320d ED test drive
Discussion
After some questions about mpg that bang around my head everytime i stop and fill up my old M5...i thought theres probably a way to make some serious changes to costs. The wife has the nice car so the churn mileage should be done in something else. But whats the best out there, hence a test.
Very kindly BMW leant me a 320d ed for an hour and on such a lovely day, i couldnt refuse - now first off getting out of an M5 and driving anything can be a little blinding.
I reset the mpg computer and head out, hitting some country roads hard and some motorway at my cruising speed, yes that sort of huhhh umm speed...
after an hour mpg at worse was 43.7, now for me that was an average bout of which i get 21 all day long (on average).
For me thats not the 64 bmw combine claim, ok was heavy but it was a mixed bag of what i usually do, and some dsg turned off moments...
I was looking to see what i could get from changing cars and doubled mpg wasnt it really i wanted more....
am i mad.?
ok the car overall was an eye opener, and felt swift, quite, and crisp....i did like the feel and it was great - no truely. Downside - standard 3 series seats gave me a back ache....yep after an hour numb bum set in....and at the moment a £28k price tag for a soot burner really is pushing it...
So it wouldnt do....
Anyone else have any thoughts....
Very kindly BMW leant me a 320d ed for an hour and on such a lovely day, i couldnt refuse - now first off getting out of an M5 and driving anything can be a little blinding.
I reset the mpg computer and head out, hitting some country roads hard and some motorway at my cruising speed, yes that sort of huhhh umm speed...
after an hour mpg at worse was 43.7, now for me that was an average bout of which i get 21 all day long (on average).
For me thats not the 64 bmw combine claim, ok was heavy but it was a mixed bag of what i usually do, and some dsg turned off moments...
I was looking to see what i could get from changing cars and doubled mpg wasnt it really i wanted more....
am i mad.?
ok the car overall was an eye opener, and felt swift, quite, and crisp....i did like the feel and it was great - no truely. Downside - standard 3 series seats gave me a back ache....yep after an hour numb bum set in....and at the moment a £28k price tag for a soot burner really is pushing it...
So it wouldnt do....
Anyone else have any thoughts....
i've driven 'standard' 320ds in the past and i always found them a bit dull - the standard cloth seats are a bit of a let down and the cars dont look like much unless highly spec'd with leather, big rims, etc, etc.
I bought a new passat bluemotion back in january for £15650 and its certainly no worse finished than a 'standard' BMW.
Of interest though, what i've with these 'economy' cars is the trick is cruise control and very very steady driving. If you drive them like a 'normal' car yes, you will get a better return than the standard cars though it wont be massively better, but if you're on a motorway run and stick them onto cruise control you can get big big mpg.
My normal commute is 8 miles uncrowded A class roads, then 18 miles of motorway where the average speed in no more that 60mph. If i use cruise control and soft steady driving (which sadly i do every day now...) i can easy crack 80mpg on the route to work and 70mpg on the way home (different traffic conditions).
Overall i'm set to average around 68mpg on this entire fill, which works out at around 1000 miles on a 70 litre tank.
I know though that if my run was mostly A roads, or involved a lot of accelerating / deccelerating i'd be getting mid 50's at best.
That said, my passat has no real power worth talking about - its merely adequate.
I bought a new passat bluemotion back in january for £15650 and its certainly no worse finished than a 'standard' BMW.
Of interest though, what i've with these 'economy' cars is the trick is cruise control and very very steady driving. If you drive them like a 'normal' car yes, you will get a better return than the standard cars though it wont be massively better, but if you're on a motorway run and stick them onto cruise control you can get big big mpg.
My normal commute is 8 miles uncrowded A class roads, then 18 miles of motorway where the average speed in no more that 60mph. If i use cruise control and soft steady driving (which sadly i do every day now...) i can easy crack 80mpg on the route to work and 70mpg on the way home (different traffic conditions).
Overall i'm set to average around 68mpg on this entire fill, which works out at around 1000 miles on a 70 litre tank.
I know though that if my run was mostly A roads, or involved a lot of accelerating / deccelerating i'd be getting mid 50's at best.
That said, my passat has no real power worth talking about - its merely adequate.
Edited by daemon on Sunday 25th April 12:33
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