Fiesta 1.4 MPG

pec171

Hi can anyone help me, 2 moths ago I bought a brand new Ford Fiesta 1.4 Petrol Zetec Blue (special edition). It has a computerised milage system and over the last 2 months I have done around 1000 miles, the thing is that the MPG is only sitting at 33MPG. I currently only drive the car to and from work, basically 20 ish miles a day half on the dual carriageway and the other half at 40mph.

Does this seam very low to anyone else? I used to have a diesel fiesta which did a lot more miles for a tank of petrol

It is also displaying average speed of 22mph which since I'm usually sitting at 40 or 70, does this include any time when i'm stuck in traffic?

Conor_3

It seems about right for the type of driving you're doing. You're only doing a short journey so it's basically barely getting time to warm up properly and the first 4-5 miles will be on "cold start". Going on what it's saying your average speed is, it sounds bang on.

Typically a diesel gets around 40% higher MPG.
The average speed is right as well as it includes the time spent stationary and stuck in traffic. Basically as long as the engine is running, the trip computer classes it as driving whether you're moving or not.

Take it for a run out this weekend on an uncongested road and you'll see the MPG is higher. Should be in the high 30's/low 40's.

thescouselander

pec171 wrote: »

Hi can anyone help me, 2 moths ago I bought a brand new Ford Fiesta 1.4 Petrol Zetec Blue (special edition). It has a computerised milage system and over the last 2 months I have done around 1000 miles, the thing is that the MPG is only sitting at 33MPG. I currently only drive the car to and from work, basically 20 ish miles a day half on the dual carriageway and the other half at 40mph.

Does this seam very low to anyone else? I used to have a diesel fiesta which did a lot more miles for a tank of petrol

It is also displaying average speed of 22mph which since I'm usually sitting at 40 or 70, does this include any time when i'm stuck in traffic?

The average speed does inculde the times when you are sitting stationary in traffic. If you are sitting traffic this will make your MPG go down quickly.

Your MPG sounds a bit low - my OH drives a similar distance in her 1.6L Megane and gets slightly better MPG than you indicated.

When I drive to work I actually take a longer route to work to avoid standing traffic - its an extra two miles but I actually use less petrol.

A few other things to consider:

Have you checked your tyres are properly inflated - this will make a big difference

How often do you reset your computer? If you reset it on every journey it should be easier to see the difference in fuel consumption on a busy day compared with a clear day.

iNath

I drive a 2006 Fiesta 1.4l Zetec and my average is 35mpg. I mainly do short journeys but there is the odd occasion I'll go further (Paris was one )

goldspanners

pec171 wrote: »

I used to have a diesel fiesta which did a lot more miles for a tank of petrol

im surprized it done any miles!

Andybez38

Well spotted, only the other day some woman broke down having put petrol in her deisel work van. Woops

deltic_2

I have always found fuel computers to underestimate mpg.

The first thing you should do is properly measure your fuel economy as follows:

Fill you tank full...set your trip counter to zero...use your car until the fuel tank is nearly empty...refill the fuel tank to full again making a note of the mileage on the trip counter and the amount of litres put in.

Then do this calculation to get the true mpg...

(mileage / litres) x 4.54

While you are doing this record your driving pattern i.e. length of each journey and whether it is oredominantly town driving, country roads or dual carriageway. Once you've done this, post the results so we can make a more accurate assessment of whether you are getting a fair mpg.

pec171

Ok I did mean Diesel - my husband is always getitng on to me for saying the wrong fuel type although i know what I mean

fiesta_mad

Hi
Ive noticed you have replied to someones query about there mpg, I just wondered if anyone could help with my query. I brought a Ford Fiesta Ghia 1.4 about a month ago and feel it is excessively using petrol. I travel about 30 miles to and from work (60 mile round trip),up and down the motorway. Travelling at 70mph. My car is only doing around 310-320miles to the tank according to the trip ometer. According to the handbook my car should hold 45 litres of petrol and should do 45.6mpg. The computer in the car is reading 36.8mpg. Im just really confused???!!!! Is the reading on the computer lower because of the distance I travel, the speed at which I drive or is the car in need of visiting the garage???? Any advice would be grateful

Conor wrote: »

It seems about right for the type of driving you're doing. You're only doing a short journey so it's basically barely getting time to warm up properly and the first 4-5 miles will be on "cold start". Going on what it's saying your average speed is, it sounds bang on.

Typically a diesel gets around 40% higher MPG.
The average speed is right as well as it includes the time spent stationary and stuck in traffic. Basically as long as the engine is running, the trip computer classes it as driving whether you're moving or not.

Take it for a run out this weekend on an uncongested road and you'll see the MPG is higher. Should be in the high 30's/low 40's.

AdrianHi

On-Board Computer (OBC) MPG readings can be +/- 10% out and they do keep a rolling average over a fairly long distance, on my car it's 9999 miles.
Try reseting the MPG counter when you fill up, but better yet do a proper brim-to-brim calculation as suggested above.
Tyre pressures, proper servicing all help MPG, but so does driving style and the nature of the trip. I can get anywhere between 37MPG and 52MPG out of my car depending on time of year and nature of the trip.

36MPG on a "combined cycle" 45MPG car doing mostly 70MPH motorway driving does seem low. How much bumper to bumper traffic are you stuck in at the start and end of your journey?
Winter and warming the engine up in congested town driving is the way to get only 37MPG out of my car.
Cruising all day on the motorway at 70-80MPH is the way to get 48-52MPG