Almost 40 mpg!

[jblackburn]

I don't believe in that hypermiling crap that people do - inflating tires, drafting behind trucks, driving UNDER speed limits, shutting down the engine while coasting, etc. etc. It's stupid, and cars weren't meant to be driven like that to begin with.

There are a few things that you can do to save a little bit of gas mileage, and that's driving steadily. Here, there are parts where you can completely coast down hills by popping the transmission into Neutral without touching the gas for MILES - especially in these heavy things. I do'nt touch the brakes most of the time unless someone gets in my way. Plan ahead for hills, and don't maintain 75 mph on a huge 5% grade for miles. The cruise control is dumb on rolling hills and wastes gas.

I am almost always going faster than the trucks/ right lane of traffic (but I don't camp in the left - I can't STAND that). I just try to maintain a speed I'm comfortable with and don't drive needlessly fast - somewhere between 5-8 over.

That's great mileage for a turbo.
Do the T5's get better mileage than the N/A's?
I have a 98 N/A and 27, 28 mpg is about the best I can manage under ideal conditions.
Do you think I have room for improvement?

It really depends on the terrain, but no. Despite the very small difference in displacement (2.3 vs 2.4), NA Volvos always return better gas mileage, and stick shifts always return better gas mileage than the autos. My friend has a 1999 V70 non-turbo, and on a road-trip to TN where we both had 4 people in each car and followed each other. We did the math (both engineering geeks), and he returned 30.2 mpg at the pump, vs my 28.5. Not bad, considering the V70 is heavier (and because of the transmission's final drive, runs at a higher engine RPM at the same speed).

Assuming you've done all the typical stage-0 stuff and your sensors are clean, and the engine is in good shape, that extra 1-2 mpg you're looking for might just be in your right foot.

[FlyingVolvo]

I've been getting much better mileage lately, but I don't think I can attribute it to any one thing, but rather a series of upgrades/changes:

-Tires at 40 PSI each (I don't know what everyone is complaining about with the ride, it isn't bad. But then again, I do mostly highway driving.)

-New intake system (K&N cone filter + Snabb intake pipe)

-Removed the bevel gear (reduced weight and a fraction less energy going to spin useless gears)

-Re-gapped the spark plugs (they were at ~0.033", re-gapped to 0.026").

-New exhaust system (resonator delete on driver's side, installed Magnaflow performance muffler in place of deleted resonator. Car also sounds a lot better not only in the back, but up front too.)

I've been getting 30 MPG plus a few easily on the freeway, where I used to be lucky to push 27-28.

[IVIUSTANG]

I back you 100% jblackburn, I also have a 1998 S70 T5 and consistantly get very good fuel mileage; so good in fact, I recently got 1 MPG above EPA rating going AGAINST a 60 MPH wind. My best tank ever was over 1200KM on one tank in Denver Colorado, which seems to really help my fuel economy with the altitude. I run full synthetic oil, synthetic tranmission oil, tires at 35 PSI, K&N airfilter. When I'm looking at averages for me it's usually around 30-32 US MPG on my many trips.

- Jesse

[Steve5]

I often had 30 mpg with my '94 850. That car sold me on another Volvo which turned out to be an S70. Close enough, right? I haven't seen more than 25 mpg yet and often see 20 mpg. Bummer.

[E Showell]

Just started to up my MPG. 1998 V70 base, 5 spd, FWD, non-turbo. No fancy mods. Relatively new paper air filter. No idea of tire pressure. Regular gas, no additives. Volvo factory plugs. Mobil 1 10W-30 full synthetic high mileage. Car has 215K+ miles.

Daily commute is stop and go/backroads with some significant hills & plenty of stoplights -- 33 miles one way.

I consider the "normal" shift point for this car to be about 3000 RPM -- it just feels right. Instead, I have been upshifting at or below 2,000. Freewheel whenever possible on downhills and don't rush to stoplights. When cruising, I'm keeping the engine RPM at or below 2,000. Only 93 miles into the experiment, but figure I've gone that 93 miles on betwen 2.5 and 2.75 gallons of gas. Approx. MPG would be between 34-37. I am careful not to lug the engine. It has been fun to try to match engine RPM with mph when coming out of a freewheel after a long downhill glide -- and I'm getting pretty good at it. For example, I know 40 mph is 2,000 RPM in 4th on level ground.

Before -- MPG was in the 25-27 range. I'm not getting to work any slower than usual either.

Question -- Can I do any long term harm to the car driving it this way, or is it all good?

[jblackburn]

Nah, won't hurt it so long as you DO downshift when you need power instead of just pushing your toe to the floor at a low RPM. I've found these engines are most efficient under 2200 RPM or so; my dad's V6 Liberty - a huge gas hog like any Jeep - will even get 27 mpg by keeping it under 2000 RPM. But that aside, by all means, be a little spirited with it every now and then and get up to 4-5000 RPM; it's just good for the engines and keeps valves from building up crud on em.

The first time I drove an NA stick one, I kinda felt like 3000 was revving it a little too much. My Saab 900 was the same way.

[E Showell]

Was the NA stick a wagon or sedan as I believe the gearing is different?

[JimBee]

Last month in my '96 850, 5 speed manual wagon on a 1300 mile road trip to Toronto from Minneapolis, I averaged between 30 and 31.5, overall with maybe 5% city and rural sidetrip drives. It was mostly cross country, gently rolling terrain at speeds of 65 to 75 mph. I couldn't have been more pleased as I'd been getting around 20 around town and local short hiway trips. A volvo tech told me I should expect high 20's on the open road. I was skeptical but the 31+ number proved solid in both directions.

I did use the cruise extensively, even for changing speed. It was wonderful.

I had just bought the wagon a month before leaving and pulled quite a bit of overdue maintenance on it, including new copper plugs. Rotor and cap seemed o.k., wires looked newish so I left them. I did the timing belt and rollers, new serp, O'Reilly brand full synthetic in the crankcase, Amsoil ATF in the 5 speed tranny. Cleaned electrical connections and dabbed with dialectric grease.

A couple of suspension parts and other miscellaneous repairs.

And Amsoil fuel treatment in the first fillup before leaving.

The total trip consumed 2/3 of a quart of oil!!! I've never owned a car that did that well on oil.

The lamda light does come on though. I've been driving it like that, hope to fix that one of these days.

I have to say that wagon is overall a great road car.

Now I have another wagon just picked up—new project. that's another post.

[E Showell]

Well -- Looks like my initial estimates were overly optimistic going by odometer and eyeballing the gas gauge. Still haven't gone through a full tank, but right now it looks like 330 miles on c. 12 gals. of entirely stop & go driving. Works out to about 27.5 mpg city. Not too shabby. I figure all around that's about a 20% improvement over prior driving practices. I'll let you know with more precision once I have to buy my next tank of gas.

[E Showell]

Well, the data are in: 438.7 miles on 16.389 gallons of regular gas. That's 26.713 mpg for a daily stop & go commute in hilly terrain with in excess of 15 stoplights and no area with a speed limit in excess of 50 mph. How am I doing?

Anybody know the EPA City estimate for a 1998 V70 non-turbo, stick, FWD?