26.31 MPG in a V70 Turbo Wagon

[Johnny Mullet]

I am impressed! I got all the repairs done to my 1998 Volvo V70 GLT and drove it gently after fixing it. I have done no mods of any kind to this ride.....



Now that the car is safe and repaired, I have turned the keys over to the wife and my 1995 Chevy 4X4 is parked in the garage for now. We shall see how the logs change with her driving. This Volvo is the most comfortable car I have ever driven. It handles and accelerates like a sports car and it's very quiet. I am glad there is no roof rack and the front end is pretty sleek with no un-needed gaping holes.

I have not driven the Metro in a few days until now. I recently went and fired her up and she starts like always. I get inside and take her for a ride and forgot how much fun the Metro is to drive

[SVOboy]

Interested to see what kind of mileage she gets with it!

[Johnny Mullet]

Maybe the new rear window sticker will help................

[1337]

Nice! I used to have the sedan version of this car, but with the same 2.4L light pressure turbo engine. I was just starting to get interested in hypermiling when it caught fire.

Take it from me, make sure to change the timing belt at the proper interval, and make sure the cooling fan works. On hot days, the fan should runs for a few minutes after the engine shuts off.

I really regret never hypermiling my S70, so I'm excited to see what my car could have done. Used 70-series Volvos are great values compared to, say, a BMW 3-series wagon. Good luck!

[tjts1]

Get some coroplast and do this.
Volvo 850 coroplast wonder
Underside aerodynamics really make a difference on these cars.

[Johnny Mullet]

Thanks for the info tits!

[ALS]

With these cars speed matters.

With my 87 745 2.3L Turbo five speed I can pull 31-32 at 55 mph and at 65 she will get me mid 29's. Over 70 mph and it is total FUBAR with gas mileage.

97 960 2.9 24V again speed will kill gas mileage faster than a tank of E10.
65 mph I can get low 29's with no A/C. Raise the speed up to 70 mph and hello mid 27 mpg. Got to love 600 mile tanks of gas in these cars when kept under 65 mph.

BTW it does have some metal work under it to clean up the air flow.
Thanks to tjts1 for the inspiration. I have 25% grill block and 42 psi in the Michelin MXV Plus 4's.

I've owned Turbo and non Turbo Volvo's since 1981 and everyone of them it was the same story as far as getting good fuel mileage. SPEED KILLS GAS MILEAGE.

Once you pass either 2500 rpms or 65 mph the fuel mileage will dump as quickly as you go above those two numbers. All automatic Volvo's that I have owned and other people have owned all showed the best gas mileage between 60-65 mph. The difference between 55 and 60 mph for gas mileage is minimal a best. Like .5 to 1 mpg

[instarx]

Wow, 26 mpg overall is way good for this car. I have a 2000 V70 AWD turbo and get about 21.something mpg in mostly suburban driving. My best highway mileage ever was for a 500 mile interstate trip, at posted speed limit with windows up and no A/C and 40 psi all round - 32.8 mpg. They sell diesel versions in Europe. I love this car, diesel or not.

[tjts1]

The best I've ever managed in the NA 850 5 speed wagon driving back from Seattle to California was 32mpg. We averaged about 70mph with stints up to about 90mph on the down hills through the mountains in neutral or in gear depending on the circumstance. If I do a constant 55mph on flat ground, the trip computer shows 39mpg. I don't think I could ever drive that slow for any length of time so its purely theoretical.

The 850 wagon and V70 have a CD of .31 which is excellent considering the squared off styling. Volvo actually put a lot of wind tunnel time into these cars to fix small details like smooth out all the transitions from the roof to the sides and to the back. It looks boxy but its actually a very clean design. As ALS would tell you, there is plenty of room for improvement on these cars. He gave me the idea for the underside panels and I've been very happy with it thus far.
good luck
Justin