[T3] MPGs??

Jim Adney jadney at vwtype3.org
Fri Jul 25 21:27:13 PDT 2014


On 25 Jul 2014 at 19:52, Soren Jacobsen wrote:

> On Jul 25, 2014, at 3:21 PM, Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:
> 
> > We get in trouble when we start to compare older Type 3s with later 
> > ones, since there's an unfortunate tradeoff between NOX emissions and 
> > gas mileage. The FI cars were designed to meet the emission 
> > requirements that started in '67 and got tighter every year after 
> > that. So under the same driving conditions, a '66 will always pollute 
> > more and get better gas mileage than a '72.
> 
> Ah, yes, that makes sense.  What of the overall improvement in
> efficiency that FI brings, though?  I'd expect that to compensate a
> bit for the waste of carbs.  32PDSITs are not terribly sophisticated. 
> Feel free to keep singing the praises of carbs, though ;) 

Good point. The FI should be somewhat more efficient, making up a bit 
for the loss due to emission control, but modern cars, with closed 
loop FI, do a MUCH better job. That, and other advances like variable 
valve timing and multiple valves, also help.

Over the years of Type 3 ownership, it's been odd to notice that in 
the beginning we were some of the most fuel efficient cars on the 
road, but modern cars now do better than Type 3s ever did. While it's 
unfortunate that our cars no longer compare well in gas mileage, at 
least we can take solace in the fact that the evolution (revolution!) 
to FI in everything started here.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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