Unexpected thirsty cars.

Unexpected thirsty cars.

Author
Discussion

wiliferus

4,060 posts

198 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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I bought a X-Trail 1.6dci. Bought on the pretence of the official figure of combined cycle of mid fifties mpg, so was expecting mid to high forties.
The bloody thing wouldn’t crack 40mpg, which if that wasn’t bad enough it was combined with glacial performance from the alleged 130bhp.

It wasn’t my driving style or usage as I’m now using a 13 year old Volvo 2.4 D5 with 185bhp and that’s happily sitting just off 50mpg.

bloomen

6,892 posts

159 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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My dear old ma had a 1.4 Renault 5 petrol that struggled to get above 25 mpg when she drove it. She was a bit of a headbanger.

All of the Gp A derived stuff I've driven - Integrale, Impreza, Evo 6 - had economy I'd expect from a Range Rover or supercar, not a relatively small and light hatch or saloon. They all managed single figure mpg at some point.


Bagzie88

177 posts

66 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Ron99 said:
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.
Was that the mk 1 with the 5 speed or the mk 2 with the 6 speed.

Just wondering because I have a mk 2 and at bang on 70 it gets about 50mpg which incidentally at 70mph is slightly more efficient than the 1.2 Swift I had as a courtesy car I suspect because of the 5 speed box and the smaller engine having to work a bit harder at that speed

Olas

911 posts

57 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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zafbandicoot said:
Just worked the mpg out from the fuel receipt 35.2.
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
What gear and speed and rpm?
Empty or congested roads?
Tyre pressures?

Olas

911 posts

57 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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BopoWarls said:
My 2019 Volvo V90 T5 has so far returned an average of 26.4 mpg (10 months ownership so far). I know its a big heavy car but that MPG still came as a shock.

Not far off the mpg I get from my E92 m3...
Heavy car and a turbo. Par for the course.

Ron99

1,985 posts

81 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Bagzie88 said:
Ron99 said:
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.
Was that the mk 1 with the 5 speed or the mk 2 with the 6 speed.

Just wondering because I have a mk 2 and at bang on 70 it gets about 50mpg which incidentally at 70mph is slightly more efficient than the 1.2 Swift I had as a courtesy car I suspect because of the 5 speed box and the smaller engine having to work a bit harder at that speed
It was a mk2, 2015 model.
To consistently get 50mpg I had to trundle along in lane 1 with the lorries at 50-56mph.

Aiminghigh123

2,720 posts

69 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Aygo at motorway speed or above are shocking.

Had one as a hire car drove 200 miles purely motorway sat at 75-85. Mpg was 32. My 2003 9-3 aero does nearly 40mpg at similar speeds.


Olas

911 posts

57 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Operating within the efficiency window is good for mpg.
It seems that some of us are either unaware of this or incapable of putting it into practice.

Limpet

6,309 posts

161 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Our MX-5 NB 1.8 wasn't great on fuel considering the relatively modest engine. I don't think we ever coaxed 30 mpg out of it.

Shappers24

816 posts

86 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Renault Clio with the 0.9 turbo engine; had two of them as hire cars several months apart and same issues with both

Only had a 5 speed box, and driving at 70 on the motorway saw it barely break 30mpg. Hateful cars.

Alex_225

6,259 posts

201 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Hired a car for a trip to Devon last year, got a manual Insignia petrol. Overall I was genuinely really really impressed with it. It handled well, looked good, nicely spec'd and was really comfortable.

It was let down by the engine though which I believe was a 1.5 turbo although not sure how much power it made as there's two variants. To be fair the car was pretty good on the motorway, doing 45mpg+ and that's with a boot full of luggage, two adults and two kids.

Frustratingly though, because it was a big car and a small engine round town it was actually only getting around 30mpg and averaged 37mpg across the 700 odd miles we did. By contrast my E320 (3.2 I6 diesel) would average 40mpg+ on that kind of drive and significantly more powerful. Obviously not as good for the environment by any means but the Insignia was totally let down by it's engine.

PTF

4,310 posts

224 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI is my contribution. Traded in my Impreza WRX wagon because it only scraped through the MOT and because we had our first kid and wanted something more modern/safer. Used to be able to coax 32-34 mpg out of the scoob on a run. Expected early 50s out of the SEAT.

The drive home from the dealer saw it return early 40s despite taking it VERY steady. Absolutely gutted. Expected it to be a step up from the 115 bhp Golf PD that i had many years before (that'd get late 50s no matter what), so was very disappointed by how crap the 2.0 TDI was.

Limpet said:
Our MX-5 NB 1.8 wasn't great on fuel considering the relatively modest engine. I don't think we ever coaxed 30 mpg out of it.
Had a few MX5 1.8. They're never great on fuel, despite the lack of power. 28mpg out of my 1998 1.8 NA. I ran that for 2 yrs and about 20k miles. Spent a fortune on fuel.


BrettMRC

4,084 posts

160 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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I had a knackered Rx7 EGi once that would do c80-100miles to a tank before I rebuilt it! :O

Otherwise, a new 2015 Avensis diesel that revved like a 9L, but had the low down torque of a 2CV... never saw more than 40mpg out of it.

Krikkit

26,527 posts

181 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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PTF said:
Limpet said:
Our MX-5 NB 1.8 wasn't great on fuel considering the relatively modest engine. I don't think we ever coaxed 30 mpg out of it.
Had a few MX5 1.8. They're never great on fuel, despite the lack of power. 28mpg out of my 1998 1.8 NA. I ran that for 2 yrs and about 20k miles. Spent a fortune on fuel.
I used to get 31mpg out of my NA, whether I caned it or tried to treat it as gently as possible.

I'm quite surprised I can't get more than 30 out of my 325Ti, I was expecting 30 and change, but I'm actually at about 27.

PTF

4,310 posts

224 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Krikkit said:
PTF said:
Limpet said:
Our MX-5 NB 1.8 wasn't great on fuel considering the relatively modest engine. I don't think we ever coaxed 30 mpg out of it.
Had a few MX5 1.8. They're never great on fuel, despite the lack of power. 28mpg out of my 1998 1.8 NA. I ran that for 2 yrs and about 20k miles. Spent a fortune on fuel.
I used to get 31mpg out of my NA, whether I caned it or tried to treat it as gently as possible.

I'm quite surprised I can't get more than 30 out of my 325Ti, I was expecting 30 and change, but I'm actually at about 27.
My 130i would do about 35mpg on a run, but had to take it VERY steady

Pistonheader101

2,206 posts

107 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Range Rover - 13mpg

djt100

1,735 posts

185 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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A friend has a new 1.0 Audi A3, company car so low tax as meant to be economical, he's not heavy with the right foot by any stretch , averages 21-22 mpg around town, shockingly bad.

Bagzie88

177 posts

66 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Ron99 said:
It was a mk2, 2015 model.
To consistently get 50mpg I had to trundle along in lane 1 with the lorries at 50-56mph.
To be fair I read somewhere that aerodynamically the swift us terrible.

Filibuster

3,148 posts

215 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Pistonheader101 said:
Range Rover - 13mpg
I was quite astonished when I achieved 17mpg with my new to me P38 4.6 HSE over a trip of 1'000 miles! biggrin
Of course on shorter trips involving more city driving, I also get about 13mpg... frown

wiliferus

4,060 posts

198 months

Tuesday 25th February 2020
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Pistonheader101 said:
Range Rover - 13mpg
Unexpected?