..In a relatively modern car (non turbo/supercharger)

And I mean, 40 minutes to travel six miles, sort of 1st/2nd gear driving..?

We use a 1999 CRV US import. I shudder to think what it does.

So we only use it on a Sunday for leisure trips/BnQ. And recently, ironically, using it to find a new car.

Reckoning low 20’s though.

My bike seems to work on bacon rolls so it’s a lot cheaper as a commuter.

Well I used to cycle to work but have recently started driving the wife to work (who can’t drive) which then means I have a long trip into town for my work.

I could cycle from her work to mine but it’s six miles up one b@stard of a hill from the lowest to the highest point in Sheffield or thereabouts. It’s also a horrible route.

My new car (4.5 yrs old is saying 26mpg ish. I’m just wondering if this is vaguely normal..

I used to get very low 20’s out of my Alfa 147 in town and mid 30’s on motorway if in a hurry. Could get very close to 40 if I was driving for work…

26mpg sounds pretty reasonable to me if it’s stop/start all the time.

Perhaps try using the (free, and as recommended on several other threads here) Road Trip app, and see what it says for mpg?

I say this because while my car (an old Peugeot 406 2 litre diesel estate) tells me it’s getting 34mpg, Road Trip calculates (using odometer and fuel put in) that I’m getting 45mpg.

I’d guess 25-30.

Your 26 sounds ok to me, main thing is you are not doing many miles at that rate.

Our 1ltr which seems good for 55-60 on a run only does 35-37 round town/lanes, bit of a disappointment to me. Our old diesel 1.5 was good for 50 plus in town and 75 ish on a good run.

I get similar’ish in my 2.0 petrol plus thats got a turbo strapped to it.

At the risk of turning into my father and discussing this in too great a depth; so far the car seems happy to average over 40mpg on long runs which seems pretty good.

I absolutely hate being stuck in traffic in the mornings, watching the cyclists wizz by 🙁

..oh and int total, I drive 25 miles a day fetching/retrieving the wife on my way from/ to work. About 12 miles of this is at a crawl, the rest reasonable 25mph town driving.

It’s getting very expensive :-/

I sit in traffic for 20 minutes twice a day and get around 15MPG in a 2.3L V5.
£40 gets me about 100 miles. 🙁

..oh and int total, I drive 25 miles a day fetching/retrieving the wife on my way from/ to work. About 12 miles of this is at a crawl, the rest reasonable 25mph town driving.

It’s getting very expensive :-/

Can she not get a bus/car share with someone?

Ours gets used for nothing but short journeys of around 2 miles each way.

And co-incidentally I looked yesterday – an average of 28.7mpg.

(Mazda 3 2.0L Sport 150bhp)

I’m trying not to sound like I’m up on some kind of high horse* here but…

Ours gets used for nothing but short journeys of around 2 miles each way

my mind boggles at why anyone would regularly use a car to travel 2 miles, unless lugging vast amounts of stuff.

There’s a guy I work with who lives almost exactly half way between my house and my work, I have a 3 mile ride to get there, and he drives, every day, I overtake him on the way in and on the way home 90% of the time.

I just don’t get it, he pays money every day to sit in his car for 10 – 30 minutes depending on traffic, he could walk it in almost the same time, or ride it in half the time.

* Disclaimer – I am not anti car, I have 2, just don’t use them for journeys where I think they are inappropriate.

My wife used to get the bus but it involved getting one into town and another back out of town. Her total journey to work took 1.5 hours whereas it’s 20 mins in the car!

I started driving her to work to make her life a bit easier! I could get a bus from her work to town but that’d take 50 mins also and probably not be any cheaper :-/

See that’s what really winds me up, public transport should make it easy, quick and cheap to get from places where we are, to places where we want to go*, the fact that it takes 1/4 of the time and is possibly cheaper using your own car is exactly why there is so much traffic for you to battle through. 🙁

*obviously not always possible given the complexities of the where people are and where they want to be and the when, but you know what I mean.

Ours gets used for nothing but short journeys of around 2 miles each way.

If I had no bike, I’d walk. Seriously.

See that’s what really winds me up, public transport should make it easy, quick and cheap to get from places where we are, to places where we want to go

It does, mostly. But currently it has to make a profit, so it goes where MOST of the people want to go. Where I live, most busses go into town, which is ok. If you live anywhere other than my particular far flung suburb you can get into town in a similar time to driving. However there are no concentric services, and no express services either 🙁 So for me, getting into the city takes 50 mins vs a 20 min drive, and getting somewhere other than the centre requires going in (50 mins) and back out again (another 10-20 depending where).

26 is a good day right? Civic TypeR luckily old enough to not have an on-board computer.

I used the bike this morning though, my wife took one look at the weather and took the car, so the tank will be empty by the weekend again!

It does, mostly. But currently it has to make a profit, so it goes where MOST of the people want to go.

– hence my asterisk about obviously not always being possible.

I agree on the walk bit though, unless I had to lug a very big thing with me I wouldn’t even consider using the car for a 2 mile trip.

I sit in traffic for 20 minutes twice a day and get around 15MPG in a 2.3L V5.

This made me chuckle. I used to get about the same out of my 5-cylinder, 20V engine. I kept it for 11 years though and still haven’t found a better car or engine. 5 cylinders + quattro rocks.

Getting 38-42 out of my turboed 4-pot, mixed driving, quite impressed with the mpg.

I posted something similar the other day, my wifes car Merc C180K Estate over 30K miles.:-
17mph & 22.6mpg

Same car on a run at the weekend, averaging 50mph hit 40mpg.

reckon on low to mid 20s around town – admittedly not a big town so maybe less stop-start than you Big Smoke folk encounter. This on a 2l, but 1996 (P) Saab 900 (non-turbo). Out of town, still reckon mid to high 30s, no problem.

And I mean, 40 minutes to travel six miles, sort of 1st/2nd gear driving..?

I have a VAG 2.0 FSI (non-turbo), I wouldn’t get more than low twenties mpg.

If I’m driving around town and it’s not congested it is more like low-thirties.

I absolutely hate being stuck in traffic in the mornings, watching the cyclists wizz by

pull in to the kerb or open a door just as they are passing, it’s the approach the grumps around here seem to have taken.

6miles? Even with the hill in your situation I’d be riding from your wife’s work. Free exercise time. Bet even if you plan a “round the houses” nicer/quieter/offroad route you could get it under 10miles and manage it in the 40mins it takes to drive.

2.2 Mondeo ST TDCI – 40mpg with bike rack.

Fill it up, drive a week and then fill it up. Not difficult to work out your mpg…

Ours gets used for nothing but short journeys of around 2 miles each way.

And co-incidentally I looked yesterday – an average of 28.7mpg.

(Mazda 3 2.0L Sport 150bhp)

This is almost identical as my wife’s car and usage. She gets approx 29mpg as well. On a run I think it is nearer 37-38, but definitely not the 40+ that the official figures suggest.

My old 2.5lt V6 used to get about 18mpg in town so the Mazda seems very good.

I get over 50mpg round town stop-start driving 🙂

I used to get mid 20’s in a 2.0 MX5 on a 45 min commute. Odd thing was I could then take it out in the countryside and drive like a loon and the mpg would go up 😯

six miles, sort of 1st/2nd gear driving..

Could you both bike it ?
Get an old moped each…?

40mins 1st & 2nd gear… 😯

Thats my idea of hell.

29ish for town driving in my Clio

I have a mint condition 1.8 MX5 1997 automatic(don’t ask me why auto, other than its a cool car) and I get a shocking average of 21mpg luckly its only a weekend car or it would be sold (great car though)

“Could you both bike it ?
Get an old moped each…?

40mins 1st & 2nd gear…

Thats my idea of hell. “

Well I can (and did) cycle to work no problem. However for my wife it’s a bit more difficult in that a) she’s no cyclist! and b) she’s a teacher and often has very heavy bags full of marking to carry about

I’m really, really not enjoying getting to work at the moment 🙁

If it were two miles I’d use some kind of trailer. But yes, not being a cyclist is an issue.

my mind boggles at why anyone would regularly use a car to travel 2 miles, unless lugging vast amounts of stuff.

I work.

If I don’t drive home it takes me 30 minutes to walk.

If I had no bike, I’d walk. Seriously.

I can’t ride due to back problems.

I have young children.

I want to see them before they go to bed.

Good enough for you?

FFS 🙄

EDIT: Ohh, and I do walk, once a week on average and I always walk into town on a night if I am going out for a drink as I am not trying to rush to see my kids.

Oh, and to the guy who said I could ride the 6 miles from her work to mine..

..well I could but as odd as it sounds I don’t want to end up doing too much exercise during the week as I play five a side football and run during my lunch breaks. Previously when cycling to work I would feel really quite bad struggling up the monster hill on the way home, having cycled in and played football/ran in the day also.

I’d also probably need to get a .. r**d bike :O

Good enough for you?

Not sure what you mean there, dunno why you seem upset. Seems you have to work rather late if you can only get home by car 15 mins before bedtime though.

Previously when cycling to work I would feel really quite bad struggling up the monster hill on the way home

Ah, well your answer is simple. MTFU 🙂

I drive 2 miles to the gym

I drive 2 miles to the gym

In that big **** off planet raper??