Looking through FuelEconomy.gov and saw my '87 240 averages 20 mpg. Was wondering if the Volvo community yay's or nay's those numbers.

Is there anything that can be done to increase mpg averages?

 

Mine averaged 27. I ran mobil 1 oil, and denso spark plugs and wires, and a k&n oil filter.. and no my intake was not all greased up from the filter.

 

Red Blocks are not very economical. 20mpg average is common. You could get close to 30 on a long trip, at a moderate speed, especially with a stickshift tranny. Averaging, meaning city/hwy driving, 27mpg is quite doubtful...

 

our 87 240 gets 25-27 most of the time being flogged around the county, and as high as 29-30 on a long freeway trip when I drove very relaxed. this is averaging over multiple tanks.

things like bicycles on roof racks combined with 75MPH+ speeding can eat HUGE holes in your gas budget.

 

on my 1991 240 4dr auto I was getting about 20 mpg average with a yakima roof rack and wind faring

 

I take my racks off when I'm not using them and going somewhere involving freeway speeds, as they really do knock the mileage down quite a bit, with or without that silly advertising card they call a fairing. plus they are noisy (yeah, the fairing helps a bit with that but not totally, especially at elevated speeds).

 

it is noisy, and the faring helps alot in my opinion but I think it gave the car a look I really liked. in short I took the MPG penelty for the style and also its a pain to take the thing on and off.

 

huh. I can get my yakima racks or or off in a few minutes. the one that has the big cargo box on it takes 2 people (but I only use that a couple times a year for multiday music festival camping trips), the one with dual 'lockjaw' bike racks I can take off myself by grabbing the rails as far in as practical, elbows against the near end of the rails, and lever it up til its clear of the car. it probably helps that I'm 6' tall.

 

lol, its not difficult to do and it dose not talk a long time this is true, but i never know when im going to have a free afternoon to go mountain biking, also most of the long distance travel I do would be to do that which I would need the rack for (biking, sking, ect) so for me wanting to hop in the car and go mountain biking but having to spend 5-10 mins installing the rack is/was a pain and I would just leave it on. did I also mention I liked the way it looked My new 740 wagon has a factory roof rack with aero bars so i just need aero mounts for my trays

 

I get right about 25 mpg normal driving, and it dives to 23 in the winter. It is quite consistent for me. I am also getting a 2-3-2 code, which indicates improper fuel mixtures... but I haven't tracked it down. Maybe that would improve the mileage a bit.

But, I'm also like pierce, I take off my roof racks whenever not in use. I have the old Thule racks that are Volvo branded, and it really takes no time at all to do...