My 2006 1.6 petrol Astra has had a real-world combined 37mpg over the last 18 months (20,000miles). Typically get 40-42mpg on the motorway. My best run was on my way to last year’s Dyfi enduro when I got 45mpg – was well impressed with that 😀

If you want to know real world economy figures, ask a load of obsessed germans:

http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/

I know, PITA taking them on/ off all the time. Really ought to when on long runs without bikes.

Towbar rack. 2 min job. The expense of fitting would pay for itself in fuel before long, not to mention the convenience factor.

Re VAG bluemotion – read a review of a newer Passat Bluemotion estate, the mag used it as an office car for a week doing general driving, by all the staff – not trying hard they got 62mpg or so from it which is impressive for a big estate. The guy tried an economy run and got 72 I think.

roof/ bike racks on too

That’s at least 5mpg right there. Quite possibly more.

I have compared, in geek fashion, difference in economy for my 318d tourer with and without 3 bike racks on – for a long motorway drive it makes a 4mpg difference. for my normal weekly driving about 2mpg. I now leave them on, which is a bit lazy, but then they are in use twice a week.

molgrips – if they managed 62mpg without trying, mine must be faulty! I have wondered if it was worth a trip back to the dealers for a check. On a “normal” motorway run of between 70-75mph, I seem to get 55ish. The sections of 50mph average speed that the M1 seems to have a lot of at the moment push it up a bit, but not much. If they’re getting more out of a bigger car then something up, surely. Hmmm.

If there’s no excessive smoke from the exhaust and no emission warning light on it’s you that’s broken.

I don’t see how my driving could be so wildly inefficient as to have that kind of impact TBH. As I said, I drive with an eye on economy, so I’m trying to anticipate traffic and preserve momentum yadda yadda. The car even tells you when to change gear!

On a “normal” motorway run of between 70-75mph, I seem to get 55ish

I get that from my plain 2.0l 140bhp PD auto Passat saloon in summer! Ok so I leave the cruise on 70 rather than going any faster. Is yours a bluemotion tech or the true bluemotion with the 1.6?

Tyres at 38psi (check regularly you may have a leak)
Cruise control @70 as much as possible (almost all the time for me unless it’s really busy)
Middling acceleration (not too slow)
Keep revs low, below about 2.2krpm is all that’s needed
Keep your speed constant, hence cruise.

Oh, you probably have a dpf tho so make sure it’s clean – give it a real ragging on one journey. Tbh most diesels appreciate that even if they don’t have a dpf. A German autobahn helps with this as I recently found out 🙂

Is yours a bluemotion tech or the true bluemotion with the 1.6?

What’s the difference? It’s got stop/start etc.

I do use cruise as much as possible for convenience, though not using it doesn’t seem to have a paricularly negative impact on economy.

Car is 3 months old.

In the past I’ve found that cruise control is bad for economy – it maintains speed, rather than momentum…

Diesel engine in my 2001 Passat is a big lump of metal to heat up, so leaving from chez moi with 15mins of town driving to start with (even if the next 2 hours are on an A road) really screws up the mpg (down to 43) where as going at 60mph on an A road will return about 58!.
Bike racks on roof or on tailgate knock-off about 5mpg; towbar rack nothing at all!

In the past I’ve found that cruise control is bad for economy – it maintains speed, rather than momentum…

I’m talking about motorways, open suburban roads and steady open country roads of course. Its main adgantage (besides driver convenience) is eliminating the creeping acceleration and deceleration that we tend towards without it. I don’t do stuff like speeding up down hills and slowing up them because it annoys my fellow drivers (and me).

Windy roads is a different ball game, and it’s all about momentum as you say. Stop start town traffic is different again.

Woody – they do cars with bluemotion tech which means they are slightly lower (I think), have a bit more aerodynamic stuff, low rolling resitance tyres and stuff like that, but still normal engines. The full on Bluemotion version has a smaller engine with a different map which makes it a bit pants to drive by all accounts, and the interior’s a bit stripped down and so on. Also fewer options available I think.

Oh and it might take on or even two years for the engine to full loosen up and achieve its potential. And, winter diesel is pants so you’ll easily lose 10% between October and March or so automatically.