Volvo S40: Fuel economy

sceptre

Sounds like a pretty vague question (er, because it is I suppose)

Can anyone rate the fuel efficiency of a 2000 1.8L Volvo S40 against a ten year old (roughly, could be closer to 15 years old) 1.3L Corolla? In other words, is the former much more expensive to run (let's leave parts and maintenance out of the equation)?

I suppose it includes the question of whether a 1.8L in general costs more (or much more) to run on the road than a 1.3

(I know shag all about cars and someone asked me to find out)

If anyone knows the difference in motor tax that'd be good too.

Ta muchy

unkel

Tax will go from €259 (1201 - 1300cc) to €461 (1701 - 1800cc) per annum

Insurance is very much on a case by case basis - for me it doesn't matter if I insure my current car 3.0 liter V8 BMW, a 6.0 liter Merc or a 6.75 liter Rolls Royce: confused:

Fuel efficiency depends to a large extend on what way you are driving. In above car I can easily get 30 - 35 MPG on motorways, national roads, etc. In a daily horrible Dublin commute covering say 5 miles in 1 hour each way it would be more like 10MPG. I have averaged just short of 20MPG over the last 3 years, mainly Dublin traffic

If your driving is similar to mine, the Toyota would prolly give you 40MPG and the Volvo 30MPG very roughly guessing

sceptre

Thanks unkel. No idea what kind of mileage the person the car would be for gets in his current car but it's quite good as an indication. I've a Corolla myself as well and usually get around 44mpg (which all in all isn't too bad at all) - usually get about 420 miles out of a full tank if I'm not driving much around town, a lot less in those weeks if I'm just driving between Limerick city centre and Castletroy:(

DukeDredd

Drove a BMW 320i myself for a couple of years and then moved to the city so decided a smaller car would be more practical for the time being - i've never been happier. Went to my local dealer and bought a sprinter shaped corolla 1.3 - best car i've ever owned. I really cannot tell you how much better one of these cars are for peace of mind and economic motoring. My running costs are tiny (relative to the BMW). It never breaks down, tyre wear is non-existent compared to the BMW, ride is smoother, cheap to service, cheap to tax, very good on the open road as well as the city - i could go on! - sure it's not as flash as the BMW or a Volvo but i think there comes a time when you grow out of needing a flashy car and spending a fortune to keep it on the road. My 2 cents!

Quigs Snr

Well, dunno about the 1.8 but it's rated around 38MPG or thereabouts.

But my S40 T4 (rated at 30.1 mpg) is pretty heavy on it. I can get about 330 miles on a full tank (200 of those open road non-stop driving), the rest around town, thats on a full 60 litre tank, costing 50 Euros or thereabouts.

Now if I just drive through town, theres no way I'd hit 300 miles on a full tank. That said, of all the Volvo s40's the T4 is by far the fastest @200BHP, and is the heaviest on juice by a street.