fuel usage

[coolvxss]

Hey how much fuel should a stock VN v6 commodore use. mine only gets about 500km out of a tank on the highway

[mouce]

Mine is as close to stock as you'll get. It's a Series 1 (same as your one) and it's a manual. If I nurse it along I can get 10l/100km around town or 6.5l/100km on the open road.

If I drive it normally it's closer to 11.5l/100km around town, and if I really punch it hard then I'm using about 13-15l/100km around town. Worst figure I ever managed was 17l/100km (doing time trials on an alpine mountain road).

Let's assume that you only do highway driving:
Also, are you getting 500km to a full gauge or a full tank? 500km to a full gauge sounds about right, 500km to a full TANK??? That's another story, I'd be checking your t/b, O2 sensor, leads/plugs and air filter.

Also...What sort of fuel do you run in it?

[1991_Vn2nV]

The official figures from Holden were:
V6 Manual (City / Highway): 11.5 / 7.6 (L / 100km)
V6 Automatic (City / Highway): 12.5 / 8.0 (L / 100km)

I tend to get around 14L per 100km running BP Ultimate in mine.

[coolvxss]

well i dont run my car on the shit petrol. i usally use the middle one. i think its octane 95. i sometimes put 98 in. and i drove to da coast the other day and it was just about on empty after 500km. whats the t/b and how do i check it and how do i check the O2 sensor? the plugs are fine last time i checked.

[mouce]

t/b: Throttle Body. Make sure that it's clean (and that includes the idle air control valve).

As for checking the O2 sensor, test for any engine fault codes and post up what you get. (There's plenty of threads on how to do it)

[genIIIbandit]

quick note on cleaning t/b, dont spray carbie/ t/b cleaner straight down throat, this can cause damage to stepper motor sensor, always spray on rag then wipe, with butterfly open. Thats my two cents worth!!

[coolvxss]

ok thanks guys

[mouce]

Best way to clean the t/b is to actually unbolt it. That way you can just remove the throttle position sensor and go mental with spraying and wiping. Get's a much better clean.

[RVN 355]

Hey how much fuel should a stock VN v6 commodore use. mine only gets about 500km out of a tank on the highway

Cruze a 5litre v8 and ull notice the difference lol

[foammedia]

I would make way more than 700km in my 5 liter on a smooth highway, but with the big tank , it's using the exact same fuel as my V6 did at the moment

[coolvxss]

Well i got a bit over 500km off a tank. well so the gauge told me. I drove from canberra to narooma and back. the trip includes going up the clide mountain which is very steep so that uses a lot of fuel and there is a lot of hills and curvy roads. I also cruzed around for like 30mins looking for somwhere to stay so that was a lot of stop and go driving. And the car was well packed (alot of luggage and booze) so it weighed a fair bit. does 500km sound good or is there a problem? cheers

[mouce]

500km to a full GAUGE yeah, that sounds pretty good. You've got to remember that the gauges aren't perfect, and that they will often read on the safe side. So even if you run it to empty on the gauge, you should have a bit left in there.

[Emackulation]

Damit, I wish my odometer or trip meter worked! I really want to see my reading, i can clock up 100kms going to work easily.

[lsprewell]

any dick who says his 5L V8 uses the same amount of fuel as a 3.8L V6 is kidding himself. Think about it!

[2greedy]

any dick who says his 5L V8 uses the same amount of fuel as a 3.8L V6 is kidding himself. Think about it!

Well m8 i hate to dissapoint ya but you must be a dick to even make that statement? I have owned a lot of V8's and everyone iv'e owned has allways ran cheaper than any 6! even the old fairlanes run cheaper than a lot of today's 6's.

Now ya wanna know why dont ya? Well it's quiet simple you dont have to drive a v8 no-where near as hard as a 6 to get the same speed or perfomance,

Now where your'e probably using half throttle to get to ya speed limit i would only be using a 1/4 of that, and getting there just as quick if not quicker, same goes for highway driving your'e using far more throttle than i would ever use hence 6's are heavier on fuel.

But i will say this! if you start stamping on a v8 yea it's gonna suck fuel then, but drive it normally and it will run cheaper than 90% of ya 6's.

Now i know your'e probably gonna come back and say there is no way it can be done? but trust me m8 i have proved it many times!!!!

[nathans1987]

the holden 5.0L are not to bad on fuel when driven right and the ls1s are mean t to be good 2 but a 3.8L 6 would beat it alwase if it is in good running order. the reason why some newer 6s are so bad is they make 180-190 kw now and cars are 200kg+ heavier how are they meant to do good on fuel.

[PaRaDoX]

the holden 5.0L are not to bad on fuel when driven right and the ls1s are mean t to be good 2 but a 3.8L 6 would beat it alwase if it is in good running order. the reason why some newer 6s are so bad is they make 180-190 kw now and cars are 200kg+ heavier how are they meant to do good on fuel.

yep exactly, personally i like the commodores being fairly light... even though my vn has less power than say a ford, ive dragged lots of them and come out 1st, purely because of weight... throw 5 people in my car and i can barely keep up with a grandma driving a XL on a sunday cruize lol

i get 14-15L/100km according to my trip computer
but yeah i end up with anything from 400-500k's out of a tank
i do alot of stop start driving (i drive to tafe 4 days a week, peak hour conditions...) so yeah.. i got 768km out of a tank on the way to NSW, its a fact that smaller cars are better for ecconomy in stop start conditions but in speeds around 100km/h the bigger blocks really take over, for instace my brother owns a 2003 GTO monaro, 5.7L v8, 255kw.. we went for a cruize up to nsw and he used less fuel than me...keep in mind its all 110km/h for like 4-5 hours soo cruize comes into play (we both have cruize control)

anything round 15L/100km and you should be happy, somepoeple say "oh im getting 17L per 100km i need a rebuild..." check your oxy sensor first... however its getting harder with fuel prices not giving way and students like me who rely on their car can barely afford to drive

fuel also dictates alot aswell... try a tank of shells new fuel... my mum works for head office and apparently they're refining more of the impuritys out of the fuel so that it puts out more per tank... ive noticed a 25-50km per tank increase.... average went from getting 16-17 to getting 14-15,.. i reccomend you try some its not bad i must admit... makes my car a bit funnier but 92 runs smoother and 95 runs a little worse... oh well cant have it all

[foammedia]

any dick who says his 5L V8 uses the same amount of fuel as a 3.8L V6 is kidding himself. Think about it!

You need x amout of fuel to make x amount of horsepower it doesn't matter what size engine it's in. A V6 maybe slightly more mechanically efficient than a V8 which means it will have less power loss while it's spinning around but the difference is very slight, for less than an extra liter per 100 ks I'll take the better stronger motor with the better sound anytime, it also has the advantage of being much safer on the highway, I drove 250 km's yesterday with 36 liters in the tank and have enough left to make roughly another 130km's (in a VP 5 liter auto) that's better economy than my VN V6. And BP 95 is still my favorite fuel (p.s that's about 9.5l/100)

[1991_Vn2nV]

Now ya wanna know why dont ya? Well it's quiet simple you dont have to drive a v8 no-where near as hard as a 6 to get the same speed or perfomance,

Now where your'e probably using half throttle to get to ya speed limit i would only be using a 1/4 of that, and getting there just as quick if not quicker, same goes for highway driving your'e using far more throttle than i would ever use hence 6's are heavier on fuel.

But i will say this! if you start stamping on a v8 yea it's gonna suck fuel then, but drive it normally and it will run cheaper than 90% of ya 6's.

But 92% of the VN's torque is available at just 1200rpm. I agree though that an 8 can use less fuel. As i said earlier i get around 14L per 100km in my VN running BP Ultimate, where as a manual V8 gets 14.5L per 100km on normal unleaded. So on the same fuel my car is probably using more fuel with my driving than a V8...But the buicks dont perform as well now as they did brand new. Official fuel consumption was:
V6 Manual (City / Highway): 11.5 / 7.6 (L / 100km)
V6 Automatic (City / Highway): 12.5 / 8.0 (L / 100km)
V8 Manual (City / Highway): 14.5 / 9.0 (L / 100km)
V8 Automatic (City / Highway): 15.0 / 9.5 (L / 100km)

Note that the V6 is still more fuel efficient on the highway as well. Under normal circumstances a 5.0L will use more fuel, but driving style, engine tune, oxygen sensor and many other variables can effect the outcome. So its basically left to the individual car, whether it be a 6 or an 8.

The Gen III however is a different story. V8 Manual Sedan City/Highway: 13.0 / 7.4 (L/100km) ....Thats basically the same economy in the city as a brand new VN V6 Auto but on the highway its actually more fuel efficient. But compare it to an Ecotec V6 from a VX and the Ecotec has much better figures.

[1991_Vn2nV]

the holden 5.0L are not to bad on fuel when driven right and the ls1s are mean t to be good 2 but a 3.8L 6 would beat it alwase if it is in good running order. the reason why some newer 6s are so bad is they make 180-190 kw now and cars are 200kg+ heavier how are they meant to do good on fuel.

The VY Commodore with the 152kw Ecotec got better fuel economy than our Buicks did when they were brand new. For the VY its
V6 Automatic Sedan City / Highway: 11.0 / 6.6 (L/100km)
V6 Manual Sedan City / Highway: 10.0 / 6.6 (L/100km)

And the Alloytec is the same, but the Alloytec 190 is 11.4L per 100km instead of 11.0L per 100km. Yet they are heavier and do produce alot more power.

[mouce]

Those official fuel figures are interesting. My V6 manual around town usually gets about 10l/100km, up to 11.5 if I'm stuck in traffic for hours at a time, and on the highway I have had it as good as 6.8l/100km. So my engine is using less fuel than Holden say it should???

Damn I love it.

Either way it doesn't really matter if you've got a 6 or an 8, fuel usage is mainly about one thing, how heavy you are with your right foot. I know that if I baby it around town I can get 9.5l/100km out of my VN, yet if I thrash the crap out of my mum's excel (manual) I can blow it out to about 14l/100km.

[coolvxss]

Yeah i was comparing my fuel usage to my mums car(vn aswell) and she was getting way better fuel economy but then i remember im a 18 yr old P plater who drives the car pretty hard and mum drives hers like a granny.

[foammedia]

mouce do you have pretty skinny tires?, good figures even for a manual

[mouce]

Yeah got 195's on there at the moment. But I keep the old girl as well tuned as I can, and I play around with driving techniques.

For example, at the moment when I'm taking off from lights, I'm flooring it, getting to the speed limit and then just cruising (often I shift from 2nd to 4th or even 5th). Not the best figures that I've ever returned, but certainly not the worst.

Another fun one to play with is third gear. I've got it worked out that if it's flat or on a downhill slope I can drive my car like an auto, take off in third (and say sorry to my clutch) and do any speed I feel like up to and including the speed limit. That one's REALLY not good for fuel though.

Out on the open road though, I don't have the advantage of cruise control. But I do have a vacuum gauge in the car. Between that, the tacho, the speedo and picking the right gear, I can keep fuel use to a minimum. Best $20 I ever spent.

[nathans1987]

Yeah got 195's on there at the moment. But I keep the old girl as well tuned as I can, and I play around with driving techniques.

For example, at the moment when I'm taking off from lights, I'm flooring it, getting to the speed limit and then just cruising (often I shift from 2nd to 4th or even 5th). Not the best figures that I've ever returned, but certainly not the worst.

Another fun one to play with is third gear. I've got it worked out that if it's flat or on a downhill slope I can drive my car like an auto, take off in third (and say sorry to my clutch) and do any speed I feel like up to and including the speed limit. That one's REALLY not good for fuel though.

Out on the open road though, I don't have the advantage of cruise control. But I do have a vacuum gauge in the car. Between that, the tacho, the speedo and picking the right gear, I can keep fuel use to a minimum. Best $20 I ever spent.

i have a manual and i get about the same mine isnt in very good running order at all its not that bad either but i dont do anything other that oil and filter change every 30,000 ish. i also find it easy to drive not going over 2000rpm and coz it has torque low down my minimal acceleration(only going to 2000) is better that all cars.