Volvo RWD 200 Forum

I am still enjoying my 240. I am slowly putting it back together. I have repaired the kickdown cable, the odometer, the shifter bushings, both fuel pumps, the fuel pump relay etc.

Here is the weird thing. I drove the car about 270 miles in the two days. I checked the mileage on the way home. Drove about 130 miles on state highways at 45 to 55/60 mph. Some stop and go but not much, no a/c windows down. Makes you realize how bad in interstate really is. The car got 32 mpg. I can hardly believe it. I checked the odometer against my gps over about 10 miles and the odometer was spot on.

The best I ever got in my 1990 760T was about 28.

Can a 240 get 32 mpg???

My 240 is an automatic. I was alone and driving as smoothly as I could. I was allowing the engine to pull the hills as opposed to opening the throttle plate to increase power.

I am looking forward to trying it again on another trip.

I fixed my reset on my trip button this weekend.

Steve

More on my fuel mileage. I had an opportunity to drive the 240 220 miles on state highways today (round trip). I used my GPS and my moving average was 45 mph. Went through 4 or 5 small towns with a few lights each. Filled up before I left and when I got back, the same exact pump. Filled it both times until it was completely full. No more fuel would flow. Never got over 58 mph. Results......... 32.6 mpg. This is the third time I have done this with over 31 mpg results. I think it can really get 32 mpg! Obama should have ford build exact replicas of the 240.. It could be to the US what Volkswagen was to Germany in the early days. Think of all the jobs that could be created replacing in tank pumps and fuel pump relays!!

This is a very old rule of thumb. Of course within reason, go as slow as you can up hill (as you said, set the engine pull) and as fast as you can down hill while watching out for radar.

Also, 2 dollar plugs and a clean air filter will pay for itself.

Normal driving at 65MPH +/- will get you 25-26 MPG. At 45-55 closer to 30MPG but that is nearly impossible.

Tom

5- speep manual; running light with one passenger.

Only when the car was new. I haven't seen it since.

I recently got back from a ~520 mile trip in which I logged 25 mpg on average in my 93 240 with auto tranny. I was going 70 mph steady with no stops and never really got out of top gear. I used the A/C most of the time (Houston to Dallas and back).

I've never heard of anythnig above 25, but I do know the faults of the gas pump cut-off systems and using them to calculate mpg.

--Nick

A kickdown cable implies an automatic transmission. I've never seen an automatic 240 get that kind of fuel economy. Any chance it has been retrofitted with a lock-up torque converter from a 740/940?

Must be a 5 speed, right?

I honestly believe the wind resistance may be less with windows down.
These cars are not aerodynamic and very squarish so expected not to get really high figures. But that also makes them more stable and solid.
32 seems high yet I am getting 25 in city driving so it may be possible. My car totes about 100 pounds of tools as well as 100 pounds of subwoofer and enclosure. That plus being automatic I think is about right.

The best I ever got was 32MPG in my 1993 940 driving from Durham to in Boon, NC and back, during the remnants of hurricane Francis. Extreme rain and slick roads. I fought to keep the tranny in lockout, about 48MPG and couldn’t do that all the way because of the conditions. All the wrecks were a good warning sign. If I was on a flat surface at lockout speed I probably could have seen 35MPG.

Tom

Why not? I got about 30mpg overall on a 2500-mile road trip I took in April with a lot of gear in the back. Didn't use the AC because it wasn't working at the time and typically between 75 & 85mph. Around town i get between 22-25mpg.

1991 M47.

Can a 240 get 32 mpg?

Yep. Mine did just that a few weeks ago during a drive from Southern Ohio to the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I have an M46 tranny. Drove no faster than 60 MPH. Had the windows up and ran the AC. It may have done better if it weren't for all of the hills I had to climb along the way.
--
Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 291,000 miles
Original engine, transmission, drive train, starter
Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15

It's definitely doable... My 1990 5-spd 245 typically gets around 32mpg on road trips. When I visit my folks in the Northeast (700 miles each way), I usually jot down the mileage on the back of the gas receipt, and chuck it into the storage cubby. When I get home, I dump the numbers into a spreadsheet (set up to give mileage per tank, and net mileage) and let it do the math. It usually gives a consistent 32mpg, through several tanks, over 700 miles.

-Ryan

--

Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 314k, Dog-mobile
1990 245 DL 134k M47, E-codes, GT Sway Bars, GT Braces
1991 745 GL 300k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars

We've talked about this on this forum many times. The most basic problem, among many other factors, is that you cannot determine your real fuel mileage from a single trip simply because of variability when you initially filled your tank and then refilled it to measure the fuel used.
It's particularly hard to consistently fill your tank to the exact same level each time. You certainly cannot rely on the automatic stop on the gas nozzle.

And all it takes is a little variation to skew your mileage one way or another over a 270 mile trip.

That is US gallons? 32 mpg is pretty good even by UK standards, although quite easily attainable with a well-tuned injection engine. I did once get 36 mpg (UK) on a very careful long run.

If you fill up carefully to the brim, then note the mileage until you next fill, to the brim again, and note the fuel quantity put in, you get a pretty accurate figure as long as you have checked your odometer against a map and are using the correct sized tyres.

re: "...you get a pretty accurate figure as long as you have checked your odometer against a map and are using the correct sized tyres...."

or, use a GPS for actual distance-made-good (a nautical terrm), and don't worry about charted (or mapped) distances and tire sizes [just some light heartedess].

I guess you bring up some interesting points. I suppose you could reduce some of the variables by filling up at the same pump with the same lever setting.

re: "... I suppose you could reduce some of the variables by filling up at the same pump with the same lever setting...."

I wouldn't use the "lever setting" -- it's not a reliable consistency. Instead, I'd manually fill (very slowly) into the inlet until I got some visible sign, such as the fuel briefly "pooling" at the top (just over the unleaded-fuel nozzle restrictor).

Granted, some say that overfilling like this isn't good (for the environment, and for the fuel vapor recovery system) -- I don't know if it is, or isn't -- but I think this will reduce some variability or source of error in your test, especially if you're not going to repeat the trial several times.

I suppose this would work, but sounds like it'd be quite an effort.

I imagine that's possible. In my 93 with the a/c cranked on the interstate doing 70 for about 3 hours on end, I would get about 28 (automatic) when going back and forth from school. At a slower speed like 55, if you believe the 70s propaganda, you will get your peak fuel economy. A lot of people like to disable the a/c and power steering for an extra mile per gallon, or overinflate their tires to potentially dangerous levels for an extra mile there. But I'd rather be comfortable flying down the highway at 70+ than feel every pebble on the road as I drive along in 90-degree-plus weather. Plus, the ashtrays are next to impossible to use effectively in a car with the windows down. I'd day your results are plausible, nice work!

Drew
--
formerly non-registered at drew b.
green 1993 240, 164k 'Cream Puff V,' formerly: blue 1988 240 DL 'Cream Puff III'

Wow...so if you guys can get mileage in the low 30's, even some with the automatic transmission, what's wrong with my 245 w/ auto trans that it's never cracked above 25 MPG in the 6 years that I've owned it? Since the switch to the ethanol gas a year or two ago, I'm averaging around 21-22. When I first bought the car, it was down in the high teens, it took a fair amount of cleaning and replacing things then just to get into the mid 20's.

Thanks,
Johnathan

That's (21-22 mpg) what my two wagons get too. 93/92 245's AT. Sams gas - high test, up to 10% ethanol. Tuned up, clean intake, throttle body, etc. and average mpg with 50/50 city and highway 70-80 mph driving. I also tend to leave deep footprints on the gas pedal.