gas mileage Topic is solved

green · Post by **green** » 15 Dec 2005, 14:19

Hi All, Newbie Volvo owner. When our xc70 was new it averaged @ 18mph around town went up as high as 18.5 for a couple days then slowly went down now steadly averaging 16.5 mpg with @ 4500 miles driven. Is this normal for this car I was under the impression that mpg would slightly increase as motor breaks in. Dealer says this is "within the stated mpg on window sticker". (lots of help there)
anyway.... anyone with any insight? Thanks and Happy whatever you celebrate!!

Post by **dosbricks** » 15 Dec 2005, 20:31

We found that as our S70 got broken in, the mileage and power did improve. I think Volvo engines are rather "tight" when new. Ours was a demonstrator with 5k on it, and as I recall, it didn't really loosen up until about 15k.

Fuel quality seems to vary these days and might account for some of your mileage difference.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 16 Dec 2005, 09:29

dosbricks wrote: Fuel quality seems to vary these days and might account for some of your mileage difference.

Absolutely. Many refineries use a "winter blend" of gasoline which contains a higher ethanol content, which burns more rapidly. Also, especially on a turbo car, you'll see improved gas mileage with a higher octane fuel.

l33tdad · Post by **l33tdad** » 21 Dec 2005, 07:05

White850Turbo wrote:Also, especially on a turbo car, you'll see improved gas mileage with a higher octane fuel.

I can attest to that. I have a '93 850glt and always use 93 octane fuel. Yes, it's a little more expensive, but I do gain rougly 5mpg and get better performance than with low-octane fuel.