OK I Have to improve my MPG, thoughts please :)

[irishkeet]

Hello

Currently I have a 2L CU Aircooled westy, love it and the green colour but I don't love the MPG.
Its on twin webbers and its been set up on a rolling road. I could upgrade to a set of dells but at nearly 1k is it really going to help my MPG that much, I may be better putting this towards an engine conversion on a new westy?

SO I'm leaning towards selling it and moving to a diesel westy with more options. I noticed one for sale with a 1Y Golf engine, seller says he gets 40mpg.

Am I better getting a good diesel westy and then converting or looking for one already finished? I posted an ad in the wanted section a while ago but no bites.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

ATB
irishkeet

[marlinowner]

LPG?

[irishkeet]

LPG?

Sorry I should have mentioned that, I did an LPG convert on my first Aircooled westy and I dont want to go down that road this time.

[sarran1955]

Hello,

So what is your MPG...

You have been on a rolling road..

Can you scan and post up the results please..

Cordialement,

[The Bishop]

Why jog LPG?

Otherwise I suppose the option is to strip weight. I had mine on a weigh bridge the other week - 2 tonne!

[irishkeet]

Why jog LPG?

Otherwise I suppose the option is to strip weight. I had mine on a weigh bridge the other week - 2 tonne!

nothing against LPG just not for me this time, with the hightop I could loose a large tank in the wardrobe, I now have a pop....I know you can have a spare wheel one too..., I have the RR post in a folder somewhere, will have a check, getting 22 mpg ish.

[AdrianC]

How many miles do you do per year?

If you're currently getting 22mpg (at £1.25, 25p/mile), and can increase that to 30mpg (19p/mile), how many miles will that 6p per mile take to pay off significant investment in changing the engine or van?

LPG pays off more quickly because of the lower fuel cost, but there's a trade-off in interior space.
If you change to diesel, do you want to put a value on the significantly greater interior noise? If you convert your existing van, what about the Eber?

Do you want to keep the van you know and have invested time, energy, money, love in - or swap to an unknown quantity? Balance that against converting an air-cooled to water-cooled.

[irishkeet]

AdrianC many thanks for your post ALL good points and a few I had n0t considered which is exactly why I posted in the first place. I had never considered an air to water swap. I did read a few threads on it before posting and the consensus was its a lot of work.

Have you been reading the epic eber thread lol Yes that would require a change

Food for thought as I dont want to jump into making a decision, just mulling at the mo

How many miles do you do per year?

If you're currently getting 22mpg (at £1.25, 25p/mile), and can increase that to 30mpg (19p/mile), how many miles will that 6p per mile take to pay off significant investment in changing the engine or van?

LPG pays off more quickly because of the lower fuel cost, but there's a trade-off in interior space.
If you change to diesel, do you want to put a value on the significantly greater interior noise? If you convert your existing van, what about the Eber?

Do you want to keep the van you know and have invested time, energy, money, love in - or swap to an unknown quantity? Balance that against converting an air-cooled to water-cooled.

[syncroandy]

On that last point, you might want to have a look at http://vwkd.co.uk, plenty of a/c -> w/c options there.

[AdrianC]

Food for thought as I dont want to jump into making a decision, just mulling at the mo

The thing about fuel economy is that people _see_ those bills regularly, so fuel assumes a disproportionate importance in their minds. Petrol is _considerably_ cheaper now (£1.21.9 on Friday) than when we left in our van in May '11 (£1.35, and had been for a while).

If you spend a grand (easily done!) on going from 22 to 30mpg, a 6p/mile improvement in fuel cost, then it's going to take you nearly 17,000 miles to "break even" on that. Add up all the other costs - tax, insurance, paid-for-maintenance and servicing, rolling restoration fund, tyres - of a vehicle that does, say, 5,000 miles per year, and I'll bet fuel isn't even your biggest cost per mile or, if it is, not by much..

[pionte]

interesting reading , Irishkeet the one thing that people often overlook and will cost you around 50p is tyre pressures, .... just 5 psi under-inflation will cost you significantly , if you are running standard wheels and tyres it is relatively easy to work out what they should be , its harder when you are running with non standard .

I have merc 16 inch wheels and 215/60/16 tyres... on a HITOP campervan , after lots of trial and error I found 44psi front and 46 psi rear was the sweat spot . it really was amazing the rolling resistance difference, which would greatly affect the MPG achievable

[silverbullet]

30 mpg

It's the holy grail, just about impossible for a T3 with 1970's technology. Aircooled and carbs = thirst.

A fresh wbx with modern, true sequential efi & mapped ignition c/w coil-on-plug might just do it but you will spend a lot of money getting the project finished and all of that money (and your earning time) could have been spent on fuel (and driving your van) respectively...

Wide low tyres = drag too

Or just tootle around at 45 mph and only do long journeys in warm weather, that'll get you into the 8ltr/100km bracket

[irishkeet]

apologies for the late reply, been a busy time with work...

thanks for all the points a lot to think about. AdrianC what you say regarding MPG & making back your spend makes a lot of sense.

syncroandy thanks for the link Ill have a read, didn't know about that site

pointe I did check the tyre pressures (standard wheels & tyres) but I will check them again

[The Bishop]

Pointe, how did you decide on the best pressure for your tyres? I have some silly 17" JK alloys with low profile wide tyres. Currently I have them at 40 psi but perhaps I should put a bit more in?

They are wearing evenly so on gang basis I thought I was about right. What do you think?

[pionte]

You can see how the tyre sits on the road, under inflated and it will bulge at the sides, over inflated and the centre will touch but not the sides... when you think you have it about right, keep an eye on the tyre wear, you will see if there is uneven wear.

Obviously there is a maximum pressure for your tyre, this will be printed on the side wall, so dont go mad ! If you have ever tried riding a push bike, you will know how much harder it is if the tyre is not inflated correctly, more effort = more fuel. When I first fitted my new wheels and tyres I was way under inflated, around 38 psi all round, the van really slowed down as soon as I lifted and was coasting.

Trial and error.