|
Some chassis factors that can hurt fuel economy:
wheel alignment...tire pressures...dragging brakes(stuck caliper?)
If your city driving is all short trips, stop-and-go, cool weather, then 14MPG(US) is not great but not out of the question. The real test is a long highway trip at moderate speeds to compare to numbers you see here.
I haven't seen the O2 sensor mentioned yet. There's plenty of info in the archives here on how to check its function. Also make sure the coolant thermostat is operating properly.
I recently drove my son's 1981GL 400mi to my home for some maintenance. It has over 300k mi. It's not running that well (rough idle, low on power) and still got 28MPG(US) averaged over two fillups at speeds around 60MPH on 2-lane highways through the Cdn Rockies, in winter. The odometer reads high, but I've corrected for that.
Not a direct comparison to many others here - it has the M46/OD gearbox.
--
Bob: son's 81-GL, dtr's '94-940, my 83-DL, 89-745(V8) and 98-S90. Also 77-MGB and some old motorcycles.
|