So the other day my fiance and I had a 380 hire car (Series 2 SX - nice car) from a Mitsubishi dealer. We took it from Toowong in Brisbane up to Chermside to the shopping center, then back down to Breakfast Creek, back to Chermside, then back to Toowong. Now, admittedly it was a lot of stop start traffic, and I think the trip said average speed was 24km/h, BUT, the average fuel consumption reading on the trip computer when we got back said 19.1L/100km! Is this normal for a 380? The best we got it down to for the whole time was 14.2!

thats extreme and nothgin like what you should be getting from a 380 stock, i used to get like 9l/100k around town and down to 7/100k highway driving, the 380 loves to cruise.

although it may differ depending on how hard you were driving the car though i assume that in the kind of traffic you describe you wouldn't have had much of a chance to drive it hard.

did it have clear side indicators?

did it have clear side indicators?

Of course it did 380's are all about style mate ;)

For me, when pushing it harder in traffic in manual mode, I get around 11-12L - but if I drive gentler in auto mode, I can get mid-high 10s.
Is there a hire 380 out there with Magna indicators on it now?

Maybe cause its a hire car and been thrashed, it's doing that thing where if the cars been thrashed the ECU uses a bit more petrol and its been babied it uses a little less....you know....that whole ECU reset thing....

mines around 12.2 with 50/50 mix of driving so i reckon 14.2 is probably normal for city driving.
:thumbsup:

14L/100 I could probably handle if I bought the car and soley for around town... But 19L/100. :doubt:

Anyway, it was a very nice car to drive. It had 17,000kms on it and still felt brand new, tight as a drum. gearbox was smooth and it had decent grunt. I found the gearbox a bit slow to kick back sometimes, but overall the ride was very nice and it was a comfortable place to be.

That does seem on the extreme side. I used to average around 11.5-12.5 around town and into the high 8s low 9s on a pure highway run with the 380.

At worst I get now with the 6ltr LS2 is in the 16s around town with a little "playing" :D
Normal driving between 12-14. Highway driving had it as low as mid 8s. It ticks over at a tad over 1600rpm at 100.

Did you reset the trip computer when you got into it?? I may have still been "catching up" from a previous thrashing.

Cheers,

That does seem on the extreme side. I used to average around 11.5-12.5 around town and into the high 8s low 9s on a pure highway run with the 380.

At worst I get now with the 6ltr LS2 is in the 16s around town with a little "playing" :D
Normal driving between 12-14. Highway driving had it as low as mid 8s. It ticks over at a tad over 1600rpm at 100.

Did you reset the trip computer when you got into it?? I may have still been "catching up" from a previous thrashing.

Cheers,
It was reset before I left...

Something wrong with it somewhere.

Even with a day of flat out performance runs on the dyno at 30C I never got near that (14.7L/100KM).

You weren't towing a caravan ? (look, it might be time to come out of the closet...:P)

I got mid 11s when stock with aircon and three person passenger load around town in summer.

I filled up my car the other day after 100% city driving (no freeway).
380 SX Series 2 Auto.
I reset the trip meter at the start of every full tank.
Figures from the trip meter were:

334.2 Kilometres
61.7 Litres used
18.5 Litres/100K Average
23.7 Kph - average speed
14 Hours driving

I do get great fuel economy on the freeway (between 8-10 litres per 100K) but around town this car drinks.
I think it is probably drinks about 10% less than my old VX Commodore 6 cylinder.

Can I ask you guys that are getting 12-14 litres on average, what is your average speed?
Is anyone getting an average speed of 23-24 Kph with better fuel economy figures?
The guy that originaly posted this thread got similar figures to this.

P.S. I do like giving it a squirt most of the time. (Up to 23 Kph :D )

Although I always take note of my economy figures after every fill-up (where I reset for new tank), I never took much notice of the average speed. I just filled up today (BP Ultimate) so I'll let you know what I get. Can't be sure what type of driving though - tomorrow's my last day at work.

I filled up my car the other day after 100% city driving (no freeway).
380 SX Series 2 Auto.
I reset the trip meter at the start of every full tank.
Figures from the trip meter were:

334.2 Kilometres
61.7 Litres used
18.5 Litres/100K Average
23.7 Kph - average speed
14 Hours driving

I do get great fuel economy on the freeway (between 8-10 litres per 100K) but around town this car drinks.
I think it is probably drinks about 10% less than my old VX Commodore 6 cylinder.

Can I ask you guys that are getting 12-14 litres on average, what is your average speed?
Is anyone getting an average speed of 23-24 Kph with better fuel economy figures?
The guy that originaly posted this thread got similar figures to this.

P.S. I do like giving it a squirt most of the time. (Up to 23 Kph :D )
Right on. My average speed was about 21km/h by the time I got back with average fuel consumption at 19.1L/100km. This sits about right with your figures too. You're saying your VX Commodore used MORE fuel in the same conditions? (20km/h average speed all city driving?)

Right on. My average speed was about 21km/h by the time I got back with average fuel consumption at 19.1L/100km. This sits about right with your figures too. You're saying your VX Commodore used MORE fuel in the same conditions? (20km/h average speed all city driving?)


Hi Disciple,

you got me thinking. My driving patterns have changed since I got rid of the VX. At the time I was doing about 60% city and 40% freeway driving. The VX used about 10% more fuel under those conditions. I can't say I every realy drove it 100% in the city so it is hard to compare.

The 380 gets 1670 Kg off the line pretty effortlessly but it drinks some fuel to do it. Stop start traffic and low speed doesn't help.

I generally find that my Magna (ok its a 3rd gen) gets pretty average fuel consumption in heavy stop/start traffic.

As soon as you hit some 60km/h+ flowing traffic, fuel consumption goes down a lot, thats with stop/start traffic, just not a parking lot.

Something to do with relatively heavy FWD V6 cars....

Howdy, first post.

Purchased a black 2005 380 VRX auto about a week ago with about 25,000 kilometers, noticed I've been getting 15-16L/100k. The lowest I've gotten it so far was 13L/100k. Haven't had a chance to take it out for highway testing yet, and was getting concerned about the fuel consumption. I have noticed that sweet spot just over 60k/hr where it shifts and the RPMs drop to just over 1000, but most of the time I don't have the luxury of cruising at that speed with all the stop and go (city).

So from what I'm reading here, this is actually normal? Because everywhere else I've read, people are saying that it should be seeing 12-13L/100k tops, in city stop and go traffic.

Cheers

Hey Mas welcome to A) the forums :D and B) the joy of owning a 380 :)

As for consumption with these cars they remember the last 150km of driving so if before you got the car it was driven hard by someone then the figures may be a bit off, having said that i used to get about 12's before i started the mods that was city driving around melbourne.
On the highway is where you will see great figures like high 8's and low 9's otherwise with the weight of the car and depending on how hard you like to take off your figures will be higher in city driving it's an unfortunate fact of life, but at least petrol is cheaper nowdays :D

Welcome to AMC MAS.

:stoopid:

On the highway non modded you should at least be in the 9's if not 8's. I usually get 14-16 around town but I drive it a bit hard as I love the sweet exhaust sound through the revs & the smooth power delivery.

Obviously it can be better if you drive like a Granny going to church on Sundays.

Howdy, first post.

Purchased a black 2005 380 VRX auto about a week ago with about 25,000 kilometers, noticed I've been getting 15-16L/100k. The lowest I've gotten it so far was 13L/100k. Haven't had a chance to take it out for highway testing yet, and was getting concerned about the fuel consumption. I have noticed that sweet spot just over 60k/hr where it shifts and the RPMs drop to just over 1000, but most of the time I don't have the luxury of cruising at that speed with all the stop and go (city).

So from what I'm reading here, this is actually normal? Because everywhere else I've read, people are saying that it should be seeing 12-13L/100k tops, in city stop and go traffic.

Cheers
Hi, and welcome to the forums. Nice to see another black 380 here. Get some good pics of your car for the "380 Post Your Ride" thread, and put one up for your avatar - so we can all see it.
Any mods? If not, any plans? Plenty of good ideas floating around these threads, not too expensive either (for starters...)
Anyway, I'm getting high 10s to low 11s, but my driving (ie to work) is from Blacktown (Sydney's west) to Lane Cove. Half of that is the M4 motorway, so I can sit on 110. The rest are main roads - and all at 5am so I can still sit on 80-90. Going home is 2pm, so almost same speeds again. In addition, if auto-mode is used all the time, a lower economy reading can be reached - rather than the more-enjoyable manual-mode which will see me creep up to a litre higher. So what I've found is the higher speeds and auto-mode will see better economy... though if you don't have access to those conditions I guess there's not much you can do about it - accept stick with auto-mode. Then again with petrol at lower prices now (but for how long?), don't worry about it too much.

Boy they sound pretty thirsty!

Not happy jan, really like the look of the 380's when they are lowered slightly and was thinking of updating to one eventually but they seem to drink like falcons and common*****s!:shock:

Boy they sound pretty thirsty!

Not happy jan, really like the look of the 380's when they are lowered slightly and was thinking of updating to one eventually but they seem to drink like falcons and common*****s!:shock:

Depends on where you are driving and your style - as usual.
I've never got above 13s around town but I don't push it in traffic. I'm careful and I only boot it in open space.

My 380 is clearly more thirsty than my previous Magna, which averaged mid to high 9s with same driving conditions - but that was just a wee 3.0L 5spd V6 (a very punchy little thing though which I sorely miss). You can still get good economy from the 380 depending on how you drive it - and yes they do look good lowered (big rims are nice too).

Gotta love it when you write out a long post with links and all, then go to post it and get sent to the log in screen because you were "inactive" for too long :doubt:

Anyways, thanks for the welcome all.

When I first bought it I reset the computer, and was driving like a granny for a day or two trying to get it down, but it wouldn't budge. If anything, it started to get higher. So I started driving more normally, and put some vortex 95 in it (caltex doesn't have the 98 in Adelaide, and I've got a woollies card) and over the next few days I was able to get it down to 13L/100k.

Since then though, its gone back up to the 15s, and even as high as 16.1, unfortunately I don't think I'm going to see the incredibly low numbers that a lot of you experience. I'm usually stuck at around 40-55 and it seems to really drink in that range.

Oh well. Decided not to worry about the consumption anymore, and just enjoy the ride (with the low cost of petrol at the moment, it seems a bit pointless).

As far as mods go, I'm not sure if I want to change anything or not. I quite like the way it sounds and performs at the moment.

I used to have a manual 3000gt VR4 twin turbo, and I put a K&N (http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=57-1500-1) kit in it, as well as a Borla cat back exhaust (http://www.borla.com/applications/lookup.aspx/1998/Mitsubishi/3000GT/VR-4Stainless_Steel_Cat-Back_System/15443/). It changed the sound (actually made it a bit more quiet, a down low rumbly that you felt more than heard) and gave me a bit more power, but I was plagued by the ever present check engine light afterwards.

I plan on taking it in for a wash/polish/etc soon (it just rained for several days and its looking a bit dirty). Once I do, I'll take some pictures.

You don't need to go nuts with the 380 to start freeing up the ponies, it's as simple as getting a new exhaust from the flange back, can go for as little as $200 fitted the 90mm intake and a K&N and you'll get a much more linear powerband as well as a nice sound depending on the muffler you go for.

It's easily doable for under $300 and you do notice the difference, also try running it on 98 octane i use shell V_power myself but i hear that BP ultimate is also a good fuel.

Don't talk to me about the CEL it's an ever present friend ever since i get the exhaust done...should ask mistubishi to see if they can fix it...

Yer, I'll give it a think. Went to the youtube video of your exhaust in the post your ride thread, sounds pretty sweet actually. How noisy is it from inside the car though?

A not so good development last night. Was driving the sister in law home from Carols by Candlelight (father in law's birthday, not my normal choice of entertainment) and she put the rear passenger side window halfway down, and the mechanism broke, so now I can't put my window up (I can slide it up by hand but it just slides back down). I know its stupid and I should have checked it before this, but I had never even tried to put the rear windows down prior to last night, so I don't know if it was already busted when I got the car, or if it happened just then.

Will be making an appointment with the dealership to have it fixed today. Its a real pain, as I can't park it in the street like I normally do, since anyone can just come along and push the window down and crawl into the car. Shouldn't even need to use the warranty, just bought the vehicle used less than 2 weeks ago, and from my understanding (never bought a used car in South Australia before), the dealership is required by law to do any repairs for 3 months after sale of a used vehicle that sold for more than $6,000.

Oh yeah. And to keep my post on track with the topic, since Friday I've crept into and stayed at the 16.5ish L/100k fuel consumption area. I'm starting to think the car hates me :redface: Other than that, still loving the car though :D

Oh yeah. And to keep my post on track with the topic, since Friday I've crept into and stayed at the 16.5ish L/100k fuel consumption area. I'm starting to think the car hates me :redface: Other than that, still loving the car though :D

Maybe try taking it out for a 200km country drive - (Handorf or Victor Harbor, from memory) and see what the economy does then. If it stays that high there must be something else affecting it.

Yer, I'll give it a think. Went to the youtube video of your exhaust in the post your ride thread, sounds pretty sweet actually. How noisy is it from inside the car though?


Keeping in mind i've done a full exhaust so thats extractors (removes 2 of the 3 cats) and 2.5" system all the way to the tip, it's very noticeable in the car even under minute acceleration but then it's not drony it's more of a burble if that makes sense :P, under load at about 2krpm it's definitely droney but if you use your tiptronic or shift down a gear in a manual it goes away.

I've just done a trip to Melbourne and back to Sydney 1600k round trip and used 2 and a half tanks to do it, was getting in the high 9's most of the way so i'd follow knotched's advice and take it on a longish highway run and see if that get's it down again.

Yer, I'll probably go down to Victor Harbor over the Christmas weekend and see how it does. Thanks for the advice guys.

If fuel consumption doesn't drop well below 13ish L/100k maybe I'll give the previous owner a call, see if he had anything done to it that I'm not aware of.

Cheers

Well its a hire car, so they wouldn't notice these things - Could be an O2 sensor.

:think: driving on the higway the trip computer will go down cause its averaging the driving, but around town its still using the same amount of fuel.

check the tyre pressure and bump it up 2-3psi

Yer thanks, I'll go put a bit more air in the tyres.


Well its a hire car, so they wouldn't notice these things - Could be an O2 sensor.

Me or the original post? Mine wasn't a hire, just one previous owner.

MAS80
I havw also fallen victom to the rear windws, drivers rear last xmas eve and pass rear last week. All fixed under warranty 205 model. Told the dealer i will see then same time next year for one of the fronts:D

Around town i am on the 11 / 12and have had it into the high 8's on a good run up to Bundaberg from Brisbane a couple of weeks ago. Avg on that trip was 102 km as per the computer

Yer thanks, I'll go put a bit more air in the tyres.



Me or the original post? Mine wasn't a hire, just one previous owner.

The OP.

Just for everyones info, while I away over xmas I couldn't get V-Power 98 I usually run so I filled up on BP Ultimate 98. Best economy I've had was around 8 to 8.2 l/100km. On the BP I was amazed to see it come down to 7.7 l/100km on my trip between Gympie & the Gold Coast. :shock:

On the BP I was amazed to see it come down to 7.7 l/100km on my trip between Gympie & the Gold Coast. :shock:

That's brilliant.

On Sunday drove Bribie Isl to Gold Coast and back for 8.4l/100km and I thought that was good. That's sitting in 110 zone with a/c on and two adults, one child.

Yep well I was sitting on about 119km/hr most of the way to avoid tickets, that works out to about 840km to a tank :shock:

I get 13-13.5 and around 460-500 a tank for 100% stop start city use.
Car only has 16,000km's after almost 2 years. Its slowly starting to get better.

When I do a long drive however - recently I did a 4.5 hour drive that was 100-110 the entire way with no traffic lights or slowly down - total km's per tank jumped to 770 !! :D

Filled up today...
Used: 54.6L, Total Kms: 485.3, Avg Fuel: 11.2, Avg Spd: 53.6.
About a third of that tankful (where these figures came from) was used over the holidays, so I would normally expect better results with only-to-work driving - but still not bad.

i average 14.7, but i live in the hills and only use it on weekend so i tend to give it a bit of a boot. Having said that i recently did some long country driving and got it down to 9.

I usually get around 11-12. I travel around 45min each way to work 100km/h and 10mins stuck in traffic :P I recently took a 5 hour trip loaded with people and bags and it got down to 10.1 with aircond on the whole way.

I just did a round trip from Adelaide to Melbourne and averaged 9.2 with a fully loaded car. Around Adelaide I average around the mid 11s. I found the rest feature in the 380 pretty interesting. I wasn't expecting the car telling me to take a break :nuts:

damn i wish my ford got the fuel consumption you guys get.

i average 13.0 on the highway and 21.5 around town!

I do 20 km trip to work with about 10kms of free run and get average of 12.2l/100K. On the freeway it definatley gets mid 8's with average reducing to 11/100k. However if I drive in sports mode it jumps up but mostly drive in auto. Have no modes just stock S3 VRX 380

Just for everyones info, while I away over xmas I couldn't get V-Power 98 I usually run so I filled up on BP Ultimate 98. Best economy I've had was around 8 to 8.2 l/100km. On the BP I was amazed to see it come down to 7.7 l/100km on my trip between Gympie & the Gold Coast. :shock:

I think my car NA seems to have had the best economy. I think freeing up the intake & exhaust & getting it tuned makes a hell of a difference. Oh well that will all be gone now with the blower :badgrin:

I usually get around low 12's for everyday driving, including suburban and highway driving. South Eastern suburbs to Crown every day so.

Just took a trip to canberra with 4 people in the car, full boot and all and got it down to 10.5 which i'm somewhat impressed with but not aswell due to what i'm also reading.

But hey, i only fill up twice a fortnight so i'm not complaining:D

Thx
Ben

I have been looking at getting a 380 or KW Verada AWD. Have TJ Advance at present.Seems the AWD and 380 have about the same fuel consumption and maybe the AWD goes further on a litre of juice. My 3rd gen gets aroung 10.4 litres/100km in city driving (Sydney). This drops to under 10 when a bit of highway/motorway is included. Country trips get under 9l/100km. For AWD I expect it will be an extra 2 l/100km. Reason I am looking at upgreading is to get the extra 2 airbags. I do a lot of kms, so safety is becoming and issue for me. AWD appeals and I like the newness of the 380. Doing 30-40 000km year, fuel consumption is a factor. The only other cars I would consider are Libery and Aurion.

I do a lot of kms, so safety is becoming and issue for me. AWD appeals and I like the newness of the 380. Doing 30-40 000km year, fuel consumption is a factor. The only other cars I would consider are Libery and Aurion.

If you do the mods and chip it (with that amount of K's you should) you will get in the mid to high 8/100 on hwy and around hi 9s low 10s in the city (what I'm getting). I do around the same km per year.

Both the other cars are good choices; both will be lighter on fuel stock standard. Aurion lacks character, low down torque and handling IMO but good looks and strong top end. Liberty is a good all rounder. 380 will compete well with both if you do the low cost mods.

I have been looking at getting a 380 or KW Verada AWD. Have TJ Advance at present.Seems the AWD and 380 have about the same fuel consumption and maybe the AWD goes further on a litre of juice. My 3rd gen gets aroung 10.4 litres/100km in city driving (Sydney). This drops to under 10 when a bit of highway/motorway is included. Country trips get under 9l/100km. For AWD I expect it will be an extra 2 l/100km. Reason I am looking at upgreading is to get the extra 2 airbags. I do a lot of kms, so safety is becoming and issue for me. AWD appeals and I like the newness of the 380. Doing 30-40 000km year, fuel consumption is a factor. The only other cars I would consider are Libery and Aurion.

In your situation I would definitely get the 380. Reason being that for the money, they're just such good value. I mean, GT's with 60,000kms for $20k is a real steal, and they're a hell of a car. That's where my money would be anyway.

I just did a round trip from Adelaide to Melbourne and averaged 9.2 with a fully loaded car. Around Adelaide I average around the mid 11s. I found the rest feature in the 380 pretty interesting. I wasn't expecting the car telling me to take a break :nuts:

Yeah first time it happened to me I was hoping a coffee would come out of the dash or something :P It stops beeping after 2 warnings.

Yeah first time it happened to me I was hoping a coffee would come out of the dash or something :P It stops beeping after 2 warnings.

You can turn it off on my TL. Same way you turn the speed warning off - bring up the display then hold the "MODE" button for a couple seconds till it turns off.

Yeah first time it happened to me I was hoping a coffee would come out of the dash or something :P It stops beeping after 2 warnings.

I was expecting the same thing lol

You can turn it off on my TL. Same way you turn the speed warning off - bring up the display then hold the "MODE" button for a couple seconds till it turns off.

I think that just resets it in the 380 and doesn't turn it off.

I think that just resets it in the 380 and doesn't turn it off.

If you press & hold the up/down buttons it turns off, same for the speed alert.

If you press & hold the up/down buttons it turns off, same for the speed alert.

That's what I meant, cheers. :happy:

I get 13-13.5 and around 460-500 a tank for 100% stop start city use.
Car only has 16,000km's after almost 2 years. Its slowly starting to get better.

When I do a long drive however - recently I did a 4.5 hour drive that was 100-110 the entire way with no traffic lights or slowly down - total km's per tank jumped to 770 !! :D

yeah i average around 14ltrs and thats semi rural driving, so not that great. It seems the 380 is either great on fuel or a guzzler. The moment I touch the pedal exuberantly it rockets up. Highway is great though. Never seen my total kays go past 560 however.....

yeah i average around 14ltrs and thats semi rural driving, so not that great. It seems the 380 is either great on fuel or a guzzler. The moment I touch the pedal exuberantly it rockets up. Highway is great though. Never seen my total kays go past 560 however.....

Bloody hell, i didnt think the 380 would be that thirsty on fuel.

My G6ET is averaging just on 10.5L/100km for my daily drive to work and back (80km round trip daily) and that is a 50/50 mix of city and freeway driving. On the june longweekend, we did a country road trip and it averaged 8.1L/100kms for the complete trip i was impressed with that for a stock 4L turbo large car.

Bloody hell, i didnt think the 380 would be that thirsty on fuel.

My G6ET is averaging just on 10.5L/100km for my daily drive to work and back (80km round trip daily) and that is a 50/50 mix of city and freeway driving. On the june longweekend, we did a country road trip and it averaged 8.1L/100kms for the complete trip i was impressed with that for a stock 4L turbo large car.

Yeah, but unlike the G6ET, the 380 won't be back at the dealer every other week to fix something. :gfight:

Reading the Ford forums, god damn those cars have some problems. Not as much it seems as the FG F6's - god damn. :tired:

Yeah, but unlike the G6ET, the 380 won't be back at the dealer every other week to fix something. :gfight:

Reading the Ford forums, god damn those cars have some problems. Not as much it seems as the FG F6's - god damn. :tired:

I havnt heard any major issues with the turbo engine or ZF trans and besides i know of a few 380 lemons..... like my uncles that spent most of its first 6months of his ownership back at the mitsu dealer with electrical and auto trans issues, he sold it and bought aurion (Yawn) and its been quite good.

You will find that in ALL cars made there will be some "problem childs" in amongst them

Also forums are quite a laugh as ya always hear about the problems people have with there cars but never about the good things plus alot of people seem to "pump up" the problems that they are having with there cars and make them out as alot worse than they really are.

I havnt heard any major issues with the turbo engine or ZF trans and besides i know of a few 380 lemons..... like my uncles that spent most of its first 6months of his ownership back at the mitsu dealer with electrical and auto trans issues, he sold it and bought aurion (Yawn) and its been quite good.

You will find that in ALL cars made there will be some "problem childs" in amongst them

Also forums are quite a laugh as ya always hear about the problems people have with there cars but never about the good things plus alot of people seem to "pump up" the problems that they are having with there cars and make them out as alot worse than they really are.

Yes, people will inflame problems with cars. For mine tho, the Falcon has had the same problems for years. I could never bring myself to pay my own money for one. Just a personal thing.

Yes, people will inflame problems with cars. For mine tho, the Falcon has had the same problems for years. I could never bring myself to pay my own money for one. Just a personal thing.

I guess im the same.... i could never pay good money to have a EVO as a daily driver ;) Hence why i bought a falcon, i wanted a large RWD new car.
As for problems well my old mans BA XR6T is now over 6yrs old (and making fairly big power) and hasnt missed a beat since the day he bought it new, i guess it all comes down to how people look after there cars etc too.

Anyway back on topic now :)

I guess im the same.... i could never pay good money to have a EVO as a daily driver ;) Hence why i bought a falcon, i wanted a large RWD new car.
As for problems well my old mans BA XR6T is now over 6yrs old (and making fairly big power) and hasnt missed a beat since the day he bought it new, i guess it all comes down to how people look after there cars etc too.

Anyway back on topic now :)

Scotty's XR6T was an absolute pile of junk. 90,000kms under its belt and all the shocks were stuffed and half the dash rattled. I don't think you could handle the awesomeness of an EVO for a daily, Jase. ;) We all have our own preferences, I'm just saying mine is I wouldn't part with my own hard earned (especially 50 odd grand) for a big boat with a turbo that's gonna end up having problems and costing me money. I'm sorry if that offends you mate. It's how I feel.

I had the FG XR6 Turbo before I got the 380 - and I can tell you now that the Ford is significantly more fuel efficient that the 380. Forget the quoted fuel consumption numbers - I am talking real world. I am still quite surprised how much the 380 drinks in city driving compared to the Ford.

As for Ford quality - I did have quite a few things looked at during the first 6 months. Nothing major - but it is a pain in the ass to go back to the dealer often and leave the car with them.

* returned to dealer 3 times for electronic throttle fault. Car would go in to limp mode without warning. Eventually fixed.

* intermittent problem with the headlights - dash would show "headlight fault" from time to time. Not resolved.

* rear left brake light would stop working on an intermittent basis. It was not the globe. Dealer could not fix the problem and each time told me there was nothing wrong and lights were working fine. Yeah right- other drivers on the road continued to tell me my brake lights were not working! Not resolved by Ford.

* trip computer regarding estimated range was always wrong by approx 200kms. Dealer said they fixed it. Problem persisted.

* accessory/drive belts started wearing prematurely (lots of rubber shearing under the engine bay). Not raised with dealer as I returned the car early to my employer (operating lease).

Despite all of these warranty matters - boy does the FG turbo haul ass.... ! :woot: I feel like I am driving a slug compared to that car now.

There is no doubt the Ford engine and gearbox (6 speed auto) are very nice and quite efficient. Scotty's old 4 speed auto used to chew the fuel bad (19L/100 on town trips) But, like I said, quality control issues that have been around for a long time still plague what is otherwise a good car.

Scotty's XR6T was an absolute pile of junk. 90,000kms under its belt and all the shocks were stuffed and half the dash rattled. I don't think you could handle the awesomeness of an EVO for a daily, Jase. ;) We all have our own preferences, I'm just saying mine is I wouldn't part with my own hard earned (especially 50 odd grand) for a big boat with a turbo that's gonna end up having problems and costing me money. I'm sorry if that offends you mate. It's how I feel.

Thats ok doesnt offend me at all cos i bought the "boat" as you call it as i wanted a large rwd car which only left the commodore or the falcon and because im not a V8 fanboy (or a EVO/WRX fanboy for that matter) that left the turbo 6 as my choice.

As you said before there is good and bad cars in all makes (EVO's included). 90000kms on stock monroe poo shockers is pretty good i reckon as normally they are lucky to last 15000kms on any car (i hate monroe shockers) as for squeaks and rattles, i know of a lot of magnas (mine included) etc that have there fair share of them as well (One member who used to be on here sold his 6 month old TW VRX beacuse it was a rattling pile of plastic crap compared to his old TH)

As for handling a EVO, theres no problems there but they arnt and never will be a everyday drive car (within reason) or a family car, so i could never part with 60+ grand for one. I still reckon my MPS3 was a great allrounder (especially with the mods i had done to it) but i wanted a new larger car and RWD.

We could go on for hours but comparing apples to oranges just doesnt work and if we all had to drive the same cars (white corolla autos :lol) wouldnt it be a boring old world. Back on topic now :happy:

There is no doubt the Ford engine and gearbox (6 speed auto) are very nice and quite efficient. Scotty's old 4 speed auto used to chew the fuel bad (19L/100 on town trips) But, like I said, quality control issues that have been around for a long time still plague what is otherwise a good car.

The commodore and the last of the magnas wernt/arnt any better there. I really reckon magna quality started to fall when the TL models came out.

Scotty's XR6T was an absolute pile of junk. 90,000kms under its belt and all the shocks were stuffed and half the dash rattled. I don't think you could handle the awesomeness of an EVO for a daily, Jase. ;) We all have our own preferences, I'm just saying mine is I wouldn't part with my own hard earned (especially 50 odd grand) for a big boat with a turbo that's gonna end up having problems and costing me money. I'm sorry if that offends you mate. It's how I feel.

Its how you feel??? It sounds like you need to get off that high horse of yours just because you own an evo.

The Falcon's of the last few years have earnt a lot of praise and rightly so. They are damn good cars for the small amount of money they cost compared to some "euro" models which can also be absolute dogs dinners when it comes to quality control.

I am sure there are thousands and thousands of Falcon drivers out there who will disagree with how you "feel" about the Falcon. If I had to do lots of driving, I think the last car I would want to be in would be in an evo with its ride suppleness set to soft i.e. spine-shattering

I had the FG XR6 Turbo before I got the 380 - and I can tell you now that the Ford is significantly more fuel efficient that the 380. Forget the quoted fuel consumption numbers - I am talking real world. I am still quite surprised how much the 380 drinks in city driving compared to the Ford.

As for Ford quality - I did have quite a few things looked at during the first 6 months. Nothing major - but it is a pain in the ass to go back to the dealer often and leave the car with them.

* returned to dealer 3 times for electronic throttle fault. Car would go in to limp mode without warning. Eventually fixed.

* intermittent problem with the headlights - dash would show "headlight fault" from time to time. Not resolved.

* rear left brake light would stop working on an intermittent basis. It was not the globe. Dealer could not fix the problem and each time told me there was nothing wrong and lights were working fine. Yeah right- other drivers on the road continued to tell me my brake lights were not working! Not resolved by Ford.

* trip computer regarding estimated range was always wrong by approx 200kms. Dealer said they fixed it. Problem persisted.

* accessory/drive belts started wearing prematurely (lots of rubber shearing under the engine bay). Not raised with dealer as I returned the car early to my employer (operating lease).

Despite all of these warranty matters - boy does the FG turbo haul ass.... ! :woot: I feel like I am driving a slug compared to that car now.

Alot of those issues are software related (I reckon the FG must have a bloody microsoft/windows operating system in them)

As for the rubber "shearing", that is just the excess in the belts multi grooves wearing off. Mine was doing it too, pulled the belt of for a good look at it and it and upon closer inspection it was still all good, gave it a good clean and now with just over 6000kms its not making a mess anymore. It seems they are using belts made in the USA as the older BA/BF belts (which do fit the FG) dont do it.


Anyway this is a thread about the 380 being thirsty so lets get it back on topic now :)

Its how you feel??? It sounds like you need to get off that high horse of yours just because you own an evo.

The Falcon's of the last few years have earnt a lot of praise and rightly so. They are damn good cars for the small amount of money they cost compared to some "euro" models which can also be absolute dogs dinners when it comes to quality control.

I am sure there are thousands and thousands of Falcon drivers out there who will disagree with how you "feel" about the Falcon. If I had to do lots of driving, I think the last car I would want to be in would be in an evo with its ride suppleness set to soft i.e. spine-shattering

Touchy touchy. I don't see what anything I've said has anything to do with EVOs or me owning one. Jason was the one who brought it up, I didn't. I didn't even say an EVO would be, or is a good daily driver, nor did I say anything about the Falcon being a good or bad daily driver. Sure you're not just reading what you want to, and not what's actually there? I'm saying IMO, from what I've seen, Falcons have poor quality and aren't terribly well made. You can choose to disagree if you like and be wrong. :gfight: :happy:

Let's not even get into the price difference between Aussie made cars and Euro cars because everyone knows the Euro cars are more expensive because of tariffs and the fact that people pay these stupidly high prices for them. Look at the UK market where a Ford Mondeo is around the same price as a 3 series BMW.

Euro models have their problems too. My old man knows a guy who bought a brand new Audi Q7 ($130k) and has had nothing but electrical problems since new.

Keep bashing EVOs tho, because that's obviously what we're talking about. :facejump:

Its how many of your posts seem to come across as, you sound condescending to other members.

AFAIK the Mondeos are on a par with the german sedans now. Not the case a few years ago where your 3 series would outshine many other british/french built cars

Its how many of your posts seem to come across as, you sound condescending to other members.

AFAIK the Mondeos are on a par with the german sedans now. Not the case a few years ago where your 3 series would outshine many other british/french built cars

How you take something is your own perception of it. It may not be the same as someone else. What does it matter what car I drive?

The point of the price comparison was to illustrate the high tariffs of imported cars into Australia. I can not see a Falcon or Commodore matching the quality of an Audi A6 or BMW 5 series. When there's not a lot of difference in price, the choice becomes easier for the consumer. I know why the tariffs exist etc and I think it's a good idea so don't get me wrong.

Bloody hell, i didnt think the 380 would be that thirsty on fuel.

My G6ET is averaging just on 10.5L/100km for my daily drive to work and back (80km round trip daily) and that is a 50/50 mix of city and freeway driving. On the june longweekend, we did a country road trip and it averaged 8.1L/100kms for the complete trip i was impressed with that for a stock 4L turbo large car.

I took an FG falcon for a spin a while back. Dealer let me take it on a decent round trip and yeah i averaged 11, which was mostly giving it the beans in heavy traffic. Maybe its the lack of technology in the 380 that gives it the either good or horribly fuel consumption. Wonder what Galant owners with MIVEC are averaging in the states?

Without going into model bashing, it's timely to remind everyone the 380 was designed in the early 2000 era versus later technology even for the VE range. The 380 doesn't have variable throttle tracts or valve/cam timing.

Question for Kotched. What mods and $ (to get better fuel consumption, 380 has adequate performance for me anyway, but never shy away from more power).

Question for Kotched. What mods and $ (to get better fuel consumption, 380 has adequate performance for me anyway, but never shy away from more power).

Bud,

All listed in this sub forum;

1. Straight through exhaust ~ $300
2. 90mm Galant intake or similiar opening up of the airbox ($45 if you can still get one from the US or just cut a 75mm inlet into the airbox at the front and fit a flexible pipe - covered in other threads)
3. K&N panel filter ~ $100
4. Chip - ChipTorque Exide or Unichip Q ~ $1500 including dyno

The last made the largest difference for fuel economy for me. It's easily paid for itself; I rarely get less than 650km per tank for hwy driving and I don't drive conservatively.

Bud,

All listed in this sub forum;

1. Straight through exhaust ~ $300
2. 90mm Galant intake or similiar opening up of the airbox ($45 if you can still get one from the US or just cut a 75mm inlet into the airbox at the front and fit a flexible pipe - covered in other threads)
3. K&N panel filter ~ $100
4. Chip - ChipTorque Exide or Unichip Q ~ $1500 including dyno

The last made the largest difference for fuel economy for me. It's easily paid for itself; I rarely get less than 650km per tank for hwy driving and I don't drive conservatively.

...... 1.5 - Extractors ~ $800 fitted

The above will get you exceptional power & economy, anything after that will start costing $$'s for less reward.

Driving in Canberra I've been in the 10's since getting the car in late, late March. It's usually from 10.3 to 10.7, calculated from fuel used at the bowser. Average speed is about 47. I've been very happy with the fuel consumption. I got it to replace my BA XR8 as a daily driver (which it was excellent as for 5 years) and I didn't want a small car, and didn't need another performance car as such, so with the keen pricing, the 380 won out easily. The Commodore was never considered, can't stand what Holden offer.

I have being getting 15s consistently with lots of stop start driving

I now open it up a bit more by going to and from work along the M5

sounds like I need to get the 90 mm intake and a K & N filter

I run the Vpower 98 exclusively and on a trip to canberra and back I got close to 800 KMs on one tank but it is the city driving thats killing me

I use cruise control on longer streches as well and economy is way better than no cruise control

I think it is down to the drive by wire throttle as there is an even finer control with it on than what you can do with your right foot

I have being getting 15s consistently with lots of stop start driving


Hooray... when I said here that I get 15s around town there were multiple posts saying that there is definately something wrong with my 380.

I dont think it is uncommon really

I can get down to 13s but I live in a hilly area and spend alot of my time trying to get out of the bottom of a valley (I live down the bottom)

I have a leadfooted wife which makes a difference too

But get this baby on the open road and it will drop so low it makes all the other 6s look bad

Best I can get is 12.5 on 500km round trip to Riverland. Usually 14.5 in town. Better than my VY SS 21.5 in town down to 10 something on a run

up to 17.1 thanks to some idiots yesterday who wanted to have the same lane at the same time

sat in traffic for 1 hr at 2pm

unheard of

When I first got my manual 380 back in September last year, with 17,800k on it, it was averaging 12.8L/100k.

I do a mix of roughly 75% city driving (mainly stop start peak hour crud) and 25% freeway driving sitting on the cruise control most of the way at a true 113 km/h (120km/h indicated).

After I put the basic mods on - 90mm snorkel, K&N filter, Berkle BS0655, it dropped to 11.8.

Since the extractors and dual exhaust and an ECU reset two weeks ago it has dropped to 11.1.

I expect it to keep dropping, and I don't baby it at all.

KJ.

When I first got my manual 380 back in September last year, with 17,800k on it, it was averaging 12.8L/100k.

I do a mix of roughly 75% city driving (mainly stop start peak hour crud) and 25% freeway driving sitting on the cruise control most of the way at a true 113 km/h (120km/h indicated).

After I put the basic mods on - 90mm snorkel, K&N filter, Berkle BS0655, it dropped to 11.8.

Since the extractors and dual exhaust and an ECU reset two weeks ago it has dropped to 11.1.

I expect it to keep dropping, and I don't baby it at all.

KJ.

You lucky so and so :eek2:. 4 days ago I had to put in 91 octane as 98 wasnt working. Averaging 15.7 at the moment. 98 is usually mid 13's to 14. I dont baby it either. Why is mine so bad!!!! lol

You lucky so and so :eek2:. 4 days ago I had to put in 91 octane as 98 wasnt working. Averaging 15.7 at the moment. 98 is usually mid 13's to 14. I dont baby it either. Why is mine so bad!!!! lol

have you checked all the simple things like tyre pressure etc. also maybe do an ECU reset. maybe it learnt some bad habits or something?

have you checked all the simple things like tyre pressure etc. also maybe do an ECU reset. maybe it learnt some bad habits or something?

Yeah mate I do all the checks everyday, like to make sure things are spic and speck. I guess my exuberant driving style is catching up on the fuel bill.....lol

just to let you know mines about the same. think this tank was an average 14.5, but then lots of that is to work and back which is about 4kms away with a top speed of 60. and a few sets of traffic lights. and even on the long runs i cant produce these 8s that the others are getting.
one trip with an average speed in the 90s i ended up with exacly 10 thats spread over 60~litres

just to let you know mines about the same. think this tank was an average 14.5, but then lots of that is to work and back which is about 4kms away with a top speed of 60. and a few sets of traffic lights. and even on the long runs i cant produce these 8s that the others are getting.
one trip with an average speed in the 90s i ended up with exacly 10 thats spread over 60~litres

If I lived in the city I would not be worried with my fuel consumption. But living in a semi rural area makes you wonder just how my average consumption stays so high. Not that I am complaining, I never said I drove with economy in mind. But to hear others who drive exuberantly in the city and get better fuel consumption certainly makes me wonder. I am guessing that exactly how much "giving it the beans" means differs amongst all of us :hmm:

have you checked all the simple things like tyre pressure etc. also maybe do an ECU reset. maybe it learnt some bad habits or something?

Ho do you do the ECU reset you mention?

Ho do you do the ECU reset you mention?

Unplugging the battery for a few minutes will reset the Engine ECU and your Auto trans ECU as well.

Unplugging the battery for a few minutes will reset the Engine ECU and your Auto trans ECU as well.

hmm I might try that. Does this means the gearbox will go back to the standard shift points until it learns my driving style again? dumb question no doubt lol

hmm I might try that. Does this means the gearbox will go back to the standard shift points until it learns my driving style again? dumb question no doubt lol

Yea, it will learn your driving style again.

Will try that one Thanks Braedz.

Best I can get is 12.5 on 500km round trip to Riverland. Usually 14.5 in town. Better than my VY SS 21.5 in town down to 10 something on a run

On a strictly only Highway run, ( with a Trip computer reset before departure) Keeping below 100-110 kmp/h, Figures in the nines ( or less) should be acheivable.

Talking to service manager at local dealer yesterday.

Disconnecting the battery will NOT reset engine or trannsmission ECUs on a 380 so waste of time.

Must be done at delership using Mutt analyser or similar.

Cheers

On a strictly only Highway run, ( with a Trip computer reset before departure) Keeping below 100-110 kmp/h, Figures in the nines ( or less) should be acheivable.

If you have a high reading on the trip computer - above 11/100km, you'll need to fill the car from empty and run virtually the whole tank on the hwy to achieve that.

BTW, using the 7' X 4' trailer for garden rubbish to the tip all week, it's up to 9.7!

Get it chipped, guys, if u want good fuel economy; it's worth every cent.

I got mine down from the 17 l to 13.8 l last night just cruising the eastern suburbs sitting on cruise on about 60ks for an hr

A trip I drove to canberra and back got me low 9l consumption and I was on cruise control the whole way with some roadworks in between and sitting in traffic for 1/2 hr in canberra

Get the intake, K&N, extractors, exhaust & as Knotched says get it chipped. My best effort sitting on 110 km/hr on the highway was 7.7 l/100km on my trip between Gympie & the Gold Coast. If you can't at least get into the 8's there is something wrong.

on the NSW cruise got it to 11.4

I cant wait til october when I am off to melbourne I am hoping to get to albury on one tank LOL

the 90mm intake has changed the way the car drinks which is really great for my hip pocket

Hi I got a 3 litre tf on lpg and ive noticed the fuel consumption semms to vary a lot??
It certainly revs heaps higher than our 3.5 TL,when its cold like 2800 rpm at 110.Does that sound about right??:hmm:

I dunno you might want to post it up with the TL section
this is all about the 380 with the 6G75 3.8L motor

Hi I got a 3 litre tf on lpg and ive noticed the fuel consumption semms to vary a lot??
It certainly revs heaps higher than our 3.5 TL,when its cold like 2800 rpm at 110.Does that sound about right??:hmm:

Until the transmission has warmed up properly it won't lock the torque convertor up, so yes, that sounds about right.