Fuel Consumption Punching a Headwind
Submitted: Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:25
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Gone Bush (WA)
On the way back home across the Nullarbor we encountered gale force westerly winds coming into
Eucla. It was the closest I've ever felt that the van was going to flip.
After we drove down the
hill onto the flats and my nerves settled down I took a photo of my Scangauge.
Image Could Not Be Found
29.9 litres per 100kays fuel consumption while struggling to do 80kph.
We gave up and pulled into Jillah Rockhole
campsite 10 ks west of
Mundrabilla (at 1pm, a bit early) and camped overnight until the storm blew thru.
The other figures are the inlet air temp going into the turbo (16 deg) and
water temperature (82 deg). Very handy gadget.
Reply By: Member - Troll 81 (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:27
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:27
wow
AnswerID:
316871
Reply By: Member - Footloose - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:42
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:42
How
well I remember those winds on the Nullabore. In my case they were southerlies, and almost pushed me into the oncoming traffic. And I wasn't towing anything !
Have been across a number of times, but nothing phased me like that blasted wind.
AnswerID:
316873
Reply By: bushy04 - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:46
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:46
Hey, Gone bush what were you driving?
It's pretty bad when things get like that, glad no one got hurt though.
Bushy
AnswerID:
316876
Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:50
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 08:50
TDV8 Cruiser trayback towing a 16'6" Trakmaster.
Pictures in "My Profile".
FollowupID:
583172
Reply By: curious - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 09:01
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 09:01
I was travelling from west to east probably at the same time you were heading west (12-13 July). The storms and winds which caused havoc in southern WA were rocketing across the Nullabor at that time.
I achieved the best fuel consumption I ever have: 8.5 l\100 in a 90 series diesel Prado (normally 11.3 l\100). The fuel gauge just wouldn't drop. The flip slide to that is the exceedingly high fuel consumption for those heading west. It's fortunate that there were no accidents as a result.
There were tremendous dust storms around
Ceduna the next day (sunday afternoon) and much of the Eyre Peninsula was affected. The rain was red when it fell but at least it settled the dust.
AnswerID:
316881
Reply By: Member - Bob V (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 09:05
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 09:05
Hi gone bush, what are you driving and weight of van?
Bob V
AnswerID:
316882
Follow Up By: aka - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 09:47
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 09:47
Had the same problem going over in early may used 90 litres in 360 k,s comming back early july got 630 k,s out of same
tank .prado diesel and 19ft caravan
FollowupID:
583188
Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 10:27
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 10:27
Hulo Bob,
I drive a TDV8 Cruiser trayback. My Trakmaster weighs about 2500kg.
A picture is in My Profile.
FollowupID:
583205
Reply By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:12
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:12
The gods must have it in for me. Virtually every time I've driven the Nullarbor in the last 30 yrs, I've had a howling headwind regardless of which way I'm driving.
Similarly between Hedland to
Broome, virtually always had a headwind regardless of direction travelling.
Me the born pessimist...
Gerry
AnswerID:
316904
Reply By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:16
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 14:16
Havn't beaten my friends record in a 1200 kombi with a head wind.
Flat out in 3rd gear (wouldn't pull 4th) and 35mph was the fastest.
Just to help you feel a bit better. :o)
About 250
miles to the
tank.
AnswerID:
316929
Reply By: Stephen M (NSW) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 20:46
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 20:46
Hi there Gone Bush, so which is accurate, the speedo or the gadget on top of the steering column, 81 or 77kph ??? Great little gadget thou. So how does it pick up on the fuel consumption..?? Regards Steve M
AnswerID:
317012
Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 20:55
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 20:55
The speedo is 6% over reading. At 100kph I'm actually doing 94kph. Interestingly the odometer is spot on.
The Scangauge picks up the fuel flow from the OBD port under the dash. At each fill up it estimates how many litres it should have taken and I enter the actual amount until the accuracy is very good.
This should be done at the same servo using the same pump over a few refills.
I had it very accurate so I'm happy with the accuracy of 29.9 litres per. It's also very handy with temp readouts etc. It will also show vehicle fault codes but I need to find a Toyota decode (not that I've seen any faults yet).
Basically it's got buttons and a screen so it's got to be an essential.
cheers
FollowupID:
583359
Follow Up By: Wizard1 - Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:48
Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:48
Most speedos in new cars are set at a lower than they are actually travelling. I heard it was to kerb people speeding overseas.
I know my Prado is about 5kph slower then the speedo when checked with a GPS.
FollowupID:
583453