Fuel save pro

CoastingHatbox

Speed is only one factor, albeit an important one.

Anticipation is also very important. Ease of the accelerator earlier instead of relying so heavily on brakes to slow you down on approach to junctions/reductions in speed limit. Don't bother accelerating to 40 mph for that short stretch between two 30 mph zones. Accelerate slowly (I found this makes a big difference).

In traffic, try and minimise the number of times you stop and start. It's not worth moving the car just to move up one car length in a queue, unless of course doing so unblocks traffic flow by clearing a junction etc.. (still important to be considerate).

I found buying decent tyres can add around 2-3 mpg, and keeping them at the correct pressure is also helps.

Remove anything from the vehicle that doesn't need to be in it, to keep weight to a minimum. Obviously don't go to extreme - if driving long distances or late at night probably good to keep a waterproof coat/warm blanket in the vehicle. Spare bulb kit, first aid kit and possibly a fire extinguisher are good sense.

Turn off any ancilliaries you don't need. Use air conditioning sparingly.

I managed a 280 mile round trip earlier this week and achieved 70.5 mpg average, slightly better than the manufacturer quoted figure. That included over an hour stuck in slow moving traffic. On the motorway, I was doing 52-53 mph (dashcam GPS reading) which is the same speed as the slower moving lorries.

Same trip previously at 55-56 mph I averaged 65 mpg.

Richard53

CoastingHatbox said:

I managed a 280 mile round trip earlier this week and achieved 70.5 mpg average, slightly better than the manufacturer quoted figure. 

How are you measuring this? I have been keeping track of my actual mpg each fill up and comparing it to the mpg displayed on the driver info screen.  Over 2 years and several k miles the onboard reading has been an average of 7% better than the real, measured figure.  My car regularly tells me I am getting 60 mpg, but in reality it is about 56. I'm still happy with the economy, but now I'm aware that the car tends to flatter itself.

Krakkkers

My old mk3 focus 1.6d used to average 72 mpg on my daily commute (35 miles each way) would do 800 miles on a tank.