Lotus Elan Central

I don't have a daily driver at the moment, so the Elan has been pressed into service every time I need a car. As a result, I've done almost 1,500 miles in it in the last ten days:

- down to Shepton Mallet for the "Points West LEC" meet
- work trips to Reading, Carmarthen, Heathrow and Bristol
- a magistrate sitting in Chippenham
- various instances of what the insurance company would call social, domestic and pleasure motoring.

In that time, nothing's gone wrong, dropped off, started rattling, or otherwise misbehaved. The heater's stayed reasonably warm - though I'd have appreciated a bit more temperature - and temperatures and pressures have all been normal. Even better, I went down to Carmarthen in a torrential rainstorm, and only got one single drop of water on my lap while negotiating a roundabout on the A48 (original factory seals). I'm still tempted to upgrade to the Jamie SealWrangler combined header rail and A pillar rubber seal, but at least the current one is reasonably sound.

Final piece of good news: an amazing 41.03 mpg across the whole ten days. And no, I wasn't hanging about.

Thanks, Elan

(41mpg, ie 6.9l/100km ?! How is that even possible?!)

41mpg, ie 6.9l/100km ?! How is that even possible?!

That was actually his alcohol consumption The car did its usual 28mpg

Its no surprise really that some of these cars have a lot more miles on them than any other Lotus. They really are Lotus's best practical everyday driver.

Andy

Artaban wrote:

41mpg, ie 6.9l/100km ?! How is that even possible?!

That was actually his alcohol consumption The car did its usual 28mpg

I too find those figures very hard to believe. In my 14 years of Elan ownership and 3 separate cars I have never got anywhere near that and have never heard of anyone else doing so. Are you sure you have accounted for all petrol in the calculations and not lost a couple of receipts Saltire??

It's only the 23rd Feb. yet it feels more like April 1st

Can anyone else boast 41 mpg over 1500 miles ?

I knew you got some mpg benefits from closed loop but ~30% more cf open loop

Anyone ??

Incidentally, my mean MPG figures are.........

Rambo 30.3 mpg (45402 miles)

Buzzy 28.5 mpg (4116 miles)

The Black Beast 32.0 mpg (3232 miles)

My car is a closed loop SE (well actually the ECU has been replaced by a S2 ECU for some reason, maybe just to put the lambda sensor?) and I am far from those figures, too.
If I remember correctly I am more in the 28mpg range too, but I have not checked my consumption for a while.
(OK, some say I don't have an ecofriendly driving style.)

Artaban > lol

I don't really keep an account of the exact consumption, but judging from the quantity of petrol I have to put in for a trip to the West Mids LEC meet, I reckon it's somewhere about 35-38mpg (70 on M5, where allowed, and whatever speed limits apply on the A46).

dapinky wrote: (70 on M5, where allowed, and whatever speed limits apply on the A46)

Yeah, me too

I didn't believe it either (and O level maths may be letting me down). However:

Start miles = 62,699, when I brimmed the tank
End miles = 64142, when it brimmed again with 24.79 litres

Fill-ups as follows:

35.97 litres
38.61 litres
20.68 litres
39.84 litres
24.79 litres

I log all the journeys and keep all the receipts, for my accountant's benefit.

So by my reckoning, that makes 1,443 miles and 159.89 litres of finest four-star.
Unless the fuel fairy has been creeping down my road in the dead of night

Looks good to me. 41.06 mpg

Now try flooring it in 2nd and 3rd over the next 1500

Rambo wrote:Now try flooring it in 2nd and 3rd over the next 1500

It will be a pleasure

Rambo wrote:

dapinky wrote: (70 on M5, where allowed, and whatever speed limits apply on the A46)

Yeah, me too

Exactly. And then there are three more gears!!

So maybe using the premium juice does actually increase mpg ?

I got about 37 mpg on a couple of long runs recently but was only using the standard petrol.

simonbuk wrote:So maybe using the premium juice does actually increase mpg ?

I got about 37 mpg on a couple of long runs recently but was only using the standard petrol.

More power too ... 5th Gear High Octane Fuel test

Now if they had then done that test with a milage run afterwards to see if it gave better mpg also I'd be interested !!

simonbuk wrote:Now if they had then done that test with a milage run afterwards to see if it gave better mpg also I'd be interested !!

They did that in another programme. I saw it on TV so it's probably on Youtube somewhere. In summary it said if you've got 'an ordinary engine' there's negligible improvement so waste of money, but if you've got performance, turbo or variable valve timing engine you can get enough mpg improvement to make it cheaper per mile. That was when it was about 4p more and around £1/litre, haven't looked what the difference between them is now. I normally use Tesco Momentum or Shell Nitro V Power and only ever use 'standard rubbish' if the warning light is on and I have to, but only part fill to get me to somewhere that sells the right stuff.

I don't worry about mpg. Just fill the tank full and reset the trip so I can anticipate the warning light coming on about 9 gallons later. Usually between 260 & 280 miles on the trip when it does so maybe about 30 mpg but I am in Suffolk where farmers rule! Roads go round edge of fields so lots of 90° bends and short straights - lots of flooring it in 2nd, 3rd & 4th, rarely get into 5th gear. My other car is a Subaru Forester 2.5XTN and that gets about the same miles per tank but needs 12 gallons to fill it so Elan is more fuel efficient.