car using soooo much petrol,help

goldilocks

i know petrol is expensive,but our ford focus is just using soooo much.any ideas on how to check what to do about reducing the consumption.many thanks

maninthestreet

Engine size? Manual or automatic? Typcial MPG figure you are getting? Type of driving??

goldilocks

1600 cc.manual.typical mpg not sure,and driving is just local,but

Delivery_Driver

Lots of threads about this atm, plus you still have been very vague with your info.

bungle4by4

if your driving local, thats your answer. you'll be lucky to see 30mpg driving all local. and quite likely to be seeing low 20's

Premier_2

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheaper-fuel

Notmyrealname

goldilocks wrote: »

1600 cc.manual.typical mpg not sure,and driving is just local,but

So you don't know what the MPG is but you think its using a lot?

Unbelievable. Work out the MPG then come back and tell us. 30MPG around town would be expected though.

AlexisV

You should be getting 34 - 38mpg doing long motorway runs at 70mph in a 1.6 Focus.

You'll be lucky to break 40mpg in any condition.

Stigy

goldilocks wrote: »

1600 cc.manual.typical mpg not sure,and driving is just local,but

Older style Focus' (1998 - 2005) only had 37-litre Fuel Tanks, which is tiny if you consider that most cars of that size have between 50 and 65-litre tanks. Given that you are unsure of the Miles Per Gallon, can I assume that it might be the overall mileage seems extremely low for a full tank of fuel, whereas in reality it's more sort of psychological because the tank's so small, thus only returning half what you'd expect? Especially given the hike in fuel prices of late, would make it seem like you're using more than you actually are.

Has the consumption always seemed high, or is it just recently?

It's easy enough to work the consumption out in a few ways. I use the following formula;

Ex; Gallons to full tank - say 8.2 if talking about 37-litres (37 divided by 4.5)

Overall mileage for tank (say 350) divided 8.2

350 divided by 8.2 = 42.6 mpg

Tucker

Could be cos it's knacked.

Buy a smaller more economical car if all you do is local driving.

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat

Stigy wrote: »

Older style Focus' (1998 - 2005) only had 37-litre Fuel Tanks, which is tiny if you consider that most cars of that size have between 50 and 65-litre tanks.

My T reg (1999) Focus 1.8 has a 55 litre tank, surprised to hear that some had smaller tanks?

OP - My 1.8 (petrol/manual) normally does about 34mpg on a fairly even mixture of local and long distance driving. I can coax more out of her sometimes by being extra careful. I love the car to bits, but have to say that if I was mostly doing local runs as you are, I would get a smaller engined car for better economy.

And I recommend giving a go some of Martin's suggestions that Premier has linked to, especially the ones about smoother driving, it can definitely make a difference.