Discussion
I'm doing a lot of miles now for work and am starting to resent constantly filling up my Celica with petrol so I'm interested to hear people views on cars they have driven or owned that are genuinely fuel efficient and fun to drive. A VW Up! springs to mind as they are pretty light weight and have a small 3 cylinder engine. Also the new 1.5 mazda MX5.
To be clear I would class a frugal car as something that easily returns over 40mpg in mixed driving.
To be clear I would class a frugal car as something that easily returns over 40mpg in mixed driving.
I think the up!/Citigo/Mii iis a good shout for an all-round good small car.
I've driven both an up! and a Citigo, both in the low 60PS forms and to be honest, found them very accomplished to drive. It's all relative of course but to me, the engine felt quite nippy and strong for what it was, made a nice noise too.
The boxy shape helps with interior room and boot space. I think they are hard to beat for this type of thing. I would reckon 40mpg+ would certainly be realistic in daily driving, unless you were really caning it do death everywhere. 50 and 60mpg would also be possible but i'd say on more gentle steady drives.
I've also driven a new C1 and was impressed with that. I'm used to driving SWMBO's 8 year old 107 and it felt a good step on from that in all respects, especially refinement. (mentioning that as they are kinda the same car underneath) To compare, the 1.0 (68bhp) had similar performance to the 60bhp Citigo, had a more interesting interior, had a slightly cushier, roly poly ride. But quite girly looking, wheras the Citigo etc are kinda...more neutral looking?
I've driven both an up! and a Citigo, both in the low 60PS forms and to be honest, found them very accomplished to drive. It's all relative of course but to me, the engine felt quite nippy and strong for what it was, made a nice noise too.
The boxy shape helps with interior room and boot space. I think they are hard to beat for this type of thing. I would reckon 40mpg+ would certainly be realistic in daily driving, unless you were really caning it do death everywhere. 50 and 60mpg would also be possible but i'd say on more gentle steady drives.
I've also driven a new C1 and was impressed with that. I'm used to driving SWMBO's 8 year old 107 and it felt a good step on from that in all respects, especially refinement. (mentioning that as they are kinda the same car underneath) To compare, the 1.0 (68bhp) had similar performance to the 60bhp Citigo, had a more interesting interior, had a slightly cushier, roly poly ride. But quite girly looking, wheras the Citigo etc are kinda...more neutral looking?
Not sure what your budget is, but how about something like a Golf GTD?
If you can't stretch to something that new, the MkV Golf GT 2.0 TDI is a decent steer, and will return a gazillion miles per gallon (may be a SLIGHT exaggeration, but they are good).
I ran a GT TDI when I had a 100 mile per day round trip commute to contend with, and found it to be fun in the twisties, as well as comfortable on the motorway. Not to mention fast. So fast (mine was remapped).
If you can't stretch to something that new, the MkV Golf GT 2.0 TDI is a decent steer, and will return a gazillion miles per gallon (may be a SLIGHT exaggeration, but they are good).
I ran a GT TDI when I had a 100 mile per day round trip commute to contend with, and found it to be fun in the twisties, as well as comfortable on the motorway. Not to mention fast. So fast (mine was remapped).
Turning Japanese said:
I'm doing a lot of miles now for work and am starting to resent constantly filling up my Celica with petrol so I'm interested to hear people views on cars they have driven or owned that are genuinely fuel efficient and fun to drive. A VW Up! springs to mind as they are pretty light weight and have a small 3 cylinder engine. Also the new 1.5 mazda MX5.
To be clear I would class a frugal car as something that easily returns over 40mpg in mixed driving.
What Celica do you have?To be clear I would class a frugal car as something that easily returns over 40mpg in mixed driving.
Are you planning on keeping it and buying a second car?
How many miles do you do?
Budget?
I commute in a 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta Zetec S. Even when regularly getting stuck in traffic it returns 45mpg, and can be up to 55mpg when traffic's quiet.
Whilst it's not massively powerful it's way better than you would think a 1l engine would be, and the Fiesta's chassis gives plenty of front end grip and a bit of throttle adjustability at the rear. Plus the 3 cylinder engine makes a great noise.
It might 'only' be a Fiesta, but they are great fun to drive.
Whilst it's not massively powerful it's way better than you would think a 1l engine would be, and the Fiesta's chassis gives plenty of front end grip and a bit of throttle adjustability at the rear. Plus the 3 cylinder engine makes a great noise.
It might 'only' be a Fiesta, but they are great fun to drive.
I have a 2006 1.8 Celica with 140bhp. I would sell this to buy something more economical.
Twingo is interesting but I have heard they are actually pretty poor when it comes to mpg a bit like the Suzuki Swift sport. I remember reading somewhere that the fiesta ST is actually pretty good and not much worse than the 1.0 ecoboost engine in terms of economy.
Is the 2.0 MX5 you have the new shape (mk4 ND)? I've heard they are very good.
Twingo is interesting but I have heard they are actually pretty poor when it comes to mpg a bit like the Suzuki Swift sport. I remember reading somewhere that the fiesta ST is actually pretty good and not much worse than the 1.0 ecoboost engine in terms of economy.
Is the 2.0 MX5 you have the new shape (mk4 ND)? I've heard they are very good.
We have a top spec Citigo with the extra BHP. It's a lot of fun to drive, surprisingly spacious and economical if driven sensibly. However, it's our second car in the household and I certainty wouldn't want to drive long distance in it on the motorway. But for driving locally it's superb and cheap to run.
Wife bought a new aygo which wasn't as economical as expected, averaged 45 mpg but was good fun to drive, killed my right ankle driving for any length of time. Changed to a new yaris which isn't as much fun to drive and averages just over 40 mpg, nowhere near the official figures. I
've been driving my mums old mk1 yaris for the last couple of weeks, mpg is constantly over 50 mpg.
You could pick one up for 4-500 quid and keep the celica?
not much fun to drive though.
've been driving my mums old mk1 yaris for the last couple of weeks, mpg is constantly over 50 mpg.
You could pick one up for 4-500 quid and keep the celica?
not much fun to drive though.
Turning Japanese said:
To be clear I would class a frugal car as something that easily returns over 40mpg in mixed driving.
Define "mixed driving".Turning Japanese said:
Twingo is interesting but I have heard they are actually pretty poor when it comes to mpg a bit like the Suzuki Swift sport.
My average fuel consumption over ~7k miles in my SSS is just over 40mpg. This from a mixture of short runs from cold and long distance A-road & motorway. I'm certain that a Fiesta 1.0l Ecoboost or Mazda 1.5 would be better on fuel (but slower) whilst a Fiesta ST would be faster and probably only a little thirstier.Turning Japanese said:
(from another thread)
I love these cars but I'm strangely drawn to the standard 1.2 swift as it has 95bhp. I'm sorry but I think 95bhp from a 1.2 engine is pretty decent.
The standard Swift is apparently very frugal (39-59 on HJs Realmpgs), has a revvy engine and is cheap to buy too. I can definitely see the attraction, it'd complement a weekend car nicely.I love these cars but I'm strangely drawn to the standard 1.2 swift as it has 95bhp. I'm sorry but I think 95bhp from a 1.2 engine is pretty decent.
Edited by gweaver on Thursday 16th February 22:37
ooo000ooo said:
Wife bought a new aygo which wasn't as economical as expected, averaged 45 mpg but was good fun to drive, killed my right ankle driving for any length of time. Changed to a new yaris which isn't as much fun to drive and averages just over 40 mpg, nowhere near the official figures. I
've been driving my mums old mk1 yaris for the last couple of weeks, mpg is constantly over 50 mpg.
You could pick one up for 4-500 quid and keep the celica?
not much fun to drive though.
Buy the 1.5 Yaris Trs? You get the fun and the economy 've been driving my mums old mk1 yaris for the last couple of weeks, mpg is constantly over 50 mpg.
You could pick one up for 4-500 quid and keep the celica?
not much fun to drive though.
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