Hi all, i've got a 68 beetle with a 1916 engine and twin Kadrons. After filling with 98 octane and driving around in not alot of traffic for about 180km my fuel consumption was 12.1 lt/100kms. Is this normal or a little high? What can i do to lower the thirst? As i've only just got it, could a service help?
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No idea what gearbox and ratio i've got. We are going to use it as a daily driver and we do about 20-25 000km a year so the less it drinks the better. Apart from changing engines, is there anything that can be done to lower the fuel usage?
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Twin carbs are great for power, but not exactly brilliant for economy.... bummer hey.
Running 98 is only worth it if the engine is tuned to match - try a couple of tanks of 95 and see if there's any noticeable difference.
Other than that, yeah - a tune up doing all the standard VW things like oil change, tappets, plugs, points, filters, mixtures etc. could help... clean air filters and having the mixtures right probably has the biggest potential.
Also back when I used to chase economy (as an impoverished student) I got small improvements through putting my bug on a diet - getting rid of all the unneeded crap that gets carted around in most VWs, ditching the back seat - stuff like that. Small improvement as in like 10's in traffic came down to mid 9's... still the best I ever got from my 1640 with twin kads was 482km on a single tank on a nice long drive.
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I think it needs a service as it doesn't feel "right", maybe its the mixtures but i don't know anything about carbs or most engine things for that matter. Veedub Classic Volkswagen are the closest and Vintage vee dub Supplies are also in range. Does anyone recommend anyone for the service?
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Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
The 12L/100 i got was pretty much cruising so i'm guessing its out of tune unless i've got a closer ratio gearbox or something like that. Is there a way to find out if gear box isn't standard?
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you can't use terms like 'about' or 'usually' or 'a bit' when talking fuel consumption. You must be EXACT, distance and litres to do it.
I used to do Sydney/Canberra with my 1916: 350km on 35 litres. That's 10L/100kmh and with 3.5 hours door-to-door (including across Sydney) I certainly didn't drive for economy...!
Get your basic tune (plugs, points, lead, idle mixture, accel pump etc) perfect before you do any fuel measurements
yeah around 10-12 seems normal for every day comuting thats combined city and highway, having said that, mine is pretty mild, standard heads, about 65hp at the wheels, and i dont drive it gently.
On my run to valla in 2004 i managed around 7-8 /100 on the loooong highway run from the sunny coast. that was a slow run though as it was a cruise with plenty of kombi's and standard bugs to wait for.
about 8-9lt per 100K's.........giving it some stick!
Craig yr telling porkies again utter crap
Take my car..........get it dynoed to see the HP, then drive it for a couple of tanks, then come back and confirm what it does................just cause you cant get it with your setup doesnt mean others cant.
the biggest problem most people have in getting good fuel economy is that they dont understand what revs their motor is the most fuel efficient. I know of plenty of people that drive around with performance cams in their motors but they change gears before the cam has even come in..........or they labour the motor up hills at lower revs with the foot flat to the floor instead of going back a gear.
I found that my 80-85 HP 1916 with 40mm Dels used more fuel than my 127hp 1916 with 44 idf's........found that interesting! (both motors were used in the same car, the dasdubber ragtop)
about 8-9lt per 100K's.........giving it some stick!
Craig yr telling porkies again utter crap
Take my car..........get it dynoed to see the HP, then drive it for a couple of tanks, then come back and confirm what it does................just cause you cant get it with your setup doesnt mean others cant.
Ok Craig, i'll take your car for a spin for a few months if thats what you really want 😂
I'm getting a bit of rust cut out on Monday then i'll get the old girl serviced and see if that gets her a bit more efficient. I hope so.
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My 1916 cc L Bug with twin kadrons averages between 11 and 13 litres per 100km combined highway and city - driving sensibly. And that was after my mechanic put in smaller jets!!!
Will be getting electronic ignition at the next service and hopefully that will improve it a bit. Dream for 10 litres per 100km.
Craig Torrens wrote:whatever dave.......you're the guru
the biggest problem most people have in getting good fuel economy is that they dont understand what revs their motor is the most fuel efficient. I know of plenty of people that drive around with performance cams in their motors but they change gears before the cam has even come in..........or they labour the motor up hills at lower revs with the foot flat to the floor instead of going back a gear.
I found that my 80-85 HP 1916 with 40mm Dels used more fuel than my 127hp 1916 with 44 idf's........found that interesting! (both motors were used in the same car, the dasdubber ragtop)
well said craig, i see people labor their cars around all day long telling me that revs drink fuel. sounds like we have a very similar driving style 🙂
unless the cops are around then i tend to labor it along a little, its quiter than way.
