Back in 1971 when I bought my first MB, cars got 17-18 MPG if you drove
for mileage. My 67 Chevelle got 10, no matter what I did to try to
improve mileage. My 66 Bronco (acquired in 1973) got 10, no matter
what I did to try to get better mileage. Gas was mostly 35.9¢ and Diesel
27.9 to 28.8¢/gal. In this environment, my 190Dc and later 200D got 27
to 30 and as much as 35 mpg. You can figger out what a savings that was.
Later I had the wabbit at 50 mpg, the escort at 50-55 mpg and the
quantum at 45 mpg, loaded to the gills and going 75. In high MPG
conditions it would probably do 50-55 also.
I gave up the high mileage game when I got the first SDL. The speed and
comfort was amazing. The kids not only didn't complain about riding in
it, but enjoyed riding in the back seat.
It was the reliability and MPG that sold many people on a MB Diesel in
the early 80s, after 15 yrs of detriot iron getting worse all the time.
Most 73-74 land yachts did no better than 10 mpg, up from 18, due to all
the gooberment mandated "improvements." I believe 1983 was the high
point of MB Diesel sales in the USA. That was when I went to a MBCA
meeting in the quad cities, and in place of all gassers with a couple
Diesels, there was all (mostly new) Diesels, with a couple gassers.
[yes, I said 10 MPG, UP from 18. That is goober-speak, reflecting the
"improvements" mandated.]
Mitch Haley via Mercedes wrote on 12/8/18 6:52 AM:
I'm not Pious about mpg but I do get an odd satisfaction from a vehicle that
gives better than expected fuel economy. I loved my Saab 99, but it got 24mpg,
didn't seem to matter much whether in town or open road, while my backup car, a
$435 rusty POS 1980 Citation I bought in 1985 with 145,000 miles on it, would
get 39 mpg indicated, 37 mpg actual, in rural driving in warm weather. The mpg
was one reason I was fond of that Citation, another was its extreme utility, I
could carry 1000lb of tools and tool cabinets in it and it never complained.
Back when gas was 80-90 cents a gallon I never felt any pain filling up the
Saab, but filling the Citation always felt good. Funny thing is, I have no idea
what mpg I got in my 1975 Civic, other than it was not that good for a 1850lb
car with a stratified charge engine, I'm guessing around 28-30mpg, the fault of
the 2 speed semi auto trans no doubt.
Now I play the 'how high can my mpg get' game with a 2016 Chevy Cruze. Last
summer I went 630 miles on 12.6 gallons of gas. I bought a tuner for it
Thanksgiving weekend, now I want to set up a manual mode for the auto
transmission and see if I can hit 60mpg in the sort of 55mph driving that got
37 in the Citation 40 years ago.
Mitch
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