What gas mileage do you get?

What should our ghia get? DP 1776cc in a cabriolet. I keep under
75 on the freeway.
>
g adds.
MONEY , what a concept

"BananaRepublican" > wrote in message
...
> What should our ghia get? DP 1776cc in a cabriolet. I keep under
> 75 on the freeway.
> >
> g adds.
> MONEY , what a concept
>
Best mileage I've gotten with my bus was 24mpg on a tank that averaged over
80mph.
So there! I know. I cheated. -BaH

> What should our ghia get? DP 1776cc in a cabriolet. I keep under
> 75 on the freeway.

My guess would be the mid 20s for mpg. Best mileage I have achieved
in my ACVWs has been while driving 60/65 mph. With the mileage
starting to drop as soon as I go faster than ~65 mph. The condition of
the engine, tires and alignment, condition of the wheel bearings,
condition of transmission (I use a synthetic in the tranny but not in
the engine), and the weight being carried in your vehicle, all
contribute to gas mileage. So to does driving and road conditions and
the weather. (A particularly strong tail wind once pushed my stock '67
to 35 mpg. A figure which was virtually unchanged on two tanks of gas.
And in terms of driving, that was one hell of an afternoon.)

LK

"luftgekuhlten" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> > What should our ghia get? DP 1776cc in a cabriolet. I keep under
> > 75 on the freeway.
>
> My guess would be the mid 20s for mpg. Best mileage I have achieved
> in my ACVWs has been while driving 60/65 mph. With the mileage
> starting to drop as soon as I go faster than ~65 mph. The condition of
> the engine, tires and alignment, condition of the wheel bearings,
> condition of transmission (I use a synthetic in the tranny but not in
> the engine), and the weight being carried in your vehicle, all
> contribute to gas mileage. So to does driving and road conditions and
> the weather. (A particularly strong tail wind once pushed my stock '67
> to 35 mpg. A figure which was virtually unchanged on two tanks of gas.
> And in terms of driving, that was one hell of an afternoon.)
>
> LK
>
Just curious if you have tried to drop your speed to 55/60 mph to see if
you're gas mileage increases?
-tom

On highways I always drive my Veedubs at 100kph (62 mph) the speed for
which the vehicle was originally designed. Handling is much better at
that speed than higher ones, the engine doesn't have to run all-out,
and it makes for a more comfortable ride. And at that speed I have a
few horses in reserve for those instances when I need to pass a slower
car (which happens more often than you would think) or take an incline.

Don't want to drive with less than the gas pedal floored, because you
take the chance of getting knocked off the four lane by speeding
trucks? Then check your map and take a two lane or other secondary
road. I have found some excellent two lane highways with limited
traffic and more interesting roadside scenery and features. A few of
those and you don't care if you ever drive on another Interstate.

i have to disagree the beetle was designed to drive at 62 mph. it was
designed to run on the autobahn at its top speed. that is found in
owners manual for year of vehicle.

Personally, I favor slowing down as my bugs always seemed much more
stable on the road when driving 65 instead of 75. With the
introduction of the 1600 engine and the dog house oil cooler, running
at 75 no longer carries the high risk of the engine swallowing the #3
exhaust valve. But you're still expecting our trusty four bangers to
run next to flat-out.

During the time I played a mechanic in the service it was engines -
both gas and diesel ones - which were expected to run at capacity which
always gave us the most problems and always required additional
maintenance. That experience may be one reason I do not demand the
top speed from a VW Bug.

Slow down, enjoy the improved gas mileage, and see if your engine
doesn't appreciate this difference.

> During the time I played a mechanic in the service it was engines -
> both gas and diesel ones - which were expected to run at capacity
> which always gave us the most problems and always required addit-
> ional maintenance. That experience may be one reason I do not
> demand the top speed from a VW Bug.

Many years ago at my place of employment we had several ACVW
industrial engines. Which worked very well. These were set to run a
top rpm speed which I know was something like 500 or 700 rpms less than
the maximum. That was one reason I never pushed my bug to higher
speeds. Like others who posted their comments in this thread, my
preference is to drive at 65 on the highway.

I have a VW user manual that says they were designed to run flat out,
long distance. Not many manfacturers say that !

The VW engineers set the stock intake and exhaust sizes as a limiter for
engine output. So if its stock you should be ok.

Rich


Just an opinion wrote:
>>During the time I played a mechanic in the service it was engines -
>>both gas and diesel ones - which were expected to run at capacity
>>which always gave us the most problems and always required addit-
>>ional maintenance. That experience may be one reason I do not
>>demand the top speed from a VW Bug.
>
>
> Many years ago at my place of employment we had several ACVW
> industrial engines. Which worked very well. These were set to run a
> top rpm speed which I know was something like 500 or 700 rpms less than
> the maximum. That was one reason I never pushed my bug to higher
> speeds. Like others who posted their comments in this thread, my
> preference is to drive at 65 on the highway.
>

"Fly Steerage" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Personally, I favor slowing down as my bugs always seemed much more
> stable on the road when driving 65 instead of 75. With the
> introduction of the 1600 engine and the dog house oil cooler, running
> at 75 no longer carries the high risk of the engine swallowing the #3
> exhaust valve. But you're still expecting our trusty four bangers to
> run next to flat-out.
>
> During the time I played a mechanic in the service it was engines -
> both gas and diesel ones - which were expected to run at capacity which
> always gave us the most problems and always required additional
> maintenance. That experience may be one reason I do not demand the
> top speed from a VW Bug.
>
> Slow down, enjoy the improved gas mileage, and see if your engine
> doesn't appreciate this difference.
>
Funny that I never heard brakes mentioned in this thread while addressing
speed. I believe in 1967 or (European 1966) VW engineering also went to
the disk brakes as well as 1600 engine. The stopping power was needed along
with the increased speed of the more powerful engine.
I do have to agree with one of the suggestions was to find alternatives
roads. I most enjoy driving my '66 1300 at 50 mph. On the freeways I do
increase the speed up to 60-62mph, but prefer to take the backroads at 50.
Out here in CA, everyone seems to be in a hurry. Hurry to get to work.
They must really love their jobs and can't wait to get there! I just wake
up 10 min. earlier and enjoy the drive to work. A comment I recently
overheard; "I bought an '05 Porsche so I could get to work on time."
-tom