Get 34 mpg from an early model Volvo 240 wagon?!
 

Car: Volvo 245 GL, late 1979, with B21A gasoline motor (carburetor), 107 bhp, manual transmission with ONLY 4 GEARS!

Latest results (long run): US mpg 34, or UK mpg 41... (6.9 liters/100 km) is it possible? Yes!

Here are my "physical mods" - see also the uploaded picture:
- Front lip (standard 240 one)
- Sheath going from front lip to the plastic under-engine pan, thus closing most of this gap, and reducing turbulence - made myself
- A-column sheaths, made from curved-section PVC, painted and attached via custom fittings under the rubber seal of the windshield, and on a convenient thread-point in the A-Colum itself, where the radio antenna used to be :-)
- Sheath bridging gap between front-edge of gas tank and the front edge of the rear bumper, thereby closing this gap, and reducing significant turbulence because of the bumper. Made of aluminium D.I.Y.
- Flow-extender mounted on the tailgate (tricky D.I.Y., but managed it, and the solution is actually quite easy - advice availabe on request :-) ) This, and the previous, mod probably makes the most difference: extends flow so that turbulence occurs further removed from the back window pane, therefore less suction and hence drag.

Tyres: 185/80 14C, with 3.0 bar pressure

Driving style: long run with mixture of country roads and motorway, always doing pulse and glide where possible, particularly down-hill. Motor still running when gliding, because I don't have a vacuum cylinder mod to charge up for the servo braking, and I can't foresee making one.

Note, all the physical mods are very sympathetic to the classic nature of the car, and really do it a service. The front and back spoilers look so natural that all of the 245s should have been fitted with them :-)

So, whaddya think? :-) Lemme know!

Sounds good. Any pics?

Will upload some pictures soon.

Same tire size of the VW Transporter T2.

Yes, that's right. The advantages are clear: better end-ratio to wheels, and cheaper tires: transporter tires turn out to be cheaper than normal ones, because they orient themselves to the exigencies of businesses :-)

Pictures of aerodyn. mods Volvo 240 / 245
 

For those wishing pictures, here they are, with a more detailed description of how I made the anti-turbulence closure between the gas tank and the rear bumper. This could be done for any 240, including the sedan.

That's no longer the case in my country, even though I might still see more Kombis still being used for actual work in Brazil than you may see nowadays in Germany. Traditional tire makers are either charging the hell out for some tire sizes which used to be mainstream around 20 years ago or discontinued them, so most of the tires available on certain sizes are either Chinese or from some smaller company.