Large cars with high mpg?

Mazda 6 2.2 diesel – just wait for the timing chain to stretch at 40,000 miles and wreck your engine. Appalling customer service and a 7 week wait for repair. Not a unique problem either after a bit of googling.

Aside from that, cheap plasticky rattly interior. Will never touch Mazda again.

….and relax!

Seat altea xl. Regularly get 55 plus mpg. Cheap tax. Big enough for 3 lads to do alps trip with DH bikes and climbing gear. Rewarding to drive too. Probably same engine as other vag products mentioned here.

Not all the B6s have DPFs – mine is an early one and still has the older PD engine without.

Seimens injectors going wonky , oil pump failure in early models.

All recalled or exploded by now, you’re safe.

http://www.whatcar.com/truempg/my-true-mpg#

not quite the same result as some

If im good i get 42 mpg in a 2.0hdi berlingo, if what you lot say about your mpg is accurate I’m in the wrong bloody car. I thought they were supposed to be practical, they’re certainly ugly enough.

O3 golf pd 100 tdi, current ongoing average 47 mpg, always lower in winter, will climb to 50 during summer. Real mix of road types too, town, twisties, straight overtaking roads…etc

I’m looking at this at the weekend….

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Mondeo[/url] by jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

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Mondeo 4[/url] by jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

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Mondeo 2[/url] by jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

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Mondeo 3[/url] by jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

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Mondeo 5[/url] by jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

77K, 2.2ltr, 175bhp, averaging 47mpg o/a, £4995 (but I won’t be offering that) looks nice to me.

Yeah, people reading display mpg in cars on journeys does not = accurate mpg figures.
I’ve been tracking the real mpg in my 1.3 Corsa diesel for over two years via an app that called Road Trip. Uses mileage and actual fuel figures from the pump every time you fill up.

After 2 years of data (it’s my OCD . Never missed a fillup) I can reveal that my super economic little diesel Corsa is giving me an average of 47.76 mpg.
I’m getting 473 miles per tank
£4.81/day in fuel costs
Total fuel spend £3829.99 since Feb11
Cost per mile £0.134
£1.402/L

I’m a happy hyper miler and I challenge myself to get the most out of every tank.
My daily commute is 11 miles and its hilly and mostly on country roads

The manufacturers quoted figures are over 70 motorway and 55 urban.

Unless I’m doing something really wrong those figures are nonsense.

Don’t trust displays in your car for a real indication of mpg. The only real way to work it out is to measure the fuel going in and the mileage coming out. I suspect many would be shocked by the actual numbers if they did that.

If anyone is at all interested I can export the whole data set as a csv file (yes, I know that’s quite sad but its a good daa set)

Insignia diesel? Can get nearly 70mpg out of mine loafing down the motorway at 65.

What model? I’ve the 2.0lt 160bhp and the best I’ve ever got was 48, ave about 40.

Yeah, people reading display mpg in cars on journeys does not = accurate mpg figures.

It does in some cars. Mine’s always been within about .2 or so on the Passat every time I’ve measured the way you suggest.

The manufacturers quoted figures are over 70 motorway and 55 urban.

Unless I’m doing something really wrong those figures are nonsense.

They are nonsense, yes. However you can sometimes approach them but it heavily depends on how your local roads are organised, and how you approach driving them. If you have hilly country roads you’re never going to do well, and for only 11 miles too.

On my Ibiza, the computer figure is always there or thereabouts when compared to the actual tank to tank measurement.
It is normally about 2mpg over-optimistic.
I have 6.5 yrs of geek Excel data…

Smaller car, but I do mainly longer runs and 60mpg is fairly easily achievable. This often drops down on my commute due to a few traffic spots to about 58.
When the traffic is light & I am happy to potter, I can get high 60’s, low 70’s. Driving home the other day from work I got 72mpg indicated on the computer, which I expect to be perhaps 69-70mpg.
The warmer weather has started to help, but the end of the Easter holidays and increase in traffic will balls this up next week.

After 2 years of data (it’s my OCD . Never missed a fillup) I can reveal that my super economic little diesel Corsa is giving me an average of 47.76 mpg.

You reckon that’s good? I used to do that well or better in my big 406 estate (measured using fuel in and trip mileage – didn’t have a mpg computer). Sadly my new Mondeo doesn’t seem to be quite as good (currently reporting 50mpg+, but I know the computer is optimistic).

You reckon that’s good?

You don’t know his route though. Even two different hilly routes with the same climbing can result in different fuel economy. The route from my folks’ to my sister’s old place would get about 50mpg one way and almost 80mpg the other way in the Prius, even though they were at the same elevation.

I reckon it’s terrible!

Sorry if I wasn’t clear on that.

I’ve done many all day motorway journeys where the entire tank was filled and emptied in a single journey. Still got no better than 51mpg. My corsa has 6 forward gears too and it sits at 70mph at just under 2000rpm.

It’s designed to be an efficient car. I actually think it is not too bad in the grand scheme of things and is certainly a lot better than previous Astra 1.6 petrol that averaged 34.66 mpg over the 2 years I ran that.

I have 6.5 yrs of geek Excel data..

We should meet up and compare spreadsheets 🙂

Mark – cruise control? In my experience it’s better for fuel on motorways. If you use the pedal you end up slightly accelerating and decelerating a lot, without even noticing it. This slight acceleration is enough to really harm your mpg.

Still seems pretty bad though. I’m wondering if a more square hatcback shape is less aerodynamic than a larger car with a tail ie boot. Would be interesting to compare drag coefficients.

cruise control? In my experience it’s better for fuel on motorways. If you use the pedal you end up slightly accelerating and decelerating a lot, without even noticing it.

Not enough experience of cruise on motorways to be able to comment on that, but surely it uses more throttle up hills to maintain speed where I’d happily let the speed drop a little with manual control and so use a bit less fuel, allowing the downslope to accelerate me back to speed.

My experience of cruise control driving across Canada was very much that it improves mpg overall. No cruise control in my ikkle corsa though

^^ My Ibiza is a ‘square’ hatchback, and that manages a lot more than Mark’s Corsa.

I reckon that on the day-to-day drive, it is the combination of ‘only’ 11 miles & hills. My engine takes about 4 miles before the temp dial moves off ‘cold’

What power output is the Corsa? I’m surprised that a 1.3 diesel has a 6th gear. My 1.9 with 130bhp has a 6th gear, but if you buy the same car with the 100bhp version of the same engine it is only fitted with the 5-speed box. I have always assumed it didn’t have enough poke to enable a 6th gear cruise.

Mark, have you tried travelling any distance leaving it in 5th? Or at least changing down to 5th at the slightest sign of a gradient?

As for meeting up & comparing spreadsheets……erm, probably best we don’t! My OH thinks I’m enough of a geek loser whenever I get my receipts out to update it. If I mentioned meeting with likeminded souls to compare data, she would run for the hills (not that there are any in East Angular) and never return……..hmmm, on second thoughts! 😀

I’ve checked my Passat’s readout about 5 times the good old fashioned way. Fill the tank, do 600 miles or so(easy with a Passat), fill up again & work out how many gallons you’ve used (divide the litres by 4.54609 to be precise) then divide the miles by the gallons. That is the most accurate way of checking. Anyway, my car’s been a maximum of 1.5 mpg wrong either way, so I reckon that’s reasonably reliable.

I can also get more mpg without cruise control, which I find a pain using in this country anyway. Good on French m/ways though.

Last weekend my Saab 9-3 Aero TTID estate did 58.7 mpg on a return trip to Afan despite several stops and 2 traffic jams. Today, after a week of town/motorway it’s down to 48.7.

If I make the effort, I can keep the combined just over 50.

Whenever I’ve checked it the ‘scientific’ way the computer’s always been within 0.5 mpg.

but surely it uses more throttle up hills to maintain speed where I’d happily let the speed drop a little with manual control

On motorways I like to keep as constant a speed as possible, even up hills, but on hilly windy routes it is of course not idea. I do use it on open smooth single carriageway roads too though,and in suburban driving.

My engine takes about 4 miles before the temp dial moves off ‘cold’

Yeah there’s a small hill from my house, then there’s about 1/4 mile of housing estate before I get to the motorway access road. So my average starts off low, and it takes easily 50 miles to start approaching good figures.

Mark, have you tried travelling any distance leaving it in 5th? Or at least changing down to 5th at the slightest sign of a gradient?

Whenever I’ve experimented on flat slow roads, higher gears are always better in terms of economy, right down to labouring engine speeds.

77K, 2.2ltr, 175bhp, averaging 47mpg o/a, £4995 (but I won’t be offering that) looks nice to me.

2.2ltr are 155bhp as standard but easily remapped to give plenty more. The 155bhp is very grunty and found in the ST tdci too in the same tune. Great cars and very reluctant to get rid of mine. Northwind has the Ghia trim so might be able to let you know a bit more.

esselgruntfuttock – Member

77K, 2.2ltr, 175bhp, averaging 47mpg o/a, £4995 (but I won’t be offering that) looks nice to me.

o/ at craigxxl.

Yeah, first question is why is it claiming 20bhp more than standard. Might just be a remap and possibly an optimistic dyno? Mine makes 179 with decat and balanced remap (but! Decat is now officially an MOT fail, I’m waiting to see how that goes. Refitting the cat is going to be a pain in the balls if it’s required, but it might be necessary so make sure it has one either in the bay or in the boot. But otherwise don’t be put off- there’s no drivability downside and supposedly it would still pass euro3 without it)

Is it a Tit X? Not sure from the photos but it doesn’t seem to have the heated seats. You’re right, it’s a bit too expensive. But it looks very clean for its miles. Mine is a little bit wallowy- it’s taller than the ST- but tradeoff is it’s better at getting into and out of ditches and fields 😉 I really like it, it’s no sports car but it’s faster than it needs to be and immensely civilised. Only reason I stopped between betws-y-coed and Edinburgh was for fuel, the interior’s not exactly classy but it works.

Oh- I couldn’t shift into 3rd without bumping the stereo on/off button 😳 Make sure the changer’s working. Don’t expect it to play homemade CDs either!

I do use it on open smooth single carriageway roads too though,and in suburban driving.

That’s where I’ve used mine most so far – surprisingly useful in 30 limits where it means you don’t have to concentrate on the speedo to stick to the speed limit (though I have a slight concern that means I’m a little bit less involved in the driving process).

I think it lets me keep my eyes on the road and hazards rather than the speedo, in town.

I can reveal that my super economic little diesel Corsa is giving me an average of 47.76 mpg.

Wow, that’s not so good.
My VW T4 Multivan (2.5TDi 150bhp remapped to 185bhp) averaged 45.9 mpg over 3 years and 55,000 or so miles.
(Real figures, although trip computer says roughly the same.)

Its got 19″ wheels (8.5″ fronts – 225tyres / 10″ rears – 255tyres)
It’s always half loaded with camping gear and I don’t drive all that slowly in it.

Watch out for Diesel Particulate Filters. Mine went yesterday and needs replacing on my Seat Leon TDI. It will cost £1700, that’s over a third of the value of the car. That’s an independents price too, dealer would be over £2k 🙁

I’ve checked my Passat’s readout about 5 times the good old fashioned way. Fill the tank, do 600 miles or so(easy with a Passat), fill up again & work out how many gallons you’ve used (divide the litres by 4.54609 to be precise) then divide the miles by the gallons. That is the most accurate way of checking. Anyway, my car’s been a maximum of 1.5 mpg wrong either way, so I reckon that’s reasonably reliable.

Bearing in mind your speedo isn’t accurate, your figures won’t be either….

BMW320D ere, driving it rather enthusiastic get 42mpg, driven at 70mph on motorway does 62mpg, 184bhp standard and £30 road tax.

Bearing in mind your speedo isn’t accurate, your figures won’t be either….

The mileometer is accurate, it has to be by law. The speedo doesn’t have to be as accurate though. They’re generally set to over read. Therefore the figures based on mileometer will be fairly accurate.

Mine went yesterday and needs replacing

Highly sceptical of dealers telling you DPFs have ‘gone’.

What’s to go wrong? It’s just a filter matrix. It can be cleaned out. I’d love to know.

Re speedos – all the cars I’ve owned have been 10% under, it seems to be the norm. The Passat’s trip computer records miles and time, and the average speed is calculated from that. If I sit on the motorway at 70mph on the speedo, the average speed quoted will be 63mph.

Highly sceptical of dealers telling you DPFs have ‘gone’.

What’s to go wrong? It’s just a filter matrix. It can be cleaned out. I’d love to know.

I’m not dealing with a dealer, my car is with an independent specialist. DPFs do have a finite life, they will need changing at some point. The VAG (Volkswagen) DPFs (and probably all others) collect the soot, then burn this off to a smaller amount of ash. This ash remains in the filter and cannot be removed. (Some other manufacturers DPFs you can clean this ash out but not VAG ones). Therefore once the max ash level is reached the DPF has to be replaced. The garage are going to try a specialist cleaner first, but I will obviously only pay them for it if it works!

Speedo reading would not be used for MPG calculations would it if you’re doing it manually surely? You just need miles travelled and fuel used. The odometer should be more accurate than speedo. It needs to show the true number of miles the car has done. Speedo’s over reading are to help you avoid speeding fines, according to Honest John from Daily Telegraph.

Yeah, first question is why is it claiming 20bhp more than standard. Might just be a remap
Correct Northwind, remap by Celtic Tuning apparently, & this lot…
Full leather interior
Heated front seats
Climate control
Cruise control
Power folding mirrors
Electric windows front and rear
Electric adjustable/heated door mirror
Heated front windscreen
Heated washer jets
Fully electric drivers and passenger seats
Sony CD Multi-changer
Front fog lights
Rain sensing windscreen wipers
Isofix child seat preperation
Reach and rake adjustable steering column
Multi-function trip computer
Power assisted steering
ABS
Multiple airbags
Engine imobilisor
Alarm
Remote control central locking
3 remote keys
Parrot handsfree
Recent Witter detachable towbar
4 Recent Alloy wheels and new tyres – No scabby alloys here!!

Much of which is standard-ish stuff & some of which I’m not arsed about. One thing that puts me off is the interior colour, which it won’t be for long IF i get it.

Highly sceptical of dealers telling you DPFs have ‘gone’.

What’s to go wrong? It’s just a filter matrix. It can be cleaned out. I’d love to know.

Further to my reply…

I believe the ash level in my DPF is ok, the problem is that there is too much soot for it to safely regenerate normally, therefore they’ve recommended the cleaner.

dmorts, what kind of driving have you been doing then? Town stuff?

dmorts, what kind of driving have you been doing then? Town stuff?

No, my commute is 18 miles on motorway/A roads. This issue occurred after a long motorway trip too. Therefore I think there is more to it than ‘driving style’. There maybe another fault with the car….

The EU regulation that made the manufacturers need to use things like DPFs will turn the cars that have them into scrap after 5 years/100,000 miles.

Fingers crossed for the cleaning 🙂

I’m thinking there might be another fault. Is it using oil?

The EU regulation that made the manufacturers need to use things like DPFs will turn the cars that have them into scrap after 5 years/100,000 miles

That’s a bit disingenuous. It’s relatively new tech in passenger cars, and it’s got teething problems. Not really fair to say all cars will have a DPF fail after 100k miles.

Burning oil might be it…

That’s a bit disingenuous. It’s relatively new tech in passenger cars, and it’s got teething problems.

Is it fair to have the teething problems thrust on car owners and cause them to lose money? They could subsidise replacement units, but they don’t. (It does look like the systems on newer cars are a lot better, granted)

The average life of a VAG DPF is 115k-120k miles. A car at that mileage could be worth £5k max, DPF is £1500-£2000. Quite a big hit to take

Is it fair to have the teething problems thrust on car owners and cause them to lose money?

Well, that’s how it goes with cars innit. Hard to know what to do really. £1500 seems very steep though. How much is the part itself?

Oh and you can also jetwash them clean, apparently, with some success.

Best way is to have them gutted and the DPF deleted from the ECU’s software.

Except they are there for a good reason. The diesel soot is not nice stuff.