Awesome mileage on old car

[Frank of Denmark]

It is time for a bit of chestthumping. Last weekend i decided to meet up with an old friend of mine in horsens. That is long way from my home near the German/Danish border. I decided to try a mileage experment. What kind of mileage could i get from my 1995 vw polo 1,3?
Before i could depart for Horsens i had to pick up my scooter from the mechanics workshop and drop it off at home. I tied it down on my trailer, filled up on gas and set the odometer to zero. On my way i used every trick i could think of to get extra mileage. I drafted behind the big rigs and the busses every time i could get away with it. I would coast as i approached the intersections. I checked my tire pressure to make sure it was optimal.
The numbers: total distance traveled was 164,4 km. At the gas station i could fill the tank up to max with 7,61 liters of gasoline.
164,4/7,61=21,60 km/liter. 164,4 km is 101,90 miles according to googles converter.
 googles fuel consumption converter gives a final result: 21,5 km/l=49,39 mpg.

I did that in an 18 year old VW polo with a 1,3 liter engine that has run 209277 miles, that is about 336800 km.
P.s: Maybe i should be punched in the face for driving such a long distance, but i still think my experiment has merit.
I know the price of fuel in the U.S is perceived as being high. Allow me to provide some fueL (pun intended) for your nightmares:
THE PRICE FOR 1 LITER OF GASOLINE(0.264172 GALLONS) IS 12 DKR=2,14 DOLLARS IN DENMARK.
Facepunch or not, i think it is awesome to get that kind of mileage on my old Polo.

-Frank

[ketchup]

My 1988 Chevy Sprint got me 54MPG last weekend driving from Chicago to New York and back.  But then I smashed it up on Tuesday. :(

[Frank of Denmark]

That is awesome mileage on an old car. I am sorry it got smashed up. Did you use other tricks than the ones  used? One of my old friends is into cars, and suggested installing a K&N airfilter. It has slightly bigger pores and it can be cleaned and reused. The best thing would be a foam filter, but i havent found one that is compatible with my Polo. I am going to polish the port on the cylinder head to optimize airflow, that should give me some improvement on performance and fuel economy. I am not sure how much difference it will make, but it will be a fun project.
-Frank

[ketchup]

That is awesome mileage on an old car. I am sorry it got smashed up. Did you use other tricks than the ones  used? One of my old friends is into cars, and suggested installing a K&N airfilter. It has slightly bigger pores and it can be cleaned and reused. The best thing would be a foam filter, but i havent found one that is compatible with my Polo. I am going to polish the port on the cylinder head to optimize airflow, that should give me some improvement on performance and fuel economy. I am not sure how much difference it will make, but it will be a fun project.
-Frank

I had a carburetor that was probably in need of adjustment, and I hadn't checked the valves in a while, so had I taken care of those things, it's very possibly I could have broken 60MPG on that trip.  Especially if I had been able to find gas without ethanol in it.  It makes a huge difference in older cars.

[Jamesqf]

My real problem here is getting my head around the idea of a 1995 model car as "old". 

[kms]

My real problem here is getting my head around the idea of a 1995 model car as "old".

What if I told you that a 2005 model car is already classified as old in Europe? Last year, somewhere around summer/fall, the European Union seriously debated a mandatory technical inspection for old cars every single year! It got interesting when they agreed on the fact that 'old' by European Union standards would mean seven years or 160.000km (100.000 miles). So far, there are already mandatory inspections on cars but they're on a biyearly basis. The automotive industry's lobby was obviously in favor of this legislative act since yearly inspections would become a major nuisance to many and therefore boost car sales.

Fortunately this didn't pass so we're still dealing with biyearly inspections. But it'll be back sooner or later...

[Jamesqf]

What if I told you that a 2005 model car is already classified as old in Europe?

I'd say you need a revolution.

[kms]

I'm pretty sure that's one of the many many many things that are illegal around here ;)