MPG - Again :-)

All Volvo XC40 related discussions
Post Reply
drjamesr
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 4:54 pm

Post by drjamesr »

1300 miles on the clock of my D4 AWD and three month check over just done. Mileage is 95% motorway trips over 100 miles, all in individual mode with eco setting but with stop start switched off. Lifetime diesel mpg is 41.3 mostly with the weight of a full tank at start of journey.

The best run of 300 miles with a brand new car was 48mpg, but at mid 60 mph as a gesture to running in and with lots of long max 50mph roadworks. They are really good for economy. How the brochure can claim 56.5 mpg combined on the old basis for D4 AWD is a mystery even allowing for the usual optimism bias in the figures. I think it’s impossible without some unusual factors.

I notice the mpg figures on the XC40 car computer climb very slowly as measured on a new trip even in eco mode, compared to my previous car where coasting kicked in at any speed as soon as the foot was lifted off the accelerator. As an experiment on quiet traffic days I have nudged the auto joystick into N on downhills. The sluggish rate of increase in the cumulative trip mpg becomes much more rapid, as before. It’s easy to nudge the auto box back to D and get instant power. Presumably this is the basis on which coasting, which I thought was prohibited, is a built in feature of several makes of automatic cars.

Why does the Volvo limit initiation of coasting to speeds above roughly 40mph? Maybe it might make little difference at lower speeds, but not so in my experiments. I can regularly get 40+ mpg on short trips of 10 miles with cold starts coasting at all speeds where safe.
XC40 Inscription, D4 AWD, Pine Grey, black leather faced, 19” double spoke #924, Xenium, Intellisense surround, Winter/Htd wheel, Spare wheel

ijkgenesis
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 10:14 pm

Post by ijkgenesis »

i have a D4 FE and done 19k miles in13 months and the log stats show average 39.2mpg. reckon 65% of mileage is motorways when i use eco mode. Rarely use dynamic mode
XC40 FE D4 Burstin Blue with 20 inch Wheels

XC60 T8 Ultimate ordered Sept 2023
XC_20
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2019 5:49 pm

Post by XC_20 »

Mine is a MY20 T3 inscription and I am averaging 44 mpg at present if that helps anyone
Jenip
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:36 am

Post by Jenip »

I’ve had mine 4 months from new. Have done 4,500 miles . Was told by dealership that when I got to 8k mileage then I’d see better fuel consumption. It’s petrol T4. If I drive in eco Bmth to London I can do 38mpg - I hit 45mpg once (but only for 10 mins!). Shame that the mileage doesn’t come anywhere near the quoted amount!
NitramA
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:22 pm

Post by NitramA »

This is after a 120 mile trip in Eco, mostly motorway at 60-70mph (mainly because of the traffic rather than my ability to drive slowly).
Was going to say it was in a T5 but I’ll be honest and admit it’s a D3 Auto.
Normal cruising speed is around 80 which I get high 40s mpg.

2BDEF376-B866-4036-A51C-15FC770657FC.jpeg

Deleted User 1945

Post by Deleted User 1945 »

drjamesr wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 1:13 pm 1300 miles on the clock of my D4 AWD and three month check over just done. Mileage is 95% motorway trips over 100 miles, all in individual mode with eco setting but with stop start switched off. Lifetime diesel mpg is 41.3 mostly with the weight of a full tank at start of journey.

The best run of 300 miles with a brand new car was 48mpg, but at mid 60 mph as a gesture to running in and with lots of long max 50mph roadworks. They are really good for economy. How the brochure can claim 56.5 mpg combined on the old basis for D4 AWD is a mystery even allowing for the usual optimism bias in the figures. I think it’s impossible without some unusual factors.

I notice the mpg figures on the XC40 car computer climb very slowly as measured on a new trip even in eco mode, compared to my previous car where coasting kicked in at any speed as soon as the foot was lifted off the accelerator. As an experiment on quiet traffic days I have nudged the auto joystick into N on downhills. The sluggish rate of increase in the cumulative trip mpg becomes much more rapid, as before. It’s easy to nudge the auto box back to D and get instant power. Presumably this is the basis on which coasting, which I thought was prohibited, is a built in feature of several makes of automatic cars.

Why does the Volvo limit initiation of coasting to speeds above roughly 40mph? Maybe it might make little difference at lower speeds, but not so in my experiments. I can regularly get 40+ mpg on short trips of 10 miles with cold starts coasting at all speeds where safe.
It’s a shame your not getting better mpg, it took close to 8,000 miles before the engine (D4) in my V90 started to improve with mpg -it’s now at 47.6 mpg combined. One thing I do like about Volvo is that the mpg result is more realistic via the trip computer. Our VW for instance records the periods between switching gear and when slowing down as 200+ mpg. This means if you only rely on the display then the car looks much more efficient than if you work out the mileage driven and the amount of fuel used between stops.
razashah5
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun May 05, 2019 6:36 pm

Post by razashah5 »

Hi Guys,
Maybe I've been driving it wrong, or maybe I have a defect. Who knows!! But my average MPG is 20.2 after 2491 miles driven.
I drive maybe 10 - 15 miles a day, usually doing the school run in stop start traffic. I always drive in Eco mode and my AC use is either on a low setting or not used at all.

I understand it is generally heavy traffic I encounter in the mornings, but should the MPG really be that low?

Any ideas if this is just down to the type of commute I do, or if it's something I should get looked at by Volvo?

Thanks

MPG.png

T4 Inscription Pro - Crystal White - Xenium Pack - Intellisafe Pro
Deleted User 1894

Post by Deleted User 1894 »

Your average speed isn't very high at all, and you're in stop/start traffic, so the engine is never going to be in the optimum range for getting decent mileage out of it.

If you have time one weekend, go out when it's quiet for a decent run and see if you can improve the figures.

To add to the main discussion, two and a bit weeks into D4 ownership, I'm getting an average of around 36-37mpg out of my car. It's not terrible, but it's not great either (allowing for the normal over-reading that most cars seem to do). I'd be very happy if I could get to 40mpg once it's been run in a bit more. I got around 420 miles out of my first tank.
Deleted User 1945

Post by Deleted User 1945 »

Just reading the XC40 manual and it states RON98 minimum petrol ie premium petrol for optimum performance and fuel consumption figures...shell and BP sell 102 RON has anyone filled up with these and seen an improvement in fuel consumption? For what it is worth I’ve just done 180 miles and achieving 33mpg and it was filled up on premium ( Sainsbury’s 98 RON) petrol. I think it’s not too bad considering the T4 AWD mpg is quoted as 40 mpg and the engine isn’t even broken in yet.
Deleted User 1945

Post by Deleted User 1945 »

Even more impressed with the mpg today! I got 35 on the way to work and 39 mpg on way back and that was with the aircon on max! Wonder if Volvo have updated the engine in the MY2020?

054BC769-A857-48C8-BF1C-B3CC41BEAEA0.jpeg

Post Reply