worrying fuel consumtion

[madonminis]

Hi guys,m wondering if anyone can offer me any advice on my current problem.  My twin turbo RX7 is completely standard, even the exhaust and air filter although I\'m only getting 9miles per gallon....   yes NINE
 
I do not spank my car everywhere, in fact it gets driven quite reasonably and yet I still get this terrible fuel economy.  When I bought the car I expected bad MPG, was thinking in the region of 20 but i just cannot get over the fact that £70 will only get me a little over 200km
 
If anyone has any advice for me I\'m all ears as its costing me the earth.  
 
Many thanks guys
 
Matt

[NurburgRob]

How long is your average journey?

Drive around keeping it below 4rpm and see what that does?

Do a long journey keeping the speed below 65mph/105kph and see how that helps.

When I was doing 5 mile journeys around Milton keynes, spanking it between roundabouts etc I wasn\'t doing much better.  I guess if you can\'t smell fuel leaking or anything or the exhaust is not spitting 10 foot flames then you probably don\'t have any problems?

[johnf]

Well I ran a pretty standard FD for 5 years and during that time drove in various moods.

Most of my driving was a little quick but by no means rapid.

I would guess my average MPG was about 17.

I think you need to have it checked out, unless you are giving it loads all the time.

I\'m managing to get 17 out of the 20b, general driving.

John

[madonminis]

My average journey is about 13 miles to work, more to the girlfriends house.  I generally keep the car below 4rpm anyways, in fact i usually keep it as low as possible.  just normal driving.  
 
The car does tend to smell quite rich on start up (is this common with FD\'s?) and will sometimes give a little pop from the exhaust when the engine is turned off.  But this is my first FD so im a little in the dark

[johnf]

From what you\'re saying this can\'t be right.

Find your nearest specialist and have it looked at.

They\'re bad - but not that bad.

John

[NurburgRob]

My average journey is about 13 miles to work, more to the girlfriends house.  I generally keep the car below 4rpm anyways, in fact i usually keep it as low as possible.  just normal driving.  
 
The car does tend to smell quite rich on start up (is this common with FD\'s?) and will sometimes give a little pop from the exhaust when the engine is turned off.  But this is my first FD so im a little in the dark

Don\'t worry about the little pop, they do that, cool isn\'t it

When the engine is hot does the exhaust smell like petrol? mine doesn\'t, smells more like oil and hot metal.

When are you next due an oil change/Service? go to one of the top specialists and ask them to look at the fuel system etc.

[m1tch]

My FC does about 16mpg average, 20ish on the motorway and about 8 on boost, perhaps if its running really rich, maybe a stuck or leaking injector?

[Brett]

Best advice is to start with the basics first:

Check the airfilter, is it clean?  Are there any blockages in the intake?

Does the car drive ok, pull cleanly through the gears and upto the red line? (in gear, under load)

Have you recently had any other faults?  Any unusual behaviour from the car?  Does it start and idle correctly? (High idle, followed by fast idle, followed by normal idle when warm)

:wave

[FDAsh]

Did the Nurburgring to Ingolstadt, (500km) with a blown turbo so didn\'t go over 70 most of the time. Just pootled along gently, and got 23-24mpg or so.

They have tasty 100 RON V-Power Racing here too, does anyone find their MPG gets better when you use higher octane fuel? Or is it just the extra cost in the back of your mind that keeps the right foot off the loud pedal?

[m1tch]

Higher octane fuel does give better MPG cause you get more power per rev, so you don\'t need to put your foot down as much for the same speed, im running on standard 99RON fuel much much better than the 95RON stuff

[Dr-Rotor]

You may have a dirty air filter. 13mile or 20km with the way you are driving should get you 400km to a tank.

We drive the misses FD to work every day and then home in traffic, its about a 42km trip. We get 450km out of a tank and 600km if its just 100kph open road driving.

She used to work 2km from our house and did a 4km drive every day...thats 20km a week...that used the whole tank. FD\'s realy do not like going short distances.

Check your air filter and your plugs. When was the last time the plugs were changed?
New plugs can make a big differeance. Also check your TPS voltage as this too can muck up your fuel economy.

[FD3UK]

Maybe failed/disconnected Lambda sensor.

[madonminis]

I\'ve only had the car about 4 weeks and it had filters changed and new plugs put in. I\'m concerned about approuchong the garage I got it from as I think they will just say it\'s a sports car. Will check the lambada sensor tonight and see what is. 400km per tank sounds much better. Fingers crossed

[madonminis]

it does idle high when cold but not overly high. 1.5 maybe. It does have a slight miss every now and then when going into the higher rev range. It is only now and then tho.

[neil_jdmr]

My car was running really bad like 200 mile to £70 tank and i put that down to a combination of filters/backbox still on a standard ecu chucking fuel in for fun. When i got my pfc mapped by pip i was astounded by how much better my mpg was. I used less than half a tank back to newcastle from chester (about 160-170miles) travelling about 80mph with the occasional boostin ( and the embarrassin of a 350z ).
 
Dont get me wrong tho It still drops like a stone on regular boost or dumping off in every gear its just when trying to save fuel now it actually works where as before taking it easy or driving hard both were the same.