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Vehicle Fuel Efficiency - Hot topic 4 every1 in a recession
#1
Came across this today, purely randomly...

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... -batmobile

I think their estimation is a *little* pessimistic, is it not!? (I'll have to get my spreadsheets geared up for this summer for the D instead of for the M3 as usual! :wink: )
Rissy
(Forum Member 288)
(DOC Member 663)

May 1981 vin#1458 "LEX"
Grey, Flapped, Black
Chassis: #1073
Engine: #2839

Main Car(s):
2005 BMW M3 in Velvet Blue
2010 Honda Civic Type R in Sapphire Blue (1 of 115 made)
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#2
before I tweaked my car last year, I was getting around 17mpg, I now get low-mid 20's mpg.
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#3
Talking of fuel efficiency, I've pretty much come to a conclusion after a 3 month trial and experiment that it is cheaper to run the M3 on Super UL instead of premium. So on this topic, with this in mind, I now think "has anyone ever tried Super UL in their D's?"....so, I now voice this question aloud.....?
Rissy
(Forum Member 288)
(DOC Member 663)

May 1981 vin#1458 "LEX"
Grey, Flapped, Black
Chassis: #1073
Engine: #2839

Main Car(s):
2005 BMW M3 in Velvet Blue
2010 Honda Civic Type R in Sapphire Blue (1 of 115 made)
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#4
Guinney1971 Wrote:before I tweaked my car last year, I was getting around 17mpg, I now get low-mid 20's mpg.

...mmm yes I rather imagine you did, I've not forgotten how quickly your convoy managed to get to Fleetwood the other year :wink:

I haven't tried the super-plus stuff in my DeLorean... which manages to average late 20s at worst, and normally low-mid 30s.

I am however sad enough to have tried the spreadsheet method to calculate the it worked out cheaper to run my Scirocco on BP unleaded-premium, but only when the differential to the higher cost per litre was less than 4p... the sneaky garages don't tend to have the really big signs warning me its now closer to 10p/l more expensive... funny that.

JohnC
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#5
...yeah, it's quite a strict balance between where to buy your fuel, and the difference in pence per litre between suppliers of both Premium and Super alike, and extra things like club card points thrown in etc for some places.

However, I've worked out that on a given known journey which I've done many times before, as long as I achieve 15 extra miles for the same quantity of fuel, but with Super instead of Premium, and the difference is only 7p per litre, then I break even on the cost. Get an extra 32 miles for that same journey, and I start saving 1p per mile driven!

For a difference of 8p per litre, those figures change to 18 extra miles to break even, and 35 to start saving that penny per mile driven.

As an example, on this same given known journey, using Premium, the last time I drove it, I managed 354 miles to the tank 29mpg). After flushing through the engine/tank a couple of times with the Super stuff, I only needed to achieve 369 miles to break even, or 386 to start saving that penny per mile driven. I actually managed 410 to the same tank of fuel! (nearly 34mpg! That's a saving of 2p per mile driven at today's fuel costs with that difference being 7p per litre even between where I bought the Super fuel (BP) and the nearest Tesco selling the Premium stuff! Stuff the club card points at that point I say!

I'm still not sure of a difference between the major suppliers of the Super stuff i.e. Shell v's BP etc, but I've tried both, first the Shell VPower, and then the BP stuff. I've getting better mpg with the BP stuff right now, but I think that's mostly down the it being pure, whereas when I was trying the VPower, it was still diluted with a % of Premium while I was still going through the "flushing" process.

Point I've found though, is that you definitely have to run a few tanks through the engine to start seeing a real difference.

Even using the Super in a tank mostly being used for cold start, short journey's, with a few motorway journey's of about 30 miles at a time, on my current tank of fuel i'm running right now, I'm expecting to get about 370 miles from the tank. Still even more than that achieved on a straight motorway journey, with only 2 stops throughout the whole tank's worth of Premium fuel!
Rissy
(Forum Member 288)
(DOC Member 663)

May 1981 vin#1458 "LEX"
Grey, Flapped, Black
Chassis: #1073
Engine: #2839

Main Car(s):
2005 BMW M3 in Velvet Blue
2010 Honda Civic Type R in Sapphire Blue (1 of 115 made)
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#6
I seem to recall a couple of years ago people using 'premium fuels' in their De's and then having
no end of trouble with blocked injectors, as some of these fuels also contain a sort of 'detergent'
that cleans the fuel.

I'll be sticking to the normal stuff in my De, and of course LPG in the Omega Wink
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#7
BP Ultimate killed mine.

Accidentally stuck the wrong stuff in my D but was well chuffed with the results - for a couple of weeks. Over time the engine developed the odd misfire and and increasing lack of power.

Culimanting in a trip down the M1 where I could barely do 5 MPH with my foot to the floor in first Shock

I was a nightmare trying to track the fault down. I never expected it to be my brand new injectors that had been blocked up by the 'cleaning action' of the fuel. My engine tuning has still not fully recovered from the saga....
Richard H. DOC 365 VIN 1274
http://www.deloreans.co.uk
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.
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