MSE News: Government miles-per-gallon car figures 'unreliable'

Former_MSE_Helen
Former MSE Posts: 2,382 Forumite
in Motoring
This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:
"Official government fuel figures overstate just how many miles cars can do to the gallon, it has been claimed"
"Official government fuel figures overstate just how many miles cars can do to the gallon, it has been claimed"
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Comments
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Not really news, just another report confirming what people knew - the manufacturer tests carried out under ideal conditions give better mpg than people achieve in the real world0
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In what way are they 'Government figures' anyway - surely they are figures provided by the manufacturers and just compiled by the Department of Transport?0
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Yep a definate "no excrement Sherlock" story.
In other news, grass green, sky blue and later, night to follow day.
5t.What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?0 -
Well.... To be fair it's been in the govts interest to not challenge the manufacturers claimed MPG figures, many people wouldn't be buying cars and thus feeding into the coffers if they didn't think their potential new car would give them some benefit in fuel consumption.
Why else was it so important that the govt set about creating the scrappage scheme a few years back?
They are of course idiots anyway, if they think buying a new car can save them money at all.... Even if the old one did 35mpg and the new one 50mpg.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Yeah this really isnt news, manufacturers make claims for figures but they will have done the test under very specific circumstances that are probably impossible to achieve in reality. Hence I always look at the combined figure and deduct 10% for possible real world driving.
Although on my commute I do get the manufacturers claimed figure for the combined cycle which is what i would describe my journey as. It all depends on how people drive it should be treated as a potential figure. In reality if you drive the right way you can exceed these manufacturers figures in some cars.0 -
When I buy a car I look at Urban and assume that will be about the average I get... maybe a bit higher. That way i'm looking at the bottom end of the scale.0
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When I buy a car I look at Urban and assume that will be about the average I get... maybe a bit higher. That way i'm looking at the bottom end of the scale.
Reality is often around 10% less than the "combined" figure.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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We've known this for ages! - as Strider said most people get less.
I hypermile to get 30+% more than combined figure for my car.In what way are they 'Government figures' anyway - surely they are figures provided by the manufacturers and just compiled by the Department of Transport?
The secrets behind official mpg v real life mpgIf at first you don't succeed, try, try, try - oh bu99er that just cheat0 -
The only point for these tests is to compare other cars in the way they have performed in the same test. So you can see with your reading eyes on that a Panda is more economical than a Bentley, that's their only value.
My wifes car persistently hovers around 23mpg and if I take it for a week the average for that fill will be 31-32mpg. Same car, same roads, just different driver.
The manufacturers don't fake the figures (albeit the one production car they test will be in finest fettle), as they aren't so daft as to be officially sanctioned, but real life will always be different.0 -
Also, lets not forget the tests are performed in a lab and often the engine isn't even in the car.
Nothing like realistic conditions.
that said, Watchdog did a big piece on this a while ago and followed a group of people on an mpg challenge. One chap had actually got more than the official figure from his smart car!
5t.What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?0
This discussion has been closed.
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