My wife gets 16 mpg around town in our 1998 V70 with 100,000. Doesn't that sound low?

 

Yes. I have a 98 V70 GLT that my wife drives. We live out a ways so it's not really around town driving, but definitely not highway either. I think she gets around 23.5 mpg, about the same as I am getting in the 850 R. It's strange how different cars get way different mileage. I have heard of people getting consistently about 30 mpg in the same car that I would be lucky to get 27 out of. The best I ever got in my 94 850 Turbo was 32. That's when I went on the highway only, would speed up down hills, let it slow way down going up hill and run right around 60 on flat surfaces using cruise control. I did this on a 200 mile trip just trying to see how good of mileage I could get. The best I have done with the R is about 27.5 mpg, but I have never played the same game as I did that one time.

 

We get anywhere from 23-28 depending on conditions and the driver. Sixteen sounds really low.

 

I use my 2000 V70 for a commuter, approx 150 miles per day. When I'm slowed with traffic or it's raining cats-n-dogs, my mpg drops to 25-26. If it's just straight commuting, I consistently get 27-29mpg. I have just changed to Mobil 1 and am installing a K&N air filter element this weekend to see if I can nudge it up a little bit. BTW, my commute is from stop-n-go to 80mph, really quite variable so I am very much impressed with the frugality of this great little wagon.