Calling all 230te owners what mpg you get?

[Badshot1uk]

Hi all

I have posted this question before in a roundabout way but would be interested to hear what sort of economy everyone is getting.

I seem to get at best 20mpg for town and motorway work
and the best ive seen for all motorway work is 33mpg.

The best tank range ive ever had is 331 miles and ive been driving on fumes. I have a feeling it should be better than this---surely

So I would be very interested to hear from all 230te owners.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Spike]

I have a 230CE and my fuel consumption isnt much better.

Generally I average 24mpg on my commute of 50% heavy traffic & 50% fast A roads & motorways.I generally get around 330 miles before the reserve light comes on. I once got a massive 450 miles out of a tank on a long motorway run but its not often I do such long motorway trips so I havnt been able to repeat that figure.

I take it yours has been serviced recently, you have a nice clean air filter, your brakes are not binding and your tyre pressures are what they should be?

 

[NormanB]

I average 26mpg which is on commuting runs.
On a long trip and taking it 'easy', brim to brim I can get around 29mpg.

 

[Badshot1uk]

Hello all again,

Spike I think you may have hit a sore point now i think of it.
My tire pressures seem ok and I checked the air filter- all ok :lol:

The problem i think does possibly stem for the brakes-
When I first picked up the car nearly 3 years ago you could put it in drive and it would move off on its own - no problem.

It still does it now although with a lot less urgency. Now maybee its the brakes or could it be the gearbox as i do sometimes notice a sort of clonking / squeaking sound at the rear of the car when i move of slowly.

May go and get it checked but im scared of the bill if its big trouble.

 

[BadTasteUK]

Hmm... I thought my 23mpg from half motorway, half heavy traffic was poor, but seems to be good considering she's a 300E and has the aftermarket aircon which seems to take half the power when I switch it on.

I'm happy now.

 

[Merc190]

Hmm... I thought my 23mpg from half motorway, half heavy traffic was poor, but seems to be good considering she's a 300E and has the aftermarket aircon which seems to take half the power when I switch it on.

I'm happy now.

How much did you pay for aircon and do you think it was worthwhile?

 

[andy_k]

our 230TE turns in an easy 25 mpg around town and 30+ on runs of a decent length. It's always loaded with a fair weight (my PA system) and seems to run a lot better "under load"

Andy

 

[BadTasteUK]

Hi Merc190, the aircon is Diavia, and was already on the car when I bought it. I think it's been on since 1990.

Although when it works it's great, it has cut out on me a few times, and I need to get it looked at. Hopefully it will be a loose connection. :roll:

 

[nickh]

My 230e seems to average just over 30 mpg, with or without Air con switched on, I normally approach 330 - 350 miles before the light comes on on the fuel guage.
Having fully synthetic engine oil and a fresh air filter & plugs made all the difference..

 

[Spike]

Nickh How do you work out 330 miles per tank to be 30 MPG?

Its a 70L tank, 60L (ish) to reserve......330 miles for 60L is more like 20mpg

 

[nickh]

yep - How did I work out 30mpg? that's a good question. my mistake a small type there, in this day of cost concious motoring that's the figures that I tell the wife, bus alas the mpg is sadly lower than that, well spotted..


N

 

[talbir]

My word, how are you guys working out your MPG !

330 miles per 60litres is neither 30mpg and certainly not 20 !

It's 25mpg exactly.

4.54 litres per gallon means 60 litres = 13.2 gallons.

330/13.2 = 24.97 = 25 !

Of course you should be dividing the number of miles driven by the number of litres that actually go into the car when filling up.

 

[Spike]

ROTFL

Yeah your right....I didnt realise that there was Canadian as well as US and English Gallons???

I just assumed the tool I was using was English rather than Canadian.

 

[jaymanek]

Agree strongly with talbir:

Fill the car up, then after you have done a bit of mixed driving, fill it up again... Read off how many litres have gone in to fill up again. Then work out your MPG.

No use using the tank capacity, youll get yourself v upset otherwise!!

 

[talbir]

Canadian and English are the same - Imperial Gallons which is 4.54 litres.

US Gallons are 3.8 litres.


An interesting exerceise would be to analyse the difference in MPG on half-tank and full-tank. There will be a difference of course, due to the additional weight being carried around with a full tank, but what percentage difference does it make to that MPG figure ? Is it really worthwhile to only half-fill the tank each time rather than full-fill ?

My guess is not much - maybe 5% ?

I've been meaning to do this exercise for ages, but keep forgetting every time I am filling up !!

 

[NormanB]

I average 26mpg which is on commuting runs.
On a long trip and taking it 'easy', brim to brim I can get around 29mpg.

I drive until the light comes on and fill up within 20 miles. I record miles elapsed since last fill and obviously quantity of fuel taken to 'top up'. I use the 4.54 litres to the gallon conversion factor.

I confess I am anally retentive and record 'everything in a spreadsheet' with respect to the Merc. My 2 fill ups this month were at 399.2 miles (60.58 litres) which I reckon is 29.92 mpg - and at 382.6 miles (59.4 litres) which I reckon is 29.24 mpg - all achieved on commuting runs (I also leave box in 'S').

NormanB

 

[Spike]

Norman - You say you fill up within 20 miles of the light coming on.....How far have you ever pushed it on reserve?

I know in theory there's about 10 Litres on reserve but that reserve light always scares the hell out of me if I leave it for more than about 10 miles.

 

[NormanB]

Spike

I have never pushed it to be honest.
But it is a 70 litre tank and the most I can ever squeeze in on fill up seems to be 61 or 62 litres so in theory there is around 8 to 9 litres in there - so conservatively around 50 miles or so - but I could not recommend you try that for all sorts of reasons.

I said I fill up within 20 miles because - my commute trip is 34 miles per day, if the light comes on the way home I fill up. If it lights up on my way to work then I fill up on the way home. Of course my odometer is a good guide too!

NormanB

 

[vidfletch]

My 230TE Economy

My car is a 1988 230TE and I get mid to low twenties round town. On long runs and legal motorway progress I get 30mpg. Its only slightly worse than my previous 1989 1.8 VW Passat so I can't complain.

 

[njpumphrey]

I confess I am anally retentive and record 'everything in a spreadsheet' with respect to the Merc. My 2 fill ups this month were at 399.2 miles (60.58 litres) which I reckon is 29.92 mpg - and at 382.6 miles (59.4 litres) which I reckon is 29.24 mpg - all achieved on commuting runs (I also leave box in 'S').

Tee hee. My wife thought I was the only one! I get 26-27mpg on my busy commute and 29-33mpg on holiday. It's a 1984 230TE manual, though, which may make a difference when comparing with newer/automatic 230's.