First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

What's the MPG like? Can I use chip fat and veggie oil? What about LPG?

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Bonneville
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First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by Bonneville » Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:03 pm

Just got back from a decent sized round trip to south coast and back. Performance was surprisingly good, we threw a couple of evil hills at it and it was fine. If anything, the disappointment is medium grades on motorways where it can stay in the wrong gear for a fraction too long and scrub off too much speed.
We have an aft and rear conversion plus carried too much weight (we packed everything because we don't know what we're doing with this camping lark) and we got 28mpg which is less than I hoped but not bad I guess. Aircon on most of the way and 60-70 on the motorways plus standing around on M25 and plenty of town work.
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mikeonb4c
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Re: First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by mikeonb4c » Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:15 pm

Bonneville wrote: Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:03 pm Just got back from a decent sized round trip to south coast and back. Performance was surprisingly good, we threw a couple of evil hills at it and it was fine. If anything, the disappointment is medium grades on motorways where it can stay in the wrong gear for a fraction too long and scrub off too much speed.
We have an aft and rear conversion plus carried too much weight (we packed everything because we don't know what we're doing with this camping lark) and we got 28mpg which is less than I hoped but not bad I guess. Aircon on most of the way and 60-70 on the motorways plus standing around on M25 and plenty of town work.
28mpg from a heavily loaded 2.0 Bongo with aircon on sounds pretty OK to me. My car driving is discretionary (retired) which means the cost model I use for fuel is not mpg but £s per month - and I can tweak that however I like. For that I get a car, a van, a people mover, and a campervan (with low capital outlay, v low depreciation and v acceptable maintenance costs) instead of having to finance / hire separate vehicles to do the job. So, overall, Bongo life ain't bad I find. And then there's this great bunch of people - quite unlike most of the human race :lol: :-)
Bonneville
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Re: First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by Bonneville » Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:34 pm

That's not a bad way of looking at it. In fact, the good lady said the same as I was carefully working out the amounts. 'It's holiday transport, who cares?'
I like to think it's a measure of whether the engine is happy or not. First sign of poor tune or engine wear is a heavy drinker, IME.

Agree on the people, good folk. I'm new to the camping caper but have seen at least one other on the sites we've been to. All have had tents alongside or attached so I feel like the only person attempting to sleep in one thus far. Bongo looks tiny on campsites alongside those Renault Traffic/MB Sprinter class things.
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Re: First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by Bob » Wed Aug 08, 2018 8:00 pm

I'll second those points. :)

I live with 30 mpg by walking and cycling for local journeys, save the fuel for holidays, although I do make sure Bongy gets a run every week just to keep things turning over. 8)
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Re: First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by Markas » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:24 am

Bonneville wrote: Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:03 pm Just got back from a decent sized round trip to south coast and back. Performance was surprisingly good, we threw a couple of evil hills at it and it was fine. If anything, the disappointment is medium grades on motorways where it can stay in the wrong gear for a fraction too long and scrub off too much speed.
We have an aft and rear conversion plus carried too much weight (we packed everything because we don't know what we're doing with this camping lark) and we got 28mpg which is less than I hoped but not bad I guess. Aircon on most of the way and 60-70 on the motorways plus standing around on M25 and plenty of town work.
Have you adjusted the rear tyre pressures upwards to compensate for the weight of the rear conversion? Just a thought but that might have a slight impact on the fuel consumption. When mine was first converted it looked like the rear tyre pressures were too low when they were at the book figures. Bearing in mind there's a lot of plywood, gas bottle and water tanks at the back that's got to add some weight! I now run the rear tyres with 39psi which looks about right. I get around 30mpg on average, but I'm perfectly happy with that :D
Mark
1999 Bongo 2.0L, Northstar Outback rear conversion
Bonneville
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Re: First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by Bonneville » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:40 am

That's a good shout, thanks. No, I have them set as per the sticker in the door shut (and thanks, Japan, for using kpa instead of psi or bar so I now have another conversion factor to raise my blood pressure).
I'm pretty convinced that my conversion weighs about the same as the seat it replaced. That bench is a monster and must be 60-70KG. When I first removed it I thought someone was smuggling cocaine in it (sadly, not. It appears to be the mechanism).
I'm going to give this a go as 30MPG is well impressive (but I do have an aft).
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Re: First decent run in the ex-smoker 2.0

Post by BongoBongo123 » Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:40 pm

Good going for a petrol. Keep closer to 60 than 70 and you will probably see another 3-5mpg added to that.

So many roads have a 50mph limit these days due to roadworks and so called "Smart Road" has you 50/60 most of the time
as it tries to adjust the speed for traffic to avoid queues/jams later on depending on conditions. Which is pretty cool really
as I cannot recall the last person who said : "I really enjoy being stuck in a traffic jam."

I find just a shade below 60mph is the eco spot for the 2.5D
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