Best car for fuel economy?

hewhoisnotintheknow

thescouselander wrote: »

I reckon the choice is simple:

Smart = expensive
Pug and Renault are french so they'll definately brake down (My GF's Megane is rediculously unreliable)

So I think the Ford Fiasco is the one to go for, easy!

I cant comment on renault as ive never had one, but citroen come above audi, vw etc for reliabilty.

I have a feeling that the ford engine is the same as in the pug dervs

AdrianHi

Ford Fiest or Pug 206 out of those four, but I'd be spending my money on a Skoda Fabia, Toyota Yaris or possibly Honda Civic.
If your doing mostly town driving get a petrol engine. If you do a lot of motorway driving diesel may make sense. Diesel around town will not give you the fuel saving your looking for and it's not what diesel engines are designed for. A diesel has to return 12% better mpg to break even with petrol before you start factoring in the higher cost of purchase of a diesel car and the latest low emmissions diesels are not as bomb proof as older noisier smokier diesels.

plane_boy2000

The smart is in fact a Mitsubishi Colt in drag only more expensive. The colt is a good car so add them to the list.

I would stick with petrol unless you do mega miles - diesel cars are more expensive to buy, and as mentioned above the fuel is 12% more expensive. People are becoming blinkered and spending 1K more on a car to save a couple hundred quid a year on the fuel bill, and running the risk with a more complicated and expensive to repair vehicle.

flyingscottie81

Hi all,

We will be driving about 50 miles per day for work commute, majority motorway unfortunately.

Currently have a 2.7 V6 Hyundai Coupe which is beautiful but guzzles petrol! Hubbie has just got a new job which he HAS to drive to, so Sharkey has to go

Will look at the Yaris and Skoda now, thanks for all your thoughts.

Smartcar is out

epz_2

50 miles a day will kill a 3-5 year old car with a small engine very quickly.

small cars get good mpg in town because they are light and need less energy in stop start driving.

at high speeds with the engine up to the temperature the gearing, aerodynamics and rolling resistance matter more than weight.

might want to look at something like a skoda octavia they get something like 50mpg and theres a reason taxi drivers love them.

anewman

MX5huggy

The OP clearly needs 2 seats



If you love the Coupe have you considered LPGing it, there's a can of worms opened!

BillScarab

epz wrote: »

50 miles a day will kill a 3-5 year old car with a small engine very quickly.

small cars get good mpg in town because they are light and need less energy in stop start driving.

at high speeds with the engine up to the temperature the gearing, aerodynamics and rolling resistance matter more than weight.

might want to look at something like a skoda octavia they get something like 50mpg and theres a reason taxi drivers love them.

If the OP doesn't need the space of an Octavia then a Fabia would be better. Their quite large for a supermini and the 1.4 tdi or 1.9 tdi would be fine for doing 50 miles a day. Just avoid the 1.9 sdi diesel engine, it was cack. If the OP could strech to a Fabia vRS you get adiesel with 130 bhp. Economical when you want it to be but with good performance when you wnat it.

There's a review of the vRS on the 4car website here I particularly like this quote

"Skoda thinks that the Fabia is more likely to appeal to slightly older drivers, perhaps those trading down from a high-performance saloon or coupe"

Sounds ideal for the OP!

flyingscottie81

:eek: Except I am not old :eek:

Just don't have the budget for a Fabia I am afraid. I gues their 2nd hand value is so high because they are so reliable?!

£4k is the max for us, and we will be lucky to get that for the Coupe

AdrianHi

flyingscottie81 wrote: »

:eek: Except I am not old :eek:

Just don't have the budget for a Fabia I am afraid. I gues their 2nd hand value is so high because they are so reliable?!

£4k is the max for us, and we will be lucky to get that for the Coupe

£1000 or less is enough for an older Fabia (my sister in laws is worth about this much now). You get can a pretty decent Octavia up to 60-80K miles for £4000.