Quote: Originally posted by atomic al on 11/12/2007
Has anyone ever managed to achieve the manfacturers fuel figures on a regular basis.
What an interesting question!!
Until recently, I had a LWB 2000 Isuzu Trooper Citation 3.0D. I had it for 7 years and did over 100,000 miles in it. I checked the fuel consumption just about every tankful - so I should be able to answer your question. Unfortunately, I don't think I can.
The official figures for the Trooper are:
Urban - 20.8 mpg
Extra-urban - 32.5 mpg
Combined - 26.9 mpg
Driving the car solo I always did better than 20.8 mpg. In fact, I did better than that towing a Lunar Saturn up the motorway, but I guess that is extra-urban, so doesn't count. I achieved a figure as high as 32.5mpg only a few times - and that was footling around on holiday in Scotland. On a normal week (whatever one of those is), I averaged somewhere between 25mpg and 26mpg. If I also factor into the equation the fact that the Trooper's odometer read 7% high (i.e. told me I was doing more miles than I really was), I doubt that I did really achieve any of the manufacturer's figues, despite the fact that I generally have a very light right foot.
I've had a 2005 Nissan Patrol 3.0Di SVE for a couple of months and haven't really got a serious handle on its fuel consumption. One real difference I need to bear in mind is that the odometer (and the speedo) are absolutely spot on.
The official figures for the Nissan are:
Urban - 19.8 mpg
Extra-urban - 32.1 mpg
Combined - 26.2 mpg
i.e. a touch worse than the Trooper's - but not significantly worse. I've had one tankful that included a longish trip (maybe two thirds of the mileage between refills) and got just over 27mpg. At every other refill so far, I've calculated a figure of 23.5 mpg. (If you multiple that by 1.07, it comes to just about what the Trooper's consumption said its consumption was when it lied to me).
It's possible that I might achieve the Patrol's quoted extra-urban figure - but it'll be next summer before I discover whether I actually do. I'd be very surprised if I get close to the combined figure on a regular basis - but I probably don't do enough out of town mileage in a normal week to do that.
So, do I get close to the official figures? I'm da***d if I know.
Cheers
Andrew