MPG - comparisons please.

[LIZS]

Was fiddling with the display on car dashboard and was somewhat shocked that I am apparently only getting 33mpg in a 1.2. Is that typical? Mainly urban and rural local driving but not fast. Tips to achieve better economy welcome as at £1.30 per litre every saving counts !

Hi Lizs,

what kind of car? petrol or diesel?

We've always had at least one 1.2 in the family.

petrol - Clio 2004.

Do not take any notice of your on board mpg computer they often go wrong.

Diesel Skoda Fabia, 1.6 - 48 mpg average over last 1000 miles.

Clio petrol guages are pretty accurate. Older VW campervans on the other hand..

Anyway, to date we've had five Clios from our first in 1996 to present day. All 1.2s.

Its the small runs we make to shops and school that muck up the mpg. Sitting waiting for the windscreen to defrost is another way to drop the mpg. Give the car a real good distance run with no stops and see the difference.

Newspaper articles, TV programmes, etc. give the impression that every car does 50 mpg. Not so. DD2's Clio is a 1.4 diesel doing similar journeys to yours. Checked today - its doing 36.4 mpg. Long journeys, it does a whole lot better. Getting figures like BikeRunSki's bigger engined Fabia.

Hope this helps. :)

From what i can find on original spec

urban 30 mpg rural 47 mpg combined 38 mpg.

So not too far off given the cars age.

Usual tips. Don't carry loads of crap in the car.

Check tyres every week for correct pressure.

Make sure of annual service.

Fill up in the morning not in afternoon
(summer).

Drive inn highest gear when you can.

Easy on the brake.

I my experience of 20 years driving in various small cars (mine and mum's; Renault 5; Fiesta; Corsa; Fabia/Felicia; Clio; Polo; Mini) and large cars (work and DH's; Xantia, 3 x Octavia, Audi A4; Golf Estate), the most efficient engines are Volkswagen-Audi Group diesels. I am not sure if there is any technical data to back this up, but it is my experience. Least efficient was my petrol Mini (about 30 mpg mixed) but it was great fun!

My driving is very mixed. My journey to work is 16 miles, and split faily evenly between country lanes, motorway and town.

Yaris-03 1.3 48 mpg+
Renault scenic 05 1.6 38 mpg

I see it as a challenge. Both go up massively when dh drives.

Both driving round town with occasional trips up to 40 mins on main rd