Anyone give a shite about fuel economy?

[puddlethumper]

XUD 1,9 (305 van) I get about 55 mpg on a run if I keep to 70mph. Which I don't. Round the houses about 38. 

So I don't bother too much about economy. I did once go down the M5 driving like a granny at 55/60, which was

as boring as hell, and managed 65mpg. I'll never do it again coz I was losing concentration.

[DaveDorson]

If I didn't care I wouldn't own a Mondeo diesel.

The van is a diesel as that's a van, the Mondeo is a diesel because smol petrol engine cars are miserable and big petrol engines I can't afford to run because I drive like a moron.

It's an old cam chain 2.2 diesel, so I'm lucky if I break 50mpg, however if it drops right down I know to put air in the tyres 😆.

 

[Jikovron]

I care for practical reasons as my cash doesnt go far, but if I had disposable income then i would only be concerned to not to be flagrantly wasting it .my daihatsu did 63mpg combined, the ignis 1300 does 50 and the other halfs celerio will reliably do 68-70 generally so always an exciting time on the road for us!!

 

 

[fairkens]

I get a travel allowance from work so, when I was doing the commute, it mattered cos every mpg was cash in my pocket. Having said that I run a 1.8 petrol mondeo and find 38-40 mpg is the best mix of speed and economy over a very mixed 80 mile round trip. Anything steadier and it becomes unbearable pretty quickly

[cort1977]

No, but I don't commute and do most errands on a push bike so when I drive it's mostly for fun and holidays.

[juular]

This thread got me thinking about the numbers. The following probably constitutes the world's finest manmaths.

It's quite stark to see a difference in MPG figures on paper. My daily diesel gives me about 40mpg. To me for a big brick of a van that's fine and I don't even think about it.

The Ovlov C70 I just acquired does 25mpg, 30 on a good day. Every time I put the foot down the grin on my face is followed by a pang of self berating and guilt. 

It sounds massive. I mean 25-30% extra cost to go anywhere.. right?

So I worked out that if I took the Ovlov to work every single day instead of the van, I'd be £220 down a year. In reality I probably wouldn't and would chop and change depending on weather, mood etc, but let's stick with £200 or so.

That's fuck all really in the grand scheme of car budgeting. In fact it's quite possible the van will need a timing chain next year for which I'm looking at £600. That's any saving on fuel well and truly blown away on maintenance.

It's quite easy and tempting to focus narrowly on MPG figures as the cost of running a car, but you never know when a car is going to land you a three figure bill.

Conclusion: I'm just going to shut up and drive.

[captain_70s]

I keep an eye on it, partially because I've limited income and partially because it helps to see if anything is wrong with a car.

The Acclaim gets 38-43mpg.
The Dolly gets 33-38mpg.
The Volvo gets 19-23mpg.

That means commuting in the Volvo compared to the Acclaim would be an extra grand a year in fuel, a not inconsiderable sum.

[S2000]

Since posting this I’ve become a little more compliant with slow and steady wins the race plus driving like a taxi driver as often as possible (no offence intended) and hitting top gear to maximise that fuel potential. On the school run I have a couple of straights on the return run I use to go balls deep on pretending to be chewy in the millennium Falcon as I go into hyper space.........not this work though..... barley hit 50 and the return run  is the same time pretty much as before.

I had to put some squirt in the truck on Tuesday and I’ve done an extra 7 mpg than before, worth it? yes as it has given me a different perspective and more time to look at those yummy mummies 🤡

[Grumblespeed]

I just have the general feeling that about 45mpg is decent fuel consumption - now this conveniently converts to about 10 miles per litre so if I zero the trip when I fill up, I've got an easy target when I go to fill the next time by just dividing the mileage by 10! 300 miles if I can get under 30 litres going in, happy times👍, if it doesn't click before then I've been a hoon or the car's broken🙁 Seems to have worked for pretty much every car I've ever owned except a 405 that always ran high 30s, low 40s mpg and my new Panda that cracks 50. Means you can keep an eye on it without really having to think too hard about working it out.

Probably doesn't work so well if you're packing something Americans would refer to as a "small block" though...

[2MB]

I usually work out mpg for the sake of it and do try to drive efficiently most of the time, but it doesn’t bother me very much. It’s a good job because some of my current and previous motors have had a pretty healthy appetite. Most notable was the W123 280CE that did an average of 12mpg on my short commute. I once remarked to my girlfriend after on the way home with a boot full of bathroom tiles “fuck me this thing is getting through petrol like it’s pouring out of the back”. Got home and it was, pickup hose had perished and failed catastrophically 

[808 Estate]

On 9/19/2020 at 10:48 PM, S2000 said:

My L200 local driving will do 140 miles on 30 quids worth of Derv

My Hilux is doing about 320 miles local/motorway on 60 quids worth.

[Bradders59]

A month or so ago I brimmed my Clio 1.5dci and decided to drive as gently as possible just to see what mpg I could achieve. Over the next few weeks the car decided it was doing 70.1mpg, but brimming the tank again and doing the math, showed at had achieved a genuine 67mpg. Which I found a little bit amazing. 

My 3.2 Omega has averaged 25.0 mpg over the last 6 months, which is one reason why it does 4k miles a year and the Clio does 8k.

[Popsicle]

As a courier fuel  is my biggest expense so I keep a close eye on consumption and try* to drive economically. All figures on a spreadsheet so I understand my costs, helping me to make sure I make some money on the jobs I do. Over the last 226k miles average consumption of 53.43 at a cost of 8.88p per mile, then another 5.3p per mile in tax, insurance, maintenance and cost of vehicle. Riveting stuff eh!

[Jamie]

i have a 420d with an 8 speed auto for economy, but same engine/box combo as  @Kiltox old 3 series, it barely gets warm on my 7 mile commute so am getting 38mpg, but as i have  a 7 mile commute each way, economy really doesnt matter. 

i bought the car because i like the car, not becasue of the Mpeegee. 

I also got shut of my wifes uber economical Civic 2.2 dtec to @Agila as already mentioned in this thread as she's been told she's WFH until at LEAST next year,so swapped it for a 2.0 turbo petrol TT, but its bags of fun and she literally goes the gym and her mates house in it, 

 

so no, economy doesnt really concern me, can understand the 'car is not well' theory though

[Flat4]

On 9/20/2020 at 9:13 AM, HMC said:

 

If you like the car for whatever reason you live with it, or use it as a toy. Sometimes that can overlap with using it as a tool to get from one place to another, other times that’s separate. 

This is exactly why I will always have a Subaru on the fleet. Their only draw back for me is the MPG and that can be made more bearable with an LPG conversion. The current Forester XT does an average of 28-30mpg and has seen 32 on a long run which is better than previous Legacy twin turbos got and isn't bad for a 226bhp 2.5l turbo petrol. If I could only have one car then it would still be a Subaru, and it may as well be a turbo as the normally aspirateds get the same mpg.

That being said, if I'm doing a longer run and don't need an estate then I'll take the Civic Type S. It CAN do 40mpg which is quite astounding for a 160bhp 2l petrol but the problem happens when you have some fun on the twisties with it, when it drops to about 34mpg....

The Volvo V70 D5 does a solid 43mpg no matter how or where you drive it. I only use it when I need working air con or extra load carrying capacity over the Forester but not enough to need the bus. So I guess that's your answer! I value driving pleasure more than I value mpgs.

The Granvia only gets used when it's needed as a van or as a camper. The rest of the time it's parked up with a solar charger as it averages 26mpg with me driving and 30mpg when Al drives. I did expect better than this, given it's a diesel, but I guess 2.2 tonnes of Japanese engineering and full time AWD will affect that....

[GMcD]

I WAS (now working from home cos covids innit') averaging 15k per year for commuting to work in the daily. So long as I'm driving something interesting my red line I've set myself for the past 5/6 years is 33mpg on super or 30mpg on standard. No red line for diesels as I've not had one in yonks. 

[ChampionRabbit]

I've always worked it out because A. I'm neurotic and obsessive about this sort of thing, and B. I've had a couple of cars that developed a drink problem related to fixable issues, and I suppose I believe this likely to happen again, and it's an easy symptom to spot.

I currently use Fuelio to record this stuff, although my daily (Volvo) reports very accurately so I probably don't need to bother. I've found Fuelio to be better than Fuelly in the past in terms of ease of use, but I can't remember why.

I get 33mpg avg on a 12 mile each way commute on B roads and A roads. The last bunch of cars I had (Subaru, Subaru, Honda, Volvo) were similar so although I'm told that 33mpg is BAD, it's about what I expect. Fill up every other week ish; it's fine. For 33 mpg a car needs to have a super power; AWD or FAST, or POSH. Wife's Focus petrol does 45 average which to me is voodoo magic.

[UltraWomble]

I like to get about 40 out of any Pez car I have - the Picasso was dire at 33mpg - the Disastra does between 37 and 41 mpg which for a 1600cc is good IMHO. 

The C8 diesel used to do about 39mpg and the Alhambra is doing about 48mpg which for such a huge bus is brilliant.

But I dont really bother too much about it, and one of the nice things I miss about the C8 (non fap) was its ability to roll coal when clogged. Something that I did without mercy to the groups of lycra clad twats who  used to clog up the lanes around Kellet at the weekend and refused to let you pass for miles.

[HMC]

Has anyone come across an accurate trip computer? Some seem to be more optimistic than others!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Now in Ceredigion. Only managed about 67mpg this time due to the M4 being closed between J16 and 18, meaning diversions down back roads.....

[MrGTI6]

11 hours ago, Bradders59 said:

A month or so ago I brimmed my Clio 1.5dci and decided to drive as gently as possible just to see what mpg I could achieve. Over the next few weeks the car decided it was doing 70.1mpg, but brimming the tank again and doing the math, showed at had achieved a genuine 67mpg. Which I found a little bit amazing. 

 

Renault's 1.5dCi engine is seriously impressive when it comes to MPG. I picked up a Micra with that engine a few months ago and I'm convinced the thing ran on fresh air. 

[stuboy]

Not really with a v6 mondeo

[Bren]

My 545 is doing low twenties around the doors. It will do over 30 on the motorway if you go steady.

I have had automatic four and six pots that were just as thirsty.

[davidfowler2000]

I don't care about fuel economy for money's sakes as I don't do enough miles for that. I can walk to work so fuel for commuting runs in to pennies a month if I decide to drive 'cos it's pissing down. I do on the other hand like to care about it as when it makes a big change it's usually an indicator of something going wrong or if I've had work done on a car, that something has been put right. Plus I like to see what a car CAN do even if it's only once.

[Grumblespeed]

7 hours ago, HMC said:

Has anyone come across an accurate trip computer? Some seem to be more optimistic than others!

The Fiat Stilo I ran for a couple of years was absolutely bang on. Was commuting about 40 miles a day at that point so kept a fairly close eye on the mpg.

....can't actually remember anything else that was newfangled/upmarket enough to have a trip computer at all.

[Bradders59]

The trip computer in the Omega is pretty accurate. Certainly within less than 1mpg. by my calculations. Clio is about 5% out which isnt bad, considering its French. 

[clayts450]

22 hours ago, Popsicle said:

As a courier fuel  is my biggest expense so I keep a close eye on consumption and try* to drive economically. All figures on a spreadsheet so I understand my costs, helping me to make sure I make some money on the jobs I do. Over the last 226k miles average consumption of 53.43 at a cost of 8.88p per mile, then another 5.3p per mile in tax, insurance, maintenance and cost of vehicle. Riveting stuff eh!

Same day or  multi ? CX or not ?

[Popsicle]

3 minutes ago, clayts450 said:

Same day or  multi ? CX or not ?

All same day stuff, but I've done most of the shit over the years. Used to do CX years ago but very little use to me these days as I'm in a car.

[clayts450]

A lot of people moan about CX, but I do okay out of it, to be honest - well worth the subscription for me personally, but yes, they stopped cars a while back (although perversely you still see car jobs popping up - I just bag them for the van). My mileage rate is 10.9p per mile on the Combo (currently 47.6)

[motorpunk]

I do maybe 20-25k a year in my 525d. It’s big old bus so I’m really happy with the 45.5mpg average currently showing. A lot of miles means a few mpg makes a real difference in money over the year. Work pay 13p a mile but I do loads of personal mileage too. So, yes, it matters to me.

My ‘72 Fiat? I reckon I’ve put fuel in it half a dozen times, ever. Little use and short journeys.

The Lotus is clocking up the miles now but I don’t care about economy, although it’s pretty easy on the juice.

So - horses for courses.