Thursday, December 4, 2008

Little Blue's Gas Consumption

Little Blue's average MPG since we bought her has been just a shade over 27, which seems low to me.

I've replaced the carb with a clean one and now none of the brakes drag as they did when we bought it. One concern I have is the choke is running a little too long as the colder weather sets in. I am going to experiment with disabling the choke completely to see how it runs after that. I'm thinking that the reason the gas mileage is so low is because I am stuck in stop and start traffic every morning.

At any rate, here is a graph of the gas consumption since we have purchased Little Blue...

11 comments:

Ludwig's Drivers

Nice graph.
What size engine is in LB? And (you knew this was coming) does s/he have a 009?
Those mileage figures seem pretty decent to me, actually.

Alright,
whc03grady.

Big Blue's Driver

No .009. It has the vacuum and mech advance. Not sure the short term for that. It's the original 1200 engine that was rebuilt a while back (not sure when). It's super clean and runs great.

Last night, I disabled the choke and the only difference is I need to warm it up a bit more in the morning. I'm going to see what difference that makes and report back...

Anonymous

That engine is awfully little to be pushing a whole car around. Plenty of motorcycles these days have bigger engines! That's why I'm inclined to think that 25-30mpg is doing well. Have you vetted opinions to the contrary?
The business about disconnecting the automatic choke is another bit of misinformation that has currency mostly because Muir ranted about it so vehemently (The Idiot Book p. 132 ff.). Pace Muir, I'd say VW knew what they were doing when they put it on there.
Have you given her a full tune-up (timing, dwell etc.) and looked at the plugs? I'd go there before disabling the choke.
Alright,
whc03grady.

Big Blue's Driver

Yeah, I have a pretty good article from an old VW magazine on cleaning and adjusting the choke, so will probably go back to that at some point. It just runs high now when the choke kicks in and, honestly, it's not that cold here and I don't think it's needed. I kinda like having the control over it, rather than the engine running high (not racing, mind you).

I did set the timing and check the plugs a while back. I'd like to look at the timing again soon, but other than the running high when it first started, it's running great.

Great, strong idle once warm...

I was under the impression that the bug should get over 30 pretty easily. I think I can get it up there...

marcandeliana

Valentina gets 15-17 mpg .... so I am envious of your fuel economy!

Ludwig's Drivers

exoticdvm-
Don't be too envious. Val's engine is half again as big as LB's but she weighs twice as much, and that's unloaded.
Also, Ludwig's lucky to get 15mpg on his best day, so count your blessings.

Alright,
whc03grady.

Big Blue's Driver

Big Blue, which is the 1600 engine, gets about 20-21 mpg average.

Little Blue is a pipsqueak of a car...

Anonymous

I think that the fuel economy is pretty normal. The VW was a mileage champ back in 196?, but 21st century econoboxes will do much better than the beetle. The choke should be left operational. As you say, the idle will be increased when cold. That helps the car warm up smoothly. The fuel consumed is marginal. Having the thermostat flaps operational will make the engine last longer. Check to see if they are still installed and the thermostat is there and hooked up. I am glad you are enjoying the VW experience.

Big Blue's Driver

BigW - I plan on getting in there over the holidays and getting everything back together. I should know what the fuel consumption is without the choke, so it will be interesting to see the results.

Thanks for the support.

-Brett

whc03grady

Sorry BB'sD, I wasn't trying to be such a Negative Nelly with my comments.
I wholeheartedly echo BigW's thoughts. The choke isn't so much for cold weather operation per se, but for getting the oil nice and warm before it's put under load in any style of weather.
Alright,
whc03grady.

Big Blue's Driver

whc03grady-

I get it but, man, I really like being able to control the rpms at warm up. Not sure why...

But over the holidays I'm going to dedicate time to 2 things: Big Blue's interior and Little Blue's tune up (and getting the choke working well).

We moved into a new place with a great work area, so I look forward to getting some things done.

-Brett

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