41 MPG Volkswagen Bus?

Question

A while ago, I came across a 1977 VW bus with a junky beat-up body, but the owner claimed that it got 41 miles per gallon. That sounds entirely unheard-of compared to what a typical one gets. When I asked him, the owner said the 1.9L motor was "all aftermarket", with better lifters and plugs.

The engine ended up getting sold for like $500 but what kind of engine would I need for my VW Bus to get that kind of mileage? Is 41 MPG really practically achievable for this, or was the seller probably mistaken?

Thanks for any info on this.

Answer 1

THAT is never going to happen. The guy was blowing smoke. NO VW bus can make that kind of mileage without serious modifications to remove weight, or an engine which is MUCH more efficient which means NOT a VW engine. I own a 1971 which I bought brand new in February 1971 with only 3 miles on it. I am now on my 4th engine rebuild and just passed 350,000 miles. I have driven every mile. I have done most of the engine rebuilding except for some machine work I have to get a shop to do, such as rebuilding the heads. The engine is the stock 1600 CC, 66 horsepower version. I have never gotten better than 30 MPG, which I get on a road trip, with about 24-25 around town. No one I know has done any better than I have either, with ANY model with a stock VW engine which is a 1977 or older. One of my friends gets as much as 35 MPG from a 1968 bug. The larger engine you saw can't get better mileage than the 1600 no matter what you do to it. The problem is the energy it takes to simply move the bus down the road. A bigger engine makes no difference in how much energy it takes to get from point A to point B. If this engine was doing as well as he SAID it did, he would have gotten much more than $500! More like $1500! If this ind of improvement was possible, I would have done it years ago! I have no doubt the engine is newer. The 1900 CC, 84 horsepower engine wasn't introduced until 1979. Sorry, but based on MY experience with MY VW, 41 MPG is highly unlikely to be accurate. I'd believe 31, but 41 is just to high to be believable without seeing it for myself.

Answer 2

An early, empty VW bus can get 25 mpg, however most of us record 22 mpg on the open freeway, with no head-wind and after a tune up. By the way, the VW buses from 1968 to 1971 had a cruising speed of 65 mph. Later ones (as much as 1979) might go quite turbo. My 1964 bus would high out at 60 mph and used to be happier at fifty five. My 1971 likes to remain at 62 mph (AKA 100 kph).

Answer 3

My deceased father and I have run in econo-rallies in years gone by and we used to modify our engines for maximum economy. He owned a 1961 VW bus that came with a 40 HP air cooled engine. My Dad totally rebuilt the engine with economy in mind and he achieved about 35 mpg. Later we discovered water injection that could have pushed it even higher, so the low 40s is not totally unrealistic, but improbable. Over the years, we have discovered that people tend to exaggerate claims of good economy and don't really keep good records to average out their claims for a realistic number. What I find interesting is the claim for a 1.9 liter engine. The later air cooled bus engines were 1.7 liter, 1.8 liter, and 2.0 liter (same as the Porsche 914 car, but lower compression pistons), unless some unknown big bore kit was used on one of the smaller engines. Then again, he may just not know, which would also shed some light on his claims. Those bus engines have very retarded timing, I believe initial timing is set some 5 degrees AFTER top dead center, which is definitely not conducive to good fuel economy. It would require curving the mechanical advance on the distributor on a machine to improve this function and limiting the vacuum advance to fewer degrees and a softer spring inside the diaphragm to delay onset of retard.

Answer 4

Sounds like the owner of the bus smoked too much weed (if possible) and believed his own lies.

I have owned many air cooled VWs with all different size engines. I have never ever come close to 40mpg, even in a fiberglass manx.

My 67 bug with a new dual port 1600 gets 27mpg and I drive in the slow lane, like an old man.

Answer 5

I own a bus. 1979 2.0 FI

I have several friends that own buses. All years and engines.



We would all KILL to achieve 41mpg (or even 30!)



You are driving an oversize refrigerator with wheels. The aerodynamic properties are not really conducive to great fuel mileage. I get around 22mpg with mine.



In a normal world with no fantasy, you won't get 41mpg in a Type 2 Transporter ever!

Answer 6

I do not consider it to be correct