Could my fuel consuption be better?

[mwhit43]

So today i drove back from dalby in qld where i filled up and drove back to brisbane, i useed 1/4 of a tank.....it sais it was 10.2L/100K doing highway driving.....could i make that better by changing fuel filter or other things (unknown) ?

[mike_nofx]

What were you driving?

[mwhit43]

A 1996 ef fairmont sedan

[xr gr8]

I'd be happy with that for a EF

[mwhit43]

I said to my mum "ill be happy if it hits 10" but i want it using much less lol

[Vincenzo]

Originally Posted by mwhit43

i useed 1/4 of a tank.....it sais it was 10.2L/100K doing highway driving.....

Was your 1/4 of a tank visual by the guage or actual by putting in 17 litres?

Possibly acceptable for an auto, not so good for a manual.

Also 6cyl or 8cyl?

Cheers Vincenzo

[mwhit43]

It was visual by the guage, sorry its auto with the 4.0 engine no mods or anything stock

[block58]

If the oxygen sensor is old, it will usually help replacing that.

[mwhit43]

Oh easy replacement?

[block58]

Originally Posted by mwhit43

Oh easy replacement?

Very easy, just unplug and unscrew, then screw in and plug in.
The cheap eBay ones aren't known for there longevity, you're better of spending a bit more on Bosch or genuine Ford

Have a look at this to put your cluster into debug, that'll tell you how much fuel you're using.
http://www.fordmods.com/documents.php?d=12

[JoeDaleyN98]

Gauges aren't always accurate. iPhone (if you have one) has an app called road trip, and you can track how much fuel you put in and how much it costs. It alway allows you to track accurately how much fuel you use only if you fill it up all the time. Mine was saying I was getting fourteens city driving on the dash computer but in reality on thenphonebwhich is accurate I was getting 12s

[kennyboy]

use cruise control where safe - consistent speed helps, also there are two modes on the auto, my eb had econ mode button, later models had sports mode, so econ on or sports off on can help on roads that are not too hilly.

[mik]

make sure your air filter is clean, also that engine is is good tune, tyres are at highway pressure, a couple of pounds more than normal..

[turbodewd]

You would need to do proper calcs by actually resetting your odo to zero at a fuel tank fill, and I mean fill it up 100%.

Then at next fill you note how many KM you did and how many liters u put in - then do the maths like a champ!

[aussie muscle]

Weight: don't carry anything in your car that you don't need. it all adds up and costs you in extra fuel if you're carting a lot of 'junk' around with you.

Style: Smooth acceleration and braking is also important. The more you brake, the more fuel you have to use to get back up to speed.

Coasting (zero throttle) from when you see a lower speed limit can also help, instead of driving at speed right up to the signpost (most drivers seem to brake at the last second).

[mwhit43]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

Weight: don't carry anything in your car that you don't need. it all adds up and costs you in extra fuel if you're carting a lot of 'junk' around with you.

Style: Smooth acceleration and braking is also important. The more you brake, the more fuel you have to use to get back up to speed.

Coasting (zero throttle) from when you see a lower speed limit can also help, instead of driving at speed right up to the signpost (most drivers seem to brake at the last second).

We had a heap of tools and a heap of other things in the boot but i reckon 10 is still rather good

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by mwhit43

We had a heap of tools and a heap of other things in the boot but i reckon 10 is still rather good

I had an EL XR6 manual and on my longest country drive Melbourne - Eden I averaged a little over 10 litres/100km with 2 people and some gear. I did some overtaking and kept it at the 100km/h mark as often as possible. Around town normally I used around 16 litres/100km.

Now with the Mazda 3 SP23 I average 9-9.5 litres around town and it drops a little when I add some open road driving. First time I've owned a car that can average less than double digits. Falcon had a bit more kick to it though and is a little faster.

I could drop those figures on either car by being light on the throttle, but then that is no fun is it?

[Linkachu]

Got my EF XR8 manual down to 7L per 100km highway driving

[EDManual]

no, dont use cruise control. That does not help. As it puts the foot down too much to keep you at the same speed up hills. You actaully save lots if you keep your foot at the same point coming up to the hill and let it slow to 90 or whatever. Even speed up before the hill so you can make it over without putting your foot down too much. You would be surprised how it helps!
Still 10 in an auto EF is fine.

[Mr Hardware]

10 in an EF is fine
if you want good fuel economy, don't drive a six cylinder car from the 90s

[greenfoam]

Anything over 6.0 is not acceptable these days. 10 is OK for a car of the EFs vintage although manual commodores of that age can do high 7s. For an auto 10 is ok.

AUs are much better. They will do 7s in the auto on a smooth highway. The AU is probably the most efficient big car you can get almost for free.

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by greenfoam

Anything over 6.0 is not acceptable these days. 10 is OK for a car of the EFs vintage although manual commodores of that age can do high 7s. For an auto 10 is ok.

AUs are much better. They will do 7s in the auto on a smooth highway. The AU is probably the most efficient big car you can get almost for free.

I doubt there will be many cars in the real world driving in real world conditions thatll see 6L/100Ks,day in day out,week after week ....
Just doesnt happen, maybe once in a while,but once awhile doesnt help an average
I can get my AU to run good on the highway,but when a car in front sits on 90 clicks in a 100 zone,im not gunna sit back just to save a buck or two on juice
An average of 10 ish L/100Ks in an ol EF doenst sound to shabby,but does solely depend on the drivers driving, was it grannie speeds and granny driving ,or was there the odd power up here and there to round up a few slower drivers

[last fairlane]

Back in the early nineties I took my XF Fairmont with EFI from Brisbane to Melbourne and back with wife daughter and 2 grandkids and it did surprise me it was doing 600Ks for sixty litres thats 10 to the 100 using cruise control
going back even further we the Mrs and 2 kids went around the country Melbourne to Darwin and back in an XL 170 wagon and it returned 35 MPG
even old Holdens and Valiants and such could get those numbers easily
back in the day now Ive got a Territory Ghia AWD and cant get anywhere near 10s in normal driving maybe on a trip but not oround town
thanks John

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

I doubt there will be many cars in the real world driving in real world conditions thatll see 6L/100Ks,day in day out,week after week ....
Just doesnt happen, maybe once in a while,but once awhile doesnt help an average

According to the computer in our car, we're averaging 5.9l/100kms for the last 8000kms. That's in a 2.0l turbo diesel Peugeot 307 though
For a laugh, I once did an economy run with it and averaged 4.6l/100kms, doing the speed limits up to 110km/h on the highway and with a bit of city driving chucked in for good measure. That was only over 100kms and going by the computer too, so it's not really that much of a real world example.
My point is that there are cars that will do these figures day in, day out. Not Falcon's or any other large car though.

My auto EL with over 303,000kms on the clock averages high 12's, low 13's on LPG, mainly highway driving. 10's on petrol in an EF is probably about right, isn't it?

[redxm]

Look at what type of oil you run. I picked up 1L/100 by changing to a thinner grade oil (as specified in the manual) in my AU, so I cant see it being any different in an E series
I honestly cant remember what I used to get in my EF Wagon. Even if I did it nearly always had a trailer behind it

[flappist]

I am always confused as to why all of these Falcons that get 6-8l/100km always seem to run out of fuel at between 500 and 600km. Maybe they were not fitted with the factory 68l tank.

[dieseltrain79]

Ha , our AU is lucky to better 10L / 100km on the highway . Mostly 10.5-11.2 .

City use , 16-18L/100km . It's a guzzler !

Just changed 02 sensor , and fitted k&n filter and seems to have dropped to 13-14L city driving already .

[Burnout]

That's ok for economy, may EL Fairmont used to get high 9's up & down the Warrego.

[mwhit43]

Originally Posted by dieseltrain79

Ha , our AU is lucky to better 10L / 100km on the highway . Mostly 10.5-11.2 .

City use , 16-18L/100km . It's a guzzler !

Just changed 02 sensor , and fitted k&n filter and seems to have dropped to 13-14L city driving already .

How hard and expensive was the sensor?

[greenfoam]

Originally Posted by dieseltrain79

Ha , our AU is lucky to better 10L / 100km on the highway . Mostly 10.5-11.2 .

City use , 16-18L/100km . It's a guzzler !

Just changed 02 sensor , and fitted k&n filter and seems to have dropped to 13-14L city driving already .

Definitely not right. Our 100% stock AU II auto has been to Alice springs from Vic several times and always does 7.6l/100 manually calculated on that trip. It maybe a pile of crap that you need a boat license to drive but it goes OK on fuel for what it is (a big fat boat) lol