Fuel Economy

highguyuk

Hey,

Am currently using my car alot for work purposes and claiming mileage back. However, its economy is not as good as I would have hoped and therefore the financial potential to gain for this is not as great.

My car is 2000 miles away from a service. Would this make a great difference to a lack of economy. Is 35.1 mpg considered a good economy for a 1.6 petrol? Is there anything I could have done to improve my economy? I also believe my cat.converter is blowing and on its way out, although still functional, would this have any bearing?

All help much appreciated!

balsingh

If you are drivign around town, 35mpg for a 1.6 is OK. Bear in mind that a service may not actually improve the economy.

To put it into comparison .... my brothers old BMW 316i used to average 32mpg (less around town), and my previous company Focus 1.6 used to avergae 40mpg (would have been less around town).

highguyuk

Sorry, thats 35mpg motorway running averaging in all honesty 75mph ...

balsingh

Have you actually noticed a drop in the economy or are you only aware of it as you are having to work it out for work purposes? You'd be surprised how often people drive around for years in a car thinking its pretty economical and when they end up working it out, they get a shock if it isn't.

Prime example is my mum .... as I mentioned before I used to have a company Focus 1.6 which returned 40mpg average. Mum recently bought a Focus 1.6 AUTO ... she knew automatics were less economical but based on what I used to get she assumed she would get 35mpg. We worked it out as giving 31mpg - a big difference!

moonrakerz

I would say that what you are getting is about par for the course. My son gets that out of his 1.6 Focus.

When you get a new vehicle, could I suggest you try a diesel ?
I drove a 2L Petrol Mondeo hatchback, it averaged 36mpg. I replaced it with 2L TDCI Mondeo estate, that gives me 49mpg. On a long run, cruising within the speed limit (honest !) I get around 55mpg. The overall performance is much better than the petrol car as well.

tomstickland

Large Diesels do offer some fuel saving, but for identical power output then there's nothing to compare a petrol or diesel, though the style of delivery is different. Diesel means low rpm high torque whereas petrol means high rpm use to get the performance.

Anyway, 35mpg round town in a 1.6 would be fine, but at 75mph on mway it's not startling. I managed 400 miles on 10 gallons in my 1990 BMW 318iS on about 250 miles of mway and 150 miles of A roads, not hanging about, but not giving it everything it's got.

What car is it? Modern cars are generally stupidly heavy and large and this is the enemy of good fuel economy.

If your cat is blowing, then, yes this can cost fuel efficiency. A basic service in terms of spark plugs, oil change etc can improve mpg, as can making sure that they tyres are correctly inflated and the tracking is correct.

Finally, driving style will make a difference. There's nothing wrong with brisk acceleration, but holding a steadyish speed is more efficient than the yo-yo driving you often see.

balsingh

tomstickland wrote:

What car is it? Modern cars are generally stupidly heavy and large and this is the enemy of good fuel economy.

Not all cars .... recenty had a 55 plate Astra 1.6 petrol hire car which returned 45mpg with mixed driving.

tomstickland

Modern engines are well developed for fuel economy. Astra 55 plate probably weighs 1150KG, imagine the same engine in a 900KG and smaller car.

Murphy_The_Cat

tomstickland wrote:

Modern engines are well developed for fuel economy. Astra 55 plate probably weighs 1150KG, imagine the same engine in a 900KG and smaller car.

Hi Tom

I think that I saw an article a littlle while ago that said a Mk5 Golf was a few hundred kilos heavier than the original MK1 Golf - that would need a big increase in engine efficiency to offset.

As for the diesel/petrol arguement, I thought that this was now dead in the water.Given a straight comparison between a diesel/petrol engine in the same car model then the diesel will give a lot better MPG (in nearly all cases).
For example a BMW 320D would give nearer to 50MPG than your 318iS that gave 40MPG on that particular 400 mile run.
It's when there is a price difference in the purchase price (if there is one) comes in that the overall running cots can then make the petrol car the cheaper to run.

MTC

MORPH3US

Drive everywhere at 55mph, guaranteed to get you better fuel economy!!!

M

Mookfish

Don't leave stuff in the boot? No thanks, I'll stick to carrying all my usual junk, for the difference it makes I'll put up with the extra fuel costs for the conveinience of being able to get the car going if anything goes wrong.

But seriously, given that most cars weigh 3/4 ton or more and most adults weigh more that 7 stone, what are people carrying around in the boot that has such an impact on fuel economy?