fuel economy

[twistedfirey]

I use 6.9... 2 more than diesel, dont count your saved pennys yet because you will have to travel around 200,000 km in your diesel just to break even on the extra cost of the tdci over petrol...but at least then you will save around $2.60 for every 100 kays you drive, woo hoo

[celicara65]

I'm intrigued by a couple of comments about the engine being 'tight' while new. I've tried to refrain from driving too hard while the kms are low (ie upshifting at 3000 - 3500 instead of anything higher). Is that necessary, or was something more important for older less sophisticated engines? Does it really make that much difference to economy?

[BlackLS]

From what I've researched on running in - don't hold it on the rev limiter but run it fairly hard. You need the piston rings to bed in, and you do this with high cylinder pressure (non-bedded piston rings = lower cylinder pressure = less power)
The thing is though these engines might have been run in on a test bench at the Duratec factory.

Having said that, my car's been driven hard since I picked it up from the dealer and 90,000kms later its as quick as ever.

[scooby]

The fact that fuel economy improves in the first few thousand km's in a new car makes me believe that engines are 'tight' when new. Mine was getting 12.8 when new (city driving), now at 2,800 kms on the clock, I get 10.8....hoping it gets lower..

[Martyvan]

My LR Zetec is returning 10.38 litres per 100km over 28,000km since i have owned it. During winter, driving for economy with the air con off, it returned low 9's in brisbane city driving.