Bigger fuel tank upgrade

[Amarillo]

Apparently, with the additives in winter fuel it lowers
the economy.

The coolant heater will use a bit.

I had poor fuel economy after a service. I also changed wheels and tyres from 16” to 17”. The idiot who I paid to change the wheels had under-inflated them.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Scorf]

Well I’ll take 500m from a tank!

After years of an old Landcruiser with a 95L tank & only 350-380 from it, it should be a considerably cheaper to run

 

[motacyclist]

Seem to recall my last MX5 only did around 200 miles before fuel anxiety set in!

 

[soulstyledevon]

My van has some warranty issues to be looked at Friday.
I’m going to ask about expected mpg and I’ve noticed the fan runs a lot when you first switch off the engine. Which I thought only happened if there was a dpf regen...?

Would be interesting to know how often this is happening.

Motacyclist. Your van shows above 30mpg from new, where as mine has never hit that figure so far...???

 

[motacyclist]

Motacyclist. Your van shows above 30mpg from new, where as mine has never hit that figure so far...???

There could be a lot of factors, journey lengths, stop starts, hills, etc. You could try some constant speed checks at say 50, 60, 70 mph and take note what you’re getting on the computer. Probably best to average it out over a couple of miles each time; then post up what you’re getting and see if others can compare.

As a bit of unscientific guesswork, I guess mine would be

40mpg at 50mph (I’ve seen more than this on the long 50mph stretches of M6)
36mpg at 60mph
33mpg at 70mph

Note that mine is not used as a daily driver normally, so that helps.

 

[Amarillo]

There could be a lot of factors, journey lengths, stop starts, hills, etc. You could try some constant speed checks at say 50, 60, 70 mph and take note what you’re getting on the computer. Probably best to average it out over a couple of miles each time; then post up what you’re getting and see if others can compare.

As a bit of unscientific guesswork, I guess mine would be

40mpg at 50mph (I’ve seen more than this on the long 50mph stretches of M6)
36mpg at 60mph
33mpg at 70mph

Note that mine is not used as a daily driver normally, so that helps.

I reckon it's closer to:
55mpg at 40mph
50mpg at 50mph
40mpg at 60mph
33mpg at 70mph
25mpg at 80mph
(MFD readings not brim to brim estimates)

What I don't know is if it would be possible to do 1000 miles on an 80 litre tank. I think I could probably do it.

 

[2into1]

The idiot who I paid to change the wheels had under-inflated them.

I agree. This is one of the biggest factors for fuel. I always have mine at the 'fully loaded' psi, often plus 1 or 2 psi for luck. I'm just off to casualty because of the poor ride

 

[gvick]

I also think driving style and type of journeys play a key role as well.
I currently drive 20 hours plus a week minimum and do mostly A12 A14 70mph dual carriageways but because then I go towns and citiy centres my average speed is 37mph and fuel consumption is 34mpg and that’s a 3 month average.
Wonder if @2into1 is right and the 204’s are been remapped to 299’s.

 

[Loz]

I am battling short journeys and an unfinished regen and getting a grand 22mpg at the moment.

 

[2into1]

Argh, that regen process is horrible. Far better to have a "your dpf is 60% full, would now be a good time to start a regen?"

Instead of waiting until its full but you've just started 2 days of very short trips.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Is it possible to force a regen somehow. I’ve not done a long trip for 6 weeks now and wonder if the van needs a good thrashing

 

[B J G]

Besides the 60+ miles potential range of an 80 litre tank with the need not go below a 1/4 tank for the regen process it would give a bit more range between fill ups.
I presume that 1/4 of 80 ltr tank is 20ltrs and 17.5 ltrs for the 70 ltr resulting in only 7.5 litres of fuel increase which reduces the bigger tanks expected gain in range.

 

[Amarillo]

I agree. This is one of the biggest factors for fuel. I always have mine at the 'fully loaded' psi, often plus 1 or 2 psi for luck. I'm just off to casualty because of the poor ride

I use a bicycle track pump to inflate my tyres according to load, and check with a proper gauge as the pump gauge is set for pressures up to 160 psi in 5 psi increments! Generally, I set low pressure for everyday use, high pressure for camping.

 

[motacyclist]

wonder if the van needs a good thrashing

Is it possible to thrash one of these vans when it’s only doing a little over 2000 rpm at 70mph?

 

[soulstyledevon]

Is it possible to thrash one of these vans when it’s only doing a little over 2000 rpm at 70mph?

Manual shift required

 

[Loz]

I am battling short journeys and an unfinished regen and getting a grand 22mpg at the moment.

Normal service has resumed, back up to 27 on my short runs, pretty poor month really, only 273 miles with 65 range showing, short runs, 3 days trying to complete the regen (third day got a thrashing) Parking heater and the air heater last few days...

 

[Johnboy]

I ordered a Beach, and I assumed a better mpg with the smaller tank would give me the same range. I was wrong, I would recommend this upgrade for the price.
I have been caught out several times on very low fuel (the range reduces faster the lower you get !!), once in the middle of France with the range reading a fat zero.... crawling along at 25mph until I stumbled on a petrol station.

Although it is a 70 litre tank, I rarely get near this when refilling from empty, so in reality the tank and range are reduced even further. I have had 550 mls out of my T4 but not got close to that from the T6.

An interesting side note.... I travelled from Swansea to Bristol on the M4, I set the cruise control to 75mph and recorded 44 mpg on the outward journey, feeling rather pleased I did the same back (an hour later) and only got 34mpg!! I have noticed wild swings on other occasions also ...

Thinking about this, the reason was the tail wind, as a stiff westerly was blowing at the time. Looking into the "calculations" the dominant factor is aerodynamics at high speed. The T6 and T5 will have a very large frontal area so will be subject to poor mpg at high speed - less so for the T4.

On a long run I get 37mpg average from the T6 and 30mpg from my T4 syncro.​

 

[B J G]

I ordered a Beach, and I assumed a better mpg with the smaller tank would give me the same range. I was wrong, I would recommend this upgrade for the price.
I have been caught out several times on very low fuel (the range reduces faster the lower you get !!), once in the middle of France with the range reading a fat zero.... crawling along at 25mph until I stumbled on a petrol station.

Although it is a 70 litre tank, I rarely get near this when refilling from empty, so in reality the tank and range are reduced even further. I have had 550 mls out of my T4 but not got close to that from the T6.

An interesting side note.... I travelled from Swansea to Bristol on the M4, I set the cruise control to 75mph and recorded 44 mpg on the outward journey, feeling rather pleased I did the same back (an hour later) and only got 34mpg!! I have noticed wild swings on other occasions also ...

Thinking about this, the reason was the tail wind, as a stiff westerly was blowing at the time. Looking into the "calculations" the dominant factor is aerodynamics at high speed. The T6 and T5 will have a very large frontal area so will be subject to poor mpg at high speed - less so for the T4.

On a long run I get 37mpg average from the T6 and 30mpg from my T4 syncro.​

I've also seen quite a drop in mpg with a head wind which always seems to reverse direction on the return journey giving a head wind coming back.

I try to lower my cruise speed to try to compensate for the head wind. I add the forecast head wind speed to the road speed and think 'would I drive at 90+' disregarding any legal speed limit considerations.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Johnboy like you I had averages of 500 miles per tank on my T4 (which was heavily remapped, plus injector upgrade) T5 and T5.1.

All the above vans returned 450-550 per tank.
This T6 has been anywhere from 300-365 max...!!!

It’s totally inadequate and I can’t believe the mpg stated by Volkswagen is anywhere near their quoted figures.
The old T5 5 pot engine was the best of the bunch and if I could order one tomorrow I would. The latest diesels cannot be anywhere as economical as the previous versions.

If anyone is reading this. Forget fancy blingy options and make sure you tick the bigger fuel tank box.
It’s a must have IMO

 

[Ciarán o flynn]

2G2 80L Fuel Tank € 76
I had it fitted when ordered that's the part number as you see it cost a extra 76 euro in 2017

 

[Scorf]

All very interesting & certainly food for thought.

I’ve ordered the larger tank & have also been offered a TDI-Tuning box by my dealer as a option which I intend to take him up on. It will be interesting to see what kind of range that combination produces.

Obviously I don't have any direct VW van comparison, but as I’ve stated before, any improvements on 27mpg long run & 21mpg when towing from my previous Landcruiser will mean a considerable saving for us

 

[motacyclist]

This T6 has been anywhere from 300-365 max...!!!

There must be something wrong, it would be worth having it checked out at the dealers I think. Different drinking styles and conditions could account for some variation but not that much.

 

[Loz]

This week I achieved 265 with 55 range left...

 

[Nick Stubbs]

I ordered a Beach, and I assumed a better mpg with the smaller tank would give me the same range. I was wrong, I would recommend this upgrade for the price.
I have been caught out several times on very low fuel (the range reduces faster the lower you get !!), once in the middle of France with the range reading a fat zero.... crawling along at 25mph until I stumbled on a petrol station.

Although it is a 70 litre tank, I rarely get near this when refilling from empty, so in reality the tank and range are reduced even further. I have had 550 mls out of my T4 but not got close to that from the T6.

An interesting side note.... I travelled from Swansea to Bristol on the M4, I set the cruise control to 75mph and recorded 44 mpg on the outward journey, feeling rather pleased I did the same back (an hour later) and only got 34mpg!! I have noticed wild swings on other occasions also ...

Thinking about this, the reason was the tail wind, as a stiff westerly was blowing at the time. Looking into the "calculations" the dominant factor is aerodynamics at high speed. The T6 and T5 will have a very large frontal area so will be subject to poor mpg at high speed - less so for the T4.

On a long run I get 37mpg average from the T6 and 30mpg from my T4 syncro.​

I noticed a similar effect on a trip down the M1 to London high 30's down 40's back up.

 

[soulstyledevon]

There must be something wrong, it would be worth having it checked out at the dealers I think. Different drinking styles and conditions could account for some variation but not that much.

Yep.
Done that. They say, sounds about right...
Maybe it will loosen up with more mileage. But I won’t hold my breath.