least tedious economical car
least tedious economical car
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Discussion

sawman

Original Poster:

5,176 posts

261 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
Parked outside my local supermarket earlier was a citroen cactus - it looked quite smart, and so a quick google reveals that they should probably return about 60mpg, its a reasonable sized car so that seems quite good.

my daily driver outback 3.0 manages about 27mpg with my commute almost exclusively on A roads where I can cruise at the speed limit. Its very comfortable and quite nice place to be, but I pretty much never use the available performance. I cover about 20k miles per year

If I were to change my car for something relatively cheap to lease with low BIK could I get something that might get close to 60mpg (actual rather than claimed) and be comfortable for 20k miles a year.






ORD

18,205 posts

158 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Short answer is no unless you go diesel. And even then unlikely to see 60 as an average

TwigtheWonderkid

49,228 posts

181 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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I often get an average 60 out of my Leon Ecomotive Diesel. oddly enough I will be changing in a few months to the Citroen C4 cactus.

sawman

Original Poster:

5,176 posts

261 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I often get an average 60 out of my Leon Ecomotive Diesel. oddly enough I will be changing in a few months to the Citroen C4 cactus.
how has the leon been?

I see the cactus as a modern citroen visa - a pal of mine had a diesel one of those back in the 80's and it used to return 60mpg


Edited by sawman on Saturday 28th February 13:15

Paradaxos

135 posts

149 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Lotus Elise

groundcontrol

1,539 posts

222 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Just downsized by E65 to a 120D and it's not too bad now I'm used to the ride and bit of extra noise. Good spec, looks decent, RWD and 50mpg.

Mr E

23,096 posts

290 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Paradaxos said:
Lotus Elise
For 20k a year?

Claudia Skies

1,098 posts

147 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Fiat Panda - previous model.

Paradaxos

135 posts

149 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Mr E said:
Paradaxos said:
Lotus Elise
For 20k a year?
Fuel cost for that distance on an Elise should be about £2500 if you behave yourself and it surely won't be anything approaching tedious.

Fuel cost for a 60mpg diesel car for the same distance would be something in the region of £1800 and it almost definitely *would* be tedious.

Cost of spares and maintenance I dare say would be cheaper on the Elise than a modern diesel if you did the work yourself.

A citroen C4 cactus is about £3k more expensive than an Elise with aircon to buy.

Perhaps OP could keep his outback for when he needs a car with space and use the Elise as a daily.

AND he'd have an excuse to moan about his back injuries.

Mr E

23,096 posts

290 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
It's not the cost. I pretty much guarantee if yo do 20k commuting in an Elise you will end up hating the thing.

I love mine dearly, but about 2 hours in one stint is quite sufficient. It is hyperactive and very, very loud.

Paradaxos

135 posts

149 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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Alright, it's not worth hating an Elise.

Maybe one of those diesel Octavia VRSeses. I think you can get one for £5k or so.

Mr E

23,096 posts

290 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
Paradaxos said:
Alright, it's not worth hating an Elise.
If you can find one, an Europa is an interesting thought...

Gandahar

9,600 posts

159 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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A lot of modern day claims on fuel consumption are spurious to put it mildly.

The old Citroen C1 diesel had an engine which was not fancy like modern day turbo's and did closer to claimed mpg than modern day cars. It was over 60. It was only 55bhp but you could chip it up to about 65-70 and that was ample for toodling around ..still with 60mpg easy.


sawman

Original Poster:

5,176 posts

261 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
Paradaxos said:
Alright, it's not worth hating an Elise.

Maybe one of those diesel Octavia VRSeses. I think you can get one for £5k or so.
iIf my commute were anything like interesting I would be all over an elise. I spent 4 years covering 10k miles a year in a morgan, but in the end it was the wrong car for the job, and whilst the elise is probably a bit more civilised but would probably fall into a similar camp.

The octvia might be a sensible choice but they look a bit dull to me - maybe I should look again.

I did wonder about golf GTD as I can get a fully maintianed and insured one via the work lease scheme for less than £300 a month but they only seem to manage low 40's mpg, presumably the octavia will be similar?

Paradaxos

135 posts

149 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
sawman said:
iIf my commute were anything like interesting I would be all over an elise. I spent 4 years covering 10k miles a year in a morgan, but in the end it was the wrong car for the job, and whilst the elise is probably a bit more civilised but would probably fall into a similar camp.

The octvia might be a sensible choice but they look a bit dull to me - maybe I should look again.

I did wonder about golf GTD as I can get a fully maintianed and insured one via the work lease scheme for less than £300 a month but they only seem to manage low 40's mpg, presumably the octavia will be similar?
I've heard that you can expect more like 50 out of a diesel VRS but I couldn't say first hand.

edit: looks like people are getting about 45 on fuelly with mixed motorway/ city driving.

Edited by Paradaxos on Saturday 28th February 14:29

sawman

Original Poster:

5,176 posts

261 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
quotequote all
at 55 - 60 mpg I would be saving £100. The cheapest lease car I can get via work would be an aygo at £180 all in including BIK tax.

the other way to look at it would be diesel barge, but the inconvenience of mending old cars can be an issue - I did do shedding for a couple of years and whilst it didnt cost much, I did get stranded once which was a pain.


TwigtheWonderkid

49,228 posts

181 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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sawman said:
how has the leon been?
Faultless. Does everything it says on the tin. Gets from A to B cheaply. It's no ball of fire but it never claims to be.

anonymous-user

85 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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My company 320D Efficient Dynamics has averaged 60 the gallon, on average, since it was new (30,000 miles). Very easy to achieve. 0-60 in 8.0 seconds is very reasonable for the economy.

Bonefish Blues

36,932 posts

254 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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LPG what you've got? Not 60 mpg equivalent, but very acceptable and you continue to drive what you enjoy.

TheBroker

90 posts

141 months

Saturday 28th February 2015
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The Cactus is an interesting proposition.

Built on the C3 chassis but only a little smaller than the C4, it's stripped out and very economical.

The HDi claims about 90mpg on a run.

But the rear windows are not wind down jobbies and it will feel quite tinny. Could be the next cult estate agent car, especially if there are some funky/branded aftermarket air bumps coming. It's very cheap too, nearly supplied 40 to one of my customers but they took Jukes with us instead.