Adventra/LS1 economy improvements

[Fredo]

First post - be gentle!!!

I've been looking seriously at an Adventra with the LS1 engine. I have heard (could be hear-say!!!) that the LS1 engine's economy and performance can be drastrically improved with fiddling with the computer and bigger air intake.

Can someone please shed some light on this. I'm not specifically mechanically minded, but love to get the best out of my vehicles. I read somewhere that the Adventra returns around 12.5-13l/100km on the highway. I imagine with a couple of simple improvements I could hopefully get that mileage down to around the 11'sl/100km which is what I get out of my work car (Ecotec V6, VYII) on gas!!! If my Adventra returned those figures then it would be very cost effective.

Does anyone have any expereience with the new Alloytec engines in the Adventra. It seems the V6 Adventra has been very slow to get going and put out into the market.

There are quite a few low mileage Adventra's hitting the secondhand market - some at very good prices. I guess if you put the LX8 Adventra head-to-head with it's rivals (Volvo, Audi, etc) then it makes for a very well equiped vehicle.

Hope you guys can help with my queries.

FREDO

[HSVREDSLED]

An 'edit' tune leans out the amount of fuel your engine requires to operate. This modification is almost always done for performance, and the happy by product is generally a 1 to 2 litre /100km improvement in economy. But, as reported by many, after an edit, everyones right foot gets a bit heaver due to the thrill of the extra power, therefore the improved fuel economy is not always noticed.

Based on todays petrol prices, if you did an edit for economy puposes only and resisted the heavy footedness, you would break even somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000ks. (This is assuming approx $1500 for a tune and approx $1 a litre for petrol)

[Febs]

True, but you get a tune first for performance, second for economy. :cool: :D

I couldn't tell you about Adventras, because I've only driven a stock one around the suburbs for a day and it averaged 20L/100km...but my LS1 Calais went from:

180rwkw, averaging 14-15L/100km with a highway/city mix
to
223rwkw, average 12.8-13.3L/100km with a highway/city mix

With just a full exhaust, MCAI ($20), lower diff gears and mafless tune ("edit" as it's become known). I haven't done an entire tank of non-stop highway driving yet, but I'm doing a 6,000km NT trip in a few weeks, so I'll report back if you like. Expecting as good as sub 11L/100km on some parts. :)

Cheers,
- Febs.

[Fredo]

Febs,
Look forward to hearing your report. Mind you when you cross the border to the NT your foot may decide to get heavy due to the "Canonball Run" speed limits.

FREDO

[Nemo]

I have an HSV Avalanche and i get about 14-15 ltr/100 around town and 10-11ltr/100 on the hwy so i would think the adventura would be better !
the hype about fuel eco was a bit mis-leading i think

[Febs]

Febs,
Look forward to hearing your report. Mind you when you cross the border to the NT your foot may decide to get heavy due to the "Canonball Run" speed limits.

Yeah that's the trouble. Even on a NSW-SA-VIC trip you find yourself sitting on a lot more than 110 at times. I'll try to do one tank near the speed limit to get a reasonable idea.

Expecting a bit under 13L for the whole trip on average, due to the higher speeds in NT and the 3.46 diff gears (great around town, but worse on the highway).

Cheers,
- Febs.

[Febs]

the hype about fuel eco was a bit mis-leading i think

Sorry, the temptation to post this photo was too great:

http://homepage.mac.com/meber/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2004-10-24%2007.40.04%20-0700/Image-60F9B22425C911D9.jpg

:D

Cheers,
- Febs.

[Fredo]

Nemo,
That's pretty good economy. You must drive the Avalanche quite respectfully. I'm not a lead foot and drive all my cars steadily. I know why journo's and the like would get high return figures - a) it's a test vehicle and b) it's not their own car!!!

Good to hear...

FREDO

[Avalanche]

i can vouch for the ecconomy figures almost identical to nemo. And that has a good mix of full throttle application in it. But if u are crunching fuel figures so closley u might as well look at something a bit lighter & smaller. Fuel is last on my priority list for a vehicle requirement. There is no such thing as a free ride :)

[lxhatch]

Hi Fredo,

11.6 best tank, 18.9 worst tank, last 6000k ave 15.1 L/100. Last nights tank 13.7l/100 50/50 hiway/city. VYII Ava. - What ever HSV does to the Adventra may help in that department.

It certainly gets a rev every and then though :D

Febs - great photo of a gaggle of wagons. :)

[Les9508]

Hi all, I have an Adventra which was a vic police CIB car. I get around 12.3 – 12.8 on a country run with the cruse control on or off sitting on 100 kph. Do police vehicles have different computer setting to standard adventras ?
:driving:
ps; its a CX8.

[who_me_?]

I'll put in my V6 (LX6) comment...

Driving around town for a full tank I might see 16l/100kms but on a trip (on cruise control at just over 110km/h most of the time except slowing for towns etc.) the norm will be 11.5 to 12.

Slowing to 100, can give a average at least 10% less fuel usage. My car has nevertheless averaged (over the last 12months/40000kms) 12.2l/100kms which isn't that bad I suppose but a little better would be nice...

Anyway I passed on the V8 because it had no ESP (or HDC but that isn't that useful judging from when I used it in my X5 before) and for the 5 speed auto the V6 came with. Trouble is, the V6 sounds awful IMHO !

A lot more options for tuning the V8 than the V6 - the ECU is a bit too advanced to allow easy modification apparently...

[brody05]

Got the LX8. Last 2000kms = 14.7lts/100.

Fuel is the thing on everyones mind but it only makes up about 25% ( a guesstimate so dont jump on me if its out) of total cost of a vehicle. The depreciation on my SS was nearly 20k over 4 years (was nearly 2 years old when I bought it). my calculations makes that $100- per week, no where near how much fuel I put in.

Got a mate with a Ford V6 territory and he gets 15.1 lts/100, makes me laugh considering I have 2 more cylinders and more power to boot.

My 2c

[warlobo]

I've had two Adventras now, edit, exhaust, and intake done in the first which got me around 470-500km around town (and near on 300kw) which is quite good I reckon for a 2 tonner. About to edit the current VZ 5.7 as I'm struggling to get much above 400km even if I try. The torque gains improve economy considerably I believe, clearly above 550km range on the highway. A good tuner will activate the "lean burn" option in the edit for you which should increase your highway range above the 550..

Not fantastic but not many 4WD/AWD on the road that could better it whilst being able to accelerate out of a paper bag.. (economy doesnt count if you need a cut lunch to reach 100kmph and the Nullabor to overtake).

[Nemo]

My Avalanche now has 86,000k's on the clock. Last weekend I drove From Home (near Geelong) to Morwell and the fuel consumption was 10.2 for the trip and 10.1 for the trip home. Can't complain about that. By the way it's for sale if anyones interested. :1peek:

[MTC]

My Avalanche now has 86,000k's on the clock. Last weekend I drove From Home (near Geelong) to Morwell and the fuel consumption was 10.2 for the trip and 10.1 for the trip home. Can't complain about that. By the way it's for sale if anyones interested. :1peek:

How much for Nemo?

[Nemo]

$45000ish, It's wearing genuine HSV Coupe'4 19inch rims and has genuine coulson front seats with all the memory functions. Black on Black.:woohoo:

[brody05]

Oops.......

edited out miss-interpretation.

[possum22]

The best I got on my CX8 was 11.8L/100km on the trip meter sitting on about 97 kph with very little passing.

15.2 L/100 over the last 20000 km which includes town & hwy driving, with up to 29L/100 avg speed 20 kph in town.

The highest DTE I seen in 560 kms.

[lxhatch]

With 36000k now on the clock, I've averaged 14.7L/100 for that distance.
Heaps of "spirited" driving (in controlled conditions of couse), included in that figure
Too much city work lately :vpo:

best tank went 700k's with about 2L left...phew, THAT was close. :)