Economical Driving.
Discussion
Yeah! I know, a dirty word for a PHer but I tried it this weekend just gone.
I run a 12 year old E36 BMW 323i which having an old school engine is great but does around 17 mpg in town and 25 on a run.
I had to go to work in Cardiff last weekend and totting up the cost of fuel, I was looking at a tank at least, to get there and back from London, around £70.
I am normally in the middle and outer lanes on the motorway generally getting a good pace down but also getting held up a lot by lane hoggers.
So this time coming back from Cardiff and being restricted to 50 mph all the way to the border, I decided to stay at around 60 to 65 for the rest of the journey.
What a difference, it was a nice day so sounds on and window open and just cruisin' and staying mainly in lane 1. Very relaxing and to be honest the 150 mile trip took maybe 25 mins longer.
The bonus is that the fuel gauge is only on the halfway mark and 307 miles done. Unbelievable! as usually I am lucky to get 300 miles from a whole tank on a run and as little as 200 in town.
OK it was a Sunday so not many lorries and at that speed during the week you would be stuck amongst them so not so nice.
Reminded me of driving in the States back in the early 90s when there was a 55 mph speed limit.
I run a 12 year old E36 BMW 323i which having an old school engine is great but does around 17 mpg in town and 25 on a run.
I had to go to work in Cardiff last weekend and totting up the cost of fuel, I was looking at a tank at least, to get there and back from London, around £70.
I am normally in the middle and outer lanes on the motorway generally getting a good pace down but also getting held up a lot by lane hoggers.
So this time coming back from Cardiff and being restricted to 50 mph all the way to the border, I decided to stay at around 60 to 65 for the rest of the journey.
What a difference, it was a nice day so sounds on and window open and just cruisin' and staying mainly in lane 1. Very relaxing and to be honest the 150 mile trip took maybe 25 mins longer.
The bonus is that the fuel gauge is only on the halfway mark and 307 miles done. Unbelievable! as usually I am lucky to get 300 miles from a whole tank on a run and as little as 200 in town.
OK it was a Sunday so not many lorries and at that speed during the week you would be stuck amongst them so not so nice.
Reminded me of driving in the States back in the early 90s when there was a 55 mph speed limit.
I'm amazed how low you say your normal MPG figures are. My old E36 328 would typically do around 22 around town, 30-35 at motorway speeds and average 28 mpg overall. I was always quite pleased with it.
It is amazing what a bit of slow and steady driiving can do for your figures though. When I had the 328 I once had to make a 40 mile journey up the A1 with a mate's wedding cake in the boot. Decided to make it a bit of an economy run as I was going to have to take it steady anyway. Averaged 45 mpg, beat that!
It is amazing what a bit of slow and steady driiving can do for your figures though. When I had the 328 I once had to make a 40 mile journey up the A1 with a mate's wedding cake in the boot. Decided to make it a bit of an economy run as I was going to have to take it steady anyway. Averaged 45 mpg, beat that!
I have a ford 1.6TDCI fiesta zetec S
If I put my foot down I only get 360 miles to a tank.
If I really nurse the car though and do 55mph behind a truck you can just about squeeze 580 out of the tank...
The tank which costs £40 to fill at £1.18 a litre.
Equates to about 77mpg.
Its pretty slow but its fun to drive on the twistys.
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg
ouch.
If I put my foot down I only get 360 miles to a tank.
If I really nurse the car though and do 55mph behind a truck you can just about squeeze 580 out of the tank...
The tank which costs £40 to fill at £1.18 a litre.
Equates to about 77mpg.
Its pretty slow but its fun to drive on the twistys.
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg
ouch. One of the questions on the highway code that I was asked by the examiner nearly 30 years ago was "What is the outside lane on the motorway for?"
My answer "High speed cruising".
He got cross but I still passed.
I do point and squirt the car in town so am probably punished with the 17 mpg. I just like the sound of the in-line six.
My answer "High speed cruising".
He got cross but I still passed.
I do point and squirt the car in town so am probably punished with the 17 mpg. I just like the sound of the in-line six.
GSP said:
I have a ford 1.6TDCI fiesta zetec S
If I put my foot down I only get 360 miles to a tank.
If I really nurse the car though and do 55mph behind a truck you can just about squeeze 580 out of the tank...
The tank which costs £40 to fill at £1.18 a litre.
Equates to about 77mpg.
Its pretty slow but its fun to drive on the twistys.
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg ouch.
77 mpg that's amazing, especially as my Triumph Street Triple only does about 32 mpg but I do like revving it. That is terrible mileage for what is basically a one person mode of transport tho'.If I put my foot down I only get 360 miles to a tank.
If I really nurse the car though and do 55mph behind a truck you can just about squeeze 580 out of the tank...
The tank which costs £40 to fill at £1.18 a litre.
Equates to about 77mpg.
Its pretty slow but its fun to drive on the twistys.
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg
ouch. 
croyde said:
GSP said:
I have a ford 1.6TDCI fiesta zetec S
If I put my foot down I only get 360 miles to a tank.
If I really nurse the car though and do 55mph behind a truck you can just about squeeze 580 out of the tank...
The tank which costs £40 to fill at £1.18 a litre.
Equates to about 77mpg.
Its pretty slow but its fun to drive on the twistys.
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg ouch.
77 mpg that's amazing, especially as my Triumph Street Triple only does about 32 mpg but I do like revving it. That is terrible mileage for what is basically a one person mode of transport tho'.If I put my foot down I only get 360 miles to a tank.
If I really nurse the car though and do 55mph behind a truck you can just about squeeze 580 out of the tank...
The tank which costs £40 to fill at £1.18 a litre.
Equates to about 77mpg.
Its pretty slow but its fun to drive on the twistys.
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg
ouch. It can get nearly 180 if you never go over 5krpm lol
A good compromise and, can't let all that gubbins get in the way of enjoyment of hoon. 
944 S2. 3.0, 16v, 4-pot.
Fuel economy is not significantly improved by travelling slower (late last year I drove from home to Derby - 120ish miles - at 55-60mph, and then back to Cheltenham at a lot more than that, as an experiment. The lower speed made about 1.5mpg difference.)
Interestingly it is significantly better at speeds above about 90 in fifth. The engine comes on cam about then, and breathes noticably better (much more acceleration available), so I assume it's related to that.
Oli.
Fuel economy is not significantly improved by travelling slower (late last year I drove from home to Derby - 120ish miles - at 55-60mph, and then back to Cheltenham at a lot more than that, as an experiment. The lower speed made about 1.5mpg difference.)
Interestingly it is significantly better at speeds above about 90 in fifth. The engine comes on cam about then, and breathes noticably better (much more acceleration available), so I assume it's related to that.
Oli.
Those fuel figures are very low, i have a 1998 E36 323 coupe manual that i use occasionally on the weekend. Normally i drive it hard along nice country routes and still manage to average around 23-25. I found i was getting quite low fuel figures and found the reason for this was the cat was blocked, once i got it changed i got far better figures.
Get your cat checked...
Get your cat checked...
GSP said:
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg ouch.
My 95 XJ6 (taking from the trip computer) does about 32mpg on the motorway at seventy. At 110 ouch. GSP said:
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg ouch.
My LS430 would give me shocking figures when i hammered it, which was hard not to with a lovely silky smooth 4.4 V8. When i got it it was fun to see the trip showing single figures, however after a while it became quite scary. ouch. Still one of the most comfortable and highly specced cars i have ever owned.
R360 said:
Those fuel figures are very low, i have a 1998 E36 323 coupe manual that i use occasionally on the weekend. Normally i drive it hard along nice country routes and still manage to average around 23-25. I found i was getting quite low fuel figures and found the reason for this was the cat was blocked, once i got it changed i got far better figures.
Get your cat checked...
That is what I do get for the same sort of driving but the 17 is in London traffic. Get your cat checked...
Gad-Westy said:
I'm amazed how low you say your normal MPG figures are. My old E36 328 would typically do around 22 around town, 30-35 at motorway speeds and average 28 mpg overall. I was always quite pleased with it.
It is amazing what a bit of slow and steady driiving can do for your figures though. When I had the 328 I once had to make a 40 mile journey up the A1 with a mate's wedding cake in the boot. Decided to make it a bit of an economy run as I was going to have to take it steady anyway. Averaged 45 mpg, beat that!
I had an E36 323i and on a 75 mph indicated cruise it would do about 35 mpg. Once on a trip from Cheltenham to Edinburgh (largely M5/M6/M74) I got close to 40 - there was a nice following wind.It is amazing what a bit of slow and steady driiving can do for your figures though. When I had the 328 I once had to make a 40 mile journey up the A1 with a mate's wedding cake in the boot. Decided to make it a bit of an economy run as I was going to have to take it steady anyway. Averaged 45 mpg, beat that!
But unless it's a breathless, gutless buzzbox, hanging around at anything under 70 is just so goddam boring. Ad the beter cars tend to get even better the faster you go.
Dominicc01 said:
GSP said:
I always wonder when I see big old cars hammering by on the motorway are getting MPG wise... 17mpg ouch.
My 95 XJ6 (taking from the trip computer) does about 32mpg on the motorway at seventy. At 110 ouch. It was shockingly bad in traffic and around town though. Easily single figures.
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff