2022 T6.1 Ocean Fuel Consumption

[markab]

I took delivery of my Cali Ocean in August 22, and I feel the fuel consumption has slowly declined. It has now covered 4000 miles, is a 150 auto and has 20”wheels. I just had a new year trip to Whitby and the return journey 58 miles which is 50% A roads and 50% dual carriageway gave 29mpg average. Normal local commutes show around 22-25mpg and I get around 390 to 400 miles to a tank of diesel. There are no leaks, but there are often fans blasting out after very short distances.
Is this normal consumption?? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

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I get about 38 on long 400 mile runs, dual carriageway and motor way. That’s loaded for a weeks holiday 2 people 2 dogs. 20” on 275 35 R 20 150 auto.

Shorter local runs high 20s low 30s.

 

[Cali Phillip]

Having spent many years in wind tunnel/aero development , I’d suggest a small roof spoiler would work wonders.

I always wondered how much the solar panels made to mpg.

 

[WelshGas]

I always wondered how much the solar panels made to mpg.

Now that is where it becomes interesting.
I'm sure roof Solar Panels would have an effect, BUT by charging the Leisure Batteries and engine battery on the T6.1 whilst driving then the Smart Alternator might have to do less charging and this would have an effect on engine efficiency and hence mpg, as would utilising the AirCon.

 

[calibusje]

Interesting. All of it. I don't know how some people do it, but I get to 26 mpg (9l / 100km) during weekday use: commuting and some family visits or even going to the store with it.
AC on or off makes marginal or no difference, already tested. Experiments with slow driving, constant speed: can certainly make a difference, but that's not how you drive in everyday traffic and are not that realistic, not for me anyway. Everyone has their own opinion on this, of course. I am an average driver and not overly sporty at all, rather calm but smooth enough (as I get older I became calmer). I use cruise control a lot.
Could it be that many state their record mpg as a ‘snapshot’ during a ride and is not the average consumption ‘since refueling’ while driving? When the full tank (the enlarged version) is almost empty (after just under 700 km) I have my 26 mpg 'since refueling'. At almost every time I fill the tank.
We have now arrived in the Belgian Ardennes from our hometown of Bruges and mainly drove on the highway (269 km / 167 miles). We are 4 and not packed (short trip for beer and cheese in Orval Abbey and some delicious Ardennes plats food). We had quite a bit of crosswind and almost constant heavy rain: result 28 mpg (8.4l/100km). 9 month old cali coast with 150hp engine and dsg. No solar panels on the roof for us nor an awning hanging on the side. On the back: (empty) bicycle rack. About 15.000 km (9300 miles).
What could make the high consumption with our cali in my opinion: the tires; I have 17 inch steel rims with Continental Vancontact 4season 215/60 R17 T109. I think they are driving up consumption.
As I said: interesting reading how others are doing with consumption because I think it is quite high with us if I compare.

 

[sidepod]

Interesting. All of it. I don't know how some people do it, but I get to 26 mpg (9l / 100km) during weekday use: commuting and some family visits or even going to the store with it.
AC on or off makes marginal or no difference, already tested. Experiments with slow driving, constant speed: can certainly make a difference, but that's not how you drive in everyday traffic and are not that realistic, not for me anyway. Everyone has their own opinion on this, of course. I am an average driver and not overly sporty at all, rather calm but smooth enough (as I get older I became calmer). I use cruise control a lot.
Could it be that many state their record mpg as a ‘snapshot’ during a ride and is not the average consumption ‘since refueling’ while driving? When the full tank (the enlarged version) is almost empty (after just under 700 km) I have my 26 mpg 'since refueling'. At almost every time I fill the tank.
We have now arrived in the Belgian Ardennes from our hometown of Bruges and mainly drove on the highway (269 km / 167 miles). We are 4 and not packed (short trip for beer and cheese in Orval Abbey and some delicious Ardennes plats food). We had quite a bit of crosswind and almost constant heavy rain: result 28 mpg (8.4l/100km). 9 month old cali coast with 150hp engine and dsg. No solar panels on the roof for us nor an awning hanging on the side. On the back: (empty) bicycle rack. About 15.000 km (9300 miles).
What could make the high consumption with our cali in my opinion: the tires; I have 17 inch steel rims with Continental Vancontact 4season 215/60 R17 T109. I think they are driving up consumption.
As I said: interesting reading how others are doing with consumption because I think it is quite high with us.

Completely off topic but, we were in Leuven over Christmas. Lovely place.

 

[calibusje]

Completely off topic but, we were in Leuven over Christmas. Lovely place.

Have fun! If you are still there or: hope you had fun. And beer.

 

[Calimili]

Interesting. All of it. I don't know how some people do it, but I get to 26 mpg (9l / 100km) during weekday use: commuting and some family visits or even going to the store with it.
AC on or off makes marginal or no difference, already tested. Experiments with slow driving, constant speed: can certainly make a difference, but that's not how you drive in everyday traffic and are not that realistic, not for me anyway. Everyone has their own opinion on this, of course. I am an average driver and not overly sporty at all, rather calm but smooth enough (as I get older I became calmer). I use cruise control a lot.
Could it be that many state their record mpg as a ‘snapshot’ during a ride and is not the average consumption ‘since refueling’ while driving? When the full tank (the enlarged version) is almost empty (after just under 700 km) I have my 26 mpg 'since refueling'. At almost every time I fill the tank.
We have now arrived in the Belgian Ardennes from our hometown of Bruges and mainly drove on the highway (269 km / 167 miles). We are 4 and not packed (short trip for beer and cheese in Orval Abbey and some delicious Ardennes plats food). We had quite a bit of crosswind and almost constant heavy rain: result 28 mpg (8.4l/100km). 9 month old cali coast with 150hp engine and dsg. No solar panels on the roof for us nor an awning hanging on the side. On the back: (empty) bicycle rack. About 15.000 km (9300 miles).
What could make the high consumption with our cali in my opinion: the tires; I have 17 inch steel rims with Continental Vancontact 4season 215/60 R17 T109. I think they are driving up consumption.
As I said: interesting reading how others are doing with consumption because I think it is quite high with us.

As by far the great majority of users here are British, you need to convert using imperial Gallon, not US Galllon. 9l*100km = 100/9/1,6*4,55= 31,6 mpg.
8,4l/100km = 100/8,4/1,6*4,55 =33,85 mpg.

 

[calibusje]

As by far the great majority of users here are British, you need to convert using imperial Gallon, not US Galllon. 9l*100km = 100/9/1,6*4,55= 31,6 mpg.
8,4l/100km = 100/8,4/1,6*4,55 =33,85 mpg.

Thanks for the correction I feel a lot better now. Didn’t know there we’re two conversions. I really wondered what was wrong: such a big difference. I find the consumption ça va when I compare it with our previous bus: westfalia t4 with 5 cylinder atmospheric diesel with only 78 hp and 5 manual gears, no air conditioning. So: ça va, not great. But I guess I’m satisfied now.

 

[Calimili]

Thanks for the correction I feel a lot better now. Didn’t know there we’re two conversions. I really wondered what was wrong: such a big difference. I find the consumption ça va when I compare it with our previous bus: westfalia t4 with 5 cylinder atmospheric diesel with only 78 hp and 5 manual gears, no air conditioning. But only ça va, not great.

It's very difficult to make comparisons, I find the terrain makes a huge difference. As we all live in different places we risk comparing apples and oranges. For example, I live up a hill which is 100m higher than the local village. If I drive countryside roads, flat area, my heavy Ocean 4M dsg gets also 8,4l/100km or ~34mpg.
Once i got stuck behind a very slow driver going to the next village 20km/12,5mi away at 60/70 kmh ( 37-44mph) and couldn't believe the MFD showing 6l/100km or 47mpg! The last 2km going up my hill 100m then killed the good average, especially since I often have to stop for traffic and restart uphill on a 20mph restricted road....

 

[starlightblue]

My long-term consumption.
The bike rack and awning is always on the bus, sometimes loaded with 4 bikes.
I am not a speed driver (never exceed 120 km/h.)
I drive a 150ps FWD
(35,759 mpg)

Recently drove to the north of the Netherlands (Zwolle), with 2 people and little luggage on the flat Dutch roads at 100 km / h. (max speed on Dutch roads)
(41,544 mpg)

 

[Amarillo]

Interesting. All of it. I don't know how some people do it, but I get to 26 mpg (9l / 100km) during weekday use: commuting and some family visits or even going to the store with it.
AC on or off makes marginal or no difference, already tested. Experiments with slow driving, constant speed: can certainly make a difference, but that's not how you drive in everyday traffic and are not that realistic, not for me anyway. Everyone has their own opinion on this, of course. I am an average driver and not overly sporty at all, rather calm but smooth enough (as I get older I became calmer). I use cruise control a lot.
Could it be that many state their record mpg as a ‘snapshot’ during a ride and is not the average consumption ‘since refueling’ while driving? When the full tank (the enlarged version) is almost empty (after just under 700 km) I have my 26 mpg 'since refueling'. At almost every time I fill the tank.
We have now arrived in the Belgian Ardennes from our hometown of Bruges and mainly drove on the highway (269 km / 167 miles). We are 4 and not packed (short trip for beer and cheese in Orval Abbey and some delicious Ardennes plats food). We had quite a bit of crosswind and almost constant heavy rain: result 28 mpg (8.4l/100km). 9 month old cali coast with 150hp engine and dsg. No solar panels on the roof for us nor an awning hanging on the side. On the back: (empty) bicycle rack. About 15.000 km (9300 miles).
What could make the high consumption with our cali in my opinion: the tires; I have 17 inch steel rims with Continental Vancontact 4season 215/60 R17 T109. I think they are driving up consumption.
As I said: interesting reading how others are doing with consumption because I think it is quite high with us if I compare.

Here’s my long term graph.

All brim to brim measurements - but some use of the parking heater.

98,826 Km
33.84 mpg
Max 43.16 mpg
Min 26.11 mpg

We live in London.

 

[yossarian]

Now that is where it becomes interesting.
I'm sure roof Solar Panels would have an effect, BUT by charging the Leisure Batteries and engine battery on the T6.1 whilst driving then the Smart Alternator might have to do less charging and this would have an effect on engine efficiency and hence mpg, as would utilising the AirCon.

Here's a simplistic calculation:

To produce 1.0 kWh using diesel you'd use 1.0 / 10 / 0.3 / 0.85 = ~0.4 liters.

Assumptions 10kWh per liter and 30% thermal efficiency; 85% charging efficiency.

T6.1 leisure battery system has about 1kWh usable energy.

So setting off with charged vs flat batteries is worth about 0.4 liters of diesel. If you can harvest a similar amount during your drive that's around 0.8 liters per day. In Uk full sun summer conditions one could expect 1.2 - 0.8kWh per day from a 200W panel.

Drag of the panel is uncertain but I get good numbers and i've only ever run my van with a panel on top. So anecdotally the drag doesn't look like a train smash.

 

[sidepod]

Here’s my long term graph.

All brim to brim measurements - but some use of the parking heater.

98,826 Km
33.84 mpg
Max 43.16 mpg
Min 26.11 mpg

We live in London.

Have you factored in the weight delta between a Beach and Ocean?

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Here's a useful converter for those in Europe using liters per 100km to convert to British MPG:

Convert Liters per 100 Kilometers to Miles Per Gallon (UK)

Most of the world measures fuel economy in liters / 100 kilometers. The United Kingdom still uses miles per gallon. Use this calculator to convert from liters per 100 kilometers to British miles per gallon.

www.calculateme.com

 

[chockswahay]

It's very difficult to make comparisons, I find the terrain makes a huge difference. As we all live in different places we risk comparing apples and oranges. For example, I live up a hill which is 100m higher than the local village. If I drive countryside roads, flat area, my heavy Ocean 4M dsg gets also 8,4l/100km or ~34mpg.
Once i got stuck behind a very slow driver going to the next village 20km/12,5mi away at 60/70 kmh ( 37-44mph) and couldn't believe the MFD showing 6l/100km or 47mpg! The last 2km going up my hill 100m then killed the good average, especially since I often have to stop for traffic and restart uphill on a 20mph restricted road....

Haha, well I would hold my hand up and say that ‘very slow driver’ could be me if I lived near you On short journeys I don’t feel the need to rush as the time delay is minimal yet the fuel gain is maximal. Also many of the roads around us are 30 or 40 mph speed limit.

Before anyone jumps on me ……… I do pull over if I am clearly holding someone up……. and being retired I don’t have to commute or meet time deadlines

 

[soulstyledevon]

So @Amarillo average is 33.
I stated average for these vans is 27-33.
Just depends how frugal you want to be. 5 mpg over a year, I would just drive hard and enjoy driving…

 

[edocali]

Interesting. All of it. I don't know how some people do it, but I get to 26 mpg (9l / 100km) during weekday use: commuting and some family visits or even going to the store with it.
AC on or off makes marginal or no difference, already tested. Experiments with slow driving, constant speed: can certainly make a difference, but that's not how you drive in everyday traffic and are not that realistic, not for me anyway. Everyone has their own opinion on this, of course. I am an average driver and not overly sporty at all, rather calm but smooth enough (as I get older I became calmer). I use cruise control a lot.
Could it be that many state their record mpg as a ‘snapshot’ during a ride and is not the average consumption ‘since refueling’ while driving? When the full tank (the enlarged version) is almost empty (after just under 700 km) I have my 26 mpg 'since refueling'. At almost every time I fill the tank.
We have now arrived in the Belgian Ardennes from our hometown of Bruges and mainly drove on the highway (269 km / 167 miles). We are 4 and not packed (short trip for beer and cheese in Orval Abbey and some delicious Ardennes plats food). We had quite a bit of crosswind and almost constant heavy rain: result 28 mpg (8.4l/100km). 9 month old cali coast with 150hp engine and dsg. No solar panels on the roof for us nor an awning hanging on the side. On the back: (empty) bicycle rack. About 15.000 km (9300 miles).
What could make the high consumption with our cali in my opinion: the tires; I have 17 inch steel rims with Continental Vancontact 4season 215/60 R17 T109. I think they are driving up consumption.
As I said: interesting reading how others are doing with consumption because I think it is quite high with us if I compare.

About cruise control ... on my T6 I have the non-adaptive one. I think it is quite bad for fuel consumption when the road is not flat.
It attempts to maintain constant speed even when ascending, while my foot normally allows for some kinetic energy to be transformed into gravitational potential.

In the end, I find it almost completely useless.
At least in my MX5 it works well as in speed limiter mode - so I there I use it when roadworks, 20 zones etc.
The T6 cali cruise control is crap

 

[calibusje]

It's very difficult to make comparisons, I find the terrain makes a huge difference. As we all live in different places we risk comparing apples and oranges. For example, I live up a hill which is 100m higher than the local village. If I drive countryside roads, flat area, my heavy Ocean 4M dsg gets also 8,4l/100km or ~34mpg.
Once i got stuck behind a very slow driver going to the next village 20km/12,5mi away at 60/70 kmh ( 37-44mph) and couldn't believe the MFD showing 6l/100km or 47mpg! The last 2km going up my hill 100m then killed the good average, especially since I often have to stop for traffic and restart uphill on a 20mph restricted road....

Indeed, that's why I also refer to the consumption 'since refueling' and when refueling you have the consumption of the previous tank. Snapshots or mpg at a moment are not so representative for me because eg if I don't accelerate, I don't consume anything and that would be a nice consumption at that time, wouldn't it? But then you must hit the gas pedal and the mpg are there again. Rather obvious. We live flat, but in the Ardennes where we are now, there are quite a few slopes and consumption is lower.
Terrain, tires, weight, things sticking out of the surface like an awning, bicycle rack, (thick) solar panels all matters for the fuel consumption. It also matters how hard your engine has to work but certainly your foot on the accelerator make the average fuel consumption.

 

[calibusje]

About cruise control ... on my T6 I have the non-adaptive one. I think it is quite bad for fuel consumption when the road is not flat.
It attempts to maintain constant speed even when ascending, while my foot normally allows for some kinetic energy to be transformed into gravitational potential.

In the end, I find it almost completely useless.
At least in my MX5 it works well as in speed limiter mode - so I there I use it when roadworks, 20 zones etc.
The T6 cali cruise control is crap

That's too bad; I have adaptive cruise control on our t6.1 and use it most of the time. I'm happy with it, but can't compare it to others/ yours.

 

[Amarillo]

Have you factored in the weight delta between a Beach and Ocean?

A large proportion of our driving is fully laden - driver, three passengers, four bikes on the rear, driveaway awning. I wouldn’t be surprised if our laden weight is comparable with an Ocean.

When we travel light we use our other car.

 

[sidepod]

A large proportion of our driving is fully laden - driver, three passengers, four bikes on the rear, driveaway awning. I wouldn’t be surprised if our laden weight is comparable with an Ocean.

When we travel light we use our other car.

But everyone else has the same variations in loading over and above the baseline so the delta remains.
Across a long term average your vehicle is lighter.

 

[Calimili]

But everyone else has the same variations in loading over and above the baseline so the delta remains.
Across a long term average your vehicle is lighter.

There's a lot of stuff that a Beach has to load that a Ocean doesn't. Like Fridge, stove, cooking gas bottles, water, possible a sink of some sort, containers for clothes etc..
Oceans tends to be heavier in the off season I would assume, not only for the kitchen and wardrobe, but unlikely that Ocean drivers would empty cupboards from pots and pans , cutlery, levelling ramps, gas bottle, EHU cable etc etc etc.. I don't. My van will consume yearly a few quids more worth of Diesel, I'll make it up with the time saved when loading for holilday or weekend trips.
Any topic could be made to lead to a much loved Beach vs Ocean debate!

 

[willwander]

I average 33.4 mpg,
T6 150 dsg Ocean (trip computer 2 thingy, over approx 5000 miles, mixed town/motorway)

I once did some experiments with Air Conditioning on and off. Couldn't notice a difference.
I then got really bored doing mpg experiments and gave up.

 

[calibusje]

I average 33mpg, T6 150 dsg Ocean

I did some experiments with Air Conditioning on and off. Couldn't notice a difference.
I then got really bored doing mpg experiments and gave up.

Yes, me too Turns out I don't really use that much. The cali that is; fuel. I use a lot

 

[Cali Phillip]

I tend to find if the trip is fairly short, less then 50miles then what happens in the warm up period makes a big difference, it sets the base MPG.
Head winds make a huge difference, heading south thought a snowy Glen Coe into a big head wind was lucky to get above 33MPG to north of Glasgow and that was low speed 25-45MPH due to the snow and stuck / crashed vehicles ( vector gen 3 were good), even checked tyre pressure the next day convinced there was a tyre low.
Long term average over 2 years and 28K miles on the T6 Ocean is 36MPG but the range for tank is 28-43, 28 bikes, best trip 1 is 54MPG slow 45 miles back in tourist season, regular over 40 in the summer but drops to 36 over winter.