MPG again!

[BarryY]

I use my Puma daily and get a decent MPG (37-40) on a mix of A and B roads, probably averaging 40mph at the best, but I am planning on a rather longer journey, to Scotland and back, all motorway stuff. Its going to be a long enough journey as it is so I don't plan to stick to 60 all the way to save on fuel but I don't want to be ragging it either. Just a happy medium as most normal people do on motorways really. Anyway my point is what sort of MPG should I expect to get, better or worse than normal?

Cheers,

Barry

 

[Severio]

Hey Barry, 37-40 mpg is about what I'm getting on A-roads, normally I get around 300 miles to a tank driving around 65mph.
Last October I drove up to Dundee from Suffolk, pretty long drive but the puma just loves motorways!

 

[BarryY]

Thanks Sev,

Got to admit I'm looking forward to the long drive, although 500 miles each way with 3 and 9yr old boys in the car and no Mrs with me to referee, it is going to be an interesting trip!

If I can manage to get around 40mpg avg on that trip then I'll be a happy man! I could take the family bus (Espace 2.2Dci) which to be honest wont even manage 40mpg, but its hell to drive compared to the Puma and Mrs Y likes driving it, so she can keep it for the week!

Barry

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Hey Barry,

My family are at the very top of Scotland and I live at the very south of England so I have done this joutnry many times. But I don't share Sev's restraint. I drive the 640 miles through the night so as to miss all the traffic, Leaving at about 7pm and arriving as dawn breaks over the mointains at 6am with 3 or 4 stops and an hours sleep.
But anyway, fuel... For the 640 miles I will start on a full tank, have to fill up 4 times and at my destination, I will normally have quarter - half a tank left. Now sorry, I don't pay any notice to MPG because im not driving my car for best economy.. I drive it because I love it and if fuels costs, then it costs. But with the open bare roads... I might spend some time at 120mph and generally cruising at 80-100mph.
So to give you what I would see as the most you could do, 640 miles, 3 and a half tanks but driving generally at 80-100mph with spots of more than that.
If since you're talking about MPG, I reckon you don't like I do, you may find yourself being able to do such a journey on 2 tanks of fuel for the 600 miles.

Hope this will give you a 'no more than' perspective.

Mac

 

[Dal]

If you go steady you should see about 45mpg if you anticipate well.

We did a similar trip a few years back : http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1777&p=19152" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Right pedal uses fuel : middle pedal wastes it.

 

[BarryY]

Mac,

Much as I love driving, I can't see myself doing 120 with the kids in the car. I also plan to go overnight although I'm only going as far as Inverness so I'm probably a bit of a southerner to you.
I think a steady run keeping around 70-80 should be the best of both worlds.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Certainly not.. i go to Forres which is 25 miles from Ness.
And ofcourse, wee ones in the back is a different matter. 70-80 is more than enough. Where are you setting off from??
If driving at night on the empty roads, after Perth there are two speed cameras both in lit up areas.

I always time it so the sun starts rising as im hitting the A9, gorgeous in the morning.....

 

[LOONEY]

your car looking very good sir

 

[BarryY]

I'm heading off from just outside Reading. The A9 is a nightmare road. I was caught on the Blair atthol bypass many years ago going down the hill overtaking traffic, there used to be a camera there too, but it may have gone now it's years since I've driven up. Flying used to be cheap but the prices have gone sky high. That's one of the reasons I was working out mpg so I could compare the cost of driving to flying. Cheaper to drive if I take the boys, cheaper to fly if I go on my own.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Ha, yeah that camera has gone! The A9 is fine now, only 2 northbound after Glasgow and 1 southbound, that was in May. And I agree about the flights into Dalcross. I take my car now just so I have the flexibility of getting around up there really, but I go up passed Reading and took the M6 Toll route. I would say youre on about 2 and a half tanks at 70-80mph and take about 10hrs including stops. Lovely hitting the toll at night with just the odd truck on it..... no cameras.... 120mph... lol

 

[Stevecvo]

I frankly dont believe these tales of 50+ mpg cruising at 70 mph. The Puma's gearing is too low for this to be achievable and there is probably an element of miscalculation because the fuel used has not been accurately established.. If you stick to 65 mph that equates to just over 3000 rpm and I would imagine that 45 mpg is realistic with an engine in good nick. I find that the sort of mpg I achieve on A and B roads is not improved much on motorways because the engine tends to be turning over faster.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I frankly dont believe these tales of 50+ mpg cruising at 70 mph. The Puma's gearing is too low for this to be achievable and there is probably an element of miscalculation because the fuel used has not been accurately established.. If you stick to 65 mph that equates to just over 3000 rpm and I would imagine that 45 mpg is realistic with an engine in good nick. I find that the sort of mpg I achieve on A and B roads is not improved much on motorways because the engine tends to be turning over faster.

Agreed... I'd say mine was closer to 30.

 

[BarryY]

I'm heading up on the 17th Aug so I will let you know what I get. Sometimes I do wish it had a 6th gear though, it would make it just that bit lower revving when cruising, which would allow it to be slightly quieter and increase the MPG by a bit too. Has anyone tried to fit a 6 speed box?

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Not that i know of but what a good idea for the techies here!!

 

[Puma1700Sno]

I frankly dont believe these tales of 50+ mpg cruising at 70 mph. The Puma's gearing is too low for this to be achievable and there is probably an element of miscalculation because the fuel used has not been accurately established.. If you stick to 65 mph that equates to just over 3000 rpm and I would imagine that 45 mpg is realistic with an engine in good nick. I find that the sort of mpg I achieve on A and B roads is not improved much on motorways because the engine tends to be turning over faster.

Thirded! There's also the aspect that you're only actually doing 70 when the speedo says 74 on a facelift model! This equates to about 3700 RPM.

 

[spectre17]

44.32 MPG. Best average. Then mine is a 1.6...

The other thing gets 12-17 depending on how lead footed I am.

 

[Ginger Tom]

Iirc, I don't think there are any ib5 gearboxes with six gears, this may be due to the physical size of the box being too small, you'll need a box out of the focus for 6

 

[BarryY]

Question is Tom, will a Focus box fit a Puma? I suspect it would need an adaptor plate of some sort. Judging by some of the ambitious and very cleverly engineered projects I've seen on here so far I'd be surprised if someone has not tried it.

I wish I had the time and spare cash to tackle a big project, oh yeah and not forgetting the skill too!!

 

[Puma1700Sno]

I asked my mechanic whether a 6 speed ST170 box would fit in a Puma. I was told that it would fit provided that custom ordered driveshafts (to the mm) were also fitted!

 

[Ginger Tom]

Custom made drive shafts? On a whim I recon you could make them your self considering I'm running xr2 drive shafts in a puma gearbox, fair enough they are the same box but the old man runs vauxhall f13 drive shafts with the original cv's on the gearbox side and the 100mm cv's off of a seirra on the hub side in his race car. Make sure the splines are the same ie coarse or fine, I should imagine the thicknesses are the same but check, and start swapping.

Before you all jump down my throat, no I haven't done any research into the sizes and like I said its a whim that I'm going on. I would go down the scrapers and get a drive shaft from each and see if/what you can swap if you are serious about it, could save yourself a fortune in costs having them made up