Meriva 1.4 poor fuel economy

keith1950

Hi, I had to use a 1.4L Meriva for a few months when the original model was launched and can confirm that over about 10,000 miles the best it could manage on everyday use was 35 mpg. On motorway runs at 68mph it returned only 42mpg.

It is too small an engine and has to work hard to get any performance.

ShandyAndy_2

I wanted the 1.4 as it was the cheaper tax,and it will only do around 5000-6000 miles per year,the engine pulls well enough I don't think its underpowered, its not a racing car, I am going from a 1.7 dti astra estate I recently scrapped so maybe am expecting too much, the 1.7 dti used to do 55mpg on the same journeys and 65 plus mpg on long runs, its been fully serviced not too long back and the tyres are the right pressure, I check them every week,was thinking of replacing the alloys with smaller steel wheels but would'nt look as good. Going to try driving a bit harder and check again next fill up.

keith1950

I wanted the 1.4 as it was the cheaper tax,and it will only do around 5000-6000 miles per year,the engine pulls well enough I don't think its underpowered, its not a racing car

What I meant was that a smaller engine usually needs revving more to get the same acceleration etc.

When I used the 1.6L acceleration was much easier and in fact I averaged about 38/40 for general use.

Even driving the 1.6L harder did not drop the figure down to the 35 mpg of the 1.4L.

The 1.4L is perfectly adequate for normal use as long as you don't expect good fuel consumption.

Throughout the years I have done around 3,500,000 miles and have found that I always get better mpg in the next engine size up,( up to about 1.8L anyway.), although with the extra power there is a tendency to drive harder.

forgotmyname

Smaller engine for town/heavy traffic. But at higher speeds a bigger engine will be more efficient.

TradePro

ShandyAndy wrote: »

I wanted the 1.4 as it was the cheaper tax,and it will only do around 5000-6000 miles per year

At 5k per year, you're about £11 per month down vs. the 'book' 44.1mpg. I think with the cheaper tax etc., there shouldn't be much concern.

maninthestreet

cb1979 wrote: »

Don't believe the figures in the handbook, they are obtained on a test track at steady speeds and in perfect weather conditions, and probably with a set of narrow tyres on, Cold starts as previously mentioned eat loads of fuel, when the weather warms up things will improve a bit
You may be lucky to get the combined figure of 44 on a steady motorway run at 60 or 70

A rolling road is used for the statutory fuel consumption tests.

ShandyAndy_2

The car seems to be geared well and the engine rarely seems to struggle, I have been driving like a nun to be fair but the very cold weather and short journeys do it no favours,going to drive it a bit harder this month and will report back even though the weather will be warmer so might contradict that.

ShandyAndy_2

OK so filled up today and averaged 40mpg, the weather has warmed up I know but I have been revving the car harder in gears, it seems that driving like a nun does nothing for fuel consumption. This including a good thrashing on dual carriageway taking car upto 105 mph....italian tune up.

thebullsback

Meriva ...worst vehicle I ever had Dull/thirsty and a serious accident waiting to happen thanks to ...electric power steering .
Take my tip nd get rid .....please

forgotmyname

More revs does not mean worse fuel consumption.

Best economy = where the cars greatest torque figure is. Unless you dont require all that torque to keep moving.

A JC style answer.
If you need 100 torques to go up a hill then its no good being in 5th gear where the revs only give you 70 torques. Drop down a gear or more so you have 100 torques.

On a flat level road you may only need 50 torques, So you can use any gear as long as you have at least 50 torques.

Engine peak power and power spread, Torque curve, Gear ratios and aerodynamics all play a big part in the final figures though.

Sadly the Meriva fails on all of them. Its a flabby, gutless brick shaped box.

They sell those small loaves of bread and little tins of food for Meriva owners. So as not to overload them.

Dont buy bottles or jars they are too heavy and your mpgs will suffer.

More power will give you better mpg's.