Hi from Cremorne, Sydney: MY08 3.0 R-B Wagon

[catchcam]

Hi all,

Great site, excellent info! Been following for several months.

We brought our black 08' 3.0 R-B manual wagon in January after upgrading from a little VW golf, so I thought i'd introduce myself and show off the car. Plus I had a few questions I was hoping someone could answer.

- The grille on our car looks quite different to other R-B specs i've seen. Anyone know how it might have come to be on the car? Was it a build option or something a previous owner might have done? Not sure I like it...
- She's heavy on fuel. I knew it would be, but the wife and I don't have lead feet and its still pretty thirsty. Any idea to get better fuel economy?
- The car has dual zone a/c, but there seems to be no way to sync the driver and passenger sides up so they're both running at the same temp. Kind of annoying to have to set each side. Am I not seeing some obvious 'sync' button somewhere?
- Anyone got any creative ideas on how to carry small (6/8oz) coffee cups in the central cupholders? Without any propping up, the small takeaway coffee cups drown inside the cupholders! (not a big deal, but kind of annoying)

So following the suggest format, here we go

Name: Cam
Ride: As above
Plans: OEM towbar, iPod cable or possibly upgrade the mcintosh audio, reversing camera
Year of birth: 70's!
Interests: Mountain biking, father of two
Previous Rides: Alfa Romeo 156

[Shiv]

Welcome to the club, Cam. Very nice Liberty you got there.

That grill is a factory accessory. You can get the same sort of style but in black, which looks pretty good.

There is a thread somewhere on this site RE: fuel consumption. Absolutely no secret these H6's drink a lot, particularly in the city. A tune may improve economy ever so slightly but bad economy with an H6 is a fact of life unfortunately.

All the best with it

[Flat6Estate]

Welcome.

My MY08 has the same grill. I don't mind it, but I reckon it'd look better if the surround was chrome rather than painted the same colour as the grill centre.
Oh, and get a tune next time Matt is in town. Night and day difference in how it drives, and better fuel economy as well

[notmyrealname]

Nice wagon. Welcome.
Who cares about fuel economy
+1 for getting a tune though.

[catchcam]

Cheers guys. Is an engine tune considered a "modification" in terms of insurance? What kind of fuel consumption benefits can I expect - currently I'm seeing 16.5L avg on this tank. Are we talking a dramatic drop back to something like 10L avg or only minuscule amounts?

[notmyrealname]

Yes, a tune is considered a mod but I believe you can re-flash back to standard if needed. Shannons insurance seems reasonably priced and they welcome mods.

16.5 sounds very high. Should be no more than around 14-15 without a tune, and maybe realistically 12-13 with a tune though some have reported better. Does the car need a service? Check spark plugs, air filter, injector clean (check forums on this topic), MAF sensor clean (DIY). <edit> and check your oil <edit>

[Shiv]

I average 15.5 daily driving. It can go up to 16+ under certain conditions. That's driving to Chatswood. Similar traffic to what you'd have in Cremorne.

Good thing is my car is not sick - it can return between 9-10L/100 on highway runs.

You'd be lucky to observe a drop in fuel economy equivalent to 0.5L as a result of a tune. If you live in Cremorne, I'm sure you spend a lot of time in stop-start traffic, go up hills, deal with roundabouts and speed bumps. If so, good luck getting under 15.

[peadya100]

Welcome Cam!
I'm also from cremorne and i can tell you your fuel consumption is normal for the area. Very stop - start here as you know. I average 17-18 in my car. But as soon as you do a more free flowing trip like a drive to bondi and my consumption goes down to 10ish.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for you and give you a wave

[catchcam]

Welcome Cam!
I'm also from cremorne and i can tell you your fuel consumption is normal for the area. Very stop - start here as you know. I average 17-18 in my car. But as soon as you do a more free flowing trip like a drive to bondi and my consumption goes down to 10ish.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for you and give you a wave

Thank Adam, that's good to know its fairly normal for the area!

[catchcam]

Thanks again for the replies. Haven't been able to get on the forums for a few days due to the arrival of our new bub

Re: the grill on my car, it's interesting to think about why the first owners of our cars chose to add certain accessories and not others. If I were spec'ing up a new car, changing the factory grill certainly wouldnt be high on my list!

[peadya100]

Thanks again for the replies. Haven't been able to get on the forums for a few days due to the arrival of our new bub

Re: the grill on my car, it's interesting to think about why the first owners of our cars chose to add certain accessories and not others. If I were spec'ing up a new car, changing the factory grill certainly wouldnt be high on my list!

Congrats on the new baby!
You'd be surprised at how quickly you'd be able to sell that grill to a member. If you did you'd be able to buy a stock grill easily enough too.