Fuel Consumption ZX - 2.0i 8-Valve Volcane

AthlonZX · Post by **AthlonZX** » 27 Jun 2005, 23:29

Hi there folks
Running along very happily with my new 2.0i 8-Valve Volcane. But having owned a diesel ZX for two years, I was a little shocked at the fuel consumption. The fuel gauge on this new car seems to be quite erratic (ie, from quarter of a tank, to fuel light and back somtimes while driving along), and I dont really want to run it out of fuel to find out how far it goes.
Has anyone got a rough idea of what the MPG of the 2.0i 8-valve Volcane, and roughly how many miles one will do on a full tank? I've got 235 miles out of a fillup before I re-filled with the light flickerng while driving (approx £30 of fuel to re-fil). Also does anyone have any tips on the best gears to drive in around town...as I've gotten that used to a diesel I'm not sure I'm driving the petrol one in the most efficient manner [:I].
Thanks everyone [:)]
AthlonZX(Dave)
Citroen ZX Volcane L-Reg 1994 2.0i 8v 91912 miles [:D]

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 27 Jun 2005, 23:48

The problem with diesels is that you get brutal with the accelerator pedal. one of the best tips I heard for economy driving was to imagine you are driving with an egg between your foot and the accelerator pedal! In other words be as gentle as you can be with it. Other hints are to drive in as boring a manner as possible and don't do all the things you enjoy like burning others off up hill etc.
When I had cars with dual choke carbs I'd try and drive everywhere on the first choke - reserving the second for special occasions! Anticipation helps - try to keep a constant speed up hills and build up speed on the downside rather than sprinting to the top!
Some cars do wonderful things due to rotten combustion chamber design - in particular I remember a Ford Cortina 2000GT I had which would use less fuel if I booted it than if I drove it gently at 70 MPH. Apparently this was quite a common experience with those engines.
Jeremy

oscarloco · Post by **oscarloco** » 27 Jun 2005, 23:59

Mine does around 26 mpg normal driving, 24 in traffic. Keep in mind that I live in a very hilly country, so level roads are scarce. In the area where I move the most, there are a lot of uphills. Then again they can work in your favor, there is a stretch of highway where I release the throttle and leave the car in neutral before the downhill begins and I can go around 5 km without touching the accelerator and around 100 - 80 km/h.

DarkendViper · Post by **DarkendViper** » 28 Jun 2005, 02:20

I get about 250 miles from a full tank, £35. I don't drive very gently much either. I've tuned it quite a bit as well. The one thing that I do do is a lot of motorway miles. 60 a day, with about 4 miles to get on and off.
I use 3rd gear around town, but mine has been tuned. My old 1.9i I used to use 2nd and 3rd.
Ste

Ian Fearn · Post by **Ian Fearn** » 29 Jun 2005, 17:20

Surely you should be getting 30mpg out of it.
My BX will do low 30's if driven gingerly. On a run as much as 40mpg.
Normally however i'm getting about 23-25! [}:)]

Post by **Richard Green** » 29 Jun 2005, 17:29

you hit it on the head there Ian ( lead foot syndrome ) you drive hard you pay the price.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 30 Jun 2005, 01:26

Why did you change to petrol? My XM will do in excess of 800 miles on a tankful (bigger tank of course) Filled it up in Inverness a couple of weeks ago, drove back to Dorset, used it for a week and filled up in Plymouth last Friday. Approx 53 mpg.

AthlonZX · Post by **AthlonZX** » 30 Jun 2005, 03:29

Hi everyone thanks for the input. I've been advised by my Dad to drive in higher gears than I did before (3rd instead of 4th round town etc). This 2.0 engine has bags of torque (and it's very smooth) so it's sometimes hard to tell when I'm labouring it round town. I've not really been thrahsing it (not by my standards anyway [}:)]), but I'll try and go easier on the throttle [:p]. Does anyone have any idea how far one of these will go on a full tank?
Peter, I got rid of my diesel for two reasons. Firsty engine was very coarse (head gasket, and uneven compression...and I just couldnt bring myself to do it), and secondly I'd never been happy with the car as it was plauged by lots of minor niggles (another reason why I didnt fancy shelling out large amounts of cash on it).
I've always fancied a Volcane, something allot smoother and with better performance, better brakes and sports seats etc. I spotted the volcane I have on autotrader for the right price, so I went for it [:D]
Cheers
AthlonZX(Dave)
Citroen ZX Volcane L-Reg 1994 2.0i 8v 91946 miles [8D]

Post by **Peter.N.** » 30 Jun 2005, 03:47

Fair enough!

Post by **Richard Green** » 30 Jun 2005, 03:54

petrol engine is also cheaper to repair and silky smooth quite when running not like the very noisy diesel.

Chrispy · Post by **Chrispy** » 30 Jun 2005, 13:25

Also, if it's REALLY bad on juice, the lambda sensor might need replacing if the car is catted. They don;t last forever and worn ones trick the ECU into shoving more fuel in. You'll also fail MOT's if they're really duff. Had the same issue on my BMW. New £40 sensor fixed it.
Just a thought!

Post by **Peter.N.** » 30 Jun 2005, 15:11

You obviously havn't driven any modern diesels, Richard. They also last longer and are less likely to require repairing, and are nicer to drive with much better low down torque + about a 30% or more saving on fuel.

Chrispy · Post by **Chrispy** » 30 Jun 2005, 15:59

Even modern diesels, smooth as they are, still aren't quite up to petrol standards for smoothness. I've been in Golf PD's, PSA HDi's, BMW diesels etc etc and on all of them you could hear (and feel) the diesel thrum from under the bonnet. Due to the higher compression ratios than petrol it is inevitable for diesels to have shorter head gasket life. The HDi's for example use a 17.5:1 comp ratio, compared to about 9:1 - 11:1 for most petrols. Diesels have to have uprated heads and gaskets, uprated con rods, clutches etc to handle the extra stress, in addition to running on a more viscous fuel that lubricates everything as it goes. This is why diesel engines cost so much more.
Even using pre-injection (some of them up to 4 injections per cycle) they still aren't going to be as quiet as their petrol cousins, simply due to their nature as compression based combustion engines. Also, most of them are 4 pots too which are inherently less smooth than 6 pots and up. Mind you, even with 6 cylinders etc, the injection knock can only be suppressed so far. The new common rail fuel injection systems have all the extra trimmings of a petrol EFI engine like AFM's, fuel pressure sensors, throttle sensors, engine temp sensors etc, and as such are going to be more prone to wierd electrical gremlins. Dealers rely too much on diagnostic equipment to tell them if somethings wrong, rather than using their noggin, hence a problem I had with huuuuuge turbo lag on my 306 HDi couldn't be traced as there were no error codes. Not to mention the bonkers high pressure the fuel rail runs at...surely any part having to withstand 20,000 psi on a daily basis can't last forever.
But, depsite the extra noise, I'm still a big diesel fan. The low down torque simply cannot be matched by a petrol engine, making them so much more pleasurable to drive, in addition to the obviously improved economy over petrols. The emissions can't be beaten either, which is great for company car users paying P11D tax, especially now with the HDi exhausts having particulate filters. The time of petrols is over me thinks.....

HFStuart · Post by **HFStuart** » 01 Jul 2005, 03:32

<<surely any part having to withstand 20,000 psi on a daily basis can't last forever.>>
Chrispy - the company I work for makes hoses for the offshore industry. With a 12,500 psi working pressure, 50,000 psi burst pressure we give a 25 year guarantee - and these are flexible 'rubber' hoses. With small bores (1/4") the pressure's not such a big deal.
I wouldn't recommend being near one when it lets go though !
Stuart

drpau · Post by **drpau** » 01 Jul 2005, 04:13

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by HFStuart</i>

<<surely any part having to withstand 20,000 psi on a daily basis can't last forever.>>
Chrispy - the company I work for makes hoses for the offshore industry. With a 12,500 psi working pressure, 50,000 psi burst pressure we give a 25 year guarantee - and these are flexible 'rubber' hoses. With small bores (1/4") the pressure's not such a big deal.
I wouldn't recommend being near one when it lets go though !
Stuart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Im sure that would rip your face off!!![:0]