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gas mileage tips/reasons why im only getting 19.5 mpg

8K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  rmorse 
#1 ·
ok soo someone should give me a list of possibilities as to why i get about 19.5 mpg mixed driving i have a 1995 850 turbo wagon with only 125 thousand miles on it! please help or make suggestions, i have been reading as to how good of gas mileage you all get in your turbo 855's and 854's and im kinda just straight :facepalm:ing everytime i fill up so please helppppp!

after a year of owning the car i really want better mpg
 
#2 ·
For what it's worth, my wife's '97 854R gets about the same mileage. I, on the other hand, spend more time on the freeway, so I get around 25mpg or more from my 855 w/ manual swap. What kind of driving do you do?
 
#4 ·
Is this the car you just bought?

Do a full stage zero on it, and CHECK YOUR PCV. It's incredibly easy to check it to see if you're clogged or not. If you are having a hard time with that, I'll be in Ocean City next weekend (25th on). You can jet over and I can show you how to check it. But, you should be able to figure it out.
 
#5 ·
Run premium. The mileage improvement will pay for the cost difference.

+1 for stage zero. Start with the vaccum hoses.

Also, check the fuel line that runs over the top of the motor for leaks, very hard to find as the leak is only present when the motor runs and the gas evaporates imediately upon landing on the motor. This fix improved my mileage by 15%.

What is the steady state highway mileage? I see 25 - 27 mpg at 85mph after 4 hours, with the crummy Illinois ethanol gas. It would be 10% better if no ethanol.
 
#6 ·
ok rmorse umm ive seen this PCV thing be talked about, and to be honest im not sure as to what it is/where it is lol sooo please halp with that!!!!
and i've already done a full stage zero (fluids at least) my hoses appear to look great but i could be wrong and ok ima probably fill up on premium next time i fill up hopefully theres a bigg difference
 
#8 ·
LOL, stage 0 has way more to do than fluids. Read up on that one.

Check your trip computer to see what the average mph is. Post that back. When my average mph is around 31 I get 21 mpg. I had a cluster problem and my mileage dropped to 18.5 (I also had low tire pressure). Fixed it today and I'm back up to around 21.5 - 22.3 around town. There are several things to do to get better gas mileage, 91+ octane cost about 7% more money but I get 15% better mileage (around town). When on the highway at 78 mph I get 29 mpg with any gas, even NO ethonal. So, if I have to drift down the highway at 70 - 75 mph I somtimes pump 87 but that's the only time.

http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850-16/850-poor-gas-mileage-tips-improve-mpg-52856/

Oh, the owners manual has the car rated at 19 / 26
 
#9 ·
lol well like ive flushed all fluids and i have new ignition wires and spark plugs and ive done the baby soap and water trick on the turbo hoses and intercooler hoses and such and theres noo leaks but i do neeed to do my pcv lol checked my service records and my car just reached 125k today and its never been done soooooo its probably in dier need anyway i appreciate all the input guys much appreciated

RSpi- my average mpg is 19.5 and i run 87 but im filling up with 93 within the next few days but i just reset the average mph thing so i do not belive it will be as accurate as you want, but... i will reset mpg and mph when i fill up with 93 and after 150 miles or so ill let you know all the info! sound good???
 
#11 ·
Get the car warm (drive it for like 10 minutes). Come back, park it, LEAVE THE ENGINE RUNNING. Pop the hood. WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING, pull out the dipstick. Marvel at all of the white smoke billowing out of the dipstick hole.

If there is white smoke - your PCV is clogged and needs service. Might as well replace it.
If there is no white smoke - your PCV is fine.
 
#10 ·
93 all the way! I average 26 mpg, about 50/50 hiway, back roads. I only run 93 and i like boost!

Yep, sent from my rooted, rommed Galaxy Nexus....
 
#12 ·
@RMorse: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, that is a good general test but not alway the answer. Mine did NOT smoke but was bad. The holes in my block was almost totally blocked. So, if it hasn't been done in 60k, do it. I'm sure you can be safe to put it on schedule with the timing belt and replace it every 70,000 but I plan to do mine every 50,000.

@ 850BOOSTED: I think it takes about 400 miles for the car's computer to totally adjust to the higher octane fuel. I wouldn't check the mileage until you're on your 2nd tank of it.
 
#14 ·
@RMorse: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, that is a good general test but not alway the answer. Mine did NOT smoke but was bad. The holes in my block was almost totally blocked. So, if it hasn't been done in 60k, do it. I'm sure you can be safe to put it on schedule with the timing belt and replace it every 70,000 but I plan to do mine every 50,000.
Lol, if it didn't smoke, then something else was going on besides just being clogged.
 
#13 ·
Driving style & tire choice

I have a 855 Turbo and I can always pull 20 around town and 26 highway. I run premium and the car has a box of parts waiting to do a tune up (once the stuck caliper is replaced first:). My car has 181,000 miles and I would say the biggest impact is driving style. This is a car that is rotated between kids as needed and I can tell you 2 of my 3 kids get horrible mileage on 850 turbo's. My oldest son does great because he is not fast off the start. I drive the same way and see much better mileage.

One other area that can take 1-2 mpg off a car is wrong tires. I had that happen on the Mrs. old car and switching to a different tire brought mileage up 2 mpg. My experience was the larger tread tire (and louder as well) vs a tire with less aggressive tread design may have an impact. Check tirerack.com for user reviews of the tires you have today. An obviously watch the tire pressure as this will hurt mileage.
 
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