Unleaded Fuel – Raw Figures

Explanation of the Fuel Consumption Figures

These are the raw fuel consumption figures from when my Triumph Spitfire 1500 ran on unleaded fuel – after a new cylinder head was fitted. These figures were used to create the graph of unleaded fuel consumption.

The consumption figures are in miles per litre (mpl) as this is the easiest values to record in the UK now fuel is sold in litres. But for those who prefer miles per gallon (mpg) figures, a UK gallon is approx 4.5 litres. So:

9 mpl = 40.5 mpg
8 mpl = 36 mpg
7 mpl = 31.5 mpg
6 mpl = 27 mpg

Table of Figures

Significant events during this period:

• 9 July 1999 – Full service + carbs cleaned out.
• 17 October 1999 – Multispark fitted. ^{(see Note 1 below)}
• 8 February 2000 – Kenlowe fan fitted. ^{(see Note 2 below)}
• 17 April 2000 – Service + leaky exhaust manifold fitted.
• 9 February 2001 – Full service.
• 14 October 2001 – Service.

Note 1

The Multispark is a unit placed in line with the lead to the distributor cap which delivers many sparks instead of one big one to each of the cylinders. Although as you can see there seems to be little or no impact on the fuel consumption, the engine was immediately a lot smoother and appeared to have more power so I perservered with it.

The pre-Multispark average consumption was 7.86 miles per litre and the average after was 8.25 miles per litre.

Note 2

The Kenlowe fan is an electric fan which replaces the previous mechanically driven fan. I was not expecting there to be much effect on fuel consumption, but there seems to be a small boost to the rolling average shortly afterwards.

I’d always recommend fitting a Kenlowe fan as the car was a lot quieter afterwards. Also there were no more tense moments sitting in heavy traffic on a hot day watching the temperature gauge rise. You can see a picture of the Kenlowe fan at the bottom of the Car History page.

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