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General 1.2 What MPG are we getting?

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General 1.2 What MPG are we getting?

Over 3 and a bit years with our 1.2 we get varying MPG.

Overall we find it difficult to get under 45MPG even when driving enthusiastically. I find it more difficult to get 50+ and the amount of effort to get over 50 seems so uninteresting to gain that 3-5MPG that I lose by driving exactly how I want... But that's just me, and I don't drive that much... (20k miles in 3.5 years).

I have however noticed something vaguely odd, well, not odd, but I seem to get better MPG in 5th at 70-73MPH than at 55-60MPH i.e. motorway vs main road... I put this down to the torque being stronger at the higher revs required for 70+MPH and thus not needing to put my foot down as much to stay at the same speed...

I did an experiment when I was stuck in varying traffic after work once that was 40-50MPH and in 5th (this is according to the instant MPG gauge which I realise isn't entirely accurate anyway) in 5th it would be find when I didn't have to accelerate.. say, 55-60MPG, but then as soon as the flow moved up towards 50 I'd have to eek my way up there and then be getting 30MPG or whatever whereas if I did this whole manoeuvre in 4th I'd be say getting 50-60MPG and 40mph and then on the way up to 50MPH it wouldn't go down much as the additional accelerator depression is minimal..

Now, this could just be me being weird and thinking this, and at the end of the day I still drive around in 5th all the time, and am quite a dull driver (commuting anyway) because I just don't see the point in being aggressive (I keep a massive distance and avoid braking etc) when the traffic is bad. But one day when bored I did this experiment and I think there is something behind it.

I'm sure this has probably already been discussed.

Sorry for the rambles! In summary I get 45MPG driving how I want. I can get 50-55 but it is boring and can annoy others on the road (when travelling at lower speeds). It's worth noting that when I did a road trip up the M6 and M74 to Scotland travelling at 70+ (with a passenger and luggage!) I got over 50MPG for that journey, but my normal smooth commute will only yield 45MPG (with just me and a small bag) even though it's slower and lower revs (see my rambly argument above)


Charlie -
 
On my current commute, crusing along at 50-55mph I'm getting 60mpg. Less speed almost always means better consumption.
 
mhmm interesting. My commute varies 40-60 depending on traffic (as in 40-60 in the same journey), I think one reason my MPG is worse on my commute could be regular roundabouts on the route? Otherwise it seems odd I can't get better MPG, not that I'm too worried...

Charlie -
 
charliestyr said:
mhmm interesting. My commute varies 40-60 depending on traffic (as in 40-60 in the same journey), I think one reason my MPG is worse on my commute could be regular roundabouts on the route? Otherwise it seems odd I can't get better MPG, not that I'm too worried...

Charlie -
Click to expand...

To be fair this commute is 40 miles each way. On a 20 mile shorter commute I was averaging 55 or so. There are a few roundabouts on my commute, but good timing means you can go through most of them (there are 8) without braking and therefore without the need to accelerate hard coming out of the roundabout..
 
ah ok, this commute of mine is about 20mi with 4 roundabouts (which all have terrible visibility and require slowing right down for unfortunately) and then the last mile of the journey is often gridlock and requires 1st/2nd and lots of clutch work, so perhaps getting 45ish is not bad for me :p

I try to avoid accelerating hard with the roundabouts but these ones are a bit of a mare, and to be honest you often end up stopped (it's miraculous if I flow past one) and then in order to get through it hard acceleration is required or you could be sitting for a while... :(

Basically it's just not a great commute haha I don't do it all year round so it's not bad, generally a few months in the summer and sometimes other times in the year.


Charlie -
 
65 mpg on the trip should be possible on a 20 mile commute if you follow the EcoDriving rules:

1. Speed beep set to 55 mph.

2. No braking above 30mph except in emergency.

3. Do not exceed 2000rpm in the intermediate gears, except in exceptional circumstances.

4. Use S/S or turn engine off in stationary traffic.
 
Last edited:
jrkitching said:
65 mpg on the trip should be possible on a 20 mile commute if you follow the EcoDriving rules:

1. Speed beep set to 55 mph.

2. No braking above 30mph except in emergency.

3. Do not exceed 2000rpm in the intermediate gears, except in exceptional circumstances.

4. Use S/S or turn engine off in stationary traffic.
Click to expand...

Definitely. For me, just putting pop tyres on would get my up to mid to high 60's and I tend to rev to 2500 when accelerating.
 
jrkitching said:
My 500 @ 5k still needs more running in. The Panda @ 10k is about 3-4 mpg better than it was @ 5k.
Click to expand...

Your MPG's are just ridiculous and I hate you. End of story. :p

Without holding up traffic or being able to see into the future, I think my driving at the moment is about the best that could be done on a 40 mile commute on the roads I'm on which are more or less ideal. I seriously don't think you could really do any more than a couple of mpg better if you had a perfect run.

Annoyingly/thankfully, I've got a new temp job starting on Wednesday which is 5 miles from home rather than 40. I will be getting **** mpg's but it's effectively a 2k pay rise just from the reduction in mileage :yum: Plus that extra hour and 20 minutes at home is pretty good too.
 
I've just passed the 16,000 miles Mark , had my 1.2 for 15 months. Not reset the computer since new, currently at 53.9, which I am amazed at considering how I drive
 
Yesterday i did 60 miles in mine without using a drop of fuel. Handy things those recovery trucks ;-P
 
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