A-Road vs. Motorway - Petrol Consumption

ollyver27

Hi there,

I am looking to move to Manchester this summer at some point, and wondering about commute costs -

Currently 13 miles there, and 29mins time taken (although this is from 30-45mins depending on traffic). So total weekly mileage is 130miles ((13X2)X5). Fuel-economy. co. uk currently tells me this would be £25 per week taking into consideration my car's mpg and current fuel prices

The rough location of proposed move would be a 27mile commute, but it is motorways nearly all the way. So time is only 5minutes more - 35mins (but this could probably go up slightly to 40-50mins, which doesn't bother me too much). Working on same principles, weekly mileage 270miles, and weekly cost £53. More than double.

However, my question to you - I've heard motorway is a lot better for petrol consumption, as there is generally no stopping and starting, it is (usually) just a constant speed. I don't think the fuel calculator I used takes this into consideration (but I don't know which way it swings i.e. is £25pw an under-estimate, or is £53pw an over-estimate?!).

Can anyone shed any light on this please? I have googled for info but can't seem to find too much info.

Also, in case you were wondering, the plan is to move to somewhere cheaper in manchester, with shared bills etc that would absorb this cost (and have better social life in a big city!). But because I'm quite an analytical guy, I need to know that everything balances and I won't be out of pocket (or at least not too much!)

Thanks for your help

GJ_WRX

What make/model/age of car do you drive?

Motorways can be better but all depends on how you drive, if you can stand driving around 60mph, pre-empt the traffic slowing etc then it should be ok.

forgotmyname

Small engines will use less fuel in heavy traffic compared to a bigger engine. But on a high speed run a bigger engine will probably be more economical.

Manchester... ouch.. Check the insurance quotes before you think of moving. My insurer wont usually quote Manchester, Just not competetive.

Thats their excuse anyway. Maybe they just dont want anyone from M postcodes?

gilbert_and_sullivan

Constant speed running is more economical but only if you have the will power to keep speeds reasonably low, as speed increases so does drag but increasingly so.

60/65ish is probably the best speed for overall economy, balance of sensible gound covering whilst not having to play games with the lorries.

Richard53

I get the best economy in my car when I do a long journey on motorways and stick to 60-ish. That gets me about an extra 10 mpg (around 25%) compared to hacking around locally. So that's better than A-roads (assuming a restrained right foot), but nowhere near double. You'll still be out of pocket in terms of fuel cost.

(That's a diesel car. My bike (single-cylinder petrol) gets the best fuel economy on A-roads, even ridden 'enthusiastically'. I suspect you won't know for sure until you do some proper, measured consumption tests which, as an analytical guy, you will probably find quite interesting in their own right. Speaking as another analytical guy )

ollyver27

Thanks for your comments guys, sounds like it's not going to make as much of a difference as I thought.

My car: 12/13yo astra, 1.6, automatic, petrol. I used 30mpg on the fuel calculator as a over-cautious guide.

I didn't think about insurance, so thanks for this. I actually recently just cut my renewal quote by around £450 by moving insurer, but when I have just recently gone on go-compare to get the same quote but with an M4 postcode, it raised it by £250

Why is life so difficult haha

worried_jim

ollyver27 wrote: »

Why is life so difficult haha

'cos Manchester is full of geezers.

almillar

If you're so mad about driving economically you should be driving a manual if you can, for starters. But as above, driving at a constant speed is best, even if it's a bit further. Stick to the motorway and anticipate what you see way ahead, instead of looking at just the car in front of you.

vickssinex

I have an 80 mile commute, mainly motorway, in a 1.4 Corsa automatic. Following the tips given here, cruising at 60 I can get mid 40s mpg, which isn't bad and I think is the best performance/comfort balance. I got 50 mpg by dropping the speed to 50 but the experience was horrible.

facade

You should get 40-45mpg on the motorway if you keep to 60-65, the auto will go into lock-up, in town it never gets the chance as it needs to do about 40mph to lock.