How Many Miles per Gallon ?

[4129R]

Just a general question to all out there, how many miles per gallon are you getting from your Europa?

Please reply stating type of engine (Lotus 1558 TC or what type of Renault engine), whether it is a US gallon or a UK gallon, and for those driving where it is measured in kilometres, KPG or KPL depending how you measure it.

I have just done a simple country journey with little traffic in a mildly tuned 1558 TC and cruising at 60 mph in 5th, and only got 21 mpg UK. I think there is something wrong, I was expecting 32-35 mpg UK. 

[EuropaTC]

Hi Alex,

I think 35mpg is hopeful, you might get something close on a long motorway run but I never did.

When I used mine daily for a 12 mile commute, mixed roads but sometimes coming back on the M62, I reckoned that a good mileage was somewhere between 25-30, summer or winter.   That's a standard TC, 352 4sp transmission and apart from the motorway the revs would be low, 2-4k.   The Elan, smaller, lighter with sprint cams/4/2/1 exhaust was usually around 30mpg  on the same commute.

21mpg does sound very low, I can't ever recall any of them dropping below 25mpg even stuck in traffic jams. Perhaps you've got a heavier right foot than I have....   

[Grumblebuns]

I remember back in the 70s there was a table listing the MPG of the various cars sold in the US and the Europa was at the top of the list at the high 30s. Found the MPG for the Europa sold in Europe here. That listing may have been for the S2 now that I think about it.

https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/lotus/europa/europa_1_s3/1972.html#gsc.tab=0

[4129R]

I remember back in the 70s there was a table listing the MPG of the various cars sold in the US and the Europa was at the top of the list at the high 30s. Found the MPG for the Europa sold in Europe here. That listing may have been for the S2 now that I think about it.

https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/lotus/europa/europa_1_s3/1972.html#gsc.tab=0

Thanks for that, most helpful. So 25 mpg to aim for.

[BDA]

When my TCS was "new" (it had sat for a year and a half in the weather in New Orleans so it didn't look new but I was and still is the original owner), it got 30 mpg on the highway and it didn't matter how fast I was going. I drove for hours at 90 mph and still got about 30 mpg. My memory was that around town, I got something like 25 mpg.

That was with a US spec car, of course, so I had Strombergs. I would guess that Webers or Delllortos might get a little less but that's a guess.