What reliable, smallish, automatic car with v high mpg?

anotherbaldrick

custardy wrote: »

i had already checked
just under 10 seconds 0-60

9.4 sec. (9.5 to 100Kph)

puddy

thanks everyone.

i dont really understand the difference between the types of gear box, i certainly dont want anything that has some sort of delay on it. i had to have a courtesy car when mine was hit from behind and they gave me a fiat punto and i found it difficult to get used to as it seemed to delay when going off at junctions

secondly, no, im not about to spend 1000s on a new car at the moment, but im thinking about what car to get when this one is no longer viable, or wondered if there was something that was cheap and v high mpg that 'might' justify buying something else now rather than waiting but that doesnt seem the case.

my oh says that a bigger engine is better for motorway driving because of the energy needed from a small engine. however, if i drive in an energy efficient way (60mph ish) then i achieve 42mpg. this is better than his achieves and his is a 1.6, however, it is true that im not always able to go that slow and today for example, i had to go at 70 and 80 which destroyed the fuel efficiency

pendulum

puddy wrote: »

my oh says that a bigger engine is better for motorway driving because of the energy needed from a small engine. however, if i drive in an energy efficient way (60mph ish) then i achieve 42mpg. this is better than his achieves and his is a 1.6, however, it is true that im not always able to go that slow and today for example, i had to go at 70 and 80 which destroyed the fuel efficiency

This is also what I said in post #7, given your usage of all motorway driving it seems a small engined car is a really odd choice. I get over 55mpg from my 1.9TD if I stick to 56mph (my car's most efficient speed) on the motorway, and I have the benefit of having a bit of power when I need it too. 42mpg at 60mpg is neither bad or great, it's ok, but you get a smaller engined vehicle you will probably get a bit less MPG rather than more!

Kilty_2

I'd definitely recommend a bigger car given your requirements however my 1.0 Picanto (manual) is returning in excess of 46MPG and it's not even run in (~400 miles on the clock) so I'd check out the 1.1 auto

Inactive

puddy wrote: »

i had to go at 70 and 80 which destroyed the fuel efficiency

Nobody has to go at 70/80 MPH, indeed 80 MPH is illegal.;)

Kilty_2

TBH you need to go at 70 so as not to take days to get places / be run off the road, though

Inactive

Kilty wrote: »

TBH you need to go at 70 so as not to take days to get places / be run off the road, though

I don't see any tractors being run off of the road..

bigjl

Auto vehicles are much quicker pulling away from a set of traffic lights than many think, but they do get passed by 30mph unless they are a large engined exec car.

Anybody that has been side to side to a Black Cab in London can cofirm the ability for an auto, even a slow commercial vehicle to get going quickly from a standstill.

Our 2.7 Merc Sprinters can get away from the lights much quicker than many thing, unlike the 2.2 Sprinters that they have bought since 2008.

The 2.7's weigh in at about 3/3.5 tonne day to day, never weighed one, but that was the figure we were told when we moved to Mercs from LDV's in 2003.

The fastest way to get away from the lights in a Sprinter, that doesn't belong to you, is put your left foot on the brake, rev it up, till the vehicle pushes the front end against the brakes, the front will dip a bit, then release the brakes when the lights change.

Obviously this is only done when some young oik pulls to the front in the right turn lane and thinks they will cut in front of the Big Yellow Taxi in the correct straight ahead only lane.

Normally the rate at which we take off takes said oik by surprise, thus giving the other law abiding, patient drivers that are also in the correct lane a chance to get off the mark, thus leaving said oik and his mates marooned in the right turn lane and therefore they have to turn right when their light changes.

Everybody 1 Oiks 0.

Result:rotfl:

puddy

pendulum wrote: »

This is also what I said in post #7, given your usage of all motorway driving it seems a small engined car is a really odd choice. I get over 55mpg from my 1.9TD if I stick to 56mph (my car's most efficient speed) on the motorway, and I have the benefit of having a bit of power when I need it too. 42mpg at 60mpg is neither bad or great, it's ok, but you get a smaller engined vehicle you will probably get a bit less MPG rather than more!

its my first car and i bought it when i lived in london. i dont want to have to stick at 56mph or even 60 to be honest as i go from appointment to appointment over long distances so dont have that sort of time.

i have looked at some other similar sized engines for things like yaris or suzuki and they were quoting higher mpg than mine for 'extra urban' which i took to be motorways

bigjl

The new Fiat 500 with the twinair engine and the dualogic box may fit your needs.

Though I still have reservations with the duallogic box, perhaps the foibles have been ironed out now?

The Fiat 500 Twinair is the first of many small cars that have free roadtax for the forseeable future due to less than 100g/km co2 figures, are CC free in London for at least the next few years, you need to register for £10 a year to get it free though, the residuals should be decent.

Though there are reports that the fuel economy isn't as claimed, though I still think that with less entusiastic driving than the motoring press may get nearer to the claimed figures.

I reckon driving normally you should be able to get up to the 60mpg figure overall.

And being a petrol engine you don't have to refill at the smelly pump, and with the addition of particulate filters in more and more diesels they are going to become more expensive to maintain.


Do some more research as there are more and more small cars coming with less than 100g/km co2, there are Clios and soon a Panda, but they aren't on the websites yet, there is a new Panda coming out later this year which will have the Twinair engine, and a Punto with the Twinair engine aswell.

The Twinair new shape Panda may be worth waiting for.