XV MPG

[Swayze88]

Hey everyone,

I've just picked up my new XV, 2013 Diesel SE. its done 29,000 miles and has just had its 3rd year service

Drove it home from the dealers in Falkirk, ~ 35miles, some motorway, mostly A roads, and was only able to get about 39mpg out of it.

Took it to Edinburgh (A-roads) and coasted the whole way and managed 51mpg.

Girlfriend drove it to work and back and managed about 43mpg.

Overall we are sitting about 41/42mpg. which to me doesn't seem quite right. What with the declared average ~50mpg and Extra Urban ~56mpg

What are other diesel owners getting? I'm taking it back to the garage on Thursday to get a dodgy paint repair fixed and the aircon re-gassed. wondering if i should bring it up with them.

Does the old italian tune up work with an XV - should I race it around for a few miles to burn everything out the exhaust / Clear out the DPF?

Other than the Mpg i'm very happy with the car.

[Dug]

I deffo get better mpg on a roads, just easy driving along behind other traffic 50 - 55

motorway for me @ 70 get about 48 ish

very short journeys round town in traffic can show up on screen late 30's

I would say my car has averaged in 2 years 46-48 mpg

 

[Dogconker]

Mine runs mid to high 40s generally and that's driving normally with the odd squirt as it were.

i have had over 70mpg on a 200 mile run hypermiling. 

The 50-56 is based on you trundling around in cruise control at 56mph on a flat road. That's not reality. If you follow hypermiling techniques you can get a really high mpg but long term that's not good for your DPF filter.

generall though I get around the same figures as dug

[Dogconker]

Also the car had an injector "learning system" so driving like a loon for a bit will change the dynamics of the car. If you drive hard it changes how the injectors work to give you better responsiveness.

you could try driving on the motorway (a fairly empty one) at about 60mph in 3rd or 4th so you're at about 2500rpm,15mins like that will force a DPF regeneration which might help with economy. If you do short runs this is a definite must once a month

[Dogconker]

The other thing to consider is the difference between driving a petrol and a diesel if you're not used to diesels. 

In a petrol (in simplist forms) it's about the revs of the engine higher revs means more fuel. With diesels it's more to do with how hard you press the pedal rather than the revs you're at. If you've been used to driving patrols you could think low revs is better, but then you have to press the pedal harder so use more fuel. I've obviously overly simplified this there is more too it in terms of minimum fuel requirements etc blah blag.

 

[Swayze88]

Thanks for the replys everyone.

Dug those look like some reasonable figures to aspire to.

Dogconker - i've just seen your Fuelly notes, and annoyingly this morning put 1/2 a tank of Shell Nitro + in to see if it will help.
I think the last owners, and certainly the garage just used supermarket fuel, so thought that some premium with some good detergents might help.

As for driving style, most of my previous cars have been diesels. The forester being the first "Daily" car that has been a petrol/LPG. Amy has come from a diesel straight into the XV, so hopefull isnt driving it too badly.

Both our commutes are Fast A roads 55-66mph with a little bit of city driving at the end, so I would hope that we could achieve mid to high 40's, I'll force a DPF regen and run this tank of nitro through then hopefully start to see some better figures.

Thanks again for your help.

[CraigXV]

Does a light come on the dash when a DPF regen is in progress?

[Dogconker]

No only if your filter becomes blocked then you need to force a regen as soon as possible using the method I posted earlier. If that doesn't clear you'll need to get it done at a garage who can use a heavier handed approach. Don't ignore though because the DPF filter is a big bill if it's blocked

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[Swayze88]

Did a forced DPF Clean on the way to drop the car off at the garage for its paintwork and AC, maybe 12 miles in 4th at 70mph, hopefully will have burned everything out, we will see when I pick the car up early next week. :)

[Dug]

On the fuel subject I have done quite a bit of testing

If I run the car on supermarket fuel after a few tanks worth I noticed the engine became a lot more noisier and rattled and I also got less mpg also the throttle response at pickup was alot worse

So I used BP ultimate for a few tanks and the difference was very noticeable

Quiet way better response and a few mpg gain

I now ( for the last year ) run the car on 4 tank full either normal BP or she'll and then a tank of BP ultimate or she'll nitro

The car deffo does not like cheap bio fuels

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[Dogconker]

There's also a significant risk with the supermarket fuels. The fuel at tesco and asda is exactly the same fuel you get at Shell if it comes from the same refinery. Where the difference is is in the additives that are added at the time of loading onto the tanker. Supermarkets use much less of the biocide and engine cleaning additives and therefore their diesel is cheaper. 

But there's a catch, the biocides are there to prevent the fungal/algle blooms you can get with biodiesel. If you have any moisture in your tank you can get these blooms and will stop your car running. Only solution is to drain the tank and park the car up for 6 months and clean out the injectors, fuel lines etc, or you can steal clean the fuel tank and clean the injectors and fuel lines. With dearer brand diesel this risk is removed by the additional biocide. 

So you've got to ask the question is it worth saving a penny a litre when you risk this extensive cost. 

I spoke to an AA mechanic who says he attends 10-15 diesel cars a week with this, all used supermarket diesel. 

I NEVER use supermarket diesel

[marcothio]

Hi,

On my daily drive in with several hills (1 of them 14%), B & A roads, I average between 45 to (sometimes) 51 mpg with my 2012 SE. On motorways, 50-52mpg are reached on average (flat). 

As for the fuel, I definitely notice the difference between cheaper diesel and a premium one (BP Ultimate) as the engine runs really smooth and far less noisy. I fill up every 5-6 tanks with the premium stuff, otherwise the normal BP. Also, I noticed that separate additives caused the engine to make more noise, so I am staying away from those. Doesn't make sense anyway as the premium stuff has it already anyway.

 

Hope this helps,

 

 

 

 

[Swayze88]

Thanks Marcothio, I definatetly seem to be running a lot lower than the norm, 42-43 mpg on an A road run, 50-60mph with fairly few stops.

Hopefully a couple of tanks of good fuel will help clear anything out, from what everyone has said, if the previous owner has been using lots of supermarket fuel it might be running a bit rough at the moment. I'll get a few more miles in it this weekend and see what its like. 

 

Thanks for everyones input.

[Dogconker]

30 minutes ago, Swayze88 said:

Thanks Marcothio, I definatetly seem to be running a lot lower than the norm, 42-43 mpg on an A road run, 50-60mph with fairly few stops.

Hopefully a couple of tanks of good fuel will help clear anything out, from what everyone has said, if the previous owner has been using lots of supermarket fuel it might be running a bit rough at the moment. I'll get a few more miles in it this weekend and see what its like. 

 

Thanks for everyones input.

Might be worth running a tank or two of super diesel (I'd recommend shell) as this has engine cleaners in it that should clean your fuel lines, injectors etc. I wouldn't use Super forever though as the XV doesn't really like the diesel although I did get better mpg with it, it ran a bit snatchy after a while 

And it might be worth taking it out one day and give it a blow out, ignore the economy and just give it some beens in higher revs so that it clears the system. Not in the same way as you run the DPF but actually drive it hard for a bit, it'll feel a little sluggish initially but once the computer works out what you're doing it'll relearn (apparently the injectors learn how you're driving and adjust accordingly, there's a short period where they relearn) then you'll find it very responsive and much more lively on the accelerator. I don't know how it works but it does seem to be true.

when you go back to economy mode it'll relearn again and you might get better fuel economy.

you should be getting mid to high 40s without even trying, I like to put my toe down every now and then but even I get at least 45mpg

good luck, let us know how you get on after a couple of tanks.

[marcothio]

I just remembered that my mpg gradually improved after a few weeks. As Dogconker suggest, run it with a few tanks of premium diesel. Also, after my recent service and tyre change, the mpg's were better (about 1-2).

Good luck!

[Swayze88]

Thanks guys, its just had a service - or so I'm told by the dealer, so I would expect it to be running well at the moment.

As you have said, i will try giving it a blast or two and running through a few tanks of good fuel (its currently about 1/5th of a tank of the original fuel brimmed with Shell Nitro +, will put Shell or Nitro + in again at the next fuel up and keep monitoring.

It will be interesting to see how the injectors change, as i didnt think it was too spritely last time I drove it...
I will let you know how we get on.

Thanks again!

[Dogconker]

I did a forced DPF regen this morning so was doing about 70 in 4th for 10-15 mins even doing that I was getting 46mpg.

The other really big factor in your cars fuel economy is sadly something you can't do anything about and that's how it was first "run in" now modern cars don't really need running in as such but doing a proper running in process can make the engine more economical and even a little bit more oomph. My car had a 1000mile run in following some standard advice about what revs you should be limited to at what mileage. This might be why my car is quite good on mpg, if the guy who had it before you ragged it for the first 1000miles then that might lower the mpg you'll get for the life of the vehicle, but it's only a moderate effect and unlike old cars doesn't risk the engine anymore.

Do try the injectors you can feel a noticeable difference after a few mins. My throttle is responsive enough that I can blip the throttle coming down the gears to rev match, not that common in a diesel

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[Swayze88]

Just drove 140 miles back from Aberdeen cruise control set at 70 the whole way, I did have the bike rack on the towbar and 2 bikes, so I could have expected to loose a few mpg, but 39.4, was too low.

Now I'm starting to suspect something is wrong I've just had the air filter out and it looks pretty grubby...

Considering a "service" was done on the vehicle about 800 miles ago when I first picked it up would you have expected this to be so grubby so soon? I see the service interval at 36 months for the air filter is "inspect, correct or replace if necessary" however it should have been changed at 24 months or 24,000 miles regardless. (car is on 29,994 right now).

Thanks for all your help so far. I'm sure we will get to the bottom of it soon!

[marcothio]

Hi,

i haven't checked my filter myself so can't give you a reference. But it sure looks dirty. I also noticed you are driving with the air con off? That makes your mileage def not good.

I am curious whether a clean air filter would be the solution to your problem. 

 

[Dogconker]

The filter shouldn't look like that after that amount of time unless you've been somewhere dusty.

id look st taking it to a dealers, I assume it's still under warranty so I'd take it a dealer.  I spanked mine back from Wales one day and checked the mpg even then it was still low 40s

[Swayze88]

Just a thought, is there an option to choose US gallons or UK gallons anywhere in the system setup? As this would account for the big difference 40 US mpg would be about 48UK mpg. Just a thought? Maybe I'll start putting the fuel and mileage in my mpg app I use for the Forester, then I can get a proper idea of what it's doing.

 

[Dogconker]

Pretty sure there is

[marcothio]

I'd like to know that too.

[Swayze88]

Spent an age clicking through the menu the other day and could not find a way of changing the settings, even from MPG to km/l.

I even looked at the handbook! but found nothing :(

Someone on the US crosstek owners club has asked the question but there doesnt seem to be a response from "over the Pond" either.

[marcothio]

5 hours ago, Swayze88 said:

Spent an age clicking through the menu the other day and could not find a way of changing the settings, even from MPG to km/l.

I even looked at the handbook! but found nothing :(

Someone on the US crosstek owners club has asked the question but there doesnt seem to be a response from "over the Pond" either.

I looked too, but did not find an DIY option. Guess it is a dealer thing.

Since we are talking mpg, I thought I'd share two examples of my daily commute and the mpg on various A roads, with 30, 50, 60 and 70 mph as limits with several slopes and small hills. (apologies for the upside down, don't know how that happened :)).