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Volvo that gets the best MPG

Just drove my V90 1000 miles trip (NYC - Canada round trip) and it ran about 22-23 mpg on highway, cruising at 69 mph/2600 rpm. Loaded with 2 kids+wife+ luggage+ empty roof bike rack. 91 or 93 octane fuel. Ran 87 octane for 150 miles, got lower mpg as expected. As expected warmer temperatures while driving southward, I saw better mpg. Worst was through a snow storm around Quebec City at about 20 mpg.

Empty 855T highway would be 26-27 mpg. Loaded like the V90, my 855T would do 23-24 mpg. Same factors.

My 244 would get 27 back in the day.
 
Ryan_R said:
Ironically, I bet an Amazon tuned for economy might do best. Weren't the factory numbers like 35mpg? Ahh.. the pre-cat days. :-P
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I got about 38mpg on my mostly stripped out 1966 on the trip from the Bay Area to Portland and that was with the BW35... if well tuned with a manual gearbox, they can get pretty awesome mileage as they are very light with minimal engine displacement (B18). I'm building a 1967 now, though the ultimate goal is to put an mTDI in it for ultimate mileage...
 
I was doing a Goggle search and came across this dead thread.



I did some speed testing with my 1997 Volvo 960 when I was down in Naples in July of 07.

The test road is Rt 41 between Naples and Miami. I like this road for testing because it is very flat and most of the traffic now takes I-75 across the state. My starting point was the turn off for Everglades City. I ran 10 miles east then turned around and ran west back to my starting point.

Scan gauge readings were as follows.
Sg is extremely accurate to the pump fill numbers.
As long as you stop at the next .25 after the first click of the nozzle.

The MPG of each 20 mile run is as follows.

50 mph 35.4 mpg
55 mph 33.9 mpg
60 mph 31.15 mpg
65 mph 28.5 mpg


My old 87 745T with an automatic never did better than 23-24 mpg at 65-70 mph. At 55 mph it was no more than a 27 mpg car because of the non locking automatic. I was making runs to Florida, a 1170 mile trip each way three to four times a year and it was killing me to have to stop every 325-340 miles for gas. I had to do something to increase the range, either install a bigger 80L tank out of a 940 or increase the fuel mileage of the present set up. I swapped out the transmission for a M46 and replaced the rear end with a 3.31 geared unit and lowered it with an IPD kit. My highway per tank mileage at the posted speed limits jumped to 410-425 even with the 60L 15.8 gallon tank. Instead of three stops for gas I only had two.



If I was planning on keeping my 960 longer than another two or three years I would probably swap out the 3.73's for a set of 3.54's to increase the highway mileage numbers by one or two mpg's.

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rallybrick said:
I was getting 28-29 mpg on an 86 245 with an M46 and a motor that had 350k miles on it. Then I got a GPS and realized that the speedo AND odo were off by about 8%. So I wasn't driving as fast or putting on as many miles as I thought. (Crazy thing was that, other than going to 195/60 R15s, nothing in the driveline was changed from the factory that I was ever aware of).
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That's because the stock 245 tire is a 185SR-14, which is 1 1/4" taller than a 195/60-15. The wagon speedo is calibrated differently than a sedan which takes a 185/70-SR14, which is the same size as the 195/60-15. A 205/65-15 is about the closest match tire size in a 15" for a wagon

My 91 245 M47 LH 3.1 is getting 26-27 city and 32-33 mpg higway consistently with EV6 injectors, 88 oct E10
 
gsellstr said:
Perfect timing on this thread.

Anybody have any mileage numbers on the V90/960 wagon's?
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I routinely pull 25MPG in mine on 87 octane and mixed highway. I may get a little better now that I've cleaned the flame trap (didn't know there was one on these!).
 
I always averaged 20+ mpg in most of my cars (combined city/hwy) and I spend half my working life on the road. The best I ever had (though not on your list), was 28.5 mpg in an 850 Turbo driving back from DC with 3 people and a trunk loaded with luggage. I was amazed at that.

To me it really doesn't matter which series it is, 2/7/9... they all pretty much get the same imo (unless you got one of those regina things which I have no idea what that means). Just drive your favorite flavor.

They're all really great and reliable cars. It's just a shame that they're a diminishing breed with such a die-hard following. In a few years it'll be very hard to find any of these things left in a j/y to get parts from.

If I had 3 wishes from a genie, one would be for Volvo to produce 9's and 2's for at least 10 more years because I love these things so much.
 
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Mixed (M/USG):

82 B21F/K-Lambda/AW70 - 24-25 (reliably)
88 B230/LH2.2/AW70 22-24 (reliably)
86 B230/LH2.2/4HP22 22-24 (reliably)
'73 1800ES/BW35/mostly 30-40MPH roads without many lights: 23MPG*
'06 Loathsome Beast (XC70) 17-18 if my wife drives it mostly, 20-22 if I'm in it half time.

On the freeway almost all of them get about 30 (haven't done long freeway drives in the 1800)

*1800 is in rebuild now, hasn't been used in about 14 years.
 
1991 NA 745, auto, 4.10 diff (250K+ miles), running 91 Oct with 185/65/15's @ 30psi Front and 36psi Rear. I seen 26-7 mpg average. When I switched tires to 225(235 rears)/60/15's it dropped to 25 average. With 225/50/15's it dropped to 22-23 mpg average. This is also with a floor jack, jack stands and my big box of tools in the car at all times.

What I think it really comes down to is the quality of the fuel (Arco/Valero Vs. Shell/Chevron), tire size and pressure, final drive ratio, altitude, and driving style, and maintenance condition of the vehicle.
 
Hm... I'm only seeing around 18 mpg highway and 16 city on premium due to super high compression. I have a 1984 244 GL. What can I change to get better fuel economy (other than a manual trans, I'm working on that... :-P)?
 
Compression itself doesn't make it worse mpg, engine management/tune does, and depending on how it's tuned can do better than low(er) comp engines.
I have an '84 244DL also and am making it a high mpg motor. Changing injectors and timing advance is going to get you there. I expect a well running B23 to get 30-32 mpg if manual trans. I have an AW71L so we'll see how that goes.

Also, make sure knock sensor is working and use 87-88 oct, should run very well, just as good on regular as the later B230F, which is also high compression.
 
gsellstr said:
Perfect timing on this thread.

Anybody have any mileage numbers on the V90/960 wagon's?
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Long time down the road, two yrs later and the fleet has changed.

I had a 97 960 wagon from Dallas to NYC and back got 25.5 mpg tops with the car loaded and doing 80...........on a clear day it'll do 26 :-P

Sold that car and got a 97 850 wagon, 27 mpg highway, city in the cooler temps, 22 mpg, but a/c on and full enrichment at 90+ deg, 16.9 mpg city on premimum gas, calling it the money pit now. At elevaqtion where I live 6k ft, the hot weather makes this one pig of a car. I dd the 245 now.
 
vvpete said:
Compression itself doesn't make it worse mpg, engine management/tune does, and depending on how it's tuned can do better than low(er) comp engines.
I have an '84 244DL also and am making it a high mpg motor. Changing injectors and timing advance is going to get you there. I expect a well running B23 to get 30-32 mpg if manual trans. I have an AW71L so we'll see how that goes.

Also, make sure knock sensor is working and use 87-88 oct, should run very well, just as good on regular as the later B230F, which is also high compression.
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What injectors do you plan on putting in?
 
Volvo C30 goodbye - 6 January 2011

I was sad to see our Volvo C30 1.6 DRIVe go in the end. A car that once had me frowning ended up putting a big smile on my face. Why? Because the C30 does everything it needs to do, eats up motorways with ease and comfort – and proved that a modern diesel is an equal to the current crop of hybrids.

Fuel consumption was really good in the end. We averaged 53.3mpg over half a year with the car - not quite its 74.3mpg claim, but then we rarely match the official figures. Nonetheless, we reckon an average of nearly 55mpg in a peppy mid-sized hatch is good. If I were still running the C30 on CAR’s long-term test fleet, I’d certainly see a few more pounds in my pocket with the current VAT rise.
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http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/volvo/c30/first-drives/volvo-c30-1.6d-drive-se

That's 44.4 US miles per US gallon combined, compettitive with an 80s rabbit :lol:
 
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