Is there a fun, petrol car that will do a genuine 40mpg?
Discussion
GTIAlex said:
You must be driving like a complete saint to achieve that. I know 3 people who have been running them since before xmas and they've never seen above 30mpg
Well the 160mile a day round trip on the motorway probably has something to do with it! Although getting below 30 seems a little low, before i started the hellish commute I was getting anywhere between 32 and 36.Great little car though, don't mind trading a bit of mpg for the fun I wouldn't be having in a diesel! That fiesta black looks lovely by the way.
rossjohnstone said:
GTIAlex said:
You must be driving like a complete saint to achieve that. I know 3 people who have been running them since before xmas and they've never seen above 30mpg
Well the 160mile a day round trip on the motorway probably has something to do with it! Although getting below 30 seems a little low, before i started the hellish commute I was getting anywhere between 32 and 36.Great little car though, don't mind trading a bit of mpg for the fun I wouldn't be having in a diesel! That fiesta black looks lovely by the way.
I considered an ST but with recently losing my no claims and only doing a short stop start 20 miles everyday I couldn't really justify it.
Depending on what your definition of 'fun' is, there are lots of cars rhat meet your criteria. I drive a VW Scirocco tsi, 160bhp and easily average 40mpg (300 mile short break to Lowestof from Leeds gave 53mpg!)The current golf with the 150bhp new engine has a combined consumption of 47mpg so should hit 40 in real life. My Honda Jazz is 100bhp (VTEC yoh) and averages 46mpg and has given 63mpg on a run.
I don't know if the very last of the Mk3 MR2s falls within the 5 year rule, but over 40 was easy peasy with mine, and they're undoubtedly an excellent drivers car.
As to your last bit, OP, re. an equivalent diseasel - I assume that they do a manual version - R172 Merc SLK 250 diesel; the latest variant is meant to handle and drive very well (I think mine does), 204bhp, 500Nm torque (<-- that is whopping), 0-62 in 6.7, 151mph from a 2.2 twin turbo. My *average* over the last 10600 miles is 46.8mpg. On a long motorway trip I see high 60s. It really is very cheap on fuel, I consider it reasonably rapid, and on A roads it goes great with huge gobs of torque shoving you out of bends. I like them so much I'm on my second.
Those should easily be sub 30k used now.
(On the other hand, although mine have never gone wrong (apart from a software update issue) I'm not sure I'd chance my arm with one out of warranty.)
As to your last bit, OP, re. an equivalent diseasel - I assume that they do a manual version - R172 Merc SLK 250 diesel; the latest variant is meant to handle and drive very well (I think mine does), 204bhp, 500Nm torque (<-- that is whopping), 0-62 in 6.7, 151mph from a 2.2 twin turbo. My *average* over the last 10600 miles is 46.8mpg. On a long motorway trip I see high 60s. It really is very cheap on fuel, I consider it reasonably rapid, and on A roads it goes great with huge gobs of torque shoving you out of bends. I like them so much I'm on my second.
Those should easily be sub 30k used now.
(On the other hand, although mine have never gone wrong (apart from a software update issue) I'm not sure I'd chance my arm with one out of warranty.)
Well I bought an Abarth 595 Competizione a few weeks back and it is an absolute hoot even after coming from a 911. Best commuter cost saver around.
The outgoing model is 160BHP and there will be some good deals out there as dealers are forced to stock up on the latest 180BHP model.
Looked at a Mini. Perfect driving position unlike Abarth. But perfectly boring.
The outgoing model is 160BHP and there will be some good deals out there as dealers are forced to stock up on the latest 180BHP model.
Looked at a Mini. Perfect driving position unlike Abarth. But perfectly boring.
kambites said:
Do any of you guys with Cooper Ss actually average 40mpg or is it more a question of "it should be possible but no-one would ever actually do it"? It's very impressive if it can average 40 without trying.
Yes, our R53 Cooper S last fill was 40.6mpg. I wouldn't say though that it does it without trying. When I had a cross-country commute of splendid b-roads it could return later 20's over a tank. But current commute is 50 miles mway, slightly out of rush hour. I tend to cruise at about 70ish or just under which is just over 3,000 rpm. It seems it's natural gait, plus it's a bit of a noisy little bugger so slower is all the better to listen to Radio 4
So whilst I'm not 'trying' to hyper-mile, they are about the easiest conditions for a car to get good MPG. For reference I used to do the same 50 mile commute in a BMW 530i and Jax XJ 3.0 (both autos) and would would normally see the right side of 30MPG (I did find though that the 6-cyl cars were happier at nearer 80mph as their natural crusing gait).
I do notice though that heavy traffic was the MPG killer in the barges - a couple of mornings in rush hour commutes would pull the tank average down to the mid 20's. Whereas in the little 1.6S MCS, it will have an impact, but not as much. Plus when there's a jam the current car is more suited to ducking off route onto the back roads!
Edited by Matt UK on Wednesday 4th March 14:22
Matttracker said:
I was looking at Cooper S' but all the review and forums suggest around a maximum of 27 mpg. Is this a new one? I was looking at pre 09
My supercharged S (R53, 2002) is averaging low twenties, but got over 30mpg on my last tank which included some motorway driving. Once warm, it is driven hard.My turbo S (R56, 2007) averaged 27.4mpg, driven very hard again. Driven more considerately, early-mid thirties was easily achieved, a run at 60mph using climate control, heated seats etc. achieved almost 50mpg.
I'd also vote for the new F56 Cooper with the 3cyl engine, I'm told they're great fun to run around in. Other than that, Caterham
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