SS Economy

xcaluber · #1 25-10-2005, 05:41 PM

I heard an interesting bit on information regarding the manual SS. Apparently you should not drive it in 6th when traveling less than 130-140 kph. (The engine will be labouring to much since the revs are too low.)

Driving in 5th at less than 140 should give you better fuel consumption. Obviously you can't always trust everything the dealer tells you, so I will be testing this in the next few weeks and let you know.

Jono_sv6 · #2 25-10-2005, 08:59 PM

why the hell would the engineers design a gearbox with a gear that is not intended for the road since the speed limit is 110kph i find this hard to believe, engineers arent stupid.

I just want one · #3 25-10-2005, 09:38 PM

ummm, can you use the words SS and economy in the same sentence

rowen · #4 25-10-2005, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I just want one

ummm, can you use the words SS and economy in the same sentence

Yep. "The SS has bad enconomy when it gets a flogging".

vaertigo · #5 25-10-2005, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jono_sv6

why the hell would the engineers design a gearbox with a gear that is not intended for the road since the speed limit is 110kph i find this hard to believe, engineers arent stupid.

I think the question is would the sales department prefer a car with 5 or 6 forward ratios

Daza · #6 26-10-2005, 01:59 AM

There is something to be said for holding on to 6th for the highway but the dealer may be trying to encourage you not to load it up to much whilst new. I have heard form a reliable source that the gearboxes dont get good lubrication circulation at under 1500rpm input shaft speed. I still use 5th around town (1200rpm) but dont let it labour to much.
But honestly why buy a 5.7 V8 and drive it like a 1.2 4 cyl.

They are built to burble around whilst still being able rev when the need arises.

Economy can be good if you keep the revs down. The things that will hurt the economy Flat tyres, air cond, sitting in traffic not moving and warming up. It will improve once it has freed up as well.
Daza

Barcode · #7 26-10-2005, 07:55 AM

would have to say cant see myself how sitting on the freeway with higher revs like 5th would give better fuel economy.i have found 6th to cruise really well -freeway only- but have to go back to 5th on hills to keep the good rev range without labouring it-possibly where it makes the difference in economy

Also found getting better fuel economy now having close to 10000km on it and revs alot better as well-cant seem to get above 4th around town just not enough v8 sound if i do

bdcmedia · #8 26-10-2005, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcaluber

I heard an interesting bit on information regarding the manual SS. Apparently you should not drive it in 6th when traveling less than 130-140 kph. (The engine will be labouring to much since the revs are too low.)

Driving in 5th at less than 140 should give you better fuel consumption. Obviously you can't always trust everything the dealer tells you, so I will be testing this in the next few weeks and let you know.

Where is the logic in this? If you are driving at 2000 rpm at 100km/h in fifth gear, you are using more fuel due to the higher revs than driving at 1750 rpm @ 100km/h in sixth gear. I drive about 1100km's per week in my SS and always use sixth gear on cruise out on the highway and average about 10.9 L/100km and approx 700+ km's from a full tank.

There is no extra "load" on the sixth gear by keeping you motoring along at 100km/h. I find I can quite easily overtake someone in sixth as long as I have enough real estate ahead of me!!!

xcaluber · #9 26-10-2005, 05:36 PM

1. I am not sure if there are different gear ratios on different VZ SS's but where yours do 1750 rpm at 100kph, mine does 1750 rpm at 120kph.

2. When an engine is labouring during low revs, it will use more fuel than at slightly higher revs. Reason for this is that the engine burna fuel very inefficiently at these low revs and thus you need a bigger throttle opening.

3. Although at a quick glance this statement does not make sense, I am still going to try it and see what happens.

Reaper · #10 26-10-2005, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcaluber

I heard an interesting bit on information regarding the manual SS. Apparently you should not drive it in 6th when traveling less than 130-140 kph. (The engine will be labouring to much since the revs are too low.)

Driving in 5th at less than 140 should give you better fuel consumption. Obviously you can't always trust everything the dealer tells you, so I will be testing this in the next few weeks and let you know.

Load of $h1tte. Mine trundles along at 90 - 100 quite happily in 6th. I do kick it down to 5th if there is a hill and I have the trailer on the back. I used to travel from Melb to Horsham quite regularly (700 ish km round trip) and *definatly* got better economy in 6th with the cruise on. It stayed in top except for the steep twisty bits near Baccus Marsh.

Reaper

Reaper · #11 26-10-2005, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcaluber

1. I am not sure if there are different gear ratios on different VZ SS's but where yours do 1750 rpm at 100kph, mine does 1750 rpm at 120kph.

2. When an engine is labouring during low revs, it will use more fuel than at slightly higher revs. Reason for this is that the engine burna fuel very inefficiently at these low revs and thus you need a bigger throttle opening.

3. Although at a quick glance this statement does not make sense, I am still going to try it and see what happens.

Can't answer that, but my VYII does 1500 rpm at 100. Same point though - it goes very well at those revs although if I were designing it, 1750 - 1850 rpm at 100 would make the gear more usable.

Reaper

nickel · #12 26-10-2005, 08:17 PM

I drive my VZ SS around town pretty much all the time & only use 6th over 90kph. I don't let the engine labour in any gear & drive fairly conservatively (most of the time). I can only average 15L/100km (450km per tank full). Have only done 6000km so far so hoping for better economy as engine runs in. Is this normal for a manual gen III?

Daza · #13 27-10-2005, 02:48 AM

nickel
Your average sounds about normal, but I would guess that you may be having trouble filling your tank(shy about 4-5 liters?). My VZ freed up at about 9000kms and it felt like I had just kicked out a passenger. I was little surprised it happened so early as a rule of thumb most motors free up at 1-.75% of their total run life.
Reaper
The VZ SS and SV8 sedan has a 3.7 diff ratio for the manual(Same as the pre VZ clubsports). All the previous manuals had a 3.4 diff ratio. This would explain the difference in rpm at 100.
Cheers
Daza

vzsv8 · #14 28-10-2005, 09:23 AM

For those who are interested in fuel economy, try this.
I drive the same (very short) trip each day and most of the weekends are about the same as well.
VZ SV8 16 l/100km
VX Lumina 14 l/100km
VS Calais 15 l/10km
VN Calais 16 l/100km
VH SLX 18l/100km

These figures are very distorted because of the short distances involved but they have all been taken under exactly the same conditions, so I believe that they are comparable. The most amazing highway figure so far is from the VX. A bit over 30 mpg (in the old money) or about 9l/100km on a trip up the coast, oh by the way that was with a car full of baggage, two passengers and 1000kg of boat on the trailer.
It just shows that they keep on improving all the time, even forgetting the fact that each model is heavier than the last.
Steve