Date:         Wed, 30 Nov 94 08:39:13 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Gas mileage

On Wed, 30 Nov 94 07:29:11 CST Matt Tooley said:
>I am sure this gets discussed a lot, but I am going to ask anyway.  I am
>still tuning up my newly acquired '80 Vanagon Camper and trying to gauge if
>it is running properly.  What kind of gas mileage should I expect from it on
>the highway (relatively flat) without any water in the water tank and only
>two adults in it ?

my 80 bus (non-camper) averaged 18.6 mpg for 110,000 miles ... highest was
about 25 mpg (slow flat trip) and in winter it would get down (in city
traffic) to about 15-16 or so. most of the time it ranged around 18-20.  the
camper will likely drop this about 2-3 mpg. maybe more in town.

>have a '91 VW camper.  He said he usually got about 15 MPG going 60-65, 13
>MPG if > 70 mph.  In the city he said it got about 13 MPG.

that sounds like an automatic transmission. maybe even being driven kinda
hard.

>I have seen some discussions about the non-linear fuel gauge.  I guess VW
>still didn't get it right.   My '71 would never stay full.  It seemed to
>stay about 1/2 full most of the time and when it starting getting near E it
>would drop off in a hurry.  On my '80 it just seems to drop off in a hurry.
>I haven't run it all the way down yet, but it is getting a 100 miles to the
>first half of the tank.

that's probably about right ... i usually fill up at about 250 miles, and it
usually takes 13-14 gallons when i do. the gauge is a bitch ... you almost
cannot rely on it, other than to indicate "yup, lots of gas" or "gee, i think
you'd better look at the odometer". :)  it's the shape of the tank (i'm told)
that causes such strange fluctuations. if you'll notice, when you go uphill,
the gauge reads more than it did going downhill.  (or is it the other way
round? well, anyway. it's messed up in its normal state)

what i did was to get a driving computer. one that tells how much fuel you've
used up, and gives you instantaneous mpg and average mpg. once i calibrated it
for my car(s), it's accurate down to about 0.1 gallon (assuming you are even
close to filling it up to the same place each time). it cost about $100, and
i've moved it from car to car to car.

joel