306 GTi6 fuel consumption / weird fuel gauge

[ntrx]

As far as I'm aware, I have a 60L tank. When I filled it up, I did maybe 20 minutes of city driving and the fuel gauge had already gone to 3/4. Later, after parking it, it would go back up, then it would go back down etc.

I finally ended up ignoring this (is this normal? If so I guess I can get used to it), until after 4 days or so I'd got down to a fairly stable empty tank light, and the gauge was pretty well showing it's lowest point.

I only managed to get 320kms out of a full-to-the-brim 60L tank!

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Is this noticably bad, or should I come to expect this if I hoon about from time to time. I have not been thrashing it left right and center by any means.

What fuel consumption do you other GTi6 owners get, whether it's spirited driving, highway driving etc?

[DoubleChevron]

Hi,

don't worry about what the guage says, how much fuel did you actualy get into it?? 60litres when it was at empty?? Doubt it, probably more like 30-40litres. ie: your fuel guage isn't worth a pinch. You'll either never run out of fuel, or runout desparingly regualy...

seeya,
Shane L.

[MYT205]

ntrx,

What you have experienced is the norm. The g/f's does the same things. She gets better fuel economy though because she hardly ever drives hard. But, when I drive it, I get similar economy to you.

One thing I have noticed though is that the air con makes a HUGE difference to the economy. On a trip to Melbourne I got about 200km more out of a tank on the way back (no air) compared to on the way down (with air).

But, if your like me putiing fuel in the car is like food. You just buy it whenever you need it and don't notice that your doing it.


[ 07 November 2001: Message edited by: YEL020 ]

[ntrx]

thanks guys

yeah I share your philosophy YELO20... but even so thought the economy is outrageously BAD!

One thing I can add, I put in 30L (exactly half a tank) this morning when the fuel light was on (it had been on and off for a while, then it reached a constant and the marker seemed very low...) and instead of reading exactly half a tank on the gauge, it reads 3/4.

Go figure. LOL.

So the question is now... how far can I drive like Kramer with the light on!

Thanks for the tip on the air con.

[rek]

Hi,

320km out of a full tank eh, sounds you are Marcus Gronholm do you know when the car had its last tune-up?

fun fact: when the yellow light is on, that means (should mean!) that approx. 6-7 litres of fuel remain in the tank. the tank size is indeed 60l.

I get between 8-9 litres per 100km. That's mainly urban and highway driving, with the occasional spirited drive. I filled up last night and got some 640km from a full tank (yellow fuel light was on for about 10km of that.) funnily enough the bowser only pumped about 52 litres, and I tried to fill the tank up to the top (filled up to about 4 clicks)


This is using 98RON Optimax/Synergy8000. I presume the GTi6 can take advantage of the better quality fuel and give the performance, responsiveness, and fuel economy advantages you'd expect (I haven't tried any other PULP fuel, nor do I really feel like doing so )

I have a feeling I'm a bit of a grandma though When cruising 'normally' I usually keep the revs rather low. (ie when cruising at 70-80kph+ it's in 6th) I take off rather quick from the lights though..

About the fuel gauge, mine sometimes varies a bit -- but only everso slightly (maybe 1/8 of the needle movement?), and it always settles down after about 10 minutes or so. It's generally rather accurate.

YEL020: i haven't used the aircon all that much on mine so far.. so I guess I'll expect my mileage to drop like an anvil in the coming months!

[ 07 November 2001: Message edited by: rek ]

[MYT205]

rek,

Not even my g'f gets that many kms out of a tank. You must drive like 2 grandmas.

[DeKa]

Hi,

Well I don't have a GTI6 (I wish!) but my 306XR fuel gauge seems more accurate than what you guys are talking about and my car is 7 yrs old.

At empty, the light comes on and it takes about 55L. The best milage I've ever done was Balranald - Bathurst (read very flat) which is where the light came on... yes, I was monitoring it carefully! It did about 7.25L/100km from memory, with air-con off. I've found air-con makes a big difference to economy so keep it off if it's not hot. Oh and I only use Mobil Synergy8000/Shell Optimax/Caltex Vortex as well.

On the topic of 306's... given mine would be one of the first in Australia, has anyone had trouble with wiring harnesses to the doors? On the weekend my passenger window decided to stop winding from the passenger side but would still work from the drivers side. It had to be either switches or wiring somewhere so I pulled the rubber sleeve back off the plug that screws onto the door to find a broken wire. That was the passenger side which of course isn't used as much as the driver's side... I just soldered it back together but we'll wait and see.

See ya
Derek

[rek]

Originally posted by YEL020:
<STRONG>Not even my g'f gets that many kms out of a tank. You must drive like 2 grandmas. </STRONG>

hahaha :p

seriously though, I don't bother wrangling the car too much in day to day traffic; too many variables, and generally not the best idea (considering cops/cameras and the rest).. may as well save it for roads where you can really enjoy the car.

there's also the issue of not wanting to leave poor 6th gear feeling lonely and unwanted.

I just leave the irresponsible urban hooning for the P-Plate Commodore brigade.

[rek]

Oh BTW before I forget, in my boredness the other day (cured by making avatars ) I also punched in a few numbers to Excel and made gear-speed-rpm graphs and the like.





[ 07 November 2001: Message edited by: rek ]

[rek]

Originally posted by DeKa:
<STRONG>On the topic of 306's... given mine would be one of the first in Australia, has anyone had trouble with wiring harnesses to the doors?</STRONG>

Funny you mention that. When they showed me the history of the car on the service database (it had been serviced from new by the dealer), the only warranty item that had been done on it were the driver's side power window switches.

[pugrambo]

i don't about you guys but i do mainly country miles when i do use the car and with A/C on i average around 35-36mpg
without i get around 37mpg
if i just potter around town in it i get around 29mpg
i did find that on a trip though the car was better on fuel with A/C on than having a window down

[rek]

pugrambo, don't forget we're talking about French cars -- Metric s'il vous plait !! :p

(29mpg = 9.7l/100k; 35mpg = 8.1l/100k; 37mpg = 7.6l/100k)

[ 07 November 2001: Message edited by: rek ]

[Stuey]

Pugrambo,

I've read that what you say is a fact...a car with the window open uses more fuel than one with the aircon on (except those with really old fashioned compressors).

Stay cool!

Stuey

[Andreas]

320km out of a tank, you must be driving my car.
in a good week i get 400km out of my 70 litres...oh the joys of modifying
what's that work out to?
18L per 100km, 15mpg???

Andreas

[DTwo]

Well if it make you guys feel any better,
I average about 400km on a tank (50L) in my stock standard 205 in heavy traffic/city driving.....best i've seen was about 530km when travelling interstate...

You can almost watch the fuel guage drop when the aircon is on ....I don't really use it, it's fairly weak in a 205 nothing like rice burning aircon!.....light years better than my alfa was tho (luke warm air in a blizzard)

Fuel light comes on consistantly at about 10L left in the tank.

The GTI6 economy doesn't sound that unusual considering the amount of power the things can pump out and the way you are probably driving it

hehe, come on now....let's hear those reports on out of tune 604 economy, that will make us all feel a lil better

[ 08 November 2001: Message edited by: DTwo ]
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[rek]

Granny News

Decided to top-up the tank since I saw Synergy8000 for 82.9 cents today. I had only done 130km and it pumped some 16 litres! So obviously there was something a bit dodgy with the pump at the other fuel station.

So that means my recent fuel consumption figures are something more like 8.9 l/100km. So I guess one of those two grandmas is dead now :p

useless observation: Shell optimax is 9c over ULP price here, as opposed to Synergy8000 that is at a 7c premium. But I'm pretty sure that in Victoria, it's the same stuff from the same refinery!

[DoubleChevron]

Guys, guys, guys,

what are ya's all doing to get that sort of economy from a small car?? My old 88 BX19tri (basicly just the PSA injected 1.9 8valve gti engine) is getting a consistant 43mpg(mostly country driving admitadly) but Ang really gives it a hammering... Gets 700km+ from a tank of juice.

What are you guys doing to get so much less than this from smaller cars??(remember 'Cit' & 'Pug' are using the same donk in all there cars...).

seeya,
Shane L.

[MYT205]

You must be from the same retirement village as rek. LOL

[DTwo]

erm...
I expected relatively poor fuel economy in 205s due their gearing....

Aren't the BX19s in a slightly different state of tune and gearing than the 205gtis?, that would contribute to the comparatively poor economy surely?

Personally I don't mind, like someone mentioned....fuel is like food...just think what the "dudes" romping around the place in thier gen2/3 v8s must spend on fuel....(ever seen one of those suckers in a hurry in the wet?....lol...roads just aren't wide enough for crabwalking toiletdores)

My 205 uses less fuel than my ex 3lt alfa (unless putted around, surprisingly enough) and my poor deceased minis too

hehe, It has probably got more to do with my driving around like a maniac than anything else.....I get far less than 400km a tank if i do that

As for retirement homes....my granny is one of the scariest _fastest_ drivers I've ever been in a car with....and I cant really emphasize SCARY enough.....I guess in your 80s you must have a lil more luck talking cops out of tickets
________
LIVE SEX WEBSHOWS

[MYT205]

I have noticed that Synergy 8000 or Optimax give the best performance and fuel economy. The 8000 seems to be a bit better at the moment. The car runs SOOOOOO much better on these two than any others.

Have you guys found the same?

[DoubleChevron]

You must be from the same retirement village as rek. LOL

Heee,heeee,heeee,

yer, well if my cars aren't scatching the chrome from the door handles round corners.... well, it aint me driving!

If there's one thing I've NEVER been accused of it's driving to slowly :p

Infact, my sister still warns everyone about my driving if she ever sees someone get into a car with me

seeya,
Shane L.

[Brad]

Well I get around 600kms from a 60l tank in my 306 S16, and thats with the fuel light on for about 60kms, so im guessing its almost on empty. I havent yet run out of fuel, giving me a full range but I might try it one weekend if im bored and take a tin of fuel with me.

I generally dont drive like a granny, however if I give it a good fanging, I will "try" to consciously drive as light as possible to make up for it...thats until the next staight bit of quiet road, or twisty stretch.

However im of 2 minds as to the real world difference driving like a granny can make. Basically, you are doing the same ammount of work getting your car from point A to point B. If you accelerate hard from lights, you will be letting off the accelerator much sooner than you otherwise would, effectivly shortening the time fuel is being burnt. I know with my car that when you lift off, the ECU will cut fuel totally. Also gearing has issues. If you are doing 2000rpm in 5th, you will need to be injecting more fuel into the engine than you would in a higher gear due to the lower gearing advantage. But doing 4000rpm in 3rd would require less throttle, but would be injecting it twice as fast. I still havent worked out what is best, but I do think that the higher you rev, the less efficient the engine will be, due to heat and frictional losses.

I havenet paid too much attention to the A/C decreasing the fuel economy, however I can see im not going to get the chance as already we are seeing 35+ deg here in Brisbane.

In terms of fuel, I ONLY use 98RON from now on. Optimax mainly, but have tried BP Ultimate, couldnt tell the difference either way. Where I buy Optimax, at Tingalpa in Brisbane, it generally 8c over ULP and only 2c above inner city PULP, well worth it. I counldnt say whether I get more range out of it, but it just feels so good driving away knowing your feeding your ride with the automobile equivilent of Corona

Just my 2 bob.

[Chipper]

ntrx,

Dude, when i first got my 205, the fuel consumption was a shocker. After a while, i saw the fumes belching out from around the fuel cap, and I mean belching. It looked like a seal had come off from the inside of the cap as there was a fair amount of "gap" between the sealing surfaces. No joy at a Pug spares, a trip to woolies later, bought a rubber plug, cut the guts out of the plug to make a "ring" to fit the inside of the cap. I must have used a full quarter of a tank less to the gold coast and back !! Maybe check that, plus the 205 has some sort of fuel tank breather hose coming up to a one way valve that pipes into the intake plumbing, might be worth a look to see if yours has a similar set up and it all looks "plugged in".

On my recent trip to sydney, I did the 950 odd k's in 1 and 3/4 tanks(40 litres) each way, about 70 litres per trip.....so its now much better than what it was.

The fuel guage dealy looks like a pattern is emerging, mine reads 1/4 one second, up a small hill and around a corner, it reads empty. They must just have a particularly slow pulsing sender unit or just plain crappy fuel guages, just ignore it until the light comes on

One other thing, give yourself time to get used to when the engine "comes on cam" as it were, get used to the characteristics of the engine. I know that if I floor the 205 in a high gear or progressively throttle it, it doesnt seem to matter much except for the amount of juice that just went out the zorst unburnt.

Just some suggestions mate.

Cheers

Chip

[ 08 November 2001: Message edited by: Chipper ]

[Stuey]

Yel, have you tried BP Ultimate? Definitely not suggesting it's better, just that it's what I use as the servo is at the end of my street. If you reckon Optimax etc. is better, I'll convert. What's the general opinion?

Cheers

Stuey

[ 09 November 2001: Message edited by: Stuey ]

[ntrx]

Well I regard Optimax highly, the last owners didn't know what it meant by "unleaded only, minimum 95 RON" and I suspect they put normal ULP in it.... it went HEAPS better with Optimax.

Perhaps my injectors are a bit clogged up, I might put in some of that Nulon injector cleaner, apparently it's a bit better than Wynns Spitfire.

Going on from what I said before, I went and put in another 30L (exactly) in to the tank from when it was 'fully' empty, and expected a half tank reading to come up, but it came up with a 3/4 reading instead.

To throw in more confusion, now the readings are 1/2 a tank, and 60kms on the tripmeter. So whether that's 60kms from hardly any fuel, or 60 from 1/4 of a tank :O that's anyone's guess....

It's going to require a whole lot more experimenting I think.

BTW In the city I've been half grandma half hoon, but normally I'm in 4th gear.

Chipper, I've quite aware of the cam's sweet spots now... Thanks for the advice on the petrol hosery out the back, I'll check it's all in order. Might have to get the ramps out this weeked.