VE SS Fuel Consumption

[darb]

Hi guys,

have a ute, VE SS, manual 6 speed ... wondering what fairly easy (non expensive) options there are to reducing fuel usage? Currently around the city driving very grandpa'is, fair bit of stop start / inner city, and a little bit of freeway, it'll be somewhere between 15 - 17l/100.

Is a company vehicle so spending on tunes and physical mods is really outta the question.

Country driving with a fair amount of vigorous overtaking, and sitting somewhere around 120 cruise ... somewhere between 11 - 13.

Am trying to refine the technique with the manual ... they seem to use more than an auto (around town anyway).

I must say the engine sometimes doesnt feel as free as it should. Has done 10,000k's

Any tips / ideas? I remember an old trick in the VN days of unplugging batteries to reset an ECU that had learned badly etc.

Fuel type? Am running ultimate ... though its exxy, any merit in running a lower octan fuel (does the computer auto detect fuel type, does it matter?)

[RyanIAm]

Might sound stupid but is it loaded up in the tray?

[darb]

nah mate, other than a few things like maybe some camping gear or whateer for the weekend.

[tim_k]

Change gears above 2200rpm. If you change lower, you end up feeding more fuel to try and push the car forward (gas pedal down further). The engine isn't labouring as such, but it may as well be.

[darb]

tim nice tip ... ive been changing sub 2000rpm (when consciously trying to re-teach myself to drive sedately that is) ...i often wondered if avoiding anything higher was infact the key or not (ie the under 2000 the engine is having to struggle more and might just send more juice.).

so you reckon on an average take off to say 80 clicks, change somewhere around 2500?

[RyanIAm]

You are running the tonneau cover aren't you.. hmm. I live in Sydney Metro and running around the burbs i've seen on my last tank 16L/100. Highway is fantastic, down to 9.7/9.8 at times, but I think that is because of the hard lid I have which decreases wind resistance at high speeds. I was behind an SSV the other day, doing about 80k's and the tonneau was flapping around though i think the distinguishable difference would be nil.

I think it's just the combination of a V8 in a heavy car and it will suck juice around the suburbs, i'm hoping a mafless tune will improve the economy a tad tho i supoose it depends how heavier the right foot becomes with the increase in RWKW :1peek::1peek:

[tim_k]

I just change up quickly (but not gunning it) so as I'm not chewing a lot of fuel when I do get to cruising speed. Does your car have an instantaneous fuel readout? I average about 14l/100 @ 40km/h in city driving.

[darb]

it has instant in the engineering mode ... havent really paid too much attention to it.

I guess a test could be to bumble along at a certain speed and compare say 2500rpm in one gear vs 1800rpm in another gear and try and work out where the sweet spots are.

All very pedantic but with 15 - 17l/100 averages while i alerady feel im grandpa driving it ... im thinking must be something wrong with my technique, or something else amiss.

any firmware updates or anything like that? maybe computer has learned something retarded timingwise or unhappy with fuel mixture? (ecuse my ignorance on how the computer timing works etc ... dont know a whole lot :) )

have never ever seen anything under 10.5 .. even at 105km/h on a flat road with no wind, in 6th gear, and no load.

re the cover, yep its a soft tonneau ... though ive always had soft tonneaus and never thought it'd have much bearing? (hadnt thought of that tho!)

ps : I read everywhere that tunes basically improve power and efficiency, without fail. Why on earth would car manufacturers not tune them this way from the get go? (especially from a marketing perspective mroe grunt and fuel efficiency)

[RyanIAm]

ps : I read everywhere that tunes basically improve power and efficiency, without fail. Why on earth would car manufacturers not tune them this way from the get go? (especially from a marketing perspective mroe grunt and fuel efficiency)

Much safer to run it rich, i guess less chance of warranty issues from leaning out too far etc, and as a safety factor if you get a dud bunch of fuel.

[VTR8Clubby]

My tuned LS1 returns approx 16L/100 at an average speed of 35-40. I've been driving Holden V8's since I got my license(15 years ago) and this is awesome economy for a V8. My old HQ 350 used to do about 25-30L/100 and could only run a flat 14sec 1/4 mile. My VL 5.0L did approx 20L/100 and it was slower.
It's a V8. Get used to it.

[Marco]

Hmm....my sedan does 13-14/100 in driving around Canberra (which is mostly 80km/h and traffic-free), gets about the same as your ute in country driving, and is somewhere between 8.5-10/100 on freeway runs. Doesn't sound like yours is too far off the mark really.

[darb]

yeh i just did a 20km stint at 100clicks flat road and sat on about 8.5 - 9.0 (a couple of stop starts).

wasnt whinging just wondered if it was too high but given the figures other are saying, it aint :)

[JD`s]

Piece of fourby 2 under the pedal does wonders too!!!:jester:

[Boom]

give it back to your boss

[OUTAtheBloo]

Anyone thats had an LS1 and has gone to a VE, have you found economy better or worse ?

Dan

[Wonky]

Anyone thats had an LS1 and has gone to a VE, have you found economy better or worse ?

Dan
Dan,

I've had 3 LS1s and now the VE (admittedly the VE has about 45rwkw more power than any of the LS1s had). On the highway/freeway at 100kmh virtually no difference but around town (30 to 40kmh ave speed) I find the VE is around 1 to 1.5 L/100km worse than the LS1s. Probably the extra weight is a reasonably significant factor in that......

Gary

[ryno]

Driving round Perth, with no freeway driving but doing about 60 kms a day in peak traffic I average 14.2L. This is using Ultimate 98 and not trying to drive like a nanna. Just drive it how I feel like at the time.

The worse I have had from a tank was 15.8 and thats cause I flogged the death out of it. On the last Ls1 cruise I averaged 12.2L and that involved a combination of spirited takeoffs and country driving.

I think fuel quality makes a big difference.

[darb]

give it back to your boss

Dont be silly now.

[atomicgreen ssv]

My SSV Ute is currently running on standard unleaded petrol and i have been getting 13.5L around town (average speed is 40kph). I have typically been shifting between 1800rpm and 2800rpm (there are exceptions ) which i have found enables me to travel at the speed of traffic.

I am going to use Premium next time i fill the tank to see if i get better results.

[johno5.7]

stock standard VYII clubby gets consistently 12.8 - 13.5 / 100kmin the burbs driving.

consistently 9.3 / 100km on country trip Perth to Bunbury and back.

[youngstar]

If it is a company ute why do you worry about fuel usage ? :confused:

Surely you also have a fuel card to go with it ?

Drive it like you stole it & if you are getting under 20L/100km you are not trying hard enough ! :rofl:

[Boom]

I normally get around 12/100 with a mixture of driving, down to as low as mid 7/100 on freeway driving, with an average speed of a little over the posted limit. I didnt buy the car for fuel economy and dont drive it for economy. It does amuse me though with some people who buy a V8 and then go for economy. By the way I consider that the VE would be more economical than most other cars I have owned. Not too many of the old cars got anywhere near 30mpg

[darb]

yeh i didnt say i was "worried" guys. But by the same token the subject interests me & in hearing some of the other figures jotted around wonder about my driving style and/or the vehicle (when im in a decidedly sedate driving style ... we all know what happens when you consciously hammer it! :) )

oh and i do have a conscience somewhat ... even if it is just a case of not wanting to stop to fill up as often!! :)


I normally get around 12/100 with a mixture of driving, down to as low as mid 7/100 on freeway driving, with an average speed of a little over the posted limit. I didnt buy the car for fuel economy and dont drive it for economy. It does amuse me though with some people who buy a V8 and then go for economy. By the way I consider that the VE would be more economical than most other cars I have owned. Not too many of the old cars got anywhere near 30mpg

i think perhaps youre misinterpreting a conversation on the matter, as being a "whinge" on the matter ... or perhaps im misunderstanding your percieved tone/manner :)

I was more just trying to establish what is "normal" for that vehicle. Some others seem to be getting lower figures than i do.

[Boom]

The cars are all different, the drivers are all different. I do however run 98 fuel whenever I can and I do notice a difference in economy. i regularly do drives of up to 5 hours, so you do tend to notice the difference, as opposed to lots of short trips where you only notice that you getting close to empty every now and then.
You drive what you were given. I chose my car and really couldnt give a rats about fuel usage.

[darb]

heh goodo man.

oh nah i hand picked my car (ordered from factory with options).

yeah im not stressin about fuel efficiency, but im still entitled to be interested & curious about it :)