Miles per gallon myth?

[Guest DaveW]

See:-

 

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/car-reveals-miles-per-gallon-062020117.html

 

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/what-car-true-mpg-winners-and-losers/262497

Edited April 4, 2013 by DaveW

[JohnP]

I've got a Peugeot Partner Tepee 1.6 HDI... Peugeot figures say 50.4 mpg, I have worked out the average fuel consumption over at least 1,000 miles several times and the lowest mpg I've recorded is 49.5 and the the best mpg is 52.3.

Edited April 4, 2013 by JohnP

[annie]

i have the vauxhall corsa eco flex two door diesel...which will do over 70 to the gallon..and nil tax.

 

also have a galaxy 2.3.............which is brilliant on long runs but useless for town...

[Black Pearl]

The trip computer on the Focus gives about the same readings as quoted figures on a longer run - in town its less but I'm heavy footed so my fault.

[fuzzyedges]

To be honest if anyone belives anything that a car dealer/ manufacturer tells them they must be prepared to be disapointed

 

We are (hopefully) coming out of a period where them that wants money went to any length to part us from it

 

A remnant from the free market days of Maggie and when it got a bit tough the tough got to lieing, sorry being economical with the truth

[FUJI]

I used to drive a 1973 VW camper......18-22 to the gallon with the wind behind it......the only reason I sadly sold it was the ever increasing cost of fuel........the repairs and Maintenence were surprisingly cheap.

Nowadays I do about 400 mile per pair of shoes.

FUJI

[Guest DaveW]

To quote from the following link:-

"Engine size,

Don't assume smaller engines use less petrol. A big car with a 2.0L engine may use less than the same car with a 1.6L engine as it strains to pull a larger weight. On test, a people carrier with a small engine recorded much worse fuel efficiency than one with a bigger engine."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/may/01/save-800-pounds-year-petrol

 

Often the smallest engine version of a manufacturers model may not be the most fuel efficient in real world driving, but the next engine size up may be better as the engine is less stressed pulling the same weight.

[Guest]

thats very true Dave, lots of people buy the 1.4 version of cars like the VW golf when the 1.6 is a much better car as the Golf is heavy and the 1.6 engine is much better equipped to deal with it. My 2.2 diesel freelander2 averages around 28mpg it will do more on a run and a lot less around town. I could have a much more economical car but I like the go anywhere abilities of the 4x4. Last year I ended up driving into the middle of Thetford forest to do some signal testing for a client so the Landrover was a god send. 

 

The official MPG figures have always been rubbish because every car behaves differently and performs differently even cars of the same make model and year can have slight differences in performance and consumption.

[roicead]

i seem to remember a top gear episode where they ran a bmw 3 series behind a prius around their track and the bmw got better gas mileage - when driven like a prius..

[Guest]

I believe they drove the prius hard which was a gentle session for the BMW which returned better MPG

[colinb]

not sure this is 'news' I think most car buffs would be well aware of these facts, although these days the likes of  1.4 etc engines are far better both power and economy wise than 15+ years ago. Certainly the rise of the common rail and turbo diesel has made many a petrol head change legion. The Prius was always a 'show' car for the green people with little understand of reality and was/is a 'look at me' badge.

[Leon]

as a car fanatic you would not believe what "quality" engine and gearbox oil can do, on my 14 Year old Accord  I had a bet with a Honda Technician and lost, premium Oil, Gear oil and Super unleaded gave me an extra 50 miles per tank!!, cheap Supermarket petrol is cheap for a reason, less additives ect.

 

My latest car so far is averaging around 36 mpg, 1.8 petrol Nissan Tino, I'll change the fluids over the next few weeks, should have a better feeling car then, the average car only has new gear oil on the day of purchase!!

 

http://www.mpgenhance.com/transmission.html

 

http://www.mpgenhance.com/synthetic.html

 

and another over looked thing is tyre pressure, with flat tyres the motor is working harder to push the tyres round

 

I best stop now or I'll have to wake you all up

[Guest DaveW]

Yes they are getting better performance out of some engines from thinner synthetic oil these days since it creates less drag and uses less fuel.  Many newer cars now use synthetic oil and it is specified for my 08 Ford Focus 1.6 diesel:-

 

http://www.howstuffworks.com/synthetic-conventional-motor-oil.htm

 

http://www.mobil1.co.uk/why-choose.aspx?_c=q9mwr554mnrwmp7pikyaszh11a&_s=errwonu76thuxsffgpce4ky17a

[ChrisLumix]

 cheap Supermarket petrol is cheap for a reason, less additives ect.

 

Yesterday I noticed that Texaco diesel was 139p a litre, while Tesco was 141p. Supermarket petrol isn't even cheap anymore. They lulled us into a false sense of security over many years.

[Black Pearl]

£132.7 at Asda - remember the outrage when it went over £1.

[Leon]

I have just joined up to Fuelly, only takes a minute, it tracks your TRUE MPG, provided you stick to it 

 

http://www.fuelly.com/dashboard/