What mileage does your TR get - really???

[angelfj1]

There's a current thread on the TR Register site concerning mileage. Regular petrol in the UK is about $8.50/gal and many TR drivers are considering usings their lbc's for daily commuting. There are claims ranging from 40+ mpg for a TR2 to a low of 16 mpg for a TR6 PI. What do you get? What is acheivable without ridiculous cost or driving technique?

 

[beaulieu]

one thing you have to remember is they use an Imperial gallon so their numbers always seem high.....

One imperial gallon is approximately equal to 1.201 US gallons.

Beaulieu

 

[swift6]

I average 22mpg in my 150,000 mile TR8. My best in it has been nearly 26 mpg. It's been too long since I cared about mileage in my TR6 since I don't use it daily anymore.

 

[TR3driver]

Both the Stag and the TR3A (with overdrives) would average about 20 mpg in my daily mix of driving. Better on the highway. That's on CA's 'oxygenated' fuel, which gives poorer fuel mileage than the pure gasoline that _used_ to be available in the rest of the US.

No doubt the TR would have done better with leaner needles and the 3.45 gears that I never got around to putting in. Friend of mine with a very stock TR3A claimed 30 mpg on the highway (without the ethanol).

 

[TR6oldtimer]

Around 28 mpg or better in a TR4, no overdrive, was not unusual for me in the days I drove the 650 miles from Vallejo, California to San Diego on less then two tanks of gas, that was with none ethanol fuel.

 

[Tinster]

I got 67 miles/year from my first tank of fuel.
I got 110 miles/3 months from my last tank of fuel
and still have some left over.

I don't think the cost of fuel is an issue with my car !!

d

 

[vagt6]

I've always noted fuel mileage on my cars, it's a basic indicator of how the engine is performing, I think.

I've had three GT6s, all with 3.89 gears. The first two (stock) averaged about 25-27 MPG (I still have the charts). On my last GT6, with a carefully tuned engine, free-flow exhaust and a few engine goodies (i.e., more HP), I averaged about 28 MPG. It also had a J-type OD which significantly reduces engine RPM on road trips.

Also, some of the improved economy may have been due to my right foot: as I age, I drive more slowly. Hence, better fuel economy. It's so much work to restore these dang things, I just can't dog them!

I had a Spitfire that averaged about 32 MPG, although a lot of those miles were on the road.

I wonder what kind of mileage a Spridget gets? Got to be good with a 1600 lb. car and small engine.

 

[Norton47]

My 74 TR6 before the rebuild with an OD on a mix of city, back roads (35MPH) and freeway, an 80 mile a day round trip would get 22MPG.
Now that I have rebuilt the engine and the carbs and am still dialing it in, I got 20 MPG on the last tank. I am still running a little lean on the front carb, which will cause poor mileage.
So I hope to bring it up a couple more miles to the gallon.
Of course how much puts one's foot into it will change those figures pretty fast.
All I want to do is come close to matching my 2001 Ford Ranger which gets 24 mpg over the same route. 4 cylinder with a 5 speed.
The 6 is much more fun!!

 

[RobT]

Last "long" highwy trip in the TR250 (triple carbs & o/d) I got about 30 mpg (U.S.). That was averaging a very comfortable 70 mph on the highway.

Rob.

 

[Tinster]

You crack me up, Norton!!

You throw out an 80 mile daily r/t like it's no big deal.

My goodness Sir, I measure my Triumph experience in 1/10s
of miles driven, minutes of engine running between breakdowns
and $1000+'s spent between breakdown intervals.

<span style="color: #000099">I cannot comprehend driving a TR6 for 80 miles in a single day, w/out a breakdown.

later gator, enjoy the ride

d</span>

 

[Geo Hahn]

I get decent mileage around town in the TR4, but on the highway when I am driving roads that limit my speed to 60 mph and in overdrive the mileage is amazing.

I refrain from mentioning the specific number because if it didn't happen to me I would tend to doubt it.

Suffice to say that a 4-cylinder TR in OD 4th putzing along at 55-60 just sips the gas.

 

[BobbyD]

I too have seen threads over the years with some pretty unbelievable mileage claims. I think there's a couple of things that can lead to these estimates. The first is the accuracy of the odometer after 30 - 50 years along with the tire/wheel size being run. The other is the relatively small size of our tanks which can make consistent fill ups difficult. Now combine the two and you've just exasperated the problem. So here's what I've seen on my car over the years. Prior to converting to TBI, my car had to run rich to run good and I got 12-14 around town and 18-20 on the highway. After converting to TBI, I get 20-22 around town and 28-30 on the highway. In both cases highway mileage was straight highway at 60 - 65 mph for 100 to 300 miles at a clip. At the time I had the stock TR6 4 speed and rear end. I've now converted to a Toyota 5 speed and a Nissan 4.08 rear end but my speedometer is so out of whack that I haven't done a mileage test. I'll get the speedo calibrated in a few weeks and then I'll check the mileage. I know the mileage will be better because I'm turning far fewer RPMs at highway speeds. On a recent 60 mile highway trip to a show the Jeep chase car told me I was at a steady 65 MPH and my tach was turning 500 - 600 RPMs less then before the 5 speed.

 

[TR3driver]

Seemed appropriate to the thread ... this is an actual gas station sign (from today's LA Times), at a station about 40 miles from here.

 

[Brosky]

I think that I get somewhere in the mid 20's on highway. I used less fuel with the new engine and a lot less with the overdrive.

Last 160 mile round trip to CT and back roads of RI was about 6 gallons of gas.

It's the only car that I own that I don't care about the fuel use. And my foot's in it too much to consider a fuel mileage test that will compare to guys upshifting at 2,000 RPMS. etc.

 

[Brosky]

And Randall, we're going to see those signs for a long time until we drill here again or start dealing with South America.

 

[tomshobby]

Shirley , my co-pilot, keeps a log of every fill up with the mileage, price/gallon, gallons of fuel, and mileage on that fuel. Realizing the mileage will vary between fill ups because of variations ov automatic shut offs on the pumps. We have gotten from just under 21 to as high as 28.7 mpg. Probably an average of 24 to 25 mpg. The mileage before the engine build was in the mid to high teens. Of course three smooth cam lobes and several other engine problems did not help.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Interesting that even at the lofty prices shown the difference between 'regular' and 'premium' is only 9 cents.

Is it possible that some folks with tunable cars like ours may find they can get more miles per dollar if they tune for premium?

 

[Brosky]

[quoteIs it possible that some folks with tunable cars like ours may find they can get more miles per dollar if they tune for premium?][/quote]

The answer to that is yes.

I get about 2-3 more mpg running high test in my 2008 Taurus than the lower grades. The same with my 2006 Ford 500 with AWD.

 

[TR3driver]

Is it possible that some folks with tunable cars like ours may find they can get more miles per dollar if they tune for premium?

I believe so, yes. In fact, I used to own an 1970 Audi 100LS that got slightly more miles per dollar on Amoco premium (available then only in certain states, unfortunately not CA) without being retuned. No idea why. It also seemed to like having new points every 2-3k miles, as the fuel mileage would start dropping off. So maybe it had something to do with deposits on the plugs or something (the Amoco used to leave a funny purple stain on the threads).

 

[BobbyD]

Paul.........up-shifting at 2000 RPMs?......Sometimes I pull all the way to 3500RPMs when I'm feeling frisky! ;-)