Vauxhall corsa 1ltr- shocking MPG!

oldagetraveller

My daughter has a Corsa (soon changing) with one of those lawnmower engines and complains about the very poor mpg. She does mostly city driving which won't help. To attain some sort of progress the engine has to be pushed, again not helping the consumption. I don't know the figures but I expect they're pretty dire. Hers is a 2004 model with I think only a 9 gallon tank which needs replenishing regularly. Your's is probably a bit heavier car which will make matters even worse unfortunately. What you are achieving is more than likely correct sadly.

Strider590

bexyboo1312 wrote: »

It is slow as hell, and needs a bit of hard pushing to get it to move (especially on a hill) but I in no way thrash it

It's not designed to be driven as hard as your driving it....

If your more used to a bigger more powerful motor then dropping down to a small engine is never a good idea.

sneaky

Cool_Username wrote: »

Yeah give it a try driving differently this week - if you're the type of person to do it you can easily check the exact mileage you're doing per week by resetting the odometer when the fuel light comes on, fill it up and see how many miles you do before the light comes on again

Thats the way I do it I have never understood this mpg business. I like to know how many miles im getting for my £30 I top up each time. OP its worth a try.

johnnyroper

sneaky wrote: »

Thats the way I do it I have never understood this mpg business. I like to know how many miles im getting for my £30 I top up each time. OP its worth a try.

trouble with doing it your way is these days you get less petrol for your £30 everytime you visit the fuel station so less miles.

Mark_Hewitt

Hammyman wrote: »

MPG sounds about right. It'll have spent most of its time in your ownership running on cold start (equivalent of running on choke) because it never has time to get fully warmed up. One of the side effects of that is that the spark plugs get sooted up from continually running on a rich mixture so don't work as well hence the car feels down on power.

Best thing to do is to put some redex in the tank, take it out into the country and drive it like you stole it for half an hour.

True. I remember with my petrol car, I'd often just to two cold starts per day driving 10-15 minutes to work and back. I'd notice that my car felt sluggish.

Then after I'd taken it out for a run around the countryside, it'd be noticeably quicker on acceleration for a while afterwards.

TiTheRev

A diesel is not only more effiecient around town/long journeys (35/36mpg for the missus around town & 55-60 on long journeys), it also has more torque which even when the engine size is smaller will give you more 'pulling power'! A bit late now, but has to be the way for the next purchase?!

AdrianHi

How are people calculating their mpg?
I'm suspicious that some methods being talk about here (waiting until light comes on not necessary) are not accurate.
You can calculate it without having to run really low on fuel.
Fill the fuel tank, reset to odometer / trip computer. Drive until you have used most of the fuel, say until you have under 1/4 tank left.
Now fill the fuel tank again, when it's full write down how many litres you have put on as it says on the fuel pump. Also write down how many miles recorded on the trip computer.
Now do this calculation:
litres used divided by 4.546 = gallons used
gallons used divided by miles covered = the MPG result

So say you put in 25 litres of fuel and covered 220 miles.
25 litres / 4.546 = 5.49 gallons
5.49 gallons / 220 miles = 40.00 MPG

Any calculation based on "I put in £30 and waited until the light came on so the tank must be empty and the tank is 9 gallons" - is going to give a very inaccurate and very pessimistic result.
9 gallons / 220 miles = 24.44 MPG

The receipt from the garage might tell you how many litres you used, if you've got a record of miles covered for that amount of fuel you can go back and work it out.

jimbms

Yep about right for a Vauxhall, the only way you can get the mpg they state is on a long motorway journey with a warm engine doing 40mph. We had an Asta from new that guzzled fuel until it had run for about 3 mins the the mpg went right up, which is naff all use on an island that is 13 miles wide and 35 long.

cyclonebri1

Hammyman wrote: »

MPG sounds about right. It'll have spent most of its time in your ownership running on cold start (equivalent of running on choke) because it never has time to get fully warmed up. One of the side effects of that is that the spark plugs get sooted up from continually running on a rich mixture so don't work as well hence the car feels down on power.

Best thing to do is to put some redex in the tank, take it out into the country and drive it like you stole it for half an hour.

20 to 25 mpg is NOT right for a 1.0ltr Corsa.

Thr op's figures must be wrong otherwise the car would spit and slutter, or overheat. A new car does not need redex treatment

bexyboo1312

It has done 1400 miles, 400 of that are definitely motorway miles...the rest are a mix of town driving and motorway/ busier roads.
Just been out in it and stuck to 3rd...thinking i am not sure that i usualy go into 5th...as it literally wouldn't move and maybe its 4th i am normally in and getting confused,. (god I sound like a right t*t!)
anyway, i'll stick in 3rd and post back when i've done a few more miles and can work the mpg out again. We had previously worked it out the proper way, as listed above by AdrianHi.
Thanks

edit:hammyman - if the car felt down on power it wouldn't move lol, its always been dead slow. what is redex?
The car has on a few occasions sounded funny when it starts - it starts straight away, but where a normal car would have a nice turn over sound, this one chugs a bit then goes. My husband started it yesterday for the first time in 2 days and it was the same then. I have read lots of reviews and other people seem to mention this problem too....

I don't know whether to stick it out or chop it back in now while it is still worth what I paid for it and get something better....and then I need to choose something all over again!! (my husband is about to walk out lol)