mpg 1800 k series SV owners with roller barrells

[Fil M]

Hello fellow owners ,

 

After lots of measuring and checking and thinking my little red 7 may have run too rich and juicy I have totted up the various miles .... how does it compare to you?

 

Big heavy right foot, going for it, tally ho and yahooo driving 22mpg 😳

General mixed but moderate country lane type miles little tallyho 28 mpg

Distance driving with motorway, open A roads, no tallyho, steady accel 33.5 mpg

 

If this is pretty typical it could save me spending lots of dosh for little improvement. She runs and behaves nicely as she is. Are yours much the same chaps.

[Steve T]

Very similar to mine which was mapped by Dave Walker a couple of years ago on Jenvey TBs (190bhp).

[Fil M]

Thankyou Steve. She has the whole R upgrade with a claimed 160bhp running on a R500 mbe ECU. I am happy with how she performs but felt she was rich but now the good weather is here and my runs are now much longer and less 'manic' things seem to have settled out much better. If she is similar to most owners current experience I know then that I was premature in questioning her set up. Happy to hear from any others out there

 

Cheers

 

Fil

[AndrewGP]

Fil, my (non-lardy S3 ) has the supersport R upgrade too and I get pretty much exactly what you get. It does smell rich at idle ie of neat petrol so I think mine is also running a little rich.

 

The previous owner had it mapped at a place in Northampton so it's not Caterham's map but I have the same ECU as you. To be honest I'm happy as the driveability at low speed is excellent, it doesn't pop and bang too much and it pulls like a train. The dyno plot show 168bhp and 137lbft of torque.

 

Andrew

[Fil M]

A big thankyou Andrew,

 

Yours sounds exactly the same as mine! ... except of course yours is as trim as a 60's chick . It seems mine is perfectly set and I need'nt have been concerned. Still I did learn a lot about the merits of rolling roads and mapping and where to go in the future.

 

Thanks to you both ... and a few others I have discussed it with over the last few months.

 

Fil

[henry21p]

Wowser. Driving with a heavy right foot on circuit I calculated I was getting circa 7mpg and on long runs was getting around 35mpg. Admittedly, mine is a VVC-R but on roller barrels nontheless. Still on the old mems unit.

 

A 21 is a little heavier than an sv, a lot easier to push through the air.

[Steve-B]

our SV-VHPD @210bhp gets motorway somewhat similar, but heavy use of the fun pedal puts her down at 5-7Mpg from ~32Mpg on M'ways.

 

So 1 - 2 hours of fuel sir , or 3-4.5 : always a tough choice, but slightly easier at £1.42l

[Sheds Moderator]

I think 30-35 from an 1800 is pretty good, esp with RB's. My 1.4SS was about 35mpg when touring, so if you are getting similar from a bigger engine you are doing well. RBs do not help economy.

[Team Escargot]

Have a look at the plugs - if they are running clean and correct colour (not sooty) then theres your answer

Nick

[Fil M]

Thanks again to you all. I havent checked the plugs but I am due to give her a service in the next month. In the winter when she was colder for longer the exhaust got a bit sooty now and again but now its warmer and the trips longer its a nice proper brown. I expect the plugs to be similar. Cheers All....I hope to have a spin on the track next 'season' so will tow her there with a tanker!

 

Fil

[AndrewGP]

Good stuff Fil