'How much further can you go on a tank of petrol?' blog discussion
Comments
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Two long posts in a row! Apologies to anyone hoping for a quick read!
From a pollution point of view, I agree with camaj that a hybrid engine makes more sense for someone making mostly urban trips.
Just to avoid confusion I'm not talking about a true hybrid like a prius or the Honda insight, these mild hybrids are only designed run in electric mode at very low speeds whereas a proper hybrid you could drive around on battery power alone.
You're right about diesels, they get very good mileage and can often use bio-diesel or even better ordinary veggie oil (super money saving/eco friendliness). At one stage I was determined to get a diesel engine next, now I'm thinking maybe even an electric car (EV)! The problem with figures for these mild hybrids is the testing may not reflect what you get in the real world. In theory, at least, you should be able to sit in stationary traffic for hours and not use a single drop of fuel, where as you'd be burning a fair bit in a normal car (anyone know how much idling burns?). If I'm right someone who has to drive through big traffic jams every day would clearly get a bigger saving than someone who has to wait at the lights for 20mins a day total. It all depends on what testing they use to arrive at the figures. The testing is standardised for all vehicals so may not even include long periods of idling. I tried searching the web for any owner data but nothing popped up on a short search0 -
I have an embarrassingly complex spreadsheet to keep track of my fuel economy. (It's 33.3mpg, with a variation of about 2mpg. It's a 2002 petrol Vauxhall Zafira, mostly used for dual carriageway commuting.) So now I know exactly how efficient the car is, how much I spend on petrol, and how far I drive every week. And I've got graphs to back it up.
I also did a comparison of fuel from different suppliers. (My dad - who knows about cars - reckoned supermarket fuel was rubbish, and I wanted to find out.) So for my car, Tesco petrol comes out worst, and Texaco is the best. But Texaco is rather more expensive, so Morrisons ends up being the cheapest per mile. The bounds of uncertainty on this are about as large as the differences though, so your mileage may vary.0 -
Don't you mean "How much farther can you go..."?;)0
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I use the brakes on my car to slow down so that I don't break it by hitting the car in front0
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The issue of cruising up to traffic lights until they turn green. I wonder how this strategy is affected by intelligent traffic lights. The majority of traffic lights now have a vehicle sensor in the road at the stop line. So if you are approaching a set of lights that are on red they will sit on red forever and a day (especially if you are on the low priority road of the junction) until you enter the sensor area. So you'll end up having to stop and then accelerate regardless of whether you cruised to the stop line or braked to the stop line.0
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Has anyone tried out the Shell FuelSave yet? They claim that you can save up to 1 litre per tank if you fill up 50 liters.
Of course, the also say: Actual savings may vary according to vehicle, driving conditions and driving style.0 -
So if you are approaching a set of lights that are on red they will sit on red forever and a day (especially if you are on the low priority road of the junction) until you enter the sensor area. So you'll end up having to stop and then accelerate regardless of whether you cruised to the stop line or braked to the stop line.
It depends how far the sensor is from the lights - there's one junction near me on a 40mph stretch of road. If you approach at 40mph you do have to stop for a few seconds before it changes. If you slow your approach to 30mph and there's nothing from the other directions, it will change just in time for you to cruise through at 30 without touching your brakes at all. :-)0 -
Much good advice in all these posts! But the real secret is not having a lead boot on your right foot. Accelerate gently (no more than 2000 revs in each gear up to your final gear), anticipate your braking thus braking gently, and remember: open windows and sunroofs, air conditioning, incorrect tyre pressures, etc., will all increae your fuel consumption.0
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Filled my Smart ForTwo 0.699cc Diesel yesterday and so stuck the figures in a spreadsheet and the results are:
Date of fill up: 31/08/10
Fill Up Cost: £28.14
Cost per litre: £1.139
Miles done since last fill: 366.2
Litres filled: 24.71
Gallons filled: 5.4362
MPG: 67.36 (think I have had more like 75mpg out of it before... Smart claim 80 - 85 mpg).
Cost per mile (fuel only): £0.08
Driving is a mix of most types of road.
The car is on a lease at £164 per month for 15,000 a year. So £164 / (15000/12) = £0.1312 per mile for the lease.
13.12p per mile for the car plus 8p per mile for the Diesel = 21.12p per mile (excluding insurance, servicing etc).
Just checked and Insurance = 2p per mile0 -
Hi have just bought a clio 07plate and currently am wavering around the 37mpg mark. It is used mostly for an 8 mile drive to work through Manchester. It was alarming how the MPG dropped to 35 when doing some local errands over the weekend!0
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