SL500 fuel mileage

[bcgreen]

I know this is a silly question, but I have read some people are getting 19 in city and 29-30 on the hwy. I have also read that poor fuel economy is a sore point with many MB owners not just SL. This is taken from the government site and they tend to over shoot the fuel economy on vehicles as most of us have experienced. I just don't know why there is this large discrepancy. My 300CE at best gets 19 on the hwy and that nowhere near the 29mpg that some people get with their SL. Why the difference? http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

[tecqboy]

The best hwy mileage I get on my SL300 ( read that 6 cyclinders) is about 26 to 27mpg. I get about 18 to 20 mpg city with a lite foot. I'd be really surprised if new SL500's are actually getting 29 mpg hwy. I know they made fuel improvements over the years, but it's still a heavy car with a lot of ponies to feed.

[jjrodger]

The government tests do not provide an accurate measure of real world fuel consumption. Rather, they provide a way of comparing different cars. The idea is to apply a consistent test to all vehicles so that consumers can compare them.

I've had about 30mpg out of my SL500 on a long journey. Normally I get 23mpg on mixed use. I struggled to beat this with my C240 which had a heavy thirst.

If you can afford a 2004 SL500, fuel consumption should not be a worry. Non of these cars is particularly cheap to run. But they're damn good to own!

[DavidWeis]

Fuel consumption was not a concern when I went looking at the awsome SL. I got a 500, and so far, I'm running around 19-21 mixed with a heavy foot. That is not bad.
My C280 gets around 20 mixed, with around 22 highway.

Bottom line,
for 300 miles mixed
C-14 gallons
SL-15.5 gallons