fuel economy

[BobR]

Hi all
Lots of 2.0 litre and diesel figures on economy, but not much in regard to 2.5 petrol vans.
Can some of you 2.5 petrol owners list their economy figures for comparison?
Still looking for a decent t4, and leaning towards a 2.5 manual. I tried a few 2.0 litre vans and found them a bit underpowered.
Thanks
Bob

[DVR68U]

hey bobd , how much heavier are the t5 then the t4 ? and also when doing the long drive sitting on 100 is way better than 120, 80k's would be the best but when ppl are around they will tailgate lol. auto very rarely get the same fuel economy as manuals, yours isnt a 4wd aswell is it ?
cheers brenton

[Tornado T5]

hey bobd , how much heavier are the t5 then the t4 ? and also when doing the long drive sitting on 100 is way better than 120, 80k's would be the best but when ppl are around they will tailgate lol. auto very rarely get the same fuel economy as manuals, yours isnt a 4wd aswell is it ?
cheers brenton

True, my T5 is almost 300kg heavier than my old T4 and lets not forget it's a 128kw engine vs a 75kw engine, that's a 20% weight gain and a 70% power gain...so it's not that bad. I also concur that there is a noticable rise in consumption above 100km/hr, probably when the turbo starts to reach speed (I think it's around the 1900rpm+ mark although you would need to read the specs to confirm when the turbo starts adding appreciable boost)

[soulspirit]

Can some of you 2.5 petrol owners list their economy figures for comparison?
Bob

I have a '97 2.5 Petrol Manual.

I can try to calculate some city figures if you like? I rarely drive on the highway, and I usually drive badly from a fuel economy perspective.

I would like to know whether LPG conversions are possible, and whether anyone ever does them? A cabbie was telling me stories the other day... his mate with the transporter etc.

Oh - and in terms of the 2.0 to 2.5 power difference - the 2.5 feels way more drivable than the 2.0 - I test drove about four 2.0 before I drove the 2.5, and there is a noticable difference. I would recommend the 2.5 especially if you do a lot of inner city driving. Maybe its different on the open road.

[Tornado T5]

I have a '97 2.5 Petrol Manual.

I can try to calculate some city figures if you like? I rarely drive on the highway, and I usually drive badly from a fuel economy perspective.

I would like to know whether LPG conversions are possible, and whether anyone ever does them? A cabbie was telling me stories the other day... his mate with the transporter etc.

Oh - and in terms of the 2.0 to 2.5 power difference - the 2.5 feels way more drivable than the 2.0 - I test drove about four 2.0 before I drove the 2.5, and there is a noticable difference. I would recommend the 2.5 especially if you do a lot of inner city driving. Maybe its different on the open road.

My new T4 was a 1997 and modded to dual fuel at time of purchase through the dealer. Naturally it was the old mixer type and used the Ford "triple scuba tanks" under the floor mid point. Only trouble was a blown airbox when it backfired once otherwise Ii thought it probably ran better on LPG due to the tune optimised more towards LPG. A very good lpg technician was helpful as he owned his own T4 and knew them back to front even quoting part numbers from memory.

The 55L range was the only downside (310-350km) and when towing I got upto 21L/100km economy (270km). I'd assume with today's liquid injection technolgy such a setup would be fantastic although expensive. I changed the oil every 5000km and it was more wear and tear on components (non-LPG) that started to take effect on the T4 some 290,000km later, (85% was on LPG).

[soulspirit]

My new T4 was a 1997 and modded to dual fuel at time of purchase through the dealer. Naturally it was the old mixer type and used the Ford "triple scuba tanks" under the floor mid point. Only trouble was a blown airbox when it backfired once otherwise Ii thought it probably ran better on LPG due to the tune optimised more towards LPG. A very good lpg technician was helpful as he owned his own T4 and knew them back to front even quoting part numbers from memory.

The 55L range was the only downside (310-350km) and when towing I got upto 21L/100km economy (270km). I'd assume with today's liquid injection technolgy such a setup would be fantastic although expensive. I changed the oil every 5000km and it was more wear and tear on components (non-LPG) that started to take effect on the T4 some 290,000km later, (85% was on LPG).

There's atleast one person whos converted to lpg.

I would also like to ask a similar question: when you say unleaded - do you fill with 10% ethanol fuels, regular unleaded or premium? Does anyone have an opinion on this?

[Tornado T5]

There's atleast one person whos converted to lpg.

I would also like to ask a similar question: when you say unleaded - do you fill with 10% ethanol fuels, regular unleaded or premium? Does anyone have an opinion on this?

I should clarify, when I said new T4 I meant I bought it brand new in 1997 and the dealer did the conversion on my behalf before I took delivery. I sold it in 2007 after 295,000+ km when I bought a new T5 diesel.

To answer your question, back then I only used premium unleaded, namely because I only ever ran it on petrol once a month at best so it wasn't a big expense and I needed to maintain some petrol in the tank full time as this lpg system would always start in petrol and click over to LPG above approx. 1500revs. It made cold starts very easy. Righly or wrongly I was led to believe the premium fuels were better for the manner I operated. Sometimes the petrol in the tank could be over 2-3 months old. Should add that it was a "mixer" type LPG setup back then. I may have mentioned this somewhere else, the man who serviced it after I stopped using the dealer, so for about 7 years in total, owned his own LPG converted T4, specialises in LPG install for all brands and used to be called in by the selling dealer to undertake the service if there were problems when I did use the dealership in those first 3 years.

[BobR]

Hi All,
In the few months i've owned my T4 I have used both premium and standard unleaded in the van with no discernable difference in economy or performance. My Serviceman suggested every 2nd or 3rd fill be premium, so that is what I do. Still averaging 11.5 l/100klm (2.5 manual) mainly city driving. Would be interesting what other owners fill up with and why or why not.
Regards
BobR

[Silver Caravelle]

Hi All,
In the few months i've owned my T4 I have used both premium and standard unleaded in the van with no discernable difference in economy or performance. My Serviceman suggested every 2nd or 3rd fill be premium, so that is what I do. Still averaging 11.5 l/100klm (2.5 manual) mainly city driving. Would be interesting what other owners fill up with and why or why not.
Regards
BobR

BobR,

To clarify, min 95 octane for the 2.5 petrol or 98 octane if you want the higher premium. Standard unleaded 91 octane is not specified.

Regards,

Scott