1.0 litre engines

Nebulous2

I had a 900cc Dacia Logan, and towed a caravan lots of places, including over some mountain roads in Spain and the South of France. 

I had to work the gears, and it hammered the fuel consumption, but it made it. 

MovingForwards

I've just purchased a 6 year old C1 and not had any problems with hills.
Previously I had a 16 year old 1L picanto and took it round the Highlands.
I've had a 14 year old 1L polo round the Lake District

I've hired a matiz type car and drove round the Sierra Nevada.
Years ago a had a 13 year old 1043cc polo and frequently high-tailed it to N.Wales, fully loaded with camping, hiking gear and a passenger.

I also comfortably drive on motorways and do city driving. It's all about having the right gear for getting up the hills / mountains.

I've had a couple of bigger cars over the years, but they're never as much fun.

NBLondon

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

Nebulous2

NBLondon said:

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

Those small high-revving turbo engines need more gear changes than traditional cars. They also have smaller flywheels, so don't have as much momentum in the engine. In most of the vehicles I've had / driven, you could go through a junction fairly slowly in second gear. In a sub 1 litre turbo you'll generally need to go to first or you will stall. 

It may be stating the bleeding obvious that you have to change down to go up a hill, but to maintain decent progress you are likely to have to do it more often and earlier in a car with one of these fashionable small engines. 

SallyDucati

NBLondon said:

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

It seems to be that people are taught now to change gears at a certain revs.  I discovered this when with my sister in her car struggling to get up a hill in 4th!  I had to tell her to change down gears, and she said she was taught to change up at certain revs, not taking into account situations.  Mad I know.

MovingForwards

NBLondon said:

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

Having spent over a week reading through a lot of posts in this section, so far I'm back to April 2014, you'd be surprised about what needs stating even though it's obvious.

NBLondon

SallyDucati said:

NBLondon said:

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

It seems to be that people are taught now to change gears at a certain revs.  I discovered this when with my sister in her car struggling to get up a hill in 4th!  I had to tell her to change down gears, and she said she was taught to change up at certain revs, not taking into account situations.  Mad I know.

Or the car tells them...  My Focus tries to tell me to change up at certain points - allegedly for best fuel consumption - but I apply common sense and reading the road ahead as well.

BOWFER

Nebulous2 said:

NBLondon said:

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

Those small high-revving turbo engines need more gear changes than traditional cars. 

This is too simplistic a view, it all depends on the power and torque of the 1.0 engine.
For example, the same 1.0 turbo engine in a VW Polo can range from 80bhp to 115bhp, with the subsequent increases in torque too.
I'm not sure what you mean by a 'traditional car', presumably a normally aspirated engine (non turbo).
These wee turbo engines are putting out as much torque a much bigger NA engine.
You might feel the need to drive them hard, but they don't need driving hard and offer more than enough performance for most.
It's a sign of the times that we turn our nose up at 100bhp now, when that used to be considered a pretty sporty power level.

tr7phil

BOWFER said:

Nebulous2 said:

NBLondon said:

I notice a lot of people mentioning you might have to change gears to get up a steep hill.    To me this is stating the bleeding obvious...   Are there so many people who haven't grasped this and really think they should do everything in 4th?

Those small high-revving turbo engines need more gear changes than traditional cars. 

This is too simplistic a view, it all depends on the power and torque of the 1.0 engine.
For example, the same 1.0 turbo engine in a VW Polo can range from 80bhp to 115bhp, with the subsequent increases in torque too.
I'm not sure what you mean by a 'traditional car', presumably a normally aspirated engine (non turbo).
These wee turbo engines are putting out as much torque a much bigger NA engine.
You might feel the need to drive them hard, but they don't need driving hard and offer more than enough performance for most.
It's a sign of the times that we turn our nose up at 100bhp now, when that used to be considered a pretty sporty power level.

Yes indeed, my 1980 Triumph TR7 has 105bhp, exactly the same as my son's two cylinder 875cc Turbo Alfa Romeo Mito.  To be fair both of them seem quite sporty to me even compared with my 184bhp BMW 320i.

BOWFER

NBLondon said:

Or the car tells them...  My Focus tries to tell me to change up at certain points - allegedly for best fuel consumption - but I apply common sense and reading the road ahead as well.

there's nothing 'allegedly' about it, revs are the enemy of MPG and keeping the revs low will absolutely make a difference.
So these recommended gearchange points are well thought out.
Of course you're free to ignore them, I do.