Economical driving success!

Flearoy

Hi

Given the fuel prices at the moment I've been trying to drive as economically as I possibly can. I have a 38 mile commute (each way) on a mix of different road types. The last two tanks in my car I've managed to get 50-51 mpg. I don't think it's supposed to be able to do that many mpg... My car is not a fancy new diesel, it's an old (2001) Toyota Corolla 1.4 VVTi petrol. I guess at that economy, buying a newer diesel car would only be worth it if the car ran on fresh air!

I keep the tyre pressures up, the car in good order, don't accelerate too harshly, avoid unnecessary braking by keeping my distance, and don't cruise at high speeds.

Nice to know that there is at least some way you can avoid filling the coffers of the treasury any more than you need to.

Anyone else getting great economy from older/cheaper cars?

bigjl

Your car is also fairly light compared to the heavy newer cars.

I remember driving to my parents house in Scotland on one tank in my Carlton.

I could even get 37mpg when using it as a exec minicab in @92, yes it was a manual so this helped, but I don't think you would get that from a 2.0 manual Omega.

Funny thing is back then monthly H&R Insurance was £150-200, but fuel costs where not much more.

These days you can get H&R Insurance for £140 a month, but even in a diesel you will use £150 fuel a week.

I had a Ren 5 years ago and that used to get an easy 45mpg round London, it was a 1237cc with a 5 speed gearbox.

A mate drive in 40 miles every day for work, he uses a 1.8 Cavalier he reckons he is getting a minimum of 45 mpg, maybe more if he isn't in a hurry. Though almost the entire journey is cruising, only about 1/2 mile in traffic.

Hammyman

Flearoy wrote: »

Anyone else getting great economy from older/cheaper cars?

I suppose at 150,500 miles my 6 1/2 year old Mondeo probably counts as it. Got 67MPG on a 212 mile round trip to buy stock so was well loaded on way back. Gone up notably from a couple of weeks ago so I guess garages are on summer diesel mix now.

mchale

bigjl wrote: »

Your car is also fairly light compared to the heavy newer cars.

I remember driving to my parents house in Scotland on one tank in my Carlton.

I could even get 37mpg when using it as a exec minicab in @92, yes it was a manual so this helped, but I don't think you would get that from a 2.0 manual Omega.

I had a carlton 2.0 auto got 39mpg on a run to portsmouth, once they started fitting cats to cars that f****d the mpg figures up

Flearoy

Some good economy figures there. Like many others, I was nearly persuaded by the quoted economy figures of small new diesel cars, until I realised that unless the new car saved me more money a month on fuel, road tax or repairs than it cost to buy, then it wasn't worth it. And then there is depreciation. Not paying £250 a month or so on a lease is a great way to offset not getting 60-odd mpg!

Flearoy

Hammyman wrote: »

I suppose at 150,500 miles my 6 1/2 year old Mondeo probably counts as it. Got 67MPG on a 212 mile round trip to buy stock so was well loaded on way back. Gone up notably from a couple of weeks ago so I guess garages are on summer diesel mix now.

Please can I buy your car!?

stqueen

I'm going to sound very dumb indeed now but. . .on an older car without a fancy mpg calculator on the dash, what is the best way of working out your mpg?? I know how many litres my tank is, I know how many miles I can do on a full tank etc...

Am I right in thinking a gallon is 4.5 litres?

cajef

stqueen wrote: »

what is the best way of working out your mpg??
Am I right in thinking a gallon is 4.5 litres?

Fill the tank right up to the top make a note of the mileage, on your next fill once again fill right up to the top and check how many litres it takes, now check how many miles you have done since the previous fill.

To convert litres to gallons multiply by 0.21997, then divide your mileage by the gallons.

Do this over several fills and average it out to get a more accurate MPG.

darich

cajef wrote: »

Full the tank right up to the top make a note of the mileage, on your next fill once again fill right up to the top and check how many litres it takes, now check how many miles you have done since the previous fill.

To convert litres to gallons multiply by 0.21997, then divide your mileage by the gallons.

Do this over several fills and average it out to get a more accurate MPG.

Or buy the "road trip" app for the iphone if you have one.
It's got a few extra features so does more than simply calculate mpg.

Hammyman

Flearoy wrote: »

Some good economy figures there. Like many others, I was nearly persuaded by the quoted economy figures of small new diesel cars, until I realised that unless the new car saved me more money a month on fuel, road tax or repairs than it cost to buy, then it wasn't worth it.

Indeed, Mine cost me £1000 more than the petrol version. I intended to keep it 5 years averaging 20k per year so doing the maths, the diesel was worth buying. I recouped the difference in little over a year and now I'm about £1k better off per year than the petrol version and in the 5 years I intend to keep it, I'll have saved enough to pay for its replacement. Depreciation and resale is moot as it'll have so much mileage on it, I doubt it'd fetch a lot regardless of being petrol or diesel.

cajef

darich wrote: »

Or buy the "road trip" app for the iphone if you have one.
It's got a few extra features so does more than simply calculate mpg.

Not very MSE if you only want to work out your MPG, first you have to purchase the iphone then the app.:D

Think I will stick with the old fashioned method.:)