Mpg in my freda

[Nutcase]

Just put £20 in my new (to me) Freda, which is a 5 speed manual and it appears to be doing around 100 mile to £20 which equates to 32.5 mpg which I don't think is bad at all, this is both town and motorway use combined equally, but I hear you guys saying you seem to find that doing 60mph at around 2200-2400rpm is best but I have found that in my Freda, maintaining 60mph is nearer 3000 rpm thus would this make me use more fuel. I take it the manual and auto gear ratio must be different.

[Driver+Passengers]

Just put £20 in my new (to me) Freda, which is a 5 speed manual and it appears to be doing around 100 mile to £20 which equates to 32.5 mpg which I don't think is bad at all, this is both town and motorway use combined equally, but I hear you guys saying you seem to find that doing 60mph at around 2200-2400rpm is best but I have found that in my Freda, maintaining 60mph is nearer 3000 rpm thus would this make me use more fuel. I take it the manual and auto gear ratio must be different.

Ouch - I knew the auto "needed another gear" but that's got to hurt. Can't comment on whether that's normal or not, but I'm sure someone can.

Ady has a manual and reckons the gearing is noticeable shorter...

i have the 4wd drive manual, and my mrs has the standard auto, both diesels.
the manual is noticeably shorter on the gearing, and revs nearly 500 revs higher at the same road top speed,(60-70mph). ive often found that its not a motorway banger, but, it does go in top gear when i want it too, (at 30mph) so what it looses on the motorway it gains round town. as mine spends most of the time round my hilly northern town the manual is ideal. the auto is much better at the longer flatter more relaxed run.
not sure if this is the diff, or the gearbox.

horses for courses really.

ps.
didnt know they did a manual 2 wheel drive.maybe thats a clue.

I thought I'd found another thread with someone who reckoned on the same gearing, but was that you too, jaceace? (http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... gear+ratio)

[scanner]

You can't even make a stab at estimating MPG from putting in as little as £20 fuel.

You need to do a proper full to empty and fill back to full again to get a true reading.

Anything else is just a guess.

[Bongoplod]

You can't even make a stab at estimating MPG from putting in as little as £20 fuel.

You need to do a proper full to empty and fill back to full again to get a true reading.

Anything else is just a guess.

Spot on,sound advice there

Brian

[mikeonb4c]

You can't even make a stab at estimating MPG from putting in as little as £20 fuel.

You need to do a proper full to empty and fill back to full again to get a true reading.

Anything else is just a guess.

Sadly, in this, and as he too often is, Scanner is right.

[Nutcase]

Yeh I see wot you mean with regards accurate mpg for £20,though when the fuel light comes on in my vectra I bang £20 and not just once but every time within a Mlie or 2 I manage 120mile before the light is back on or 60 mile per £10 and that is pretty accurate and is achieved every time so I figured the same in the Freda, fuel light to fuel light or maybe not in this case, I'll try a full tank next and see wot that says.

[francophile1947]

Yeh I see wot you mean with regards accurate mpg for £20,though when the fuel light comes on in my vectra I bang £20 and not just once but every time within a Mlie or 2 I manage 120mile before the light is back on or 60 mile per £10 and that is pretty accurate and is achieved every time so I figured the same in the Freda, fuel light to fuel light or maybe not in this case, I'll try a full tank next and see wot that says.

But is your £20 always buying the same amount of fuel?
A while back, my elderly neighbour was complaining that her fuel consumption had shot up, as she wasn't getting so many miles for the £10 she always put in - it took me a while to explain that, as fuel prices had rocketed, she wasn't getting as much fuel as she used to

[scanner]

, fuel light to fuel light

That could be a long cold wait in a Bongo/Freda - I don't know what age yours is, but most Bongo/Fredas don't have fuel warning lights and if you wait for it to come on you could be waiting at the side of the road.

[briwy]

Bear in mind as well that the odometer may read more miles than you have actually done. Most Bongo speedos seem to read fast so I assume the odometer is as well.
If you have a satnav most of them will record a track with distance covered. Check the odometer against that. Try to do it on the flat if possible though as the satnav only measures horizontal distance.

[Nutcase]

, fuel light to fuel light

That could be a long cold wait in a Bongo/Freda - I don't know what age yours is, but most Bongo/Fredas don't have fuel warning lights and if you wait for it to come on you could be waiting at the side of the road.

Wowzers or wot, my mate told me the same thing an i told him to do one, but he wasn't lying, I darnt drive it in the morning, I might run out as it's deathly low now, I put the £20 in when the guage was rock bottom (ready for light), it was there after 100 mile (hence my post) and I've done 20 mile since awaiting the light to come on, ha ha ha wot a fool I've been lol and many thanks for telling me and saving me from a roadside disaster lol, cheers

[Simon Jones]

Low fuel light was fitted from about 1999 / 2000 onwards I believe. I've always found the fuel gauge to be very hit and miss such that I don't tend to run it down past about 1/4 full. As other folk have said, only way to get accurate consumption figures is to fill it to the brim, then record the mileage when you next fill to the brim.

While it has been suggested the odometer may be inaccurate, I'm not convinced that is the case. All speedometers are allowed to read high, so when it says you're going 60, the vehicle cannot be going any faster than that. In fact, you if compare it to the reading from a sat nav, you'll actually be travelling around 56 mph. I don't think it would be considered acceptable for the odometer to have the same margin of error.

However, unless your van has had a speedo chip fitted, or the complete speedo change for a GA5R unit (from Mazda 626), then your odometer is likely to be reading in Km rather than miles. If that is the case, then you fuel consumption estimates will be 1.6 times too optimistic. Easy enough to check by noting the distance in miles to a place as shown on a road sign, and then see what your odometer says when you've reached the destination .

[Nutcase]

Thanks for replying, I hope my speedo isn't reading km cos if it is that means I'm getting 20mpg,that can't be right atall, my speedo reads mph so you would think the odometer would be in miles not kilometres?? Am I right in saying this???

[scanner]

Thanks for replying, I hope my speedo isn't reading km cos if it is that means I'm getting 20mpg,that can't be right atall, my speedo reads mph so you would think the odometer would be in miles not kilometres?? Am I right in saying this???

No or depends according to how your speedo has been converted.

If it has just had a new face showing MPH stuck on it will be MPH speed but KM distance.

If a chip has been fitted it will be both speed and distance in Miles.

If it has a UK market speedo head from a different Mazda model fitted both speed and distance will be in miles.

What is the maximum MPH shown on the dial? as that may show which method has been used.

For instance - a very high unattainable max MPH = a chip has probably been fitted, so that the old KPH scale now reads MPH.

[Nutcase]

Thanks for replying, I hope my speedo isn't reading km cos if it is that means I'm getting 20mpg,that can't be right atall, my speedo reads mph so you would think the odometer would be in miles not kilometres?? Am I right in saying this???

No or depends according to how your speedo has been converted.

If it has just had a new face showing MPH stuck on it will be MPH speed but KM distance.

If a chip has been fitted it will be both speed and distance in Miles.

If it has a UK market speedo head from a different Mazda model fitted both speed and distance will be in miles.

What is the maximum MPH shown on the dial? as that may show which method has been used.

For instance - a very high unattainable max MPH = a chip has probably been fitted, so that the old KPH scale now reads MPH.

Yeh your right it will do 180mph (wow) that's fast lol for a 2.5 td. So don't u think it's right or possibly only doing 20kpg? Thanks

[francophile1947]

Yeh your right it will do 180mph (wow) that's fast lol for a 2.5 td. So don't u think it's right or possibly only doing 20kpg? Thanks

180mph should mean that it has been chipped, so the speedo should also read in miles.