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

Weird_Nev

mpjod wrote: »

I take this scandal as seriously as the ppi scandal and we should be compensated for the additional costs incurred by ourselves because of the discrepency between the fuel figures advertised by the motor companies and the actual figures acheived. this is a significant amount of money over many years.

They're not using the figures as advertising. They're officially generated figures obtained by running a car through a test cycle.

If you give engineers a challenge, they will find any which way around it! Including compromising cars for the end user to achieve a lower tax band or a better headline MPG figure. Because they know people are naive enough to base big decisions on a tiny number.

There are websites and owners clubs out there where you can find out what to expect from a car in real world conditions. Anyone who believes that 70-Mpg can be achieved from a car in less than ideal circumstances by a normal driver deserves everything they get, IMO!

Lum

The other problem with attempting to advertise real MPG figures is it varies so much due to conditions and driving style.

If you forced this one, it would mean that a Ford dealer in, say, Merthyr Tydfil would have to advertise lower MPG figures for their cars than a Ford dealer in Gloucester, since the latter is pretty much completely flat and the former is really hilly.

worried_jim

mpjod wrote: »

I was informed upon buyinmg my car from a main dealer that i would get 46 mpg. I keep track of my fuel use and have never had more than 33mpg this is a massive difference. I have tried every conceivable way of driving and the figures are the same every time. I dont rely on the cars computer to tell me I do the figures myself using the amount of fuel required to fill the tank against the amount of miles I have travelled, its scandalous and represents a fuel bill that is 25percent more than I was promised.

What type of car do you have ?

Trebor16

mpjod wrote: »

I take this scandal as seriously as the ppi scandal and we should be compensated for the additional costs incurred by ourselves because of the discrepency between the fuel figures advertised by the motor companies and the actual figures acheived. this is a significant amount of money over many years.

It's hardly a scandal. Figures are produced which give a comparison between cars as they are tested under the same conditions. However, they are not realistic for everyday driving because of the wide range of factors that can affect the fuel consumption of a car.

Use the figures as a comparison and nothing else but don't expect to achieve them. Be wary of claims by those who say they can match or better the official figures as they tend to be bovine excrement.

Trebor16

mpjod wrote: »

I was informed upon buyinmg my car from a main dealer that i would get 46 mpg. I keep track of my fuel use and have never had more than 33mpg this is a massive difference. I have tried every conceivable way of driving and the figures are the same every time. I dont rely on the cars computer to tell me I do the figures myself using the amount of fuel required to fill the tank against the amount of miles I have travelled, its scandalous and represents a fuel bill that is 25percent more than I was promised.

Simple lesson here is to take a salesmans claim with a pinch of salt. Look on sites like www.fuelly.com or www.spiritmonitor.de to see real life examples of what people actually achieve. In short, do your own research and don't believe a salesman who is trying to sell a car and earn some commission.

JDPower

Trebor16 wrote: »

Simple lesson here is to take a salesmans claim with a pinch of salt. Look on sites like www.fuelly.com or www.spiritmonitor.de to see real life examples of what people actually achieve. In short, do your own research and don't believe a salesman who is trying to sell a car and earn some commission.

Your second link is wrong, its http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/ (I find Honest Johns site far more useful than either of those: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ )

mikey72

Mary_Ta wrote: »

The best website for realworld mpg is the German "www dot spritmonitor dot de slash en" website. As they claim on their front page it contains data for over 300,000 vehicles and 4.6 billion miles of motoring. Its calculated for each user on a tank to tank basis, you can search by vehicle type, fuel type etc. and it provides barcharts of consumption distributions, averages etc. - you can then drill down to look at consumption patterns on individual cars. If you can't cope with l/100km, either divide the number into 282, find a conversion website or setup a login to the site. It is likely to be more accurate than wither whatcars site or honestjohn's equivalent.

Seems spot on. It is about right for all the cars we have. What it really needs is to sort on the best mpg, (or l/100km). Found it, someones Toyota Supra, does 141mpg if you believe them. Notmyrealname maybe?