Fuel consumption

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ropetko
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Post by ropetko »

Just came home a few days ago from a road trip to Italy (from Croatia) and back. Slightly over 1000 miles, mostly on highways with 70-80 mph (115-125 km/h) Pilot Assist and winter tyres. My average consumption was 45 mpg (6.2 l/100) although on some local roads I was able to achieve 50 MPG on some longer sections. The engine is automatic 8 gear D4 AWD with 140kW (or 190 hp).
What I noticed in the past year and a half is that on highways Eco mode is efficient on speeds up to 70mph while driving straight or slightly downhill and if it's not too hot. In short - if you don't need that much power and if you are into coasting mode downhill. At 65-70 through the tunnel, Eco saves a lot :)
But if you are driving up the hill, if it's hot and your air condition needs power, if you change your speed a lot, then the Eco mode doesn't give you much. I also got same consumption results for Eco and Normal at speeds over 75-80 mph (41 with Normal and 41.5 with Eco on the same 100 miles ride).
I know the consumption goes down to 35 if driving 90mph and to 31 if driving 100 mph (as well as to go up to 60mpg if driving 50mph), so the key is to drive slower and not to be nervous. Eco mode helps here because the engine response is slower, which helps reducing the fuel usage, but I'm not sure if that helps on long highway rides with several dozen miles at the same speed.
JFDIT was rude, but I'm not sure we bought this nice Sponge Bob like cube because of consumption, aren't we? Not even hybrid ones (I was seeking for Diesel engine because I do 80% of my rides on highways where its CO2 footprint is lower than petrol engines, plus petrols and hybrids are burning a lot more fuel on highways than I do) although they're clear in the cities. We bought these beauties because of their looks, space, driving feel, gadgets (in my case also because of the interior sound), durability and mostly safety. Consumption should not definitely be the first on so priced cars list, but no one says we shouldn't pay attention on the consumption as well and try to visit gas stations less often. I mean, there's really no reason in be "ecological", purchase T4 or B4 and push it all the way to the limits on highways. That's a "Leo DiCaprio syndrome": you preach for the ecosystem while burning tons of jet fuel flying to the conference where you'll be talking about ecology.
Enjoy driving your XC40 people and be polite. That's what other drivers are expecting when they see a Volvo, plus they pay respect. Something many BMW drivers will never experience, nor they worry about :)
Last edited by ropetko on Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
XC40 D4 AWD R-Design 140 kW 2018

Mikeg1
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Post by Mikeg1 »

Great write-up ropetko. Thanks 👍🏻
Mike. West Yorks.

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RonFleet
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Post by RonFleet »

My MY20 T3 petrol 8-speed auto, driven in Comfort mode with stop/start disabled (I hate it) averages over 38 mpg in mixed driving on mostly A roads and local roads, with some shortish motorway journeys. On a long motorway run at 60-70 mph, it achieves over 48 mpg. I think that's pretty acceptable.
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Andy40
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Post by Andy40 »

Makes a little difference from what I've tried, but i do like using it in heavy traffic as it backs the throttle off and the coasting function is quite good as well :)
eugen61
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Post by eugen61 »

ropetko wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 3:49 pm What I noticed in the past year and a half is that on highways Eco mode is efficient on speeds up to 70mph while driving straight or slightly downhill and if it's not too hot. In short - if you don't need that much power and if you are into coasting mode downhill. At 65-70 through the tunnel, Eco saves a lot :)
But if you are driving up the hill, if it's hot and your air condition needs power, if you change your speed a lot, then the Eco mode doesn't give you much. I also got same consumption results for Eco and Normal at speeds over 75-80 mph (41 with Normal and 41.5 with Eco on the same 100 miles ride).
I have the same experience with Eco vs. Normal (Comfort) mode driving and ended up using Individual mode with all settings on Comfort, exception being Engine set on Eco. This way I get normal air conditioning and steering, with the added benefit of disconnecting Start-Stop. Coasting doesn’t seam to function with Cruise Control engaged, so in order to benefit from coasting mode on downhills car has to be driven “manually”.
Bernard Bernardsson
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Post by Bernard Bernardsson »

I'm really impressed to see the mileages from the petrol xc40s, my previous car was a diesel Ford Kuga, (2l,163bhp), and to be honest it wasn't as good mpg, as some of the figures you're getting. I tow a 1500 kg caravan, and get around 30 mpg, while towing, obviously I keep to around 55 mph and a lot of those miles are on motorways, but I reckon that's around 7mpg better than the Kuga managed.
So yesterday I had a trip out without the mobile traffic calmer on the back, and as it was mostly motorway, Ramsbottom, to Chester Fairoaks, decided to drive as if it was. Quite happy, with the results, 67mpg, took 1hr 10 minutes to cover 50 miles, but I wasn't in a rush and to be honest, I just chill out on motorways these days anyway. Dropped to 54 mpg, on the way back, but hit enough traffic to add 25 minutes to the journey. Image

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Felindre
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Post by Felindre »

Like you I tow a heavy caravan, and I was astonished at your economy... Until I saw yours was a D4. Unfortunately my B4 is lucky to get 22 mpg towing. I did think hard when switching to petrol from my diesel Tiguan.

It does vary though depending on how driven and how many stops you have to make. I keep a spreadsheet of the journeys from the app, and best I've ever had is 52. It's often in the 40's, but a lot of journeys in the 30's. Happy enough overall as it was a considered choice going for the 2 litre petrol.
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Bernard Bernardsson
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Post by Bernard Bernardsson »

To be honest Felindre, that's as good as I got from the Kuga, which was a diesel, so it's good for, what after all is probably a petrol, 3 1/2 ton outfit 👍
D4 Inscription, Denim Blue, Blond, wiv winter pack, rear camera, spare wheel, and a towbar.
Ordered 14th Feb, delivery down as 29th May😞
Delivered, 1st September 20, now climate pack :D
ropetko
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Post by ropetko »

eugen61 wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 8:03 am
ropetko wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 3:49 pm What I noticed in the past year and a half is that on highways Eco mode is efficient on speeds up to 70mph while driving straight or slightly downhill and if it's not too hot. In short - if you don't need that much power and if you are into coasting mode downhill. At 65-70 through the tunnel, Eco saves a lot :)
But if you are driving up the hill, if it's hot and your air condition needs power, if you change your speed a lot, then the Eco mode doesn't give you much. I also got same consumption results for Eco and Normal at speeds over 75-80 mph (41 with Normal and 41.5 with Eco on the same 100 miles ride).
I have the same experience with Eco vs. Normal (Comfort) mode driving and ended up using Individual mode with all settings on Comfort, exception being Engine set on Eco. This way I get normal air conditioning and steering, with the added benefit of disconnecting Start-Stop. Coasting doesn’t seam to function with Cruise Control engaged, so in order to benefit from coasting mode on downhills car has to be driven “manually”.
You're right Eugene about Coasting and Cruise Control so I'm mostly using it on familiar downhill tracks. But if that's a shorter steep coasting will burn more fuel than Normal mode ;)
However, if you are using Eco mode on Cruise Control speeds between 50 and 70mph Coasting WILL function downhill. Sometimes. On speeds higher that 70 mph the air resistance is simply too high not to slow the car. I personally know only one downhill section in my "hilly neighborhood" where I can start Coasting at 75 and after 2 minutes the car goes 85. Usually it slows down even downhill, or maintain speed if the speed is approx. 60 mph.
EDIT: Eugene, I think I read somewhere that if you are using Eco mode with Sensus Navigation on, the system may look at the terrain configuration from map and anticipate uphills and downhill sections, releasing the Coasting mode on longer downhill sections. Can test it eventually in a few weeks :)
XC40 D4 AWD R-Design 140 kW 2018
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