MPG not as described

rev_henry

Marv02 wrote: »

Yes, your right... 31MPG... When it was new. Lol. I guess the dealer just wrote down the details he found on the broacher or something. But there are many factors to look out for here:

1) Tire Pressure. - Check that ALL your tires are equally under the same load, as a matter of fact, read the side of each tire and it should tell you what pressure they are supposed to be at. Go to a petrol station and fill those bad-boys back up. (believe in me when I say that it makes a HUGE difference)

2) Car Load. - Start emptying out everything in the car that is not needed. And I mean everything... Then try again.

3) Service. - You're car needs to be regularly serviced... Don't buy into dealers lies that they have been, most dealers just swoop over the basics and claim its in tip top shape. Take it to a mechanic or quick fit to check for wear and tear.

4) Speed & Start/Stops. - You need to understand that these cars, when getting a MPG test done by the manufacturers, are done on a closed race track, with a professional driver. You said you do around 70MPH. I bet you any money if you drop down to 65MPH (the speed the highway MPG is conducted) you would see a noticeable increase in MPG. Another thing to consider is stop/starts. When manufacturers test the city MPG, they do it averaging 28MPH, but non-stop, around a race track. So if you stop/start a handful of times per journey... This will definitely effect your end results.

Lets take for example my 1999 MK4 Golf Diesel. (110BHP remapped > 140BHP) this car should supposedly do 41.5MPG in the city, and 65MPG on the motorway. Now, this may be true, but not for London's standard its not. In the city, I do around 35MPG and on the motorway I do around 55-60MPG, this is due to the stop starts in the city, and the fact that I can't resist going over 65MPH.

Give the above some thought, if you still want to trade it in, then let the dealer know. But he may point out some of the things above, and they could pinch a few hundred quid out of you for this "test."

Hope this helps.

Some good and bad advice here.
Do NOT go by tyre pressures printed on the sidewalls - go by what the handbook or sticker in the car says.
Do NOT go to Kwik Fit under any circumstances.
As gloomendoom says MPG stats are calculated using a very weird formula of varying speeds on a rolling road, not a track.

Other than that I agree.

Hammyman

zotar wrote: »

Had I known it was this thirsty I woulod not have gone near it and bought a more frugal model. This is worse than a Range Rover!

Its a petrol 4x4...what did you expect? And my mate has a petrol Landrover Discovery - SIXTEEN MILES PER GALLON. Recent model Range Rovers are barely in double figures.

Any idea what rights I have here- I think it is basically not as described.

Not a chance in hell. I used to do a night trunk with another lorry driver to London and back. He averaged just over 6MPG, I did just short of 9 - same type of wagon, same load, same route, within a couple of minutes on the journey time. The difference was the style of driving. If I can have a difference of over 1/3 better, it is more than within the realms of reality to have a 10 or 20% variance.

And you'll not get anywhere near 30MPG doing 70MPH with a thing geared for offroad and having the aerodynamics of a breeze block.

smjxm09

Got a new 2 litre diesel Mondeo with automatic transmission with claimed figures of urban 39.2mpg, extra urban 60.1 mpg, combined 50.4mpg. With mixed driving and no traffic jams the car is doing 40.2mpg. Not bad for an automatic but my figure is just above the urban figure of 39.2 mpg. I have always gone by the urban figure as I have never achieved much above this on my previous cars.

Strider590

Would this be another one who thinks 4x4 will save them this winter???
(winter tyre's are cheaper)

Mark_Hewitt

zotar wrote: »

After a really awful year, which included our first baby passing away- we thought we would treat ourselves to a car to chear us up. I have been after a small 4x4 for some time for various things I do and settled on a Suzuki Grand Vitara. It is a petrol model that was described as doing and average of 31 MPG and up to 37 MPG on a long steady run.

After two weeks of having it it has averaged 24 MPG and even only motorway driving at a steady 70MPH it only did 24 MPG.

Sounds about right. Real life MPG figures are never anywhere near the quoted ones in manufacturers literature. I'm supposed to get 70MPG out of my 1.6 diesel, in reality I get about 45! That's just the way it is I'm afraid.

whatmichaelsays

As has been mentioned, the way that the MPG figures are achieved is part of a standardised EU test but that methodology is not representative of "real world" motoring. The official MPG's are intended as a point of comparison rather than an official representation as to what you would expect the vehicle to typically achieve.

pstuart

smjxm09 wrote: »

Got a new 2 litre diesel Mondeo with automatic transmission with claimed figures of urban 39.2mpg, extra urban 60.1 mpg, combined 50.4mpg. With mixed driving and no traffic jams the car is doing 40.2mpg. Not bad for an automatic but my figure is just above the urban figure of 39.2 mpg. I have always gone by the urban figure as I have never achieved much above this on my previous cars.

Just got the same (163) - showing 33mpg after a week - still tight?

TVR2

funkycoldribena wrote: »

This is why the vast majority of 4x4s on the road are diesels.
The days of 4x4 petrol models are over.

The thing is, people drive diesel 4x4 and think they're being relatively frugal in doing so (or at least they do near me in the sticks). But a Disco with a 2.5 TDi engine will struggle to better a 4x4 Jag X type with a 2.5 V6 petrol engine and whereas the Disco is one of the most unpleasant vehicles to drive imaginable (with that engine), a V6 Jag would be rather nice.

So although you're right diesel 4x4s are more efficient that petrols, they're still thirsty and expensive and they're not even nice cars to own or drive...

jaydeeuk1

Is this a brand new car with a tight engine, or one thats a few years old and poss been ragged? Has it had a recent service?

25mpg on a heavy petrol car isn't too bad imo. I'm assuming its a V6 model? And how are you measuring this 24mpg?

Gloomendoom

TVR2 wrote: »

So although you're right diesel 4x4s are more efficient that petrols, they're still thirsty and expensive and they're not even nice cars to own or drive...

What a lot of nonsense! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: