In a message dated 97-01-09 20:27:48 EST, ljohnson@halhinet.on.ca (Lawrence
Johnson) writes:

<< > > not so fast.  Now my mileage has improved dramatically but is still
only
 > >about 16 mpg around the city?
 > >
 > 
 > Only 16 mpg around the city?  In a Westy?  What the heck are you
expecting?
 > That is more than what you should get, don't mess with anything else!
 > You'll just reduce the milage.  These heavy vehicles are only supposed to
 > get 18-19 on the highway, although many (including myself) have gotten as
 > much as 21mpg.  But more than 16 in the city is just not to be expected.
 > 
 > James
 My wife and I just returned from a trip to Giorgia, Tennessee, Alabama
 from Ontario, Canada. We drove the long stretches on Interstates (why is
 the wind always head on?) and took lesser roads through all the
 beautiful mountains we could find. The whole trip was 2960 miles and we
 AVERAGED 20.76 miles/gallon (thats US gallon and US miles). Wow you guys
 have good gas (92 to 94 octane of all brands). 
 More seriously, I think what made ALL THE DIFFERENCE was the INJECTOR
 CLEANER I used three times allong the trip.
 Larry
 '86 Syncro Westy
  >>

That's the mileage I used to get.  20-23 on the highway.  I travelled 30
country miles to work & a tank would go 270 or more miles.  I never checked
in the city, but when I first moved here in September, It seemed better than
now, but I never measured it.  I guess I'll have to wait until my next
highway trip to find out if there's a real problem or not.

The black exhaust concerns me though.  I'll try some injector cleaner.

I think it's a Murphyism that the speed and direction of a Vanagon on the
highway is directly proportional to the speed of any headwind. :)

Thanks for the responses.

John Fleming
85 Westy
79 Camaro
54 Ford F150