gas mileage survey

vowner · Post by **vowner** » 13 Oct 2005, 02:27

I got a '95 850 GLT recently, and I have been watching its gas mileage.
I am very happy it! Consitently about 32 miles per gallon! Mostly city driving. I've read in a different forum that you can get 40 on highway, is that true?
I don't know any other midsize sedan that gets 30+ miles per gallon.
How was Volvo able to do this? I know 5 cyl. 20 isn't a big motor, but it is one of the most economic motor.

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 13 Oct 2005, 04:51

I have a 96 850 GLT NA and I get consistant 28 mpg. I would say you are seeing the better side of mileage from reading some of the posts on this site. I have never heard of one getting 40 mpg but I suppose you could. These cars seem to get a wide range of mpg.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 13 Oct 2005, 07:34

You are getting 32 mpg city? I get twenty with my 98 S70 if I'm lucky.

Post by **matthew1** » 13 Oct 2005, 10:37

Anonymous wrote:You are getting 32 mpg city? I get twenty with my 98 S70 if I'm lucky.

Same here with my 97 850. It's turbo though.

Needs a tuneup.

Post by **kelvin6** » 13 Oct 2005, 13:17

^^^
I only get 14-16 in the city. WTF!? Mine is a 1995 850 GLT NA. I always use premium and just gave it a tune-up: Filters, sparkplugs, Flame trap, etc. Could it be the 02 Sensor?

Tsquared · Post by **Tsquared** » 13 Oct 2005, 13:45

96 20-valve NA with me driving I get 22-25 city mpg and 28-32 highway. I get better when I go the speed limit. My daughter gets 22 and only drives city.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 13 Oct 2005, 15:32

I must have the o2-sensors-need-replacing problem as my gas milage is horrible, 10-15 tops. '94 850.

vowner · Post by **vowner** » 13 Oct 2005, 21:39

Wow! I guess I drive too slow. I hardly ever rev-up over 2000 rpm. Does turbo eat up a lot of gas? turbo don't even kick in unless you get to high rpm, right?

adrian22 · Post by **adrian22** » 14 Oct 2005, 13:09

I think 30 is max you can get.Do not think you get the real milage on trip board computer.To be accurate fil the tank with 17 gal. and use them all till you get red light flashing, then divide total mile by 17 and see REAL milage. Do not fool your self with wrong calculation.How many mile you can get from a full tank?-over 500? I do not think so---With this 850 is imposible to get over 30 mile /gal.

Tsquared · Post by **Tsquared** » 14 Oct 2005, 18:28

Hmmmm.... I haven't run a full tank in the 30+ MPG runs that I have made. Those runs have been to my inlaws who live 305 miles away. If I run the speed limit on the highway (70mph most of the way) with a full tank I only have to replace it with 9.5 gal of fuel. I don't have the computer on our 850 and I have learned with my F150 and my wife's Lexus that the milage computers have a 20% margin of error. I had one occurance of a 38 MPG run in the spring where I didn't need AC or heat and ran at 60 MPH - it is an one-off occurance but it did do it.

There are many factors that can contribute to milage - tire tread (the rolling resistance of the tire), tire pressure, wheel weight (the pretty alloy wheels are heavier than the ugly steel wheel with the plastic hub cap - more turning mass = lower milage), engine tune, carbon build up in the cumbustion chambers/heads, condition of wheel bearings/break drag, excess weight (tools/golf clubs in the trunk is a no-no), driving habits - no jack rabbit starts, and the quality of fuel (just enough octane to keep the engine from pinging - anything higher will only help at WOT).