Optimistic mpgs, what's yours?

[Lord Sterling]

I try not think about it.

[rusty_vw_man]

The newish to me Aygo was doing 44mpg which I thought was great. Put some new spark plugs in, a bottle of injector cleaner and an Italian tune up and now it does 62mpg mixed use.

VW T25 gets about 22-23mpg and the motorhome about 30mpg, which is possibly why the Aygo seems quite so staggeringly good to me! 

Had a brand new Mercedes SUV for work for a couple of days, diesel V6 with motor assist, that managed 34mpg and saw as low as 2.3mpg whilst giving it some….

[artdjones]

On 20/07/2026 at 12:54, RayMK said:

In my younger years when I bought a brand new 2cv6 (1975) for economy and man maths reasons to replace my burnt out (literally) Reliant Regal, the brochure said 50mpg or thereabouts. I achieved a disappointing average of 36mpg from fill-up to fill-up.  The Reliant had managed around 40mpg, both driven mostly flat out.  Later, I owned a 2nd hand Dyane which did about the same as the 2cv.

My current 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage CVT always does better than 45mpg (petrol) so I rarely feel the need to check.  At 70mph cruise, the engine is only doing 2300rpm.  It was designed to be light, practical and aerodynamic.  The designers did a good job on those aspects but their effort of the suspension was poor.  Roadholding is ok, it just can't handle any significant undulations at speed or sharp edged surface defects at any speed.   

Back in the 70s and 80s 35mpg was considered excellent economy, especially as diesels weren't that popular early on. 

I remember scrapping an automatic wedge in 1988 and buying my brother's Mini 1000 for £30. Once MoT'd I revelled in the 35mpg it did, compared with the 24 the Princess delivered. I hated the Mini, and sold it for £170 after six months, replacing it with a £150 Dolomite 1500HL needing a head gasket. Back to 26 mpg. 

[artdjones]

3 hours ago, Popsicle said:

As threatened promised last month, I've dug through my records and put them in one place.

So just 3.3 million miles! 

I can't take the credit for all the miles, Mrs P, the kids and others will have added some.

My computer records only go back to the turn of the century, everything prior to that was in diaries, I'm not sure what happened to them. Also a fair few cars/vans I never kept records for, so there is more to add to it all.

I've not included vans that others drove for me as that would get a bit silly.

Being a middle aged courier I often get asked how many miles I think I've driven, I always say about 3 million, looking at the above its probably nearer 4 million now, I did pass my test in the late 80's though.

The Elgrand is good for evening out things compared to all the frugal diesels.

[Popsicle]

12 minutes ago, artdjones said:

The Elgrand is good for evening out things compared to all the frugal diesels.

Yea being a high miles user diesel has always made the most financial sense to me, unfortunately Mrs P has occasional daft ideas, she then gets bored having to fill cars up every 200 miles. At least the current family bus XC90 can manage 300 miles between fill ups.

Thankfully the couriering Caddy does between 600-700 miles a tank (depending obviously on my mood). I've a 740 mile day lined up for tomorrow, I wish electric vans would catch up and be a viable option for me.

[TrabbieRonnie]

When I first got this old lady going again, I thought she was doing 27mpgs (none of the gauges and meters are that interested in accuracy after 67 years!)...  The actual figure is nearly 20!

[crad]

the mighty corolla indicates 40 average (commuting newport-cardiff & driving round the 'port)... but on a run i'll get 45-48 if i really put my mind to it. not bad for a pretty knackered engine

[dean36014]

Just been from Coventry to Aberystwyth and back for a short break. 159 miles door to door , 100 miles driven locally. Plenty of hills that got the little Citroen C1 into 2nd gear. Filled up on the way back, brim to brim, 57.5mpg. I'm well chuffed with that.