Gas mileage

alfamonica · #1 (**permalink**) 02-25-2003, 03:01 PM

What sort of gas mileage should I expect from the Spider 2000? Mostly city driving with a little highway thrown in and trying to be a good citizen... I have the standard Spica fuel system with no modifications, and about 87K on the engine.

Thanks.

Keven · #2 (**permalink**) 02-25-2003, 03:53 PM

I had a 78 spider and was getting about 20 in town
and about 27 on the highway going about 70mph.

67GTV · #3 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 02:48 AM

The '81 Spider I used to have got about the same gas mileage as Keven's. As long as your Spica is in tune, you can expect about the same mpg.

Btw, what do Europeans use? KPL, kilometers per liter? Never heard the term. Perhaps they do not keep track of gas kilometerage with their cheap gas prices. <ducking>

NikosF · #4 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 08:36 AM

Yup - really cheap gas (petrol) prices here in Europe - especially England which has the highest prices in Europe! (about $4.50 per gallon - which is why you don't see any SUVs here - much safer to drive a little Alfa)

The official metric in metricated countries is L/100km or liters per 100 kilometers. In England we use mpg as well - but of course a English gallon is bigger than an American gallon (not everything is bigger in America

) Under 10 L/100km is good, more is bad.

djone101 · #5 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 09:11 AM

I can do most things in metric but still struggle with l/100km - my experience of my 1600 is about the same as Keven's figures despite our gallons being bigger. I'd say I average 25 mpg - but not on a track day.........

**Roadtrip** · #6 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 09:36 AM

I get 20 cubits per bushel.

alfamonica · #7 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 09:56 AM

Wow $4.50 a gallon. And we thought we had it bad when it went over $1.60 a gallon in Denver. I have ordered Pat Braden's book, but would like to get as much info on the Spica system as possible. I calculated yesterday and got 19.6, which seems to jive with everyone else, but the exhaust smells really gassy. Will that get better if I adjust the Spica? The thing is that it is running really great right now (between snowstorms) and I don't want to screw anything up.

**Roadtrip** · #8 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 12:41 PM

alfamonica-
Your gas mileage is about right. Check your spark plugs for a rough guess on your mixture. Another better way is to take it out on the road, run the RPMs up close to redline to burn off any gunk, then stop, shutoff the engine, and check the spark plugs for color. They should be a tan color. If they're black and sooty, then you may be running too rich. Before you start adjusting the fuel shutoff solenoid, however, you need to do some serious study on the SPICA system. Pat's book is terrific, but you should also get Wes Ingram's SPICA book. It's excellent. He also has a web site: www.wesingram.com

An Alfa engine will still run pretty well with a far-out-of-adjustment FI pump. When you do a tuneup, however, you want to go through it VERY methodically. One adjustment in one place can affect another later. Do it "by the numbers." Generally there are a lot of SPICA Alfa's running (pretty well) with too-rich of mixtures.

67GTV · #9 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Roadtrip
Generally there are a lot of SPICA Alfa's running (pretty well) with too-rich of mixtures.

**Roadtrip** · #10 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 07:55 PM

Agreed 67GTV. I didn't say it was good to run rich, just that the engine will appear to be ok (even while it's ruining a cat converter.

The mixture should be set correctly . . . and it's not that hard to do.

ribs2k · #11 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 09:05 AM

Check out this web site. It rates gas mileage with styling... Alfa is 2nd

Hot cars, best gas mileage at hi-mpg.org