| Author | Message | ||
     Roland Kutasi (Disco1) Senior Member Username: Disco1 Post Number: 290 Registered: 10-2002 |
Not wishing to add to the last thread on this question, I decided to start a new one. Here's a tip I read in a LR mag. "Improving fuel economy with Automatics" The biggest consumer of fuel is the torque converter being bought into play. The 4 speed auto transmission, as used in both the Discovery and Range Rover has the top (4th) gear as an overdrive gear. If the gear selector is in "D" this allows top gear to be automatically engaged and if the speed is over 56km/hr (35mph, then the torque converter automatically goes into lock-up. Under these conditions in urban driving where you cannot coast along at an optimum speed for the top gear to be at its most effective usage, there is a tendency to use a wider throttle opening than required. This wider throttle opening invariably results in a poorer fuel economy. on the other hand, selecting "3" prevents the top gear from being automatically engaged. Under urban driving conditions this enables the engine to rev out and be in its optimum operating range, resulting in better fuel economy and also be more responsive. | ||
| Bill Howell (Billh13) Member Username: Billh13 Post Number: 132 Registered: 03-2003 |
Roland, Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try this. Bill | ||
| Brent Bevil (Brbevil) New Member Username: Brbevil Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2003 |
Sounds kinds flaky - but alas I too will try. Has anyone noticed a particular brand of fuel giving them better milage? For some reason I get better milage with Hess 89 Octane than anything else. I'll normally get 315/320 miles out of a tank before the fuel light comes on. With anything else I hit 300/306 and the light comes on? Whats up with that? | ||
| Rob Davison (Nosivad_bor) Senior Member Username: Nosivad_bor Post Number: 559 Registered: 02-2003 |
dream on. you are going to coast less distance and have to use the gass pedal to make up for it. you are driving a brick. just give up and pay the man, you'll be happier in the end. currently pissed rd | ||
| Andy Thoma (Andythoma) Senior Member Username: Andythoma Post Number: 316 Registered: 01-2003 |
Its been awhile since I read my owners manual, but I believe it recommends to run it in third in the city. But Rob is right, we own bricks with v-8's and permanent four wheel drive. To get better mileage buy a honda. By the way I get 360 per tank in a 95 d1 on 89 sinclar gas, or avg of 15mpg city/hyw. Mileage checked via gps. Other than the shape of our trucks the 4 wheel drive is the biggest mileage killer. My wifes audi quattro get an avg of 24mpg. A friend of ours owns the same year a4 (2001) and its non-quattro and gets 29 mpg avg. Rovers are on road / off road vehicles, so expect poor mileage. | ||
| Jonathan Hensel (Nanoscale) Member Username: Nanoscale Post Number: 82 Registered: 03-2003 |
Yeah this is the first vehicle I have had which requires you to almost totally floor the accelerator to drop down into 3rd gear. Most vehicles sense either a slight depression of the pedal, or bogging due to a hill, and drop quickly into 3rd. I have been using the manual shift method exclusively, since flooring it to switch gears seems counterintuitive....loading it up with fat wad of fuel just in time to switch gears versus easing off during the transition? | ||
| Andy Thoma (Andythoma) Senior Member Username: Andythoma Post Number: 318 Registered: 01-2003 |
Jonathan- Have you checked your throttle kick down cable, if it needs adjusted it maybe why your transmittion doesn't kick down to third. | ||
| Peter Matusov (Pmatusov) Senior Member Username: Pmatusov Post Number: 815 Registered: 09-2002 |
Jonathan, this is something that always dazzles me. Is it difficult to downshift manually? Just use your automatic as if it was a clutchless manual, and you'll do pretty good. Just imagine how good it is for transmission bands to work with the engine spinning at 3500 rpm (as opposed to barely over idle). peter | ||
| Peter Matusov (Pmatusov) Senior Member Username: Pmatusov Post Number: 816 Registered: 09-2002 |
actually, it just came to my mind - i had a new governor installed on my jeep's TH400, and it would force the transmission to upshift at much more comfortable speeds (than 10/25 mph). But it started to fight the kickdown switch - so I just disconnected the latter. | ||
| Mark & Bev Preston (Markp) Member Username: Markp Post Number: 208 Registered: 02-2002 |
I suspect a scatter plot of MPG vs Weight would show a high correlation. At 5000 lbs and 188 hp it's going to be difficult to change the fuel economy. My 98' D1 gas mileage varies more with seasons and fuel mixtures than any effort I put into it. Did notice a small bump with Amsoil but that's about it. The only time I really cared about fuel economy is when I was near empty and the nearest gas station was on the outer edge of my range. That seemed to peak my interest! - Mark | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Senior Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 328 Registered: 10-2002 |
THE BEST WAY TO SAVE ON FUEL COST! See diagram below.  |
