Most fuel efficient Petrol Cars?

Rob113

Preferably with a 1.3 - 1.6L Engine.

Id obviously prefer a diesel but cant afford one on my budget. Cant afford to be paying the high tax on a 1.9 / 2L Diesel

fonecrusher1

Used i presume. What year?

enviro

Budget?

si_guru

From experience of rental cars.. 1.2 Punto is good, Corsa 1.2 was not. I had a Gold 1.4 last week.. that did 50mpg on a mixed run (but at least 200 miles on the motorway).. and TBH it was okay, nice in fact - everyone seems to slate them on here for some reason.

Carina 1.6 Leanburn are fuel misers... but try and find a nice one these days, it's hard.

fonecrusher1

A 1.4vvti corolla returns decent fuel economy & its not a little lunchbox on wheels & comfortable on long trips. I currently own one.

Expect up to 50mpg if you're very gentle on the accelerator, the tyres are at their correct psi rating (32psi) & the car is serviced regularly.

Rob113

Only looking for a run around tbh. Something to get me to and from work and around a bit at the weekends. €1500 max is all im looking to spend.

I have a 99 2L Octavia Diesel but the tax arrears are killing me. Id nearly cut my losses at this stage and get rid. Every month adds another €70 or so to the arrears.

Im tempted to get rid and buy something smaller, tax it for the year and start fresh.

fonecrusher1

Rob113 wrote: »

Only looking for a run around tbh. Something to get me to and from work and around a bit at the weekends. €1500 max is all im looking to spend.

I have a 99 2L Octavia Diesel but the tax arrears are killing me. Id nearly cut my losses at this stage and get rid. Every month adds another €70 or so to the arrears.

Im tempted to get rid and buy something smaller, tax it for the year and start fresh.

Got my corolla for 1600 euro last month. Taxed for a few months & freshly nct'd. Bargain.:D

Donedeal.ie is your only man.

Downsized from a Hilux surf, could'nt afford the fuel costs.

si_guru

si_guru wrote: »

From experience of rental cars.. 1.2 Punto is good, Corsa 1.2 was not. I had a Gold 1.4 last week.. that did 50mpg on a mixed run (but at least 200 miles on the motorway).. and TBH it was okay, nice in fact - everyone seems to slate them on here for some reason.

Carina 1.6 Leanburn are fuel misers... but try and find a nice one these days, it's hard.

GOLF... not gold... frigging fat fingers.

Rob113

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Got my corolla for 1600 euro last month. Taxed for a few months & freshly nct'd. Bargain.:D

Donedeal.ie is your only man.

Downsized from a Hilux surf, could'nt afford the fuel costs.

Whats the corolla like on the juice.

galwaytt

my sis-in-law is (I think) selling her 97 1.3 Xli Corolla. I had it for a while, and iirc, it was doing 45 - 50mpg .

fonecrusher1

Rob113 wrote: »

Whats the corolla like on the juice.

Very good really but it wouldn't be as good as a diesel octavia on long trips. But around town i reckon it would do better fuel economy.

Tax for the corolla is only 320 a year though & servicing frequency/costs would be lower for the 1.4 petrol engine.

I put 20 euros of petrol in her on saturday & i still haven't topped up!

galwaytt

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

I put 20 euros of petrol in her on saturday & i still haven't topped up!

..why, will it not start ??

just kidding, btw....

Rob113

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Very good really but it wouldn't be as good as a diesel octavia on long trips. But around town i reckon it would do better fuel economy.

Tax for the corolla is only 320 a year though & servicing frequency/costs would be lower for the 1.4 petrol engine.

I put 20 euros of petrol in her on saturday & i still haven't topped up!

Its the tax situation that appeals to me. 50mpg is fairly good too for a petrol

BrianD3

If tax is a priority then there are lots of 1.0-1.2 litre small cars available. If you want something a little bigger the Opel Astra from 98-04 came in a 1.2 version which had the same power output as a 1.4 Focus or Golf. I don't know what mpg the 1.2 Astra does, I'd imagine for driving around town it would be good but not so good at 120 km/h on a motorway.

The Renault Megane 1.4 16v is an economical car, similar power, weight and economy to the Corollas that were mentioned. 50 mpg can be achieved without driving like a nun.

vw4life

get a 1.7 turbo diesel astra,cheap enough road tax and does 650-700 miles to a tank of diesel

fonecrusher1

Rob113 wrote: »

Its the tax situation that appeals to me. 50mpg is fairly good too for a petrol

50mpg absolute max fuel economy i'd say you'd get. Thing is, its a nippy enough car. 94bhp ain't bad from a 1.4!

Similar cars combined fuel economy/bhp figures: 2000 mazda 323 1.5 (86bhp) 38mpg _ 2000 Honda civic 1.4 (90bhp) 37mpg _ 2000 Corolla 1.4 vvti (94bhp) 42mpg.

Renault megane 1.4 (75bhp!!) 42mpg.

Redisle

Rob113 wrote: »

Its the tax situation that appeals to me. 50mpg is fairly good too for a petrol

Id really doubt these figures tbh,

The quoted mpg for this car is 41 for mixed driving, to get 50mpg would be pretty damn difficult.

I have one of these and the trip meter averages ~35mpg. That's mixed between country roads and city driving. It used to show 39mpg when I got it (previous owner did a lot of dual carriageway driving and was a very slow/careful driver).

fonecrusher1

Redisle wrote: »

Id really doubt these figures tbh,

The quoted mpg for this car is 41 for mixed driving, to get 50mpg would be pretty damn difficult.

I have one of these and the trip meter averages ~35mpg. That's mixed between country roads and city driving. It used to show 39mpg when I got it (previous owner did a lot of dual carriageway driving and was a very slow/careful driver).

Got 305 miles out of 30L of petrol with my corolla last week. Works out around 45mpg.

And thats without driving in a very frugal manner.:)

Thing is, the OP's current car will still do better mpg than any of these smallish petrol engines?

BrianD3

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Renault megane 1.4 (75bhp!!) 42mpg.

That's the 8v engine, there's also a 1.4 16v with 95 bhp which IME is slightly more economical than the 8v

fonecrusher1

BrianD3 wrote: »

That's the 8v engine, there's also a 1.4 16v with 95 bhp which IME is slightly more economical than the 8v

What year was that introduced?

Rob113

BrianD3 wrote: »

If tax is a priority then there are lots of 1.0-1.2 litre small cars available. If you want something a little bigger the Opel Astra from 98-04 came in a 1.2 version which had the same power output as a 1.4 Focus or Golf. I don't know what mpg the 1.2 Astra does, I'd imagine for driving around town it would be good but not so good at 120 km/h on a motorway.

The Renault Megane 1.4 16v is an economical car, similar power, weight and economy to the Corollas that were mentioned. 50 mpg can be achieved without driving like a nun.

I was looking at the meganes alright. Thanks for that. Im living in laois and from Dublin so i do be travelling long distances fairly regular so i need something with a bit of power. The Megane would prob be ideal.

BrianD3

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

What year was that introduced?

1999 with the facelift Megane I.

fonecrusher1

OP if you could stretch your budget to a 2001 1.4 honda civic it gets 44mpg combined!!

Well looks like a 10yr old 1.4 corolla or megane are pretty much the most frugal cars in your budget.

IMO if you went for a 1.0 or 1.2 you will regret it in the long run as they would be a headache on longer trips.

Rob113

Thanks for all the help lads. Next job is trying to talk one of the garages into doing a swap - my 2L Diesel Octavia for one of their fuel efficient smaller engine petrol cars. What are my chances??

fonecrusher1

Rob113 wrote: »

Thanks for all the help lads. Next job is trying to talk one of the garages into doing a swap - my 2L Diesel Octavia for one of their fuel efficient smaller engine petrol cars. What are my chances??

Not an effing chance mate. Do you mean just a direct swap, no cash?

Dealers want cash either from a straight sale or a trade-in.

Sell your car online. Any dealer will give you a pityful amount of money for your octavia.

I was offered E1250 on a trade in for my hilux surf.:rolleyes: I ended up selling it for E3100.:)

Rob113

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Not an effing chance mate. Do you mean just a direct swap, no cash?

Dealers want cash either from a straight sale or a trade-in.

Sell your car online. Any dealer will give you a pityful amount of money for your octavia.

I was offered E1250 on a trade in for my hilux surf.:rolleyes: I ended up selling it for E3100.:)

thought as much. Goodnight and thanks for your help.:)