Whats yours:

a) Day to day?
b) Bike on the roof?

(Alfa 159 JTDM 16v

a) 44mpg
b) 38mpg – 1 bike 2 racks

Audi A4 Avant 3.0 V6 TDi

a) In town – low 30’s, open road – 44
b) Don’t notice much of a difference TBH. Tend to drive more cautiously with bike on the roof so if anything the MPG is actually better!!!

2008 Passat 2.0 170bhp, 32mpg used mainly around town & not used as intended.

Used to be 50 in the Mondeo est of my mates
Down to about 28-30 with bikes.

My Picasso was 47 unloaded and 30 loaded with bikes on roof.

I soon declared it to be a bad idea.

towbar mounted bikes take only about 5-8 mpg off the Mondeo.

Audi A4, 2.0TDi 177PS

a)40
b)35ish, 2 bikes on the roof, drops a bit with 3, if it’s just me on my own then the bike goes in the back, front wheel off and a tarp to protect the interior.

55-60 typically, 45-50ish with bikes on.

2.0l tdi Octavia estate.

Goddam those pesky Skoda’s!

Audi A6 2.7tdi Quattro – mid 30’s around town low/mid 40’s overall (not driven sedately). Never put bikes on the roof always inside the car.

Hmmm, can I wind back a couple of years?

Ok so I have owned 2 5 series Sport Tourings, one I stuck 175k on and the other 260k on. Both Autos, the first a 530d the second a 535d. Other than that both had the same spec, both did the same type of journeys and had hard lives towing Yachts/Dinghies/Windsurfing gear and Bikes too, all over the UK and Europe.

The 530 did an age of 44mpg, if towing it would drop to 37, carrying nothing but me and the Mrs I’d often get 50’s. The 535 did an ave of 42, towing would get 35, Mrs only it’d be in the 50’s. I drove them like a grandad, never used sport mode other than once or twice, if in Europe I drove faster than here but not by much.

Both serviced by Beemer, no bother about service charges nor what needed replacement I just wanted a car to drive and tow stuff.

I have to point out that post these two I bought an M3 Convertable for a bit of fun but that didn’t last long (not my choosing) and was suprised to find an ave mpg of 30’s a bit shocking at first 😆 ohh and they’re shit at carrying bikes and rubbish at towing (horrendously expensive hidden towbar)

So for how I drove, what I did with them I think I really had the best cars I could and they performed faultlessly.

Some of these figures aren’t presenting a particularly strong case for owning a diesel!

Passat 1.9 TDI 130 (177k on the clock)

low 40’s normal day to day
high 40’s on a motorway run (80 ish)
low 50’s on a motorway run (70)

1.6 hdi citroen C5, seem to constantly get 48 mpg (based on tank fillups) irrespective of bike on or off. only have a towbar mount but occasionally use a roofbox.

Passat 2.0 tdi auto, 2006 so pre blue motion.

Without bikes 38 is lh around town, 50ish on windy roads and low 60s on the motorway at 70.

Bikes on roof – 52 ish motorway

Bikes on towbar – 50 ish motorway.

Brand new Focus 1.6tdci 95bhp estate. Average MPG is exactly 50.41 since it was first on the road. Mixture of motorway and town driving (50/50) driving carefully in West Yorks. Would get more if I lived somewhere flatter!!

Bikes on a tow bar rack? I measure MPG very carefully using an iPhone app and I can’t detect any difference in using a tow bar rack at all. If there is any difference then it’s maybe 1-2mpg at most and hidden by other variables.

I once had a full Thule roof rack setup – never again for all the faff and for the plummeting MPG, it really made a huge difference.

My brother did some calculations based on real world experience of MPG with bike on and inside his Vectra estate and found that on a trip from the South up to the Scots border area (7 stanes) it would actually be cheaper at the time to post a couple of bikes there than pay for the extra fuel that was needed for them being on the roof of the car!!!! So long trips they went inside the car.

Some of these figures aren’t presenting a particularly strong case for owning a diesel!

Ditto.

Hearts been saying buy a discovery, heads been saying buy a big diesel estate for double the mpg. Not sure it will be as better off as heads saying. Especially if I want a >2 litre and 4wd estate.

Consistent 50-52 mpg although if I’m forced to use it for short trips round town for too long it’ll drop to low 40’s.

I never have bikes outside, they always go in the boot – that’s why I got an estate!

2009 Vauxhall Vectra 1.9 CDTi.

jam bo – Member

Passat 1.9 TDI 130 (177k on the clock)

low 40’s normal day to day
high 40’s on a motorway run (80 ish)
low 50’s on a motorway run (70)

Almost exactly what I’m getting from my Mazda 6 Estate 2.0D 180bhp

For those that don’t think the figures are that high, I think some people like to quote their best MPG figures rather than usual so it becomes ingrained that all diesels do 60mpg?

BMW 525 D Estate 44mpg, bikes always in the back of car. Seems pointless to buy an Estate car and bung your bikes on the roof?

I think some people like to quote their best MPG figures rather than usual

I did quote my usual. I will be driving to Heathrow from Cardiff today at an indicated 70mph and I will get 57mpg provided it’s clear – that is on winter diesel and with winter tires, only me in the car.

Would you like screen shots?

BMW 525 D Estate 44mpg, bikes always in the back of car. Seems pointless to buy an Estate car and bung your bikes on the roof?

Not pointless at all. Much more room to store everything else in the back and the rear window isn’t constantly blocked.

Ps mine’s not an estate.

Astra 2 litre 160:
Long term average 48
Alps and back loaded plus 4 on the roof 35 🙁

That’s from the obc btw, fill your boots.

BMW 320d (163ps version)

45-48 for most stuff assuming I’m moving. Actual cruising speed doesn’t seem to change things much.

Depressingly poor if sat in stop start traffic.

Not great if B-road hooning.

Never put a bike on the roof.

Seems pointless to buy an Estate car and bung your bikes on the roof?

^this

Not pointless at all. Much more room to store everything else in the back and the rear window isn’t constantly blocked.

2 bikes and a weeks worth of assorted biking/outdoors/camping kit goes in comfortabley below the window line.

2 litre Trafic. 44 mpg on a decent run, 38 on a poor one. No racks, more bikes, luggage and camping gear than you can shake a big stick at.

2 bikes and a weeks worth of assorted biking/outdoors/camping kit goes in comfortabley below the window line.

With the seats down presumably? In which case, you could just have bought a golf.

My boot is permanently filled with kit (to save dragging it in and out of the house) and I’ve often got passengers, so bikes go on the roof.

Mk2 Focus Estate 1.8tdci – 52mpg average over 25,000 miles of mixed driving. Round town it’ll do 40mpg+, on motorways up to 65mpg. It doesn’t get used very much and then mostly round town at the moment.

‘lifestyle estate’?

Are you sure you don’t mean ‘sports tourer’?

Well, SportWagon if we are being particulate…

Skoda Fabia vRS 240HP – 56.7MPG.

2006 Octavia 1.9 TDI. Roughly 50mpg with the bike carriers on the roof, 45 with the three bikes in them.

Can pootle into the office before rush hour kicks in at about 60mpg.

Is anyone quoting brim to brim figures, or just taking from the display?

(cue everyone claiming brim to brim anyway 🙂 )

Petrol comparison:

BMW 330i Sport Touring Auto:

Day to day – 28mpg
Motorway (80mph) – 33mpg
Motorway (65mph) – 39mpg

4 Bikes on the roof, 4 (6ft+) blokes + gear in the car – 28mpg

I think there’s still a fairly strong case for diesel…

[EDIT] – My figues are (rounded) calculated, not taken from the display.

My figures are based on a shonky spreadsheet I did a couple of years ago when fuel prices were squeezing the budget. Based on litres to fill it versus miles travelled. Was fairly consistent, not far off the dash display.

Admittedly I wasn’t driving very “enthusiastically”

My figures were taken form the dash, who can be bothered with a fill 2 fill and a calculator 😆

320d touring here. Usually around 47mpg, not much town driving. Don’t put bikes on the roof, have a tow bar rack. Do have a massive top box though which pushes mpg down to just under 40.

BMW 330i Sport Touring Auto:

Day to day – 28mpg
Motorway (80mph) – 33mpg
Motorway (65mph) – 39mpg

4 Bikes on the roof, 4 (6ft+) blokes + gear in the car – 28mpg

I think there’s still a fairly strong case for diesel…

Hmmm, not so sure it’s a strong case.

Out of the 2.7/3 litre diesels quoted here: 30-44, mid thirties to mid forties and 44.

So a spread of 30-44.

Yours is 28-39.

Petrols are cheaper to buy and cheaper to fill up, so the difference probably isn’t much at all unless you keep the same car for 5 years+.

Let’s say you’re getting 10mpg less than the equivalent diesel on average, over 15k miles per year:

Based on current prices, your petrol fuel bill (@1.06) at 30mpg is £2,409 per year.

Diesel fuel bill (@1.14) at 40mpg is £1,942.

So you save £467 in fuel costs each year with the diesel. So if you could buy the equivalent diesel for the same price as the petrol, you’d be quids in. But you generally can’t.

Diesel was about £1,500 more expensive in my car, so it would take three years just to break even. Petrol is cheaper until that point.

My figures were taken form the dash, who can be bothered with a fill 2 fill and a calculator

I agree, but I just take an arbitrary 10% off whatever people quote to account for the fact that most over read.

I drive a 1.4 diesel Kia Rio with towbar mounted rack, car has averaged 54.5 mpg since new, bikes on the back tend to take about 3-4 mpg off my average at most

Edit .. mine is brim to brim, every mile noted since new , i upload everything to fuelly.com

Has to be brim to brim, dash figures are pure fantasy.
Ford Mondeo estate, 3 adults, fully loaded for biking and camping in Alps. 53mpg steady 65-70mph all the way.
Think I worked out it was 39mpg general use

Volvo V70 2.0 Diesel 136BHP Auto
33k
Average since new 47.1 mpg

Mostly motorway driving 47-55mpg.

Don’t put bikes on the roof, thats what my wife car is for. VW Touran 28k, 105 bhp TDI. Trip to South Wales, five inside, two bikes and a roof box and fully loaded, 52mpg!

Miles & litres for every fill-up logged on AccuFuel since 23/05/2010.
Just don’t ask about the equivalent numbers for the Bongo…