Our beloved 1982 Double Six HE has been our sole car for the last 7 months,
during which time she received no other attention than oil and filter
changes, and a full grease treatment So far nothing out of the ordinary.
Then we embarked on our cross-country trip, from Durban to south of Cape
Town (via Bloem for those who know the country), where our new house is. A
distance of close to 2000kms, which was covered in a day and a half. Speeds
were around 140-150km/h mostly, with some bursts to prison ensuring speeds
when BMW’s still had to sit on our bumper, or so they thought:-) The temp
needle never rose from its’ close to 90 position, not even in the Karoo,
with outside temps of around 45Centigrade.
One quart of oil was lost on the trip (oil-cooler hose weeps), overall
consumption was 8,2km/l or 12,19l/100km. I don’t have a conversion thingy
here, but I think it is awesome how this near 25 year old car brought us the
distance in total comfort and with total reliability. It is just great!
In reply to a message from The Wirewheel Shop sent Fri 29 Dec 2006:
Awesome, Jack.
Thanks for sharing that.
I envy you on those empty, well maintained South African roads.–
The original message included these comments:
Then we embarked on our cross-country trip, from Durban to south of Cape
Town (via Bloem for those who know the country), where our new house is. A
distance of close to 2000kms, which was covered in a day and a half. Speeds
In reply to a message from The Wirewheel Shop sent Fri 29 Dec 2006:
I have no way of knowing the EXACT mileage we got on the Interstate
with our XJ6C. However, my Eldorado averages 28 MPG from Syracuse,
NY to Port St.Lucie, FL according to the trip computer. Same trip,
with the front carburetor weeping fuel into the intake, I stopped
for gas at the same spots I normally do in the Caddy on the way
down…and the engine, although not a V-12, never skipped a beat…–
345 DeSoto
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In reply to a message from The Wirewheel Shop sent Fri 29 Dec 2006:
Jack,
We purchased our '92 earlier in the year in Victoria BC and after a
lovely long weekend there drove 1,600 km home where she has been a
perfectly reliable daily driver in everything but ‘‘Camry weather’’.
Our experience with our V12’s is probably the rule rather than the
exception - as long as they are maintained - as others here have
happily reached mileage levels of 200,000km and more. IMHO nothing
comes close to matching the combination of comfort, reliability and
pure joy of ownership these cars provide.
Your consumption by the way was 19.30 miles per US gallon or 23.17
miles per Imperial gallon (from someone who has http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html
bookmarked) - pretty good for those speed. I find economy seems to
max out between 110 and 115 km/hr (give or take 70 mph).
In reply to a message from 345 DeSoto sent Fri 29 Dec 2006:
I recently returned close to 26mpg (US) in my '77 XJ6C on a
trip from Richmond to Boston 65-75 mph average (apart from
The Beltway LOL)–
The original message included these comments:
I have no way of knowing the EXACT mileage we got on the Interstate
with our XJ6C. However, my Eldorado averages 28 MPG from Syracuse,