[W126 Coupe] Economy gauge: 1990 560 SEC

[Richard Hallberg]

Lou,

Based on how the "Economy" gauge on my 91 560 SEC behaves, I believe it 
is simply a manifold vacuum gauge.  If my assumption is correct, the 
correlation with fuel economy is very crude and basically yields very 
little past a bit of cockpit entertainment.  These cars, I think, 
predate accurate/inexpensive fuel flowmeters used in many of current 
vehicles to furnish data for the calculation and display of true fuel 
economy.

Running in 3rd gear, I think, would keep the engine in a sweeter spot of 
the power curve, but would probably average out to be considerably less 
economical than running in 4th gear and letting the transmission decide 
when a downshift is needed.  These cars are designed for autobahn use 
and tend to be a bit sluggish below somewhere around 80, at which point 
they come alive and perform effortlessly.  My opinion is that they 
primarily should be enjoyed, so, when in the hills, drive it in 3rd if 
it makes you and the car feel better.

Party On!

Richard


millerlh at earthlink.net wrote:

>

> While I'm posing questions to all you learned brethren (and sistern) 

> of the Coupe Groupe, I had one more question that has been nagging me 

> about my 1990 560 SEC.

>  

> I live in a modestly hilly area of NJ.

>  

> I drive my Coupe daily in all conditions, including a 12 mile commute 

> through the countryside over twisty roads which are continuously up 

> and down over modest hills. I also drive it almost daily on divided 

> highways and interstates.

>  

> In the daily commute, I have begun to do the drive primarily in 3rd 

> gear, because I noticed that the "Economy" gauge invariably registers 

> 3rd gear as being more "economical", up hill and down, and even during 

> acceleration, at speeds which are below 45, which is the entire commute.

>  

> I was wondering if the gauge is really registering "Economy" which I 

> would interpret as "using less fuel", or if it would have been more 

> accurate to have labelled the thing "Efficiency", which I would have 

> interpreted as meaning the engine is operating more efficiently. The 

> difference isn't much, but I do think I am actually seeing a small 

> difference in fuel consumption, for the better.

>  

> Does anyone have a true German car with the German word used on the 

> gauge, which may or may not give a translation of the intent of the 

> English word?

>  

> I also noticed that the gearshift slot for the gear lever has 4th and 

> 3rd gears in the same plane, so I assume it was intended to commonly 

> make this shift between 4rd and 4th, as opposed to having to make an 

> extra deviation to get into 2nd or 1st, for what that's worth.

>  

> Just curious to know people's thoughts.

>  

> Lou MIller  

>  

>  

> millerlh at earthlink.net <mailto:millerlh at earthlink.net>

> EarthLink Revolves Around You.

>  

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