Hello everybody-

my apologies as this must be a question asked & answered many times in the past;

What on average, is the difference in fuel consumption between a 20V and a 20VT at motorway speeds?

I'm trying to source a car for specifically (initially) a long distance pan-European adventure and this factor may add up over many miles...
Or asked another way; how far would you get on a tank in a 20V as opposed to a 20VT?

thanks for your help...

JimP

To my knowledge, very minimal difference assuming similar driving conditions (no more than 5%).

If you are booting the turbo, it will drink more.

If you get a six-speeder, it is quite possible that consumption will be less in top gear when cruising than in a five-speed NA.

However as far as long-distance adventures go, you want to make sure you get a sound car, and the turbo is slightly harder and significantly more expensive to keep sound.

thanks for that Deadlock-

I've owned both variants in the past but can't remember the difference- I don't recall the VT being a "drinker", so to speak...

If your extended road trip is to cover A roads as well as motorways/péages/autobahns etc. then you will find the ability to safely overtake an interminably slow-moving vehicle on a single carriageway is improved with a turbo version.

Me and MattyB on here went to Scotland in 2 coupes. Mine, a 20vt and his, a 20v VIS. Drove round the same roads, mix of A and B and Motorway.

His driving is probably more "right footed" than mine, sorry Matt

My 20vt got 31mpg, his VIS 20v got 36mpg!

I have owned a 20v NA and 20VT 6-speed. The 20VT is thirstier in traffic, but where I usually achieved 35mpg on a longer run in the NA, I can get 38mpg out of the 20VT (albeit with a little 'economy' re-map). On average over a couple of years of mixed driving I got 31-32mpg out of the NA, but only 30mpg out of the 20VT.

thank you everyone- that's all very helpful to me...

JimP

And bear in mind that the na is a lot simpler.....a bit like the owners, doh!

Oh, and welcome to the forum, now spill the beans about these mystical plans you have for adventures!

(You'll find I ask a lot of questions, occupational hazard! )

hello Stan,

thanks for your greeting and response.

Yes I had already decided a 20V might be preferable as the normally aspirated engine might be less to go wrong (over age). But are they known to be less reliable?- classically within the knowledge of the forum I mean?

I am planning on half owning the car with my friend Steve and using it next year to attend this (as a spectator!);

http://www.vernascasilverflag.it/index.php?language=eng

If you're planning to own half a car, own the back half - there's less to go wrong there!

More seriously: any engine will die if it is not maintained properly; if it is over-revved, run low on oil or water; hasn't had it's fluids changed; been ragged from cold and so on. However, you will never hear of an NA blowing its turbo... it is less stressed throughout, so clutches can last well over 100k miles (if a previous owner hasn't ridden it!) and it's less likely to overheat as well as not drinking so much oil as many turbos seem to do.

Suspension parts will wear at the same rate, though the brakes might be less problematical than the Brembos, and it will eat wishbones and drop links at the same rate. It will also need belts at the same intervals as the turbo (though I don't recall any cases of a 20NA throwing the aux belt into the cambelt - it must be possible, but I don't know of any).

So much longevity depends on the previous owners' behaviours. If they've looked after it, your chances are better. One hint is to look at the tyres: if there are four mismatched tyre of the cheapest makes, run away; if they match across axles, are decent makes, and have a reasonable tread depth, there's far more chance that the owner takes some care in his maintenance.

And of course you can still have significant fun in an NA - I took my 16NA to Spa this year and spent several laps with the engine flat out in third and fourth; the car did not disgrace itself either by breaking down or by comparison with the turbos out there.

<cough> Ahem.......!

If you recall, my belt threw itself into the path of a fast moving cam belt after less than 2000 miles/six months. However, pleading mitigation for the belt failing, it probably wasn't her fault; I had removed the aux belt and refitted/retensioned it and apparently they don't take kindly to that!

So yes, even an 20v na can throw an aux belt, after all it is the same design down there but whether it happens as frequently is definitely a big question. To reduce the risk I removed that stupid plastic TDC pointer on the cover. I have no idea if it will help but at least it is one less access route.....

Occurences of slipping aux belts increase notably with modified cars, as the torque just overcomes the belt's ability to hold on.

Therefore it stands to reasons that the rate of occurence would be less for the N/A then the turbo, particularly in cases where there is a defect or too much wear and tear on the belt or one of its related components.

But it is also worth nothing that the vast majority of folks on here run 20VTs, so any reports here paint a skewed picture.

Agree with ^^

My 20vt has thrown its aux belt twice in the last two years. Thankfully I have a cambelt shield that has saved it on both occasions.

My VIS hasn't.

But, back to the mpg question, I for one can comment with side by side comparisons as I currently run both a VIS and a 20vt. Motorway cruising at 65mph will see the VIS return around 36mpg, and the 20vt low 30's. Anything more than that will see the mpg on the VIS start to drop fairly rapidly, to a point where the 20vt is better (off boost obviously)

Ach, I had something at the back of my mind once I wrote it.

hey thanks very much for that-

at one point in the past after my 20V (with sunroof!) I ran a Marea 20V and a Coupe 20VT at the same time.

I felt at the time that the Marea was the more rewarding car to drive; certainly the torque swell was very lovely to ride and the chassis was probably better developed. The 20VT whilst undoubtedly the faster car (based on the older Prisma/Tipo chassis) always left me wiping my brow afterwards.
Mind you; I did used to drive like a maniac...