[WillanDi]

Hi Folks
New to the forum - but not motorhoming - and a question straight away!
We've just bought a Burstner A747-2. It's 2003, on a Fiat 2.8JTD Maxi base and only 9500 miles from new - genuine, I know who owned it!
As part of the deal and a safety precaution, I got the cambelt changed along with an annual service. The garage overfilled the oil by about 3/4 litre, which I drained off when I got it home.
I have done a weekend run since then and in all it seems to have returned a paltry overall 17-18mpg. What should I expect? The previous owner said he got on average 27-28mpg on a run. All the driving has been A road or dual carriageway. We weren't heavy - no trailer/bikes, little food, or water, just hook-up/hose/suitcase genny/few pots and pans/bedding for 2, etc.
The question has arisen in my mind - since they goofed on the oil change - could a mistake have been made on the cambelt setup to cause such poor mpg?? 8O

 

[Alfa_Scud]

Hiya WillanDi & welcome to the forum .
the figures you're giving there would seem about right to me, maybe a little heavy but only by 1 or 2 mpg. I would have thought you'd struggle to get much over 23 on a very steady motorway run with not many hills in a bus like that. It's a fair lump to be pulling about.

I have the 2.3JTD in my Capri, & it's only a 3400kg chassis. On a run I get about 29mpg, although people swear you can get 34 out of 'em, not the way I drive you can't!!! Then again, I only do about 65mph, but that's on country roads as well as motorways so it's a constant speed!


Edit: remember it's easy in something this heavy to put your right boot further down than it needs to be to maintain the speed, using more fuel in the process

 

[derek500]

My 2.8 JTD 6.7m 3400kg gross weight, McLouis which we usually run quite loaded, has averaged 27.35 mpg since new in March 2006. It's the continental 146 HP version and has done 46,000 km.

 

[RichardnGill]

Carnt answer for a 2.8 but our van which is a 3.0 does at best 24 MPG and at worst 17MPG, similar size to yours.

I doubt you would ever get 28 MPG from a Tag with a luton body. But 17MPG does seem a bit low if you were driving steady, but don't forget there are many factures like wind, traffic etc so to judge MPG from one trip is not going to be very accurate.


Richard...

 

[DTPCHEMICALS]

Hi We have autotrail cheyenne on 2.8.
4 years old in october total miles to date 11k.

Average mpg on french autoroutes for hundreds of miles at 60 ish mph is no different to 250 miles from home on A1 M11 M25 etc to Dover

Around 21 mpg. Have had 24 mpg on one tank fill. Have also had 17 when belting home up from Dover. (70mph)

Dave P

 

[iconnor]

Got a 2003 2.8 in my Benimar low profile. I get about 23-26 mph. We are rated at 3850kg.

 

[106573]

I've got a Burstner 747/2 2006 from new, and never had better than 21ish. 17 does seem low, how are you getting your readings ?. Also check your tyre pressures, they need to be 5.5 bar. Cambelt will not effect fuel consumption, but oil over-fill will. I find best fuel returns are achieved by cruising at around 60mph, also leave in top gear as much as possible, resist the erge to change down to quickly when climbing hills, let the torque do the work.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Tinhuttraveller

 

[foll-de-roll]

Do what the previous owner did "Lie about it". That's what most people do!! Andy :wink: :wink:

 

[92859]

2.8 mpg

Greetings,

We owned a motorhome WillanDi with the same 2.8 engine and only managed about 22 mpg in that overall, which we believed was about average, although better figures could be achieved on a constant run.

The Burstner A747-2 is a large motorhome as well with plenty of windage, but we have many Burstner owners on here who may come on and give you their own figures and information.

 

[rogerandveronica]

We had a 2.8 JTD Rapido 963 (3800Kg chassis, not tag axle) and were returning a genuine 18 miles per gallon over 400 miles after purchase second hand from dealer who stated that he had completed a "full service" as per my pre-purchase instruction. At this time the exhaust was giving some black smoke making the body dirty.

I removed the air filter element and the consumption improved to 25 miles per gallon and the black smoke was not seen again. The engine sounded much crisper and was much easier to drive with, also more powerful.

I fitted a new air filter and all was still good. The old filter was meant to be replaced by the dealer, but was not. Same for oil filter and fuel filter. When I remonstrated with the dealer he stated that "a full service consisted of an oil change and checking the levels". (Martins of Exeter). Mileage was 23,000 and the previous full service was at 18,000 about two years before. The old filter was dusty but also appeared to have been in water as it was rusty and the paper element was falling apart when I pulled the filter out of the housing.

I suggest that you make sure that the air filter is not the problem - do not take the dealer's word for it having been changed!

The Rapido was a good vehicle - I have now purchased a new Rapido.

Good luck

rogerandveronica

 

[Imbiber]

Good Evening WillandDi,

Just to give you more relevant information, I too have an Argos 747 but on a '56 plate.

It's also done approx. 9500 miles and we are, on average, getting 22 mpg; that's fairly well laden aswell (2 kids don't pack lightly :roll: ).

However, I don't go much above 60mph and that seems to help a great deal with the fuel consumption.

27-28mpg from the previous owner does seem exceptional for a vehicle of this size, but your figures do seem pretty low by comparison....must be worth exploring further :?:

 

[WillanDi]

Thanks guys
I'm going to do the obvious - thanks for the reminders - and change the fuel and air filters. The oil filter IS new. I'll see where it goes from there. My old Hymer 564, WELL laden, managed 26 on a run but it was a different generation of engine technology, underpowered and working hard. Next question will be 'does the re-map ACTUALLY improve fuel consumption' - but that'll be for another post.
Will

 

[trevorf]

Hi, we get 24-25 mpg from our 2.8jtd but it is a low profile and much lighter than a Burstner 747. I would guess 18-22 would be normal for that size of van.

 

[Dick1234]

Hi there

Don't bank on any more than 22mpg. Big van and heavy, we get about 300 miles to a tank. Too be honest given the size I don't think that is to bad. Sounds like your seller was either always going downhill with a back wind or was not particularly good at maths.

Look at it this way it is not going to cost that much more in fuel as in general the average mileage is low for motorhomes.

Regards

Dick

 

[andyman]

Quote The previous owner said he got on average 27-28mpg on a run.
He was selling so maybe he has been liberal with the truth.
I have a Autotrail Apache 700 2.8jtd and on a motorway run at around 60mph i get 25.5mpg. Last year coming back from the southwest of France at 75mph we were down to about 20mpg.

 

[113016]

I am a professional HGV driver and trained in fuel economic driving.
I have a Hymer T625 (low profile) and it runs at around 3500kg all of the time.
I check the fuel consumption every year when we go to France and last year we averaged 28.1mpg over the whole trip.
I don't thrash it, I run at around 50/60mph, no vicious acceleration and no sudden braking.
Before this we had a Hymer 595 over cab bed and we got over 27 mpg and very nearly 28mpg running at the same weight.
I was surprised at the little difference, however I am happy with both figures.
These figures are very accurate

 

[inkey-2008]

Hi will

I have the model as you a year older and when I got it 15000 miles on the clock.

I have return around the low 20's. but i found when I push it on the motorway to 70 then the returns go down.

As the engine gets some miles under it's belt it should go up by a small amount.

The previous owner had a plug in chip when he pulled his car and he said that that power went up but the miles to gallon went down. Has it got a plug in chip.

Andy

 

[TwoplusOne]

I have a Burstner T625 2002 model with Fiat 2.8 JTD motor.
My average consumtion with the van loaded as normal, is close to 25mpg.
This includes driving on rural roads and dual carraigeways. I think it would improve if most the travel were on dual carraigeways.
Hope this helps

 

[teensvan]

Hi WillandDi.

We have a 2004 748-2 and we have now done 20,000 miles with it. I keep a spreedsheet for fuel. The best we have ever done is 22.15 mpg and that is keeping it to around 55 mph. Push it to 70 mph and you will only get 15 to18 mpg. You must remember the van is very heavy 5,000 Kg fully loaded up and it has a very large frontal area. I cannot believe the bloke you bought it off ever got 27 mpg unless he drove everywhere at about 40mph on the flat and with a tail wind.

steve & ann. ------------- teensvan.

 

[Pard]

We all buy diesel in litres. To work out miles per gallon requires a bit of conversion arithmetic unless you have an onboard computer doing it for you. Not everyone can be bothered to be exact... and it's nice to kid oneself about exactly how much it costs to run a motorhome - and maybe Foll-de-Roll's right. Just a thought.

I was pleasantly surprised with my Hymer B564 2.8, which I anticipated might do 25mpg. In fact it does around the 30 mark over the 4 years I've had it (46,000 miles now) - unless I put my foot down. I dawdle around 60-65 on the m'way, and 45-55 on A roads, and have had up to 34mpg tankful to tankful (OK, once!) - and we leave the kitchen sink at home.

I'd have rather assumed a heavy tag axle van would be doing quite well to exceed 20mpg at much more than a dawdle.

Terry