Schneebly · Mar 17, 2019

Howdy all. I've just got back from a trip down south and wanted to compare mpg figures with other people on here. By no means am I bothered how crap or good my MPG is because I just enjoy driving my defender no matter how much it cost me

. I am curious as to what other people get with their set ups.

310 mile trip 70% motorway
Wind way horrendous!!!!!
25.6MPG

My set up.
1996 Defender 90 300TDi
99k miles
285/75/16 BF mud tyres
2" lift
Tuned fuel pump diaphragm & fuel screw
18psi boost.

marksman · Mar 17, 2019

My set up.
1996 Defender 90 300TDi
114563k miles
235/70/16 BFG AT tyres
Tuned fuel pump diaphragm
large intercooler
3" straight through exhaust
No EGR
Discovery higher ratio Xfer box
Boost 1 bar

Circa 28 mpg general running about

Had 34 mpg on long runs to west coast of Scotland

gymmaniac · Mar 17, 2019

Since you asked I thought I'd check properly:

for my last 29 fueling's.
300tdi - 40K miles since this one got put in
full size inter-cooler so fueling is up a bit
original turbo (which probably isn't performing great),
Tyre's probably a bit low for the motorway - my general commute 30 miles a day on the A1 mostly.
normal suspension

Schneebly · Mar 17, 2019

gymmaniac said:
Since you asked I thought I'd check properly:
View attachment 172692
for my last 29 fueling's.
300tdi - 40K miles since this one got put in
full size inter-cooler so fueling is up a bit
original turbo (which probably isn't performing great),
Tyre's probably a bit low for the motorway - my general commute 30 miles a day on the A1 mostly.
normal suspension

Cheers. I've got a full size intercooler sitter here waiting to go in. Did you notice any extra turbo lag compared to the original units?? If so is it bad or bareable??

TheQ · Mar 17, 2019

110 van, 235/85, disco box. 200tdi
Normally about 32mpg, but if I venture out of Norfolk to find a motorway, I can get it down to 26mpg.

dag019 · Mar 18, 2019

Average tracked over the last 118,373 miles using fuelly is 27.1.
200tdi 110, 1.2 transfer box, 265/75 tyres, and running heavy with additional kit.

How you drive makes a huge difference though, If i tuck in behind a truck for a long mortoway journey I can be in low 30's

zeaphod · Mar 18, 2019

Around town 25, up to 35 on long journeys, I generally try to find my engines sweet spot which is approx 52mph for the longer stuff. This is measured by actual fuel used over the course of a couple of years, not the gauge! That's a 1985 90 with a 200tdi conversion, on 7.50 x 16 Michelin Latitude Cross tyres, which are fairly narrow.

Mr G Imp · Mar 18, 2019

- 1988 2.5 turbo 19J bog standard
- 7.50 knobbly thin tyres
- Very hilly
- Short journeys
- carrying stuff
- Taken from speedo distances - (which may be out) and the first 1/4 of a full tank seems to leak out going up hill.
- 19.7 MPG

Oldseadog · Mar 19, 2019

2.5 NA 1989 110 Hard Top 750x16's running at 28 front, 32 rear, will cruise allday at 70mph plus.
Round the doors, 30-32mpg on a long run 35-40mpg
I tuned the engine for economy, so 0-60 in around 6 weeks, but once the speed has built up, she will hold it all day without missing a beat.
Prior to having my wrist smashed and rebuitl, I used to have a queue outside waiting for them to be tuned.
Specialist tuning equipment is a low frequency medical stethoscope, along with a standard tool kit.

gymmaniac · Mar 20, 2019

Schneebly said:
Cheers. I've got a full size intercooler sitter here waiting to go in. Did you notice any extra turbo lag compared to the original units?? If so is it bad or bareable??

No additional problem with turbo lag. It's as bad as it's ever been

Very tempted for a VGT turbo.
since the full size intercooler went in the coolant system is working harder to keep the temp normal (passenger bulkhead nice and toasty). I've an "offroad" radiation with larger spaced fins but this doesn't do much behind the intercooler! Trying to get a XL radiator out of Allisport is a nightmare though, I've been waiting 5 months for them to confirm my order......

Burtie2904 · Mar 21, 2019

Just thought I'd throw mine in the mix for a laugh.
1988 110 3.5 V8 twin sus
750 r16 latitude cross
Cruising at arround 60 on long drives and trying to drive efficienly (less breaking, slowing at lights earlier and drafting)
16.1mpg..... is by best for a full tank, average is arround 15
Having said that engine is being rebuilt at the moment, disco transfer box , higher compression pistons and efi , hoping to get that to arround 19-20.

Chalky. · Mar 21, 2019

Td5 90, running 235/85 r16 Cooper Pro mud terrains 24.9, when running 265/75 General grabber at2's was closer to 27mpg.

Engine is remapped to 160 bhp and oil changes every 5k and air filter same time, this makes huge difference! Also, no binding brakes here!!

mine is mixed driving so involves towing sometimes and greenlanes... I'm happy!

Chalky. · Mar 21, 2019

Burtie2904 said:
Just thought I'd throw mine in the mix for a laugh.
1988 110 3.5 V8 twin sus
750 r16 latitude cross
Cruising at arround 60 on long drives and trying to drive efficienly (less breaking, slowing at lights earlier and drafting)
16.1mpg..... is by best for a full tank, average is arround 15
Having said that engine is being rebuilt at the moment, disco transfer box , higher compression pistons and efi , hoping to get that to arround 19-20.

That sounds very achievable! My dad drove us down to near Toulouse when I was a nipper in a Rangie with the 3.5 on twin su's and driving gently achieved 24-25 mpg, if he had put a new cam in would of been better! When the cam was at the end of its life it started returning 10 mpg and under... always do the cam on thr 3.5's!!! Great to hear your still running one-old school cool!

Burtie2904 · Mar 21, 2019

Gottschalk said:
That sounds very achievable! My dad drove us down to near Toulouse when I was a nipper in a Rangie with the 3.5 on twin su's and driving gently achieved 24-25 mpg, if he had put a new cam in would of been better! When the cam was at the end of its life it started returning 10 mpg and under... always do the cam on thr 3.5's!!! Great to hear your still running one-old school cool!

25 mpg on carbs?!? Magic car, tbh probs helped by the marginally less crap aero of a rangie compared to a 110. It's got a new cam going in but I went for a mild performance cam, some say that will help mpg, some say it will make it worse. I suppose imma find out (my guess is that it does little as it will mean the engine does use a little more fuel at a given load but it will be under less load given the improved hp/torque). Tbh compared to the 100k cam in it rn anything is better.
It's meant to be doing a 4k miles roadtrip arround Europe this summer to fingers crossed the mpg breaks into the 20s.

300bhp/ton · Mar 21, 2019

I suspect how you work out mpg also plays a big part in all the figures quoted here. I suspect a 10-20% error factor might be true for many. In both directions depending on if the numbers are high or low being quoted.

Inaccurate Speedo, inaccurate odo, inaccurate way of measuring fuel used and potentially inaccurate ways of calculating mpg.

Henry_b · Mar 21, 2019

Some good figures above for such old beasts

mudmut · Mar 22, 2019

1989 90 19j only used locally and for laning, running Insa special track type tyres averaging 22 mpg but speedo is definitely under reading so probably a bit better than that, will have to check against a sat nav one day

zeaphod · Mar 24, 2019

Surprisingly, i rediscovered my Speedo is very accurate when checked with a gps. If i had kept it on 205s it would have been at least 10%out.

Schneebly

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marksman

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gymmaniac

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Schneebly

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TheQ

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dag019

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zeaphod

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Mr G Imp

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Oldseadog

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gymmaniac

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Burtie2904

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Chalky.

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Chalky.

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Burtie2904

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300bhp/ton

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Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.

mudmut

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zeaphod

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