Sportster Fuel Consumption

denniswpearce · #1 19th May 2012, 21:38

Don,t know if you guys have ever looked at your mpg, but I filled up today having kept a note of milages and was horified to discover I get only 18 to the gallon. Something seriously wrong I think.
There is the odd smell of petrol occasionally, so will have to investigate that but also suspect I hmust have another problem.

What is your mpg usage folks and can anyone suggest anything please ????

Mike · #2 20th May 2012, 08:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by denniswpearce

Don,t know if you guys have ever looked at your mpg, but I filled up today having kept a note of milages and was horified to discover I get only 18 to the gallon. Something seriously wrong I think.
There is the odd smell of petrol occasionally, so will have to investigate that but also suspect I hmust have another problem.

What is your mpg usage folks and can anyone suggest anything please ????

Dennis
Just a thought - have you checked your speedo is recording the milage correctly? It may not be a given that it is correct?
Mike

MartinClan · #3 20th May 2012, 13:17

I get about 25 on short journeys and about 35+ on long ones. That is of course if I am not too heavy with the right foot. Heavy right foot = bucket feed....

Cheers

Robin

peterux · #4 20th May 2012, 14:23

Hi Dennis,
I've never really checked my accurately but I seemed to get 25-30 mpg with my old 2 litre engine.
If your engine is running too rich, your exhaust tail pipes will be black/sooty and it's possible you'll smell unburnt petrol vapour. If you take out a couple of spark plugs they'll be black/fouled up. (just pick the plug easiest to get out)
If this is the case then I believe the most common cause of this on an M20 engine is the coolant temperature sensor. These seem to have a reputation of being unreliable and when they fail the ECU still thinks the engine is cold so over-fuels.
It's worth checking Mike's idea first as your large rims/low profile tyres might be a different rolling radius than the original wheels/tyres fitted.

A useful site for checking the impact of any tyre changes....

http://www.mintylamb.co.uk/?page=tyre.htm

...peter

denniswpearce · #5 22nd May 2012, 20:31

Sorry for not not replying sooner but have not been around since I posted the question.
Thanks for all the answers but don,t think the bigger wheels make that much difference as I have looked at my speed relative to others when in different speed limit zones and there is very little difference between my speedo reading and what the speed limit is.
But I have to look at the plugs to see what colour they are.
May well be the coolant temperature sensor and its a starting point, thanks guys.

peterux · #6 28th May 2012, 13:12

I checked mine between the last two fill ups and I got an amazing 29mpg.

This was over 111 miles, mostly 'A' road driving with lots of roundabouts and cruising at 50-60mph in between plus a few 'demo's of the new engine power.

This is with my new M20B28 engine so I am very pleased as it has oodles of power. It does run on the rather more expensive 97 Octane stuff though.

denniswpearce · #7 28th May 2012, 18:14

Thanks for that Peter, gives me something to aim for.
Unfortunately I have been busy on other things so have not had the time to sort it or even take the plugs out.
I thougt I would have more me time when I retired.

Patrick · #8 28th May 2012, 18:22

No idea on mine, but some where in the 20's I think. It's running rich and needs a rolling road tweak at some point to get the fuelling optimised!

Chris Cussen · #9 29th May 2012, 06:51

34 mpg. Been using the Cabrio daily on 80 mile round trip cross country to work when it is sunny. There is one section that is a real blast!
Ford DOHC 2.0l

chrislandy · #10 31st May 2012, 18:13

Hi, I've not got a sportster but given how light the car is then you should get better mpg than the donor car. Mine is a 2l turbo engine in an 900kg car and I get 10+ mpg better than the donor (if I play nice that is)
Chris.

Chris Cussen · #11 31st May 2012, 18:21

The problem it it is so hard to play nice. Use mine every day this week

chrislandy · #12 31st May 2012, 18:24

lucky bugger, mines got a fuel leak somewhere so it's been laid up for the last few months

GreatOldOne · #13 25th July 2012, 16:57

Ok late to the party, but I've just refilled, and calculated my MPG for the last tank.

I got a massive 19mpg... I'm going to take that with a pinch of salt, as I had to change my fuel gauge code half way through, and I was a bit of a hooligan during that tank.

GreatOldOne · #14 18th August 2012, 08:00

I was right to take salt with it...

Just recalculated after using half a tank on a few runs and the trip to Old Warden - bang on 26mpg. I'm sure it would be higher if I didn't have lead boots...

Just goes to show how idling in traffic kills your fuel efficiency.

denniswpearce · #15 18th August 2012, 18:32

Thanks Jason, thats good to know. Think we all have a heavy right boot when we are in the Sportster.

At least I now have a benchmark to guide me. I will have to check out Peters suggestion regarding the temperature sensor not working, which does have a big effect on fuel consumption. Its just finding time at the moment. You are supposed to have more time on your hands when you retire !!!!!!!!!!!!!