Unexpected thirsty cars.
Discussion
I used to have Vauxhall Corsa courtesy car from the garage when I had a company insignia and that would drain the tank quite happily on the motorway. I imagine it’s something to do with the fact that they’re not meant to be sat at 75 to 80 miles an hour all day long. To go up the slight inclines on the motorway you had to have your foot right to the floor to keep up speed
A Polo only has a 40 litre tank. I had the opposite experience with a brace of teeny three cylinder hire Polos I drove (one petrol one dizzal) which would drive for days and days without refuelling then cost sod all to refuel because the tank was so small. It was a nice change coming from my usual work truck (an L200 Warrior).
I had a G40 polo once. with a leaking fuel tank- around the filler neck joining the tank. Not that easy to get another tank- but until I did- if I parked it with one wheel on the kerb, that worked, equally putting no more than £6.00 was ok.
which back then was about enough to drive 120 miles in.
yes, I did find another scrap/spare tank and yes I did swap it over.
back then, looks like they had a great bit of design where the wheel generously coated the filler neck in mud/rain causing rot at some point
so there is a thirsty polo tale for you.
which back then was about enough to drive 120 miles in.
yes, I did find another scrap/spare tank and yes I did swap it over.
back then, looks like they had a great bit of design where the wheel generously coated the filler neck in mud/rain causing rot at some point
so there is a thirsty polo tale for you.
zafbandicoot said:
Got a hire car last week.
VW Polo 1.0tsi DSG. I was expecting it to be good on fuel. How wrong i was.
It managed Leeds to Birmingham return in a tank (Just about)
Got me thinking. Have you ever bought/hired a car expecting x fuel economy and you have been proved very very wrong?
Wrong car for the task I expect. My wife used to have a Suzuki Swift 1.3. You could get 60mpg out of it doing 50-60mph but plonk it on the motorway at 80mph and it would do about 38mpg I think as it was thrumming along at about 4,500rpm. VW Polo 1.0tsi DSG. I was expecting it to be good on fuel. How wrong i was.
It managed Leeds to Birmingham return in a tank (Just about)
Got me thinking. Have you ever bought/hired a car expecting x fuel economy and you have been proved very very wrong?
The issue with hirecars is some cheeky sods return them as full but in reality have done considerable miles since they refilled.
A former colleague used drive back from Heathrow airport and turn in his hirecars without refuelling... 50-60 miles without the needle coming off the "F". No cost benefit to him but he saved 5 minutes.
I had a c-class Merc that only did 250 miles of sedate motorway driving before needing a fill-up... The tank was small but I suspect it had been returned with a couple of gallons missing.
A former colleague used drive back from Heathrow airport and turn in his hirecars without refuelling... 50-60 miles without the needle coming off the "F". No cost benefit to him but he saved 5 minutes.
I had a c-class Merc that only did 250 miles of sedate motorway driving before needing a fill-up... The tank was small but I suspect it had been returned with a couple of gallons missing.
RB Will said:
Wrong car for the task I expect. My wife used to have a Suzuki Swift 1.3. You could get 60mpg out of it doing 50-60mph but plonk it on the motorway at 80mph and it would do about 38mpg I think as it was thrumming along at about 4,500rpm.
I had a Swift Sport a few years ago and it was similar to yours, with high-30s mpg at 70-odd mph. The crazy thing is that my two-ton 2.8 slushbox 4wd Insignia manages the same motorway mpg as the Swift did.The Swift Sport was unsatisfactory and disappointing for a number of reasons so I swapped it for the Viva I have now, which, despite being underpowered, slow and only five gears - so it needs 3500-4000rpm on the motorway - it still manages low-50s mpg at 70-80mph which is much better than the Swift.
I have measured 44mpg over 100 miles at 65mph in lane 1 of the motorway.
I’ve also measured 25mpg by filling up en route to a track day, zeroing the odometer, driving the track day and stopping at the same pump on the way home, dividing the volume of fuel pumped by the distance covered.
Driving style is the biggest factor in MPG
I’ve also measured 25mpg by filling up en route to a track day, zeroing the odometer, driving the track day and stopping at the same pump on the way home, dividing the volume of fuel pumped by the distance covered.
Driving style is the biggest factor in MPG
Olas said:
tyre pressure and throttle posisiton and coolant temp and air intake temp make measurable differences.
you werent driving it for economy, so it did not perform econimically. biggest change you can make to improve mpg is your driving style.
Just worked the mpg out from the fuel receipt 35.2. you werent driving it for economy, so it did not perform econimically. biggest change you can make to improve mpg is your driving style.
I didn't drive it like i stole it. . Sat on the M1/M42 in 1st/2nd lane.
I would have expected mid 40s from it. But apparently not
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff