Most fuel efficient and least polluting conventional car?

[Jolanta Nowak]

The hybrids, electrics etc to one side, is there a recognised leading brand/model from the green perspective?

[balsingh]

they are all at it at the moment trying to make cars less polluting and more economical. the one that comes to mind is the Citroen C1 which is low polluting and very economical. Teh Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo are also based on the same car.

Basically, if you can find a car which is economical and falls into Band A or B for road tax, it can be considered a 'green' car.

[Crabman]

The VW Polo BlueMotion (http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/polo/bluemotion)claims an MPG of 70+. The CO2 figure is 99g/km which means until the goalposts are moved, it won't be liable for road tax - that's about the only model that really caught my eye for it's efficiency figures :)

[balsingh]

I've heard about that Polo too. Problem is that the price is £12000+ which is double the C1 price. Even with 70mpg and free road tax, thats a hefty price to pay just to be greener considering the Citroen will manage 60mpg.

[anewman]

The VW will hold value somewhat better. I wonder if any of the other VolksWagen Audi Group cars use the same engine and reach similar MPG figures? Skoda and Seat are the most likely candidates.

[goldspanners]

The VW will hold value somewhat better. I wonder if any of the other VolksWagen Audi Group cars use the same engine and reach similar MPG figures? Skoda and Seat are the most likely candidates.

you may be right,maybe the next fabia will have it.

[redux]

It's a bit of a step backwards compared to the VW Lupo and Audi A2 3 litre TDIs a few years back. 3 litres is the fuel used to travel 100 km, equivalent to 94 mpg.

When Greenpeace tested the Lupo at its press launch in Sweden, they wanted their 113 mpg average kept a secret as they were against diesels.

And then VW built a 1 litre prototype, 280 mpg

[The_Biff]

According to Which? Motoring nobody is getting the claimed mileage on the Aygo/C1/107.(petrol engine)
I use a diesel yaris & get 62.5mpg on a mix of town/country.
I also have heard the Audi A2 diesel gets amazing economy- better than the hybrids. So why did Audi stop building it?

[daveyjp]

Very few cars achieve the published figures - there are too many variables to affect the mpg.

Our Aygo does mid 40s round town, £35 to tax, £100 first service and £180 insurance.

Audi stopped the A2 becuase at £15,000+ for a small car they were too expensive - I had a 1.4TDi and loved it, but it didn't do 'amazing' mpg. Mid 40s in town mid 50s fifites on the motorway - same as our Aygo, but a far more pleasant place to sit and it was much better for long distance cruising.

[steve_r123]

My Peugeot 107 got 52mpg out of the last tank, and that was with a crate of Carling in the boot that I had forgotten about, blunting my performance! Thats a mixture of country B roads, and town driving.

Depends what size car you want though really.......:confused:

[philhuff]

A nice mix of fun and green is the MINI Cooper D, pushing 104g of CO2 out the back every kilometre, and returning around 50mpg. The Polo BlueMotion is better, but the MINI's not far off. Beyond that, as others have said, there's the C1/107/Aygo triplets.

Ah, 75mpg. I dream of that. Just put £76 of fuel in my car and it won't last more than 400 miles...

[Inactive]

You would all save fuel if you change your driving style.;)

[mustrum_ridcully]

Just had a look at the webpage for the VW Polo and it's made in Spain, probably at the same factory that makes the Seat Ibiza so I wonder if that could be the next car that gets the same set-up.

[greenman7]

I get around 65mpg for mixed town/country driving, driving in the Gwynedd/ Anglesey area, where traffic delays are not that great. I drive a Citroen C3 1.4d, I am certainly not a slow driver - I always try to anticipate what is going on in the road ahead and drive accordingly.

[tomstickland]

If I wanted to enter a fuel economy competition I'd go and find the lighest and smallest car possible. Something like a 1.0L Citroen AX. Fit low drag tyres or overinflate the standard tyres. I'd then drive it very carefully, accelerating briskly, but trying to maintain constant speed and minimal breaking.

I suspect that a lot of modern "very efficient" cars are more of a fashion statement than an environmental concern since most of them fail at the first hurdle ie: low mass and size.

[mustrum_ridcully]

Yes good point, but as cars get older their fuel efficiency tends to drop as a car gets olders. So a newer and heavier Citroen C1 may be better than an AX.

Driving style has a lot to do with it as anyone who saw Jeremy Clarkson drive from London to Edinburgh and back on a single tank of fuel in a Audi V8 diesel on Top Gear a couple of years ago will know.

[skim]

My missus had a AX diesel until it was 12 years old - it never failed to do 60mpg or more however you drove it.

[philhuff]

You would all save fuel if you change your driving style.;)

Who's to say my driving style needs changing? ;)

[Inactive]

I bet I can get more than 50mpg out of your MINI ( which isn't a Mini at all really );)

[fatbelly]

Just had a look at the webpage for the VW Polo and it's made in Spain, probably at the same factory that makes the Seat Ibiza so I wonder if that could be the next car that gets the same set-up.

Yes, there's a Seat Ibiza Ecomotive in the pipeline that also scores 99 g/km CO2

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/210731/seat_ibiza.html

[goldspanners]

Yes good point, but as cars get older their fuel efficiency tends to drop as a car gets olders. So a newer and heavier Citroen C1 may be better than an AX.

Driving style has a lot to do with it as anyone who saw Jeremy Clarkson drive from London to Edinburgh and back on a single tank of fuel in a Audi V8 diesel on Top Gear a couple of years ago will know.

could you imagine driving everywhere like that?
in theory audi said the car would return that kind of mileage and it did,but why build a luxury car with all those fancy gadgets and not use them because you want better fuel economy,nobody will buy that type of car to save fuel so even although it was interesting it was pretty pointless.

[tomstickland]

Yes good point, but as cars get older their fuel efficiency tends to drop as a car gets olders. So a newer and heavier Citroen C1 may be better than an AX.

I don't agree with that statement. It might be true for some cars because some people neglect maintenance on old cars. As the piston rings wear then eventually there's a loss in compression which will lead to a loss in efficiency, but before that happens the loosening up aids efficiency.

[philhuff]

I bet I can get more than 50mpg out of your MINI ( which isn't a Mini at all really );)

I don't have a MINI ;)

And I'm glad the MINI I don't have isn't a 'proper' Mini - I can't fit my feet in the footwell of the originals! Damn my wide size 12's! :rotfl: