How far can you go?

[elau]

I am just wondering if anyone knows how many miles a tank of gas in a R129 will go? I was curious because as I was reading the ME on the new S class, it says it has a fuel range of 500 miles on the highway.

[jjrodger]

I've had well over 375 miles out of a full tank in highway use. I normally refill after about 320 miles or so.

[tecqboy]

I keep actual figures for mileage on all my vehicles. My 1991 300SL ( 6 cyl auto ) gets about 21 mpg in mixed but mostly city driving and will hit almost 27 mpg on an I hwy trip if I keep it down to 75 mph. So on 20 gallons, the range typically falls between 400 and 500 miles per tank. I drive "lite" on take-offs.
I'd be intersted in knowing what you guys with 500SL's are getting, especially the newer 3 value per cyclinder engines. Tod

[jjrodger]

I get between 23 and 27 of our English miles to our imperial gallons! I gather an Engilish mpg is about the same as a US one. (I have a 3-valve per cylinder SL500: 100mph = 2,700 rpm).

[elau]

OK, this is my result. Took a trip to Wilmington, NC this weekend and the total mileage one way was 434 miles. Got to my destination on exactly one full tank of gas with no AC on but with the top down. One person with light luggage and average speed was 80 mph.

Did not get as good mpg on the return trip as I had the AC and headlamps/fog lights on the whole return trip. It was raining so I had the top up as well. I got 426 miles for one full tank with an average of 80 mph.

The only thing I question is the accuracy of the mpg guage. As I was crusing at 80 mph, it registered I was getting 30 miles to a gallon. I don't think it was possible. Whay you guys think?

[jjrodger]

I don't think the mpg guage is particularly accurate; mine also registers 30mpg at high speed on a flat road. However, I think that at a constant speed on a flat road the car does pretty well: it is acceleration and hills that knacker it.