Petrol Range in Vauxhall Vectra seems low

gazfocus

I have a Vauxhall Vectra 2.2i and last night it said it had a range of 34 miles (the petrol needle was just below 1/4), so I went to the petrol station, put £30 in and the needle went to just under 3/4, but the range only went up to 117 miles. After driving 14 miles this morning, the range now says 128 miles.

Now, I'm not expecting the car to be economical being a 2.2 litre, but surely it must do more than 83 miles to £30 of petrol??

The only thing I can think of is it's 'learnt' the previous owners driving style which might we why the range is going up but is there a way to reset this completely so it will be more accurate?

Foxy-Stoat_3

It should reset as it goes, or you can use the buttons on the end of the stork.

I would fill the tank, zero the trip and see how far you can get until the fuel light is on.

If its a Vectra B 2.2, they are not very good on fuel, not very fast and cost too much to insure for what they are....well thats what I thought after coming from my old Cavalier GSI to a Vectray.

gazfocus

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

It should reset as it goes, or you can use the buttons on the end of the stork.

I would fill the tank, zero the trip and see how far you can get until the fuel light is on.

If its a Vectra B 2.2, they are not very good on fuel, not very fast and cost too much to insure for what they are....well thats what I thought after coming from my old Cavalier GSI to a Vectray.

Thanks Foxy-Stoat. It's a pre-facelift Vectra C but it's an estate. From reading around online, I should be getting 30-35mpg which is definitely more than 80 odd miles to £30

InsideInsurance

How many L you bought is much more useful than the price you paid. Similarly the range calculator is based on an average of your most recent driving style/ electronic gizmos you've been using etc.

To work out your actual MPG its much better to brim the tank, drive it for a while (few days, 100 miles or such) noting exactly the mileage done and then brim the tank again and note exactly the number of L required to do so.

Using your figures and guessing at £1.15 it points at ~15 mpg. By comparison my petrol 4.6L engine manages just over 25 mpg without trying to be economical with my driving (31mpg is its official combined)

Foxy-Stoat_3

gazfocus wrote: »

Thanks Foxy-Stoat. It's a pre-facelift Vectra C but it's an estate. From reading around online, I should be getting 30-35mpg which is definitely more than 80 odd miles to £30

I wouldnt pay too much attention to the range, I drove for 10 miles with the range saying 0 miles before.

gazfocus

InsideInsurance wrote: »

How many L you bought is much more useful than the price you paid. Similarly the range calculator is based on an average of your most recent driving style/ electronic gizmos you've been using etc.

To work out your actual MPG its much better to brim the tank, drive it for a while (few days, 100 miles or such) noting exactly the mileage done and then brim the tank again and note exactly the number of L required to do so.

Using your figures and guessing at £1.15 it points at ~15 mpg. By comparison my petrol 4.6L engine manages just over 25 mpg without trying to be economical with my driving (31mpg is its official combined)

Thanks for this. I will fill it up to the limit when I get some cash in the bank but it was late at night and only had £30 in the bank (and it was a pay at pump at Asda haha).

I've only had the car a week so will see how it goes before worrying too much.

Strider590

Does your heater work in cold weather? Does the coolant temp drop below about 80c when your moving?

One of the biggest hits you can get against your MPG is if the thermostat is jammed open, causing over cooling of the engine, causing the ECU to enrich the fuel mixture and losing you about 10% mpg.

I know this from experience with my Vectra.

gazfocus

Strider590 wrote: »

Does your heater work in cold weather? Does the coolant temp drop below about 80c when your moving?

One of the biggest hits you can get against your MPG is if the thermostat is jammed open, causing over cooling of the engine, causing the ECU to enrich the fuel mixture and losing you about 10% mpg.

I know this from experience with my Vectra.

Hi Strider. Thanks for this. The heater does work in the cold (had it on last night), but I haven't watched the coolant temperature so I will look on my way home from work.

mattyprice4004

gazfocus wrote: »

Hi Strider. Thanks for this. The heater does work in the cold (had it on last night), but I haven't watched the coolant temperature so I will look on my way home from work.

You're best getting into the habit of keeping an eye on the temp gauge for any car, otherwise it's pointless having it.
If you ignore the temp gauge, the first you'll know about an overheat is when your engine seizes solid!

Also, the on board MPG readout isn't to be relied on - as mentioned brim-to-brim is the only way to do it accurately.

mcpitman

Strider590 wrote: »

Does your heater work in cold weather? Does the coolant temp drop below about 80c when your moving?

One of the biggest hits you can get against your MPG is if the thermostat is jammed open, causing over cooling of the engine, causing the ECU to enrich the fuel mixture and losing you about 10% mpg.

I know this from experience with my Vectra.

Yup, agree with this, my old vec-c diesel had a jammed thermostat when purchased, upon replacement went from 40mpg to 50mpg (I mainly mway trawl).

Keep your eye on it when driving too, it should go to 90 and stay there, with little to no variation in this weather (May dip slightly if you put heaters in full chat on a sub zero morning etc).

reeac

Dirty air filter? Always worth checking if the car is new to you.