Fuel Economy Reporting Thread

klint

dellboy102 wrote: »

oh right, so basically floor it, had no idea, all these years I thought me accelerating gradually was saving me money!, I'm sure I read that it was more fuel efficient as well, with conflicting information its hard who to believe, different websites say different things.

To put it simply, flooring it obviously uses more fuel PER UNIT TIME.

But in that unit time, you will have made much more progress towards your destination. And what we're saying is that flooring it will use less fuel PER UNIT DISTANCE. In other words less mpg.

However, don't confuse "flooring it" with driving fast. Just choose your desired speed, accelerate quickly to that speed and stick to it. Also, if your acceleration is quick, you will need to reach a lower top speed (therefore better fuel economy) whereas if it took you ages to accelerate you will have already spent a lot of time at a low speed while accelerating, and therefore you will need to have a higher top speed (therefore less economy) during the rest of your journey in order to catch up.

jeferey

I have a 2.2 CDTi Honda FRV and have achieved an average 46mpg driving with mpg in mind. It is slowly increasing over time. My last fill up was 50.1mpg over 536 miles. This is a mixture of town, A road, motorway and the obilgatory roadworks and queues driving to Sheffield. I am reasonable pleased with this for a six seater and it is better than the 2.0 dTi Zafira I used to own. I use cruise control wherever I can but my question to this forum is does increasing my speed going down hills ( I can do this without cancelling the cruise control ) and then gently easing off the accelerator pedal going up the hill at the other side increase my mpg?

My findings:
I have found keeping to a maximum of 60 mph does the most for my mpg.:T
I also time traffic lights by gently slowing to try and avoid stopping or braking.:rolleyes:

I will try the faster acceleration technique and report back later.

robzilla_2

Regarding switching the engine off as soon as you have reached your destination, just wanted to add that drivers of vehicles fitted with a turbo should NOT DO THIS. Engines with turbos should be allowed to idle for at least 30 seconds, ideally 1-2 minutes before switching off the ignition. This is to ensure proper lubrication and cooling of the turbo.

Any pennies that you would save by not doing this pale into insignificance compared to the cost of a new turbo (as a rough guide, would probably be in the region of between £500 and £1000 or more, depending on the car).

sarymclary

I have a Renault Espace 1.9dci which I regularly get 40mpg+ on the school run (20 mile trip), and better on a longer motorway trip. I've had 700 miles out of a tank of fuel.
I've also just bought a nearly new Clio 1.5dci, which is still on it's first tank of fuel, and the mpg computer just keeps going up and up! We're up to over 60mpg on our schoolrun, so far. Bearing in mind it's only £35 p/a to tax and a group 4 insurance group I am a very happy bunny (it looks great too)!
Thanks for all the tips about accellerating faster, not coasting - I've been guilty of both in my quest to get that mpg to go up.

MarkG_rookie

I saw this on BBC news;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6990446.stm

If more people drove like this we would be saving money and the environment! And, probably lives as well.

Of course, concentrating on driving safely is more important than turning your attention to saving every penny of fuel.

Up to £200 a year - quite a big difference, if you're dependent on your car. More if prices continue to go up!

I think this should be pushed more as it would have a great impact - although I doubt the Government will take it on as it means less tax for them...

Please also read

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1136559784,69078,

Chloe

Can anyone give me advice on ways to save petrol when driving a car with automatic transmission?

I have a Renault Scenic which is 3 years old. It's a 1.6 and I am getting about 32mpg (my pocket could do with getting more mpg as I am driving about 1,500 miles month).

Thanks
Chloe x

jeferey

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Get the Most from Your Automatic Transmission

An automatic transmission liberates you from shifting gears yourself, but nothing is free, and an engine must work a little harder and use a bit more gas to transmit power through an automatic transmission than a manual. For proof, look no further than EPA fuel economy estimates, which are invariably lower for an automatic transmission than for that same vehicle equipped with a manual transmission. Still, there are some things you can do to maximize fuel efficiency in an automatic-transmission vehicle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]During acceleration, listen as the engine note rises and then falls to get a sense of when the transmission is reaching the "top" of one gear ratio and changing down to the next lower ratio. Also, watch the needle on the tachometer climb up the rpm range and descend correspondingly. Remember, the higher the rpm, the more fuel you're burning.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][/FONT]
Some automatic transmissions tend to stay in lower gears a little too long for peak economy. You can sometimes coax the transmission into shifting to high gear earlier than usual by letting up on the gas as you pass 30 mph or so. Then, once it's in top gear, continue to accelerate very gradually.

Found this on http://money.howstuffworks.com/how-to-drive-economically5.htm
There's more - have a look

puddy

I saw on here that someone said get an LPG fitted to raise efficiency. What is this and is it possible for automatic cars. I have a micra 1.2 automatic and have no idea what the fuel consumption is or should be. I dont drive very fast but tend to want to get away from the lights quick. If you have something fitted to the car like this LPG thing, does it count as a modification for insurance?

LandyAndy

dellboy102 wrote: »

I always accelerate slowly on my 1.4 nissan sunny, am I correct in saying that fast acceleration would actually be better for fuel consumption!?

Like you have a choice :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: .

andie99uk

We did Leeds to Somerset for our holiday this year. Last week of August and in a 1.6, 2001 VW Bora managed to get 480 miles from a full tank of Tesco petrol before we filled up part way through the week and another 456 from the next tank.
unfortunatly my wife has a heavy foot & if given the keys will do 1/4 of a tank in 80 miles!!!!
I also drive from Leeds to London a couple of times a month and easily get there & back with fuel to spare.
How does this compere to others here?