petrol consumption for a R reg Corsa

sisbod

Help can anyone give an idea of how far a tank of petrol would take me?
I have just bought a "new to me" 1.2 Corsa - r reg and beautiful! But I am now travelling nearly 90 miles a DAY to get to work and back ( so much for council green policy!)
The problem is I think it is a bit high in consumption as I am getting about 270miles to the tank and with petrol prices it is knocking the stuffing out of my albeit insignificant budget.

So can anyone tell me if I am expecting too much as this really is taking the benefit of working out of my pocket.:mad:

anewman

If the car has been neglected get it given a major service. New plugs, Leads, fuel filter, oil and oil filter change, air filter etc etc. I found the biggest reduction in fuel consumption after changing my plugs, leads, cap, arm and adjusting the valve clearances (valve clearances probably won't be something your car will need doing as it will have hydraulic ones.)

From http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Summary.aspx?model=989&page=3 the lowest MPG figure for a 1.2 corsa is 37mpg (this will probably be the combined figure, expect more for motorway and less for stop-start city driving).

If I am right there are 4.546 litres per Gallon. 37/4.546 = 8.14 miles per litre (now isn't that a nicer firgure to work with). Assuming your petrol tank is 45 litres in total, 45x8.14 = 366.3 miles from filled to the absolute brim to emptying every last drop out of the tank. I would therefore say that 300 would be a good figure to expect out of a "tankfull", and 270 miles doesn't sound disasterous to me so long as it's not 90% motorway driving. For hints and tips on how to reduce fuel consumption see the many threads posted here on the subject.

There's a thingy here http://www.torquecars.com/tools/uk-mpg-calculator.php that lets you work out how much MPG you're getting. Reset the counter whenever you fill up, and take note of how many litres the car takes.

thescouselander

The most important thing to do is to check that your tyres are correctly inflated - it can make a big difference if the presure is too low. Also remember to check your tyre presures regularly as they can go down over time.

jimbo_the_jetset

I've got a 15 year old Peugeot 205 1.1 and get about 500 miles out of a 50 litre tank. I'd expect more than the quoted mid thirties for your 1.2 Corsa.

With your 90 mile round trip you didn't say what driving it is though? Stop start or constant speed?

Follow advice as above, get it serviced. One other quick thought is the exhaust, any smallish holes or loose connections can kill mpg

sisbod

on the whole it has been moterway or major A roads for 60 of the 90 miles but they have been seriously stop start hence my worry about what I should average at!
Thanks for all the advice however the car was basically checked over when I bought it and it all looked fine and dandy!

sisbod

"There's a thingy here http://www.torquecars.com/tools/uk-mpg-calculator.php that lets you work out how much MPG you're getting. Reset the counter whenever you fill up, and take note of how many litres the car takes."

Anewman - This is a really cool gismo - I tried it and it worked it all out and Im not as bad as I thought!! Only thing I did change in the test was that I filled the tank and run 100ish miles then refilled It still gave me a good result ( please dont't burst my bubble) Many thanks Anewman going to check the tyres and bits to really do the job - I might get a REALLY good mileage then!