What else changed when you did this turbo swap? Did you intercool it? change the fueling? change the tires? bearings? brake work? I mean 5.4 is a great avg, but its not really much different than 5.7. A few tanks in town could change your avg over the 40 thou. Plus over that many kilometers a ton of siht could have changed in your driving style, maybe you had an accident and it caused you to completely change driving habits? There is literally 3 billion factors that play in to every single persons mileage.. and no two cars can be compared figuratively.
It is weird though that you saw better mileage with the Merc T3 over the vw T2.. possibly because the T2 is inefficient? I don't know.
there could have been "3 billion things" that changed, but would I have bothered to post my relevant experience if there was? I'm not in the habit of providing bogus information for arguments sake, but I'll happily provide argument against generalised blanket statements about the efficiency of engines, especially when said generalisations are made without any scientific proof.
The car had same wheels, tyre size, intercooler, suspension height. For some periods with the T3 fitted I also had roofracks, which I didnt have before. I always had the same air filter setup, same exhaust (only thing that changes was the flange, even the DP was the same. Same intake manifold. Same weekly commute of ~1000km.
the difference between 5.7 and 5.4 is about 6% which I'd call a measurable and valid variance. I kept a fuel log in my glovebox and I always filled up at the same pump and at the same service station, and always with commercially available B100.
the fuelling was turned down slightly from where it was with the t2 but the car was making more power and more peak torque, but with peak torque at 2800rpm with the t3 and 2000 with the t2. The fact that my engine made more power and torque with less fuelling with the larger turbo says a lot about efficiency to me.
The fact is, that yes, there are a lot of things that effect fuel economy, and its not correct, in any way, to make a general statement that says a small turbo is always better for fuel economy than a big one, or that highway cruising with lots of boost doesnt effect mpg or engine life, or a lot of other things.