Aliceford...welcome aboard.
I've now done 41000kms in my MB XR5, and averaging (still) 8.8 lt/100km over that entire distance. It's a super (too) quiet cruiser that just eats up the kilometres, and has enough poke when you want it via that Turbo flat torque 'curve'...even in 6th.
And there is something olde-worlde about changing your own gears that excites the red-blood cells.
Congrats......