MSE's 2011 Petrol/Diesel Cost Diet Challenge: Put your money where your pedal is!

ani_26

All this talk of panic fuel buying has led me to evaluate just how much i've been spending on fuel. Its a year since i did so.

With the cost of fuel now around 143.9 per litre, i'm getting 20.66 MPG, averaging 31.66 per mile. So 12000 miles would cost £3799.20 :eek:

I think you could say that comes in the bad category.


Sheeeesh

Stupid effin car

thesmiffster

What I've found is that having a vehicle with a rev counter really helps with fuel saving. I drive a commercial vehicle which has one and it helps you to work out what rpm the vehicle does when it reaches the optimum speed for that gear. In the vehicle I drive it's about 2,000 rpm. Once you know where it is you know exactly when to shift and never overwork or labour the engine by sticking between say 1,500 and 2,500 rpm when accelerating and moving up the gears and getting as close to 2,000 when travelling at a constant speed. Obviously all vehicles will be geared differently depending on whether they are little Kias designed for city driving or big BMWs designed to shoot down the M-ways...

electric_lenny

dont be fooled into buying the smallest car to save fuel ,try looking at a pre 2001 car , I have a low milage 3ltr diesel bmw which returns 44 to 50 mpg which is far cheaper to run than my father inlaws little vauxhall , and is cheap to tax compared to cars newer than 2001

mrg9999

My 2001 Citroen 2.2 Turbo diesel returned real 55MPG average and 65mpg motorway miles. I have a new vauxhall astra 2.2 turbo diesel, and after a month it rarely returns more than 45, or 55 motorway. Thank god my company pay for all my fuel

nigelboon

Dont use cheap supermarket diesel. The best economy I've found is the ordinary SHELL, not V Power. V power would give the greatest M P G but the much dearer price outweighs the saving. On my monthly commutes from Torbay to London I'm amazed at the far greater M P G using a QUALITY fuel. Try it yourself. :AThe picasso runs very smoothly on it too. Also use a fully synthetic motor oil which will improve engine efficency. Lastly dont run your car too low on fuel or you could drag up residue from the bottom of the tank.
The motto for me is 'dont buy cheap or you may pay dear'.

Trebor16

if I use petrol from Shell or Morrisons/Tescos it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the fuel consumption of my car. What does have a dramatic effect is keeping my lead footed wife away from the car!:D

Zekko

nigelboon wrote: »

Dont use cheap supermarket diesel. The best economy I've found is the ordinary SHELL, not V Power. V power would give the greatest M P G but the much dearer price outweighs the saving. On my monthly commutes from Torbay to London I'm amazed at the far greater M P G using a QUALITY fuel. Try it yourself.

Absolute codswallop.

anotherbaldrick

Zekko wrote: »

Absolute codswallop.

I have found that my VW with 1.4 turbo 120 PS engine very much prefers a non supermarket fuel (Shell or Esso). Runs much smoother and gives better fuel consumption (from the OBC about 4 mpg more)

PS, what sort of word is diarise Martin ?

myozone

50's around town (Cornish lanes 2nd and 3rd !) 70's+ MPG M/way
All on supermaret fuel,Road tax £30 insurance £160 fully comp....

frugalistic

hi can anyone tell me is it worth my while knocking my car into neutral -- though of course it is illegal and i would never do such a thing -- in order to save diesel? i have a bmw 530 and it is kinda costing me a bit these days... someone told me its engine cuts out the useage anyway if ur going downhill ...?