V8 fuel consumption

[vh-holden]

Everytime i mention V8 in our house, i get a lecture from dad about them being uneconomical and impractical cos they use too much fuel. I've told him a heap of times now that they aren't that bad anymore. He refuses to shift his stance. I told him he needs to stop basing judgements on his motor magazines from the 70s and move with the times. That just made him more stubborn.

So

Does anyone know of any charts etc that show the improvement in V8 fuel consumption. Or even better, something showing that they are more fuel efficient than the 202 in the vh? I did a google search and couldn't really find anything, so was wondering if anyone knew of anything, or had it in a magazine etc?

i realise they aren't as good on fuel as some smaller engines, but they aren't the big bad thing he makes them out to be.

thanks

adam

[VY2 LS1]

Adam,

For an average working week of driving: -
for an LS1 V8 stock, if driven reasonably carefully in the city, you get 430kms for a tank of 60 litres of 91ULP. In the country you get 600kms for 60 litres allowing for some town driving. These numbers are not far different from a V6. The V8 gets poor petrol consumption if you spend a lot of time sitting at the lights or stuck in traffic jams. It is however a lot better than just about every similar sized 4WD.

As far as a 202 kingswood is concerned, I would imagine they would get 23-25 mpg in city driving, that is on average around 500kms for 60 litres.

So the difference could be 70kms per week or no more than $6 to $7 per week in petrol costs.

That is pretty much the deal I think.

Of course, if you need WOT (and the associated better brakes), it is there in the V8 and if used occasionally, it doesnt affect your petrol consumption.

[Wonky]

Adam,

For a while before I could afford an LS1 I had an 87 Fairmont Ghia wagon and the LS1 pi$$es all over it for economy both city and highway and goes a heck of a lot harder. My daughter just sold a VB Commodore six cyl which had less than 100,000km on it (been in the family since new) and it was again far worse on petrol than any of the LS1s I've had.

I think you're right, your dad is probably still thinking of V8 economy in his day............ As you have no doubt seen plenty of times on here, most people have no problem getting 10l/100km or under (some down into 8's) on the highway at 100+ kmh - in the old language that's 30mpg and even better! Sure can't complain about that!! Being where you're from you aren't going to get stuck in Sydney or Melbourne type traffic jams which kill your economy.

Gary

[Rick76]

If driven normally the LS1 is quite economical, especially the manual. Its definitely more economical than the old Holden V8.

I have an LS1 M6 and versus my previous ride (96 Rodeo 2.6L 5 Speed) there is little difference. In exactly the same conditions, traffic, roads and driving style I average 13.5-14.5 normal city driving (Mixture of peak hour stop start in 60kmh zones and freeway driving each day - with the odd WOT stab to clear out the cob webs). My Rodeo was averaging 12.5 for the same journey and no doubt going a bit slower as well. For highway cruising the Monaro would easily match it with the tall 6th gear. Not to mention the fact that the 4 pot only had 1/3 of the power and no need to thrash the Monaro just to keep up with the flow of traffic. Obviously if the foot gets a bit heavy the V8 consumption goes up.

At the very most its costing me $10 more per week (probably more like $6) 5.7 vs 2.6 and I know which one I'd rather be driving. ;)

Prior to the Rodeo I was driving a VN V6 which was getting 12s for city driving but I had less heavy traffic to deal with then than I do now.

A VN V8 auto I owned previously struggled to get in to the 15s city driving (10s HWY) and modified VH 308 struggled to get near 20L/100km ;)

[tlr1000]

Average 460km / 63L . A hell of a lot better than my Lj 308 that i had before my utes.

[mmciau]

L/100km MPG
8.0000 35.29
8.2500 34.22
8.5000 33.21
8.7500 32.26
9.0000 31.37
9.2500 30.52
9.5000 29.72
9.7500 28.95
10.0000 28.23
10.2500 27.54
10.5000 26.89
10.7500 26.26
11.0000 25.66
11.2500 25.09
11.5000 24.55
11.7500 24.03
12.0000 23.53

Mike

PM me for the whole chart if you need it

[Danv8]

I use to have a LJ Torana XU1 replica and my edited VY2 Calais drinks less than that!

[Angeldust]

i had a 202 torana befor i converted it to 308.

the 202 would easily chew thru 15l / 100 k's
the old holley fed 308 was over 22l/ 100 k's

so yeah, my gen 3 only uses 15-16L/100 k's thru heavy city driving
and much much less on the highway , especially when the traffic is flowing.

even the old holden EFI 5.0L as used in Vn onwards was quite economical and when i had the VR SS it only consumed approx 15L/100 average ( similar to my ls1 )

[forcedindction]

so yeah, my gen 3 only uses 15-16L/100 k's thru heavy city driving
and much much less on the highway , especially when the traffic is flowing.


Only hey !! That is around 3 times as much as a Golf TDI. Real fuel efficient :p

[NinetySix]

show your old man the official fuel consumption figures from holden

[Wonky]

L/100km MPG
8.0000 35.29
8.2500 34.22
...............
11.7500 24.03
12.0000 23.53

Mike

PM me for the whole chart if you need itEasy to calculate yourself if you have a calculator (or mobile phone with calculator etc).

The two numbers always multiply to give 282 (approx) so all you need to do is remember the magic figure 282 (the hard part :) ), grab a calculator and just calculate one from the other (either way) by dividing the known figure INTO 282.

eg. 15.2 l/100km = 282/15.2 = 18.55 mpg
eg. 20 mpg = 282/20 = 14.1 l/100km

[Oztrack Tuning]

I have had the following cars
1. HJ 5.0L Statesman lucky to see over 23mpg ever usually well under 20mpg
2. Escort 1300cc - very rarely better than 30mpg 9.4L/100km only on trips. Usually around 25mpg 11.2L/100km city highway driving
3. Torana UC 202 - rarely better than 25MPG 11.2L/100km almost never over 30MPG, could do 21 some tanks 13L/100km
4. VH 5.0 SS 3.08 auto - rarely better ever than 25mpg on open road. Usually lucky to get better than 20mpg 14L/100km from a tank.
5. VR Commodore V6 Acclaim A4 3.08 - never better than 30mpg from a tank - most tanks around 12.0L/100km 23MPG
6. Current LS1 A4 Cam 11.5s will do on a trip 26mpg - if just cruising near to 30mpg, last 4 tanks 15L/100km 18.6MPG average speed 53kph so a mix of driving.

On a trip along the Hume Hwy to Canberra at 110kph this car is just as economical as the best of them.

It is also the heaviest car of all of them - so that would certainly effect city type economy.

[pv_297]

I recently took my Ls2 6 litre on a trip to Albury and surrounds.
With the 6 speed manual I was running at 8.9litres per 100klms.
Combined hills and flat using the gears as they should be used gave it good consumption. Around town it runs stop start at 16.8 to 17.2. Still not that bad.
The old saying, no use having the car if you can't afford to run it.

[Benno25]

Yeah i don't think they are that bad on fuel. When i first bought mine i expected it to be a lot worse. If i am just cruising around then it aint much worse than my old mans v6

[VXSS346]

From my experience:

My first car was a VP V6 commodore and driving it to work and back everyday sensibily, I averaged about 12.5-13.5 L/100kms.

Then when I bought my LS1 stock standard, and doing exactly the same driving route and also driving sensibly, I averaged 13.5-14.5L/100kms.

So exactly 1L/100kms more in the suburbs driven sensibily.

On the highway, about 8.5L/100kms (V6), 9L/100kms (LS1) over the same drive.

If you hammer a V6 and a V8 though, you'll find the consumption difference will be much higher. (Probably 20L/100kms vs 30L/100kms, at a guess)

Also, as mentioned earlier, if idling for long periods, V8's fuel economy suffers more, as well as continous stop start traffic jams (0-30, 30-0, every 10 seconds or so.)

Hope this helps.

[JamesL]

I normally get high 16's with city driving.. I driver like I am driving Ms Daisy.

:)

[German Statesman]

I don't have an LS1, but it seems that the old boy is pigeon-holing all V8s into one category.

My 4/95 BMW 740il has a 4.0L M60 V8, 32 valves, DOHC all alloy. Currently, the old girl has 281,000kms on her, and runs on Mobil 1.

Average mpg around town - 20-21; If I'm thrifty - 24mpg

Average mpg on a long trip - 32-33mpg; If I'm thrifty - 34.5mpg

Ready for the sphincter puckerer?

Early one Brisbane morning, I jammed her full to the cap with Optimax, hit the cruise control and headed south-west with me, an overnight bag, some presents for my daughter and four wine boxes full of crime fiction books for her grandparents - 8 hours later, I rolled into Dubbo with a fraction under 1/4 tank left and 250kms to empty.....in the 35 degree dry western heat with the climate control on 18 degrees and sitting on a steady 100km/h, my 2 tonne 250,000km (at the time) V8 BMW had averaged 30-31mpg all the way to Dubbo and could have gone on another 2 to 2-1/2 hours at that speed before needing to find a servo.

I thought that was pretty good until a German on a BMW internet forum told me he was getting 40mpg out of a 4.0L V8 turbo diesel 740d all day every day.

[vh-holden]

thanks for those figures guys. i'll give it a bit longer and tally it all up.