Granada), is currently getting 14mpg (12us) around town.

In NZ, petrol is a lot dearer than diesel too, so I am saving both ways.

I did not fill the car up at all in August (!!!!)

ToyCollector

I have been getting 23-24mpg in mostly stop and go. Still on my first tankful. My diesel pickup that I own experienced 3 mpg gains between new and broken in for city mileage.

Green E-300 DT

What rpms are these speeds, and is the T/C engaged at those minimum speeds?

Speed limiter? What's that? Do you mean the cruise control?

With your pedal to the metal, doesn't that overide the CC?

Please explain?

johna1

At about 50km/h it will be doing 1300 rpm in third and about 1000 rpm in fourth. If T/C is turbo charger then I doubt it!

The W211 has a speed limiter as well as a cruise control. The cruise control is conventional, and the speed limiter works off the same stalk, but sets a maximum speed. So if you set the speed limiter to 55km/h then you can drive normally, but at 55km/h it stops accelerating and just sticks at that speed. If you push the accelerator beyond the kick-down point then that disables the function. This is a lot more useful round town than cruise control, because that keeps cutting out as you slow down and speed up.

In some ways they are inverses, because the CC will let you go faster then will revert to your set speed, so it is a kind of minimum speed. The limiter will let you go slower but retains its set maximum.

user 708290782

I've done 20,000 miles and have an average of 35mpg. On a long motorway journey the average is usually 40-42mpg.

glojo

Hi 'Daisy'
Have you had your first service yet, and if not when is it due please?

Nice car

Regards,
John
A very wet Torquay

Green E-300 DT

Sorry, I should have explained better.

By T/C, I meant the torque convertor, referring to it being engaged, or locked up.
This means that when the tranny is in a held gear ratio, the transmission will act
like a standard transmission, and there will be practically no slippage.
You loose fuel economy when there is torque convertor action because fuel is being needlessly wasted heating tranny fluid. When the T/C is locked up or engaged, this energy is not being wasted, and it directed to the drive wheels without this needless loss.

You'll notice that the engineers finally got this right when they included this feature in all ratios of the new 7 G-tronic.

user 708290782

I just had it a couple of weeks ago at 20,352 miles (very impressive), almost exactly 12 months since I received the car.

cdiken

I have been getting 23-25 MPG average, with a lead foot.

Best was 32 MPG on a trip w/ 3 passengers, A/C on, and 65 MPH plus some stops.

I thought it would be better, too, but I'm not concerned, how many 4000 lb cars get 23 MPG with leadfoot drivers? I get about 16 in my Honda Accord.

KB

ToyCollector

I am now just a tad over 27mpg city (which is city spec) at 750 miles. GasBuds, see you at the pumps ...occasionally.

justin w

Noticed that on my 270CDI (2000mile only)the mpg is really bad on cold start up (here in the 9C UK).

Tried for the last couple of mornings to allow the car to warm up on the drive for 5 minutes before setting out.

Got my first 60mile round trip at 40mpg average.

Before I've been looking at 35ish mpgs for similar trips....

mike82y

on my E320 CDI i am able to drive around 750KM and the consumption is around 7.2-8.2l/100

I have been trying the SHELL V-Power Diesel and was able to drive 800KM with average of 6.9l/100

I guess you guys will have to convert the number yourself :p

mike

mike82y

BTW what engine oil do you guys use???

glojo

Please don't think I'm ignoring your question, but my own vehicle (S211 320CDI) is not using oil and the old 210 320CDI never needed topping up between service intervals.



I DO like these CDI engines!!

Regards
John
Bed-time in Torquay (Goodnight)