Van fuel consumption

[Ffuxake]

I am hiring a van next week to bring some furniture etc from Fife to Wirral.
The van hire people told me to expect only 12mpg (diesel)from a fully laden Luton box van!
Is this right? The other option would be to attempt to squeeze everything into a LWB high top transit. What could I expect from that MPG wise?
(Mods; didn't know whether this should go in GG, Business or some other forum so I bow to you thread moving wisdom)

[iva cosworth]

That MPG does sound excessive for a large boxy van BUT Lutons tend to be gutless when loaded

and so people thrash the engine to get anywhere and MPG suffers.

This should probably have been put in GG.

[bristolracer]

Thats probably a bit pessimistic but dont expect good MPG from a fully loaded Luton. All the aerodynamics of a grand piano!If it has the tail lift then you have a quarter tonne of deadweight to start.

My 1900 Vivaro does just over 20 when full with twin ladders on the top and im driving it hard.

I would suggest either sticking to say 50/55 in the Luton, that will eek the fuel out a bit or maybe hire a LWB Merc sprinter VW LT job, they are roomy and seem to be very popular with DPD Citylink etc so one would assume the running costs are lower.

[Dr Interceptor]

15mpg would be about right... As above, you'll need to stick to 55mph with the lorries if you want any improvement on that.

Once they're fully loaded any extra throttle just gives a huge increase in noise with no real performance gain

[Kenty]

My transit 3.5tonne with a very full load and towing a caravan does 20mpg which I think is great.

[Johnnytheboy]

I would expect to get more like 20 unless you drive very unsympathetically.

[jagracer]

I got about 40mpg out of a LWB high roof transit loaded one way London to Devon and back and they do take a surprisngly large amount of goods.

[Super Slo Mo]

18-20 mpg might be more like it.

However, depending upon what you're loading it with, it'll probably end up overweight, which will be why they say you'll only get 12 mpg.

A luton van will have, at best, a tonne of payload, depending on how long it is, and how solidly the body is made. I had a LWB sprinter Luton with a featherweight aluminium body made some years back, that ended up with an all but useless 950 kg gross payload (to include driver and any luggage).

This was on a 3.5 tonne chassis, obviously if you get a 4.5 - 6 tonne version you will have a significantly more useful payload. However, if it's not for private use, you will have other issues to then worry about.

[fjord]

Our LWB transit at work with the 2.4 engine does about 22mpg. Saying that, it weighs about 5 tonnes.

[CraigyMc]

Ffuxake said:

I am hiring a van next week to bring some furniture etc from Fife to Wirral.
The van hire people told me to expect only 12mpg (diesel)from a fully laden Luton box van!
Is this right? The other option would be to attempt to squeeze everything into a LWB high top transit. What could I expect from that MPG wise?
(Mods; didn't know whether this should go in GG, Business or some other forum so I bow to you thread moving wisdom)

That's what the 7.5 tonner I hired recently did (12mpg).
I suspect your Luton wont be as bad as that unless it's mechanically sick, but bear in mind it's got the aerodynamics of a portakabin.

Out of interest, what did you think it'd do?

C

[nagsheadwarrior]

Kenty said:

My transit 3.5tonne with a very full load and towing a caravan does 20mpg which I think is great.

Dya like Dags?

[dm46]

Why worry about mpg in a one off move? The difference is loose change.