How far are you going?

GTE

Hey all,
With petrol and diesel prices not really the most friendly sight in the world it came up in work (Maxol filling station) how peoples driving styles are changing, if at all and how this affects peoples over all MPG and range.

So, has anyone altered their driving style to cope? Hows your range on a full tank?

Anan1

I get 350kms around town, up to 450kms on a run. Given that i'm only doing small mileage, and that my fuel costs are in any case dwarfed by my depreciation losses, i'm not going to cut into my driving pleasure for relatively inconsequential savings.

Cookie_Monster

38 mpg or about 350-380 miles for 50 quid.

GTE

Anan1 wrote: »

I get 350kms around town, up to 450kms on a run. Given that i'm only doing small mileage, and that my fuel costs are in any case dwarfed by my depreciation losses, i'm not going to cut into my driving pleasure for relatively inconsequential savings.

Depreciation was something that never really crossed my mind.
For me insuring and taxing my Golf diesel is a fair chunk of money so Im driving with economy in mind. Its been just over 3 quarters of a tank and 840KM since I last filled up. Ill take a saving whereever Ill get it much to the dismay of my boss who I have a feeling kinda hoped I wouldnt get a diesel :P

maidhc

I'll start worrying once the Global economy picks up, Petrol is €2 a litre or more and the government still has done nothing about reducing our reliance on the arabs!

Maruney

I tried this only last week, stuck to 60 around town and 100 on the duel carraigeway avoiding hard accelerating and braking and it made a BIG difference, surprised me;

1.8 Alfa 156 Twin Spark, with a fcuk off spoiler causing lots of drag and I got 38mpg (usually 30ish). Car was serviced 4 months ago and tyres arent great at the moment so going to aim for 40+ soon.

no1beemerfan

betafrog wrote: »

Depending on how I'm driving I can get anything from 200-420 miles from a 50 litre tank... That's a 1.6 petrol...

Man you must drive her hard!!

GTE

maidhc wrote: »

I'll start worrying once the Global economy picks up, Petrol is €2 a litre or more and the government still has done nothing about reducing our reliance on the arabs!

I remember an article in a paper months back where it gave a list of the price per litre. There was one country where you could fill a car for under 5 euro!! If only.

EPM

I've started leaving the air con off the last week, holding it at about 100 even on motorway and cutting out hard acceleration when it wasn't needed. Usually get 580-620 kms to a tank. Currently at 600 km and it's showing 170 more to empty:D Last tank was at 660 showing 80 to empty when I filled up. Thats for a 1.6 petrol and usually about 50 litres come fill up.

It's a pain not using the air con to be honest when it's warn or raining, but I can live with keeping to 100 and easy acceleration

GTE

EPM wrote: »

I've started leaving the air con off the last week, holding it at about 100 even on motorway and cutting out hard acceleration when it wasn't needed. Usually get 580-620 kms to a tank. Currently at 600 km and it's showing 170 more to empty:D Last tank was at 660 showing 80 to empty when I filled up. Thats for a 1.6 petrol and usually about 50 litres come fill up.

It's a pain not using the air con to be honest when it's warn or raining, but I can live with keeping to 100 and easy acceleration

Thats good stuff! I agree with the air con. My car doesnt have it but I would love to have it to be honest.

roosterman71

When I'd my Leon (07, 1.4) I used to get about 700km out of the tank on average. after 1 fill I decided to become a tree-hugging, polar bear saving environmentalist, and changed my driving style (less heavy accelaeration, constant speed, change up gears at 1400 revs, etc) and I managed to squeeze 830km out of the tank. I did the same driving, mix of town, back roads, motorway, field, etc, but the extra to be gained by taking things handy is unreal

R.O.R

Thanks to the wonderful M50 barrier free and continuing improvements to the rush hour flow of traffic I'm now getting 730 - 750km out of my 55 litre tank (Accord 2.0i VTEC). I've tried with and without the climate on and it doesn't seem to make any noticable difference so I leave it on.

The big difference is traffic. If there are a few nights where there are accidents on the M50 and traffic is at a standstill for a while, then it can drop to about 700km from a tank. Once the roadworks are finished I'm hoping I might even get up to around 800km from a tank of petrol which would be pretty good.

With fuel costs increasing I'm trying to take more cars from work and leave mine sitting doing nothing. You can't get much more fuel effecient than using someone else's fuel!

The major expense is depreciation, cut that out and you're laughing. You have to be willing to drive more or less anything though to pick things up for the right money.

I drive Cork to Galway return most weekends = 420km plus what ever driving I do around Galway at the weekends so I suppose around 460 ish km per week. Dont use the car much during the week. I spend about 50 to 60 euro of petrol doing this but I tend to drive like a scalded rat on Friday evenings so use a lot of petrol. The computer says 33mpg avg. I have a 318ci, 1.9L version.

Have I adapted my driving style, no is the answer. I often try but once I get moving at pace and start overtaking cars etc I tend to continue the 'spirited' driving until I reach my destination.

Repolho

I've a ford focus 1.6TDCi. I usually get 850+ km from a tank but try to not let it get to the warning light coming on. I have gotten 950+ with the light on and the range getting dangerously low. I want to try and get to 1,000km from a tank some time!

Some things I do to improve my fuel economy:

1. Try and cut out the short journeys. This I have found has been the biggest factor. Obviously easier said than done!

2. I keep to 100kph as much as possible, even on motorways.

3. I try and think ahead as much as possible to avoid using the brakes as much as possible eg when I know I am approaching a junction just let the foot off the accelorator and shift down through the gears to let the engine do the breaking for you.

I know some of you would say that this is boring driving, but I would say that 80% of my driving is on motorways and very good N roads. To me there is no fun in driving these roads no matter how you drive.

mini mouse

not sure how big the tank is but on average with mixed driving ( long/short journeys, back roads, motorway ...) i'm getting 100miles to €10 / 50-55mpg says the car. if im really good..... stay at 60mph, no heavy acceleration can get 60+mpg....in the uk on motorway 100mph constantly for a few hours ( it wasnt me driving , i wasnt even there) it still did 40+mpg! a3 2.0tdi !

Repolho

Repolho wrote: »

3. I try and think ahead as much as possible to avoid using the brakes as much as possible eg when I know I am approaching a junction just let the foot off the accelorator and shift down through the gears to let the engine do the breaking for you.

Engine braking is not good for fuel economy, gentle braking well in advance with the clutch floored is best for fuel economy, also you are quite entitled to stop in 3rd gear in your driving test so it's also perfectly acceptable. Cruising to a junction at 50kph in 4th and then breaking hard with the clutch floored will use less fuel than the method you employ.

Clare_Guy

RoverJames wrote: »

Engine braking is not good for fuel economy, gentle braking well in advance with the clutch floored is best for fuel economy, also you are quite entitled to stop in 3rd gear in your driving test so it's also perfectly acceptable. Cruising to a junction at 50kph in 4th and then breaking hard with the clutch floored will use less fuel than the method you employ.

I'm afraid you couldn't be more wrong...

In modern cars, no, none, zero, zilch fuel is used during the over-run (taking your foot off the accelerator and allowing the engine braking to slow you)

Google "over-run fuel cut-off"...

EPM

Clare_Guy wrote: »

I'm afraid you couldn't be more wrong...

In modern cars, no, none, zero, zilch fuel is used during the over-run (taking your foot off the accelerator and allowing the engine braking to slow you)

Google "over-run fuel cut-off"...

Thats true. Leave it in gear and roll to a halt in gear. Uses nothing. I've found this excellent for fuel economy

Seweryn

bbk wrote: »

Hows your range on a full tank?

I would get twice as far, if I put twice as big tank into my car.
My car (1993 Mercedes) needs on average 5.6 l per 100km = 50.7 mpg, so I can go as far as 300 miles on a half tank or about 600 miles on a full 55 litre tank.

Gunth

Oh no with everyone accelerating slowly and only driving at 100km/hr on motorways driving will become so frustrating for the people behind you! Have some fun within the limits

Mr Benevolent

Seweryn wrote: »

I would get twice as far, if I put twice as big tank into my car.
My car (1993 Mercedes) needs on average 5.6 l per 100km = 50.7 mpg, so I can go as far as 300 miles on a half tank or about 600 miles on a full 55 litre tank.

What model is that? I find it hard to believe that a big, heavy car like that could do nearly 51mpg! I assume it's a diesel?

patpark121

i made the switch to a diesel when i had to start commuting 77km to work. My Leon sport 1.9TDI will usually give me around 1000km to a tank driving at 100 - 110 km/h. I have tried it at 80 km/h & it returned almost 1300km range. But rarely drive that conservatively...

cianclarke

At 27mpg, it's not going to make the slightest bit of difference - so god no, I've made no concessions to driving style. If I'm feeling bored, I'll still floor it to 60 for sh*ts 'n' giggles...

Seweryn

Confab wrote: »

What model is that? I find it hard to believe that a big, heavy car like that could do nearly 51mpg! I assume it's a diesel?

Sure it is a Diesel, the W201 190D, 2.0 engine OM601, no turbo, no common rail, no computers... Actually if you start the engine it does not need electricity to keep going. The Benz does over 50mpg on my total average (since I own it) and it would do better on a motorway.

I bet that Merc is a rocket
I have a 1992 Merc 250 diesel, does 34mpg mixed driving for me, am sure she would do 40mpg on a run, slow as f though.

Seweryn

RoverJames wrote: »

I bet that Merc is a rocket
I have a 1992 Merc 250 diesel, does 34mpg mixed driving for me, am sure she would do 40mpg on a run, slow as f though.

I can tell you, it is a real rocket! It can break every single speed limit, not only in this country and it still costs so little .

johndaman66

roosterman71 wrote: »

mix of town, back roads, motorway, field, etc,

I see you take the odd shortcut where the opportunity presents itself as well roosterman71:)

Random

I get about 280-330KM per tank out of a 99 Corsa around the city.

Padraig Mor

Started off getting about 530 km from a c. 57L fill (27 mpg - official combined is 36:o). 1.8 petrol. Loosened out a lot recently and am now getting up to 630 km (31 mpg) - although I reckon that less traffic on the road due to the De Recession may be partly the cause. Tried 'eco-driving' for one tank and it made ****e all difference so that was the end of that! If anything, I plant the right foot even heavier these days. If my windows are closed (which they are 90% of the time) then the climate control is on - I paid for it so I'm bloody going to use it!

Seweryn

Random wrote: »

I get about 280-330 km per tank out of a 99 Corsa around the city.

But how big is the tank? If more than 30 litres, then I would say the car is very thirsty. Unless you drive in busy traffic only few miles when the engine is cold.

Random

Seweryn wrote: »

But how big is the tank? If more than 30 litres, then I would say the car is very thirsty. Unless you drive in busy traffic only few miles when the engine is cold.

I guess I'd be in traffic going to or coming from work .. but not a huge amount. Otherwise it'd probably be mainly shorter trips.

Tank of petrol ranges from about €40-€50. I think my tank holds about 40L.

Mr Benevolent

Random wrote: »

I get about 280-330KM per tank out of a 99 Corsa around the city.

That's really crap mileage, is it an auto by any chance?

Random

Confab wrote: »

That's really crap mileage, is it an auto by any chance?

It's a manual. Recently serviced for NCT (about 2 months ago).

weepee

Ive a 52 litre tank, tho I never fill it. 1.7 TD

In Belfast 1 litre of diesel approx 102.9

80 miles for £10-urban.

GTE

I just filled up and got 57mpg again. Then my dad drove the motorway part of a journey today and ruddy floored my wagon so I wonder what it would do if I did that all the time.

RepolhoI had an interesting post. I was very close to getting an TDCI Focus Estate but the Golf turned out to be in better condition out of the ones I saw. Im a big fan of diesels.


I should get out more and drink some petrol lol:D

germanicus

my 1.4 focus gets 38 M.P.G. I've tried to drive gently to save fuel and got 38 . i think that the engine is so underpowered it makes no difference what the driver does as its always under pressure anyhow!

Voodoomelon

I'm getting in the region of 19MPG with aircon on all the time, thats mostly town driving as you might imagine.

I can always tell how much the price of petrol is affecting a fill as I always brim the tank. Cost me exactly eur100 two weeks ago but that does me about 18 days. It been steadily rising the last 6 months or so, I remember it was eur93.00 to fill it not so long ago.

However I much prefer to fill it up that be constantly topping up and constantly thinking about the price. I just max it out and try and forget about it.

SV

Not sure of the tank range but I averaged out 59.9mpg on the computer on a 30 mile trip. Yes that's 59.9mpg.. Out a car with a 2 litre petrol engine and just under 180horse power

pburns

I do average/below average mileage, have a diesel car and as mentioned above my main cost is depreciation. I don't think about economy, am not even interested in what MPG (or LPK?) I'm getting, I just fill her up when she's thirsty (I don't pay any attention to the computer - never saw an accurate one yet).

My view is you're gonna be spending a shed load of money on fuel anyway. By driving like a nun you're gonna save what - 5%?? Life's too short...

Having said that I could have spent my money on a s/h V8 or something - then I probably would be mindful of consumption.

A huge vast majority of people get far too anal about this however and think nothing of the thousands they splurge just to have a late reg-plate. It's the same as people I know living in 6-bedroom houses who drag the home-heating truck out a million times during the winter 'cos they can't afford to pay for a full tank...

roosterman71

johndaman66 wrote: »

I see you take the odd shortcut where the opportunity presents itself as well roosterman71:)

I have indeed. I'd just bought the car (I bought it new) and I was driving along a lane in my trusty tractor, when I spotted my father out in the field with my car checking out the cattle!! I wasn't pleased. But still took it out myself for a bit of sliding around the next day!!

fryup

on the subject of mpg/economy...how accurate are those trip computers??

Clare_Guy

Clare_Guy wrote: »

I'm afraid you couldn't be more wrong...

In modern cars, no, none, zero, zilch fuel is used during the over-run (taking your foot off the accelerator and allowing the engine braking to slow you)

Google "over-run fuel cut-off"...

Seems like you are correct, apologies. Never knew that.

JMcCR

fryup wrote: »

on the subject of mpg/economy...how accurate are those trip computers??

The real-time figure on my Alfa 156 seems accurate but the average always seems to say 59.9 mpg.

She gets 620 - 650 miles from a tank (65L)

no1beemerfan

My daily is a 1997 1.8 litre petrol Renault Laguna with 170,000miles serviced regulary etc and I usually get 41 to 42 mpg out of it.

galwaytt

.....last time I checked, the Tip 968 was doing about 23mpg. This for commuting, and using about €55/week.

However, a trip to Cork a while ago, indicated 70mph on the clock most of the way, and a bit of town each end, and no mad driving saw it do............29mpg. This based on tank-tank refill - no computers ! Not bad for a 3.0 petrol auto !

At this point, fuel economy is irrelevant - when the Govt can wipe out 15k on your car value through VRT changes, mpg is completely irrelevant, because you're never, ever going to get the 15k back.......

Voodoomelon

fryup wrote: »

on the subject of mpg/economy...how accurate are those trip computers??

I tested mine and it reads 1.1MPG higher than what I actually get, so its slightly on the generous side.

Marlow

My BMW 525tds from '97 does 40 mpg on average. On a trip to Denmark (2000km) I used 140 litres of diesel, which comes down to 33.6 mpg, however I was up at speeds of over 200 km/h through Germany, that would have pulled the mpg down

The VW T4 is a bit less conservative on fuel Well, it's a bigger car.

/M

Seweryn

galwaytt wrote: »

At this point, fuel economy is irrelevant - when the Govt can wipe out 15k on your car value through VRT changes, mpg is completely irrelevant, because you're never, ever going to get the 15k back.......

Very good point. At the time when I was driving a 523iA E39 BMW, my neighbour tried to compare the running cost to his brand new Toyota Prius. He could not believe that I only get half of his mpg and I pay 6 times as much for the motor tax. But that is so narrow minded... Let's take a 3 year period and 25kkm per year of ownership for both cars and the total running cost including fuel cost, service, tax, insurance, depreciation, etc. will be about €6-8k less for the BMW (never mind the comfort, handling, performance, etc.). Some people just prefer to spend the extra 10 or €20k to get the 1mpg better fuel economy .

luckyD

i drive a 2.0 DOHC vtec euro r accord and am currently getting about 450 - 500 km a tank (50L) with careful driving. it can do much worse trust me. one thing i have to ask though is this. when im plodding along doing 80kph, in 6th gear, at about 1800, 1900 revs, my engine seems to me to be labouring, but when i push it up to 100kph 6th gear and at about 2100, 2200 rev the engine is running much more smoothly. so i guess my question is can you actually use more petrol driving a low speeds labouring your engine???

johndaman66

roosterman71 wrote: »

I have indeed. I'd just bought the car (I bought it new) and I was driving along a lane in my trusty tractor, when I spotted my father out in the field with my car checking out the cattle!! I wasn't pleased. But still took it out myself for a bit of sliding around the next day!!

Haha, tis all fun and games till you get stuck roosterman71:pac: