What MPG/Mileage do you get in your car?

epninety

My old car got around 24mpg. My new one reaches the heady heights of 27mpg.

I wouldn't expect to get more than a mile on £40 of petrol though... what with it being a diesel

My point is, none of this is relevant unless the OP measures it properly (i.e. accurately) and then compares the result to identical cars driven by other people, and/or other cars driven by the OP.

Trebor16

steve-L wrote: »

Remapped 330D

You can keep it at 100 (no headwind) with hardly any pressure on the accelerator. For reasons of not loosing my license I haven't tested this extensively!!! but on a flat stretch of motorway on one occasion I reset the trip comp to test it...... may have been a tailwind even.... but it wasn't really blowing in any direction.

I would doubt the accuracy of the trip computer. Even without a headwind the wind resistance at 100mph would be far greater than at 70mph. A car will be 28% less fuel efficient at 80mph than it will at 55 mph http://www.mpgforspeed.com/ .

steve-L

Trebor16 wrote: »

I would doubt the accuracy of the trip computer. Even without a headwind the wind resistance at 100mph would be far greater than at 70mph. A car will be 28% less fuel efficient at 80mph than it will at 55 mph http://www.mpgforspeed.com/ .

I tested the trip comp against brim to brim fills! See's pretty accurate.....

I might try this again .....

(It part of a long standing wind-up between me and a mate with a Porsche Cayenne since my car outperforms his (marginally) and is a lot more economic.... so we keep coming up with but my car will be .. in .... type scenarios!


p.s.

Unfortunately, it's true. Your car's gas mileage decreases once it gets past its optimal speed. For most cars, this is around 55-60 mph.

The reason for this is both europe and n america have a MPG category for 55 or 56 mph.. hence manufacturers tune them to do this even if it hits the overall figures or figures at 70 mph!

In the same way that's why you can get more power and torque out of a remap, its all to do with meeting emissions figures worldwide and various artificial tests!

That's why the remap seems to be giving me better 70mph+ I also suspect my 56 mph MPG will be lower but its not a usual speed I do.....
Infact so far my best mpg is at 68-72.... allowing it to slow to min of about 55 on one or two hills and speed up to 85 on the way down....

The engine can carry the energy as it has HUGE amounts of torque.... limited only by the clutch! (The only reason not to tune it above 180 bhp is actually the fact its hard to prevent the torque increasing....and that would rip the driveshaft out) (its why the 335D has no manual option)

I'll give it another go though and check..... may have been a tailwind at the time....

oliverr

2010 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2, I get around 38 mpg in town, but don't use it much out of town, so hard to tell really.

I'm not particularly trying to drive fuel efficiently that said, as sometimes I have a bit of a heavy foot

forgotmyname

Anywhere between 26mpg and 62mpg. Average over full tankfuls.

Depending on the journey types. With the snow coming mine will drop from the current mid 40's

Trebor16

steve-L wrote: »

I tested the trip comp against brim to brim fills! See's pretty accurate.....

I might try this again .....

(It part of a long standing wind-up between me and a mate with a Porsche Cayenne since my car outperforms his (marginally) and is a lot more economic.... so we keep coming up with but my car will be .. in .... type scenarios!


p.s.

The reason for this is both europe and n america have a MPG category for 55 or 56 mph.. hence manufacturers tune them to do this even if it hits the overall figures or figures at 70 mph!

In the same way that's why you can get more power and torque out of a remap, its all to do with meeting emissions figures worldwide and various artificial tests!

That's why the remap seems to be giving me better 70mph+ I also suspect my 56 mph MPG will be lower but its not a usual speed I do.....
Infact so far my best mpg is at 68-72.... allowing it to slow to min of about 55 on one or two hills and speed up to 85 on the way down....

The engine can carry the energy as it has HUGE amounts of torque.... limited only by the clutch! (The only reason not to tune it above 180 bhp is actually the fact its hard to prevent the torque increasing....and that would rip the driveshaft out) (its why the 335D has no manual option)

I'll give it another go though and check..... may have been a tailwind at the time....

The original 330D produced 184bhp and they now produce far more than that.

It seems the figures you quote are fleeting glimpses rather than a true reflection of what the car can achieve. What do you actually average over a tankful?

Regardless of how a car is tuned the fact is that to increase speed to overcome drag more power will be needed and more power means more fuel burnt.

steve-L

Trebor16 wrote: »

The original 330D produced 184bhp and they now produce far more than that.

It seems the figures you quote are fleeting glimpses rather than a true reflection of what the car can achieve. What do you actually average over a tankful?

Its the 2005–2008 (I6) 228 bhp/369 lb·ft as comes out of factory
This is now 280 bhp and over 400 lb ft (can't remember torque exactly without pulling the testing paperwork)

However as you say I think it might more be influenced by sampling rates....
On average ... (if there is such a thing) with my driving I get about 45 mpg.... checked twice against brim to brim fills this agree's over 300 miles or so with the car computer..... however I don't have a regular pattern as I work offsite... sometimes I might do 90% motorway in a tank and other times 10%...

The 68 mpg I got once on the M3 at average 68mph was quite extreme driving ..... but measured over a fair distance from Poole to the end of the M3 (1/4 mile from Tesco's) ....

(Currently wouldn't be able to repeat due to the fact its winter hence winter diesel in! )

The test at 100 mph was probably less than 2 mins.... (I'm 45 this month and yet to get a single point) so I really don't want a disqualification ... but did want to see what I'd get....

What your saying makes sense.... it could just be the onboard comp didn't get enough data to average the mpg correctly....

Regardless of how a car is tuned the fact is that to increase speed to overcome drag more power will be needed and more power means more fuel burnt.

Yes ... more speed in the same gear (assuming a clean burn) will always mean more fuel..... but (as I have explained to my OH several times) just because she can labour her Honda TDCI in 5th at 30mph doesn't mean its burning less fuel that in 4th....
It just results in unburned fuel.....

So there is also a case for at what speed the engine is running most economically... low revs but clean burn....
This is never going to be at the mid revs.... which are needed at 100mph.... but equally the torque will make the difference between 2 cars that both do the same 55 mph MPG... (i.e. the AA did some tests with a small petrol and big diesel - they both got the same 55 mph mpg but the petrol lost out incrementally to the diesel as speed increased as the torque then overcomes the drag....

The fact is all our cars are tuned to 55 mph for emissions and MPG because that is the EURO and North American tests required.
As such they are deliberately detuned for other speeds (like 70 mph) .. so the same engine is just made to be most efficient in the place tested (55 mph) not used (75 mph)

(Note I'm not saying it would get more MPG at 75 than 55, I'm saying the difference is artificial because the aim is 55 no-one but the consumer cares about real world .... )

i.e A car might come out of the factory with 40 mpg at 55 mph and test at 30 mpg at 75 mph
Tuning the car for 75 mph might get 38 mpg at 55 BUT 34 mpg at 75....

It's not just the engine, they rig the gears to this as well..... its all part of those all important figures they can publish....

If EURO and N. America actually changed the 'extra urban to 75 mph' then the manufacturers would all change their tuning just so they have the 'best' publishable figures....

So the difference could be considerable if you do a lot of pure motorway miles.

Gloomendoom

steve-L wrote: »

The engine can carry the energy as it has HUGE amounts of torque.... limited only by the clutch! (The only reason not to tune it above 180 bhp is actually the fact its hard to prevent the torque increasing.

It would be impossible unless you can increase the RPM red line.

BHP = Torque (lb/ft) X RPM / 5252

fivetide

My Merc C Class averages about 33mpg in a mix of motorway and city traffic. Not too bad for a hefty car.

Steve, my BMW had a very optimistic OBC. I looked at the 330d and found this useful, real world figures from the bimmerforum uk. Looks like the 45mpg is much more like it.

hex2hats-6spd manual........330d- no remap (yet) Motorway/Dual Carr. I get 45-47mpg @ 75-80mph. In town 31-33mpg. Mixed overall driving 38-40. Pretty amazing really.
Exocet2000-E46................330D - 43.8 MPG combined of which is about 70% dual carriageway miles and the rest in built up areas. Amazingly I've gained 0.4 miles from just changing my diesel from Tesco to Esso
coogsyrsv-e46..................330d manual.. about town 10 mile commute to work, few odd bursts of boost 46.3mpg
Lizerum-E46 Msport 55r......330cd 35-37 mpg round town, 45-49 mpg motorway driving between 75 - 80. Steady driving with the occaisional boost ( when you just can't help yourself )
Buzzfan-e46.....................330d manual convertible - 37 mpg general driving, 34 mpg driving a roads quickly, 39-41 mpg on motorway 75ish. Wondering if replacing airfilter would improve matters.
SootE46-E46 M57..............330d Touring, manual, remapped, recent 700 mile round trip to France, various types of driving - 47mpg
Binman-2003....................330d Saloon 6speed manual M57TUD30 (205bhp) 27k miles, standard map - Mainly B roads at a brisk pace with the occassional WOT for overtakes plus about 100miles of motorway, always fill with Shell V-Power diesel. 521.4 miles to 56.48 litres (whole tankfull) = 41.97mpg (OBC reading 43.0 mpg)
cornishpaul-e46.................330d sport 43.3 mpg b roads and some dual carriageway commuting to work
3thirtyD-E90.....................330d daily trip 5 miles country lanes,20 miles motorway cruise at indicated 80 (real 76) normally ave 44-46 mpg depending on how much i play on the lanes
iNET SEO2001 E46.............330d (remapped) - Town driving av. 39mpg, motorway @ 75 mph, 58mpg.
Wingco-2003 E46..............330d Sport 6 speed has never had the onboard computer reset so the average 42 MPG is from new and the car has now covered 80,000 miles. I don't have a light right foot and although I don't speed I do drive fast.
unclestarfish-E46...............330D MSport Touring Auto Gies 24-28mpg around town and when wife drives it (school run, mothers, shops) On long runs with family (2 young kids) worcester - Portsmouth nerver bettered 38mpg even when driving sensibly and using the Cruise control on dual carriageways and m-ways!
330dtouring................E46 330d touring (204hp) 2003mod, auto. Best ever highway (55mph); 50mpg. Around town; 40mpg. These are achieved with defensive driving style.
ramshore.....................E46 330d - 47mpg, 56mpg on motorway
bmonkey.....................E46 330d - 50mpg average
Foolishbean69..............E46 330d (remapped to 240bhp) - 36mpg, 50mpg motorway
Assimilator1.................E46 330d 184 bhp 2.9ltr, manual, saloon, ~90% easy driving, av real MPG 40, (@ 41.2 MPG OBC=45.5) mixed town/dual carrige. Worst OBC 36.1 MPG (traffic+snow) best OBC 57.6 MPG!(steady 70mph, 1 brief stop, EGR disabled,only recently).

Bensee........................E90 330D (2005 - 231bhp -> 277bhp/440lb/ft-ish) - 30-36mpg around town, 46/47mpg motorway (door to door).

forgotmyname

More speed in the same gear means more fuel.

Not in my car.. 6th gear only starts to work above 60mph. Although it pulls well and will climb hills easily at 50mph in 6th gear it uses more fuel.


BHP = Torque x RPM / 5252 doesnt work for my car. I seem to have 84bhp if i use peak torque or over 200 if i use the redline figure? Its actually a 130.