how to improve Aircooled mpg

[stevo1980]

Hi the mpg for my 2 litre Aircooled is ridiculas how can i improve this at little cost, its a devon side elevating poptop, i have everything running sweet new exhaust heat echangers all tinware airtight carbs recond by gasure etc etc, just cost a fortune to go anywhere.

[ghost123uk]

Can you afford an LPG conversion ?

Takes about 9,000 miles to pay for itself (guessing there as I don't really know about air-cooled MPG) Only viable if you use the van quite a lot I suppose. Adds to the investment value of your bus too.

A front spoiler apparently helps a bit, there is a thread about it running now, summat about "Aerodynamics" in the title.

[kevtherev]

how can i improve this at little cost.

Not likely. Sorry.
diesel or lpg both will cost about 9000 miles to pay for themselves.

I wouldn't like to lose the beautiful sound that an Aircooled makes, so it would be LPG

[SouthEastWesty]

I've just had my '81 converted to LPG (Gasure), cost about £1200 and so far would recommend it. I reckon I saved about £30 over normal petrol price between London and Glasgow and as I'm about (hoping!!) to do 3-4000 miles around Europe soon it makes sense for me. Was told by Steve (Gasure) that it also reduces road tax but not looked into that fully yet as just sent off V5. If so that also could be a big saving as we're paying £230 or whatever a year.
Driving 50-55mph on long motorway drives can get tedious but I notice a big difference than when doing 60+. Around town is obviously harder as stop start all the time. This was my first vehicle of this type and the mpg did come as a shock.

If your planning on keeping the van for a long time and do some mileage then LPG is a no brainer (if you can afford the upfront costs of course, that's the hardest part). If not just cry at every petrol station like I did.

[ghost123uk]

I've just had my '81 converted to LPG (Gasure)...

Was told by Steve (Gasure) that it also reduces road tax but not looked into that fully yet as just sent off V5. If so that also could be a big saving as we're paying £230 or whatever a year.

Can you tell us any more about this ?
I have not heard of it before and as the owner of 2 LPG'd T25's I would love to pay less road tax

[SouthEastWesty]

I've just had my '81 converted to LPG (Gasure)...

Was told by Steve (Gasure) that it also reduces road tax but not looked into that fully yet as just sent off V5. If so that also could be a big saving as we're paying £230 or whatever a year.

Can you tell us any more about this ?
I have not heard of it before and as the owner of 2 LPG'd T25's I would love to pay less road tax

Nope sorry. Just that he said that the road tax is less as it's now LPG. I assumed only full LPG vehicles would count so was surprised when he said it. Maybe he made a mistake or I miss heard but I'm pretty sure I didn't......On just doing a quick google it appears pre 2001 vehicles don't count for the reduction so scrap that, bummer. Although there may be something about registering as an alternative fuel which gives a very small saving which may have been what he meant. Thought it too good to be true.
Steve had grief with my van so may have been flustered when he said it . Ah well.

[sarran1955]

Hello,

Hi the mpg for my 2 litre Aircooled is ridiculas how can i improve this at little cost, its a devon side elevating poptop, i have everything running sweet new exhaust heat echangers all tinware airtight carbs recond by gasure etc etc, just cost a fortune to go anywhere.

Frankly, you are not going to get better than 22 mpg on a run.

If the engine is well set up, then the only real no cost improvements are the old tips...

Drive it like a volks,, anticipate,,,

remember the throttle pedal is connected directly ... to your wallet

If you fill up , do so in the early morning, and don't buy more than you need.

Are you running on 2 star,...

I use RON 95 E10, on my retro tuned 1600 CT camper ,minimum weight,(tin top no chipboard) and get 28 mpg on a run.



Cordialement,

[faggie]

my old 2.0 Aircooled used to average 26/28 mpg on a run at 55/60mph with shell high octane fuel but this was with the chokes removed and upjetted , my new bigger Aircooled engine now does 30mpg at 65/70mph due to not having to drive it as hard

[stevo1980]

I only do about 2000 miles a year so i think im gonna just leave it as it is. would take me about 4 years to pay the lpg cconversion off and by that time there might be a new and better way of getting low cost fuel, you never know we may invade more middle eastern countries for cheap oil.

[HarryMann]

Faggie, you seem to be getting diesel consumption out of that a/c! But why use high octane in a v.low compressoion engine

[jason k]

I used to get 26mpg from my air cooled on dells.

[HarryMann]

The first port of call will always be, take your compressions hot & cold

If they aren't all evn & as high as poss for an Aircooled (VW spec) then there is little hope and any other work, mods or adjustments will not be anything like as effective, esp. carb tuning more difficult. Also, bear in mind one mans mpg may not be anothers due way driven, duty cycle, terrain, load, weather and of course the recording technique!

[stevo1980]

Whats the best recording technique.

[HarryMann]

Use the XL spreadsheet provided in club wiki for download

Try to brim consistently when filling, although not essential every fill, no need to drive anywhere near empty. Every time you fill up, write the mileage (off the milo not the trip) on the VAT receipt (the one with the litres on it) and put a 'B' if you Brim and an 'NB' if you don't... and don't loose those receipts!

Then you can...
A) do your figures any time you like
B) keep a proper running chart of consumption up hill and down dale over a sensibly decent time and mileage
C) this has other benefits such as seeing when it drops and servicing is needed or an incipient problem developing.

[faggie]

harrymann are we talking about the near standard 2.0 Aircooled or the bigger engine , if its the standard engine it just seems to run so much better on the high octane fuel , on the larger cc engine i have to run shell optimax due to the high compression of the engine i am shure i could beat 30 mpg on the larger engine if i could keep the speed down to 55mph but with the extra power its hard to stay in the inside lane behind lorries