Unexpected thirsty cars.

[TotalControl]

Bringing this thread back from the dead. Of my recent cars:

Lexus IS200 Auto
Honda Civic 1.6 Auto

Both absolutely atrocious on fuel. The breadvan civic was worse than the Lexus, and that really says something.

Years ago I had a lambda/O2 sensor go on my ST202 Celica and the mpg worked out at 16 for the few months before I got it fixed. Being young and stupid I thought it'd fix itself.

[Gtom]

Ford sport ka, no matter how it was driven it would be low 20’s or less.

[lee_erm]

N/A Civic Type R. It'll do high 20's at best

[CousinDupree]

320i E90. It actually did less MPG that my 330i N52, when driven in a similar (but slower), fashion.

NA/NB MX5s. My 1.8i did the same MPG as a 993 C2, averaged over it's lifetime.

[TameRacingDriver]

lee_erm said:

N/A Civic Type R. It'll do high 20's at best

Had my FN2 down to 17 or less regularly when pushing it a bit.

[Welshbeef]

Gtom said:

Ford sport ka, no matter how it was driven it would be low 20’s or less.

Then it was broken or faulty.

[idealstandard]

Welshbeef said:

Then it was broken or faulty.

Was it the same 1.6 engine they put into the Fiestas of the time (circa 2002-03)

If so, those engines were awful on fuel unless you drove like an absolute granny

[FlabbyMidgets]

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.

I often drive a Skoda Octavia Estate with the same engine and box. Quite easily get 50mpg on the motorway and 40 odd if I'm driving around town etc. I'd suggest it's probably driving style

[snowandrocks]

Some of the Mpg figures being quoted really are quite bad, especially for the modern stuff.

My 2016 hilux 2.4 has a long term average of 34.8 and will quite easily do high 30's on longer run. The very long gearing definitely helps but it's still surprising to hear of superminis with similar power outputs and much better aerodynamics doing worse.

[Semiskimmed]

Our FN2 civic is awful on fuel.. Mid to high 20s running around. Can easily drop to 16-17 when playing with it

The diesel XJ I have likes a drink too

From my past:

Peugeot 106 1.1 drank like a Frenchman
Peugeot 405 1.9d was the same

2002 320ci. It became a running joke between me and friends

mazda mx mk2 1.8 awful!

But on the other side, my 4.0 XKR and XJR were both surprising good on fuel. Both averaged 19mpg

And my range rover Sport 4.4 v8 did 17

Which for my driving style and the trips I was doing isn't bad.
But £110 a week to go to and from work quickly became boring.
Going to have another though. As a cheapish dog wagon and weekend run around

[stargazer30]

I take your FN2 and raise you the mk2 focus ST. Similar performance and after owning 3 of them all were 19mpg when driven in anger and 22mpg pushed down a steep hill with the engine off

My current mk3 focus ST is averaging 24mpg so a slight improvement.

[Semiskimmed]

stargazer30 said:

I take your FN2 and raise you the mk2 focus ST. Similar performance and after owning 3 of them all were 19mpg when driven in anger and 22mpg pushed down a steep hill with the engine off

My current mk3 focus ST is averaging 24mpg so a slight improvement.

Im glad it's not just me that struggled with the mk3 St
Mine too only did 25mpg at a push
I wouldn't have minded too much if it was an exciting car.. But it was just a little.. Numb

[tight fart]

My TD5 discovery struggled to manage 20mpg.

[MJ85]

Second generation RX300. 18/19 MPG was common and 22/24 on a run.

[CousinDupree]

FlabbyMidgets said:

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.

I often drive a Skoda Octavia Estate with the same engine and box. Quite easily get 50mpg on the motorway and 40 odd if I'm driving around town etc. I'd suggest it's probably driving style

Yep.

The turbo fitted to these downsized engines, give the drinking ability of a much more sizeable engine - if you use it. Which is often the case, as the torque and fuel needed for this, more readily available at lower revs.

You need to be driving them gently to get any decent mpg out of them.

I heard that the first Nissan Murano was a shocker on fuel. That was coming from an E60 M5 owner.

[SkodaIan]

Had a number of hire cars over the years which have been surprisingly bad.

Recently, a Ford Kuga was one of the more noticeable. Despite being diesel, even if I took it really gently it struggled to get better than 35mpg on a mostly motorway trip.
On the same journey a week later, and probably driving it harder as I was late, I had a petrol Qashqai. I got more than 40mpg out of that which seemed fairly satisfactory (in terms of the amount of fuel it used at least!) and certainly questions the need for diesel.

From a bit longer ago, 19mpg out of a Hyundai i800 was also pretty bad, even considering it's basically a van with seats - have had 30+ mpg out of a much bigger fully loaded LWB Sprinter on similar trips.