Does it exist? 55mpg, reliable, not tedious?

[sierraman]

28 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

Depends on your driving style and routes, I guess.

My 525d estate shows 45.5mpg average over the last c.30k miles, incredible for c.200bhp and 2 tons of barge. Big old unstressed 6 banger. Very pleased overall.

Mini diesels.. are they any good? 

 

For £1500? No. 

[motorpunk]

10 minutes ago, sierraman said:

For £1500? No. 

Ah. I missed that bit. ?

[stephen01]

I’d have honestly thought you’d get more than 45 out of the civic, regularly get that from my CRV loaded up? 
 

Mega MPG you need to be looking at 206 1.4 hdi, 207 1.6hdi, easy 65 mpg out of mine. Our modus does 47 knocking about and again 65 when we get it on a run.

[garethj]

My current Civic is a petrol so upper 40s to the gallon is it when I’m trundling around.  Book figure is about 42mpg I think.

A diesel version would probably be sensible but there aren’t many cars I’ve had two of and the Civic isn’t that special.

Some interesting suggestions, I’ll have a look at a Mini One, BMW 320 and I’d love a Xantia but I’m not sure it would do 15,000+ a year without a mishap, just because even the newest one has had several careless owners by now

[Talbot]

16 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

106 derv? My mate's 1.5d 106 was a great little car in the late 90s. Mind you, acceptable levels of comfort and safety may have moved on slightly since then.

Acceptable levels of performance too.  A 106 1.5d had woefully slow performance in the mid 90s.  25 years later and it could be classed as dangerously underpowered.  Joining a motorway on an uphill slip-lane means you're trying to merge at 55-60mph, even though you've driven the absolute balls off it up the slip-lane.

And of course if you drive it hard enough to just-about-not-really keep up with traffic, you won't be getting 60mpg out of it.  More like 40.  If you drive it to get 60mpg out of it, you'll permanently have someone 6" from your rear bumper trying to shove you along the road.  which in something with all the structural integrity of tin foil is not ideal.

[Jazoli]

8 hours ago, garethj said:

My current Civic is a petrol so upper 40s to the gallon is it when I’m trundling around.  Book figure is about 42mpg I think.

A diesel version would probably be sensible but there aren’t many cars I’ve had two of and the Civic isn’t that special.

Some interesting suggestions, I’ll have a look at a Mini One, BMW 320 and I’d love a Xantia but I’m not sure it would do 15,000+ a year without a mishap, just because even the newest one has had several careless owners by now

I really don't know why you are changing unless you WANT a new car, you are really not going to get any better than what you have at minimal risk, high 40's is still fantastic in reality, I've had a lot of cars even supposedly super economical ones and the best was my wife's 307 2.0HDi which would average 51 all day, the car you buy (which will invariably be a diesel) WILL need money spending on it and will continue to be needy as 1500 buys f. all in reality, the extra 40 quid a month it'll cost you is nothing in the overall scheme of things, your Honda will not break and probably will cost you nothing apart from tyres and servicing, plus you have a spacious modern car to drive and its a damn site safer than something like a 106 which will crumple like a tin can in a bump.

Just my 2p.

[Cord Fourteener]

I often use autotrader's refined search to limit mpg or road tax and go through various different cars with various other criteria.

It turns out there is a tuning of mid-00s Volvo V70 AWD 5 pot diesel that gets good mpg and has a 0-60 of less than 9 seconds!

I often quite fancy a cheap low milage Hyundai with high mpg figures. The i10, while looking like a dull super mini is supposed to be a fantastic drive on the twisties.

[jon.k]

I went from a golf tdi mk4 to a saab 2.3 petrol for the above reason- I had each of them for about 2 years and the saab was overall cheaper to run despite being much less fuel efficient. Just a dmf wipes out months of fuel savings depending on your mileage.

I now have a 205 non turbo which sips fuel but I expect something will go wrong with it at some point and if I was doing lots of miles I’d take your civic.

That said, if you get lucky on a reliable old diesel it is very satisfying. 

 

 

[Asimo]

Tedious is a good word, I think I get what you mean: a drive that should have been enjoyable in some way became, well, just work. Something to endure. But driving is expensive, so it should be enjoyable. Not tedious.

What makes a drive in a particular car tedious?  For me it isn't just about low power,  but rather a combination of noise, comfort, ride and driving position, visibility,  control feel etc.

Nice place to sit, good view, sweet controls:  not tedious, however slow.

Slumped in some gloomy cabin, stiff ride, artificial & vague controls, rough or buzzy engine: tedious however fast.

[garethj]

Yes, the Celica managed to be relaxing but at the same time a fun drive.  A 205 turbo diesel isn’t refined but it’s a huge hoot, I imagine a Honda Insight is good because it’s so single minded and you’re literally driving the car from the future.

[garethj]

40 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

It turns out there is a tuning of mid-00s Volvo V70 AWD 5 pot diesel that gets good mpg and has a 0-60 of less than 9 seconds!

I often quite fancy a cheap low milage Hyundai with high mpg figures. The i10, while looking like a dull super mini is supposed to be a fantastic drive on the twisties.

Which Volvo is this?  I like them mostly because of the stereo?

[garbaldy]

11 hours ago, sierraman said:

For £1500? No. 

Offered  this last month 85k on the road 16 hunna but I bet could be had at 15.

[sierraman]

Yeah but what were it like? 

[garbaldy]

Appart from a couple of car park dimples and a scuff on bumper it was very clean and Drove really well service book full and I would have bought it but daughter said no likey, I tried to push it onto the wife but she said nope I'll keep mine thanks.

You can find a good car for reasonable money just have to be patient.

[sierraman]

3 minutes ago, garbaldy said:

Appart from a couple of car park dimples and a scuff on bumper it was very clean and Drove really well service book full and I would have bought it but daughter said no likey, I tried to push it onto the wife but she said nope I'll keep mine thanks.

You can find a good car for reasonable money just have to be patient.

Sometimes if you are lucky you can find one where the owners been offered fuck all as a trade in so they’ll try punting it on private to get an extra few hundred.

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, garethj said:

Which Volvo is this?  I like them mostly because of the stereo?

One of the ford era v70s 2.4 d5, 163 bhp manual. Check the stats, there must have been a few different tunings. The one I noticed was 06 I think.

You can always get them tuned with a software tune anyway, if you're into that sort of thing. That will give a sub 9 second 0-60!

Though if you do that and excercise that performance you will not achieve high mpg, and you'll have someone's lung disease on your conscience.

[Cord Fourteener]

There's always the 74mpg drive version of the V50 too... 100hp high mpg Volvo.

[Out Run]

My mate has a 1.5 diesel Civic. A 64 plate. He doesn’t try to eek every last 0.1 mile out of the tank and it averages 60 plus MPG.

It’s also a nice car to drive or be a passenger in.

Pretty gutless, but if you want a constant 55 plus MPG I doubt that is going to matter.

[twosmoke300]

16 hours ago, Mudster said:

Is OP's a diesel? 42-44mpg seems very low so I assumed petrol. The diesel has a fair bit of shove from low down which I find pretty decent. I quite enjoy driving the thing although I accept it wouldn't be for everyone.

My last half tank of diesel over 274 miles was this  

That’s what I thought . My petrol one does 38-40 mpg with ac on and bumbling round the lanes in Cornwall.

I would be looking at my driving style , stuck thermostat or binding brakes personally 

[garethj]

2 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

That’s what I thought . My petrol one does 38-40 mpg with ac on and bumbling round the lanes in Cornwall.

I would be looking at my driving style , stuck thermostat or binding brakes personally 

Or that it’s a petrol.  ?

I’m obviously a bit mental but not enough to swap one diesel hatchback for another and expect 20% better fuel economy.  Current Civic is 1.8 petrol 

[GeordieInExile]

10 hours ago, Talbot said:

Acceptable levels of performance too.  A 106 1.5d had woefully slow performance in the mid 90s.  25 years later and it could be classed as dangerously underpowered.  Joining a motorway on an uphill slip-lane means you're trying to merge at 55-60mph, even though you've driven the absolute balls off it up the slip-lane.

And of course if you drive it hard enough to just-about-not-really keep up with traffic, you won't be getting 60mpg out of it.  More like 40.  If you drive it to get 60mpg out of it, you'll permanently have someone 6" from your rear bumper trying to shove you along the road.  which in something with all the structural integrity of tin foil is not ideal.

A quick Google says these had 57bhp... that doesn't seem *that* low for the time in something with the weight of a packet of crisps. Bearing in mind stuff from 2 classes above was still selling with 60bhp (1.3 Escort, 1.4 Golf, 1.4 Astra, etc.).

[twosmoke300]

18 minutes ago, garethj said:

Or that it’s a petrol.  ?

I’m obviously a bit mental but not enough to swap one diesel hatchback for another and expect 20% better fuel economy.  Current Civic is 1.8 petrol 

Ahh . I would still be tempted with keeping the civic for its overall low running costs tho

[rickvw72]

This is the question I mostly try to find the answer for, for my daily driver.

Ive had almost all things mentioned.

106 1.4 / 1.5d - frugal, slow, not nice.

405 1.9td - smoky, rattly, 40 odd mpg over 40,000 miles. Went ok.

406 HDi 110- warning light city, marginally faster than 1.9 td. Not great on fuel, didn’t keep long.

Audi A4 1.9tdi 110 - pre pd. Rattly idle. 50mpg over 50000 miles. You think the 1.9 peugeot goes well till you drive one of these. From a different planet than the French stuff. Kept it till it died. Went to the moon and carried on. Died at 255k.

Golf TDI 130 - still got and can’t bring myself to get rid. Done 50k in this, it’s on 200k. Hewn from granite. Serious torque as well, this would tow a 106 diesel to 60 faster than it will get there itself. I’ve seen 52mpg over the years. Cruises at 100mph on the Autobahn. Does eat suspension bushes and top mounts for a laugh.

Volvo D5 V70- sounded great for a diesel. Plenty of power, Had some issues and all parts expensive. 40mpg over 10k. Didn’t handle.

Just bought a Honda Accord 2.2 cdti.

Only done a few hundred miles in this so far, comfy, quiet, 42mpg so far. All the toys, handles, comfy. The smoothest by far.

Mrs has a Spaceship Civic, but 1.8 petrol. This has lovely balance for a car of its value. 

Ive never driven a car to acheive max mpg I’d add, and many of my miles are on rural roads including single track lanes. These have all been my daily cars, not toys so all would have done at least 300 miles a week and variously loaded with stuff and people. 
 

 

 

[Crusty Sills]

I do 30k/year and to do this I bought a 6j Seat Ibiza 1.4 TDI ecomotive on a 2010 plate.  It's a slightly raucous 3 pot engine but quite fun.  I think that it looks nicer than a Polo/Fabia. Mrs Sills has the family car and 90% of the time I'm alone driving or have just 1 passenger so I opted for a 3 door. I drive a mix of roads but a few more miles on the A14 so dual carriage.  Out of a full tank (I mean brimmed) I can get 850 miles, this works out at between 64-67 mpg all the time. I don't drive fast and enjoy the thought of hyper miling only thing I'd like as a luxury (I have a fairly basic model)  is cruise control. £0 tax too. 

[rickvw72]

Minis. Never owned one but 20 years in the trade experience talking, are shit. The diesel versions are even shitter. I recently turned one down with a blown turbo for 200 quid. Awful in every way, apart from I don’t think they look terrible. 

[garethj]

Just now, rickvw72 said:

Minis. Never owned one but 20 years in the trade experience talking, are shit. The diesel versions are even shitter. I recently turned one down with a blown turbo for 200 quid. Awful in every way, apart from I don’t think they look terrible. 

That’s a shame, a Yaris engine but fun to drive looks attractive but I’ve also heard they don’t do the miles that well?

[rickvw72]

Yaris engine?

Early ones have the Ford / psa 1.6 engine, in all its oil leaking, turbo and injector failure ridden, Black Death producing crapness.

Deliveroo runs on the Yaris d4d 1.3 round these parts. These seem immortal, but there not a bag of laughs to drive.

[Noel Tidybeard]

civic gets better mpgs with a smnidge moar air in the tyres and tyres with a better label rating

i put some maxxis on my primera which killed the fule economy- down to 18 round town from 2.0 cvt! ?

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, rickvw72 said:

Audi A4 1.9tdi 110 - pre pd. Rattly idle. 50mpg over 50000 miles. You think the 1.9 peugeot goes well till you drive one of these. From a different planet than the French stuff. Kept it till it died. Went to the moon and carried on. Died at 255k.

Golf TDI 130 - still got and can’t bring myself to get rid. Done 50k in this, it’s on 200k. Hewn from granite. Serious torque as well, this would tow a 106 diesel to 60 faster than it will get there itself. I’ve seen 52mpg over the years. Cruises at 100mph on the Autobahn. Does eat suspension bushes and top mounts for a laugh.

Those two (or similar VAG equivalent) would be my choice. There are no cars that don't have problems but if you can find one that has been looked after, it will do lunar mileage, get great MPG and be good to drive, possibly more the Golf than the A4 but it depends how much room you need.

The Golf will probably have window regulator and rear wiper problems but they're well documented and fixable

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, rickvw72 said:

....Golf TDI 130 - still got and can’t bring myself to get rid. Done 50k in this, it’s on 200k. Hewn from granite. Serious torque as well, this would tow a 106 diesel to 60 faster than it will get there itself. I’ve seen 52mpg over the years. Cruises at 100mph on the Autobahn. Does eat suspension bushes and top mounts for a laugh...... 

Borat TDi equivalent equally efficient, but 100 version probably more tolerant than 130. There's always the option to remap to equivalent 130 anyway.