Fuel consumption - 70+mpg!

[Mr K]

I drove down to Poole & back from Ipswich to pick up a bike today - a round trip of 422 miles with a couple of slight detours. I stuck to an indicated 60mph as much as possible (true 57mph according to my satnav) and achieved 72.6mpg (3.9l/100km) measured brim-brim.

Not bad! Used 26.42l, and it was showing approx 1/4 full when I refilled. So I could have done a theoretical total of 543 miles (34l tank).

Has anyone achieved similar figures in a 1.4 TDi?

I probably would have done better if I hadn't taken a detour to look at Sandbanks. I did switch off the cruise control up some steeper hills & let the speed drop a bit, which helps. But I also put my foot down a few time to get past people doing 2mph less than me. Sod's law dictates that a good proportion of them will just happen to speed up as you're passing them. I hate that.

My best fuel consumption figure was 75mpg a couple of years back - only a 200 mile journey and some of it was stop-start on the M25.

Shouldn't be too hard to hit the quoted extra-urban figure of 80mpg, especially in summer in somewhere like France, off the motorways.

Also, it was good to see the snow - we had some in Ipswich on Monday (2/2/09), but haven't enjoyed any since. All the main routes were clear. On the M3 there was re-frozen slush on the hard shoulder in Hampshire in the morning. Saw one gritter on the way back, doing 40mph in the middle lane. I was reluctant to pass it - worried about damaging the paintwork...

[dan_b]

That's good work there - best I've done "on a run" was 67mpg on a round trip to Ipswich in the summer when the car was still new to me and I was still obsessed with driving economically :)

Just been down to Southampton and bacbk this morning and saw plenty of snow in the fields off the M-way but the road was completely clear, no sign of any snow on the hard shoulders, and no gritting lorries. There were people blasting past me at an estimated 90mph with their big fat summer tyres on though, which considering the temp gauge was saying 2Degrees most of the way is still a bit daft - it's not summer yet!

[Black Pearl]

Hi Mr K

What kind of figures do you get normally? Your car seems exceptionally good, the best I have had is close to 60mpg, being really careful, long journeys, coasting, turning off whilst stationary etc... In normal day to day driving, high 40's is the best I get, equating to around 300 miles from my 32ltr tank.

Does your car have any mods, which might help me, what tyres are you running on please.

I've searched on here, but wondered what the record miles is for one tank?

[audia21991]

Very impressed with the 72mpg Mr K!!! Gratz.
I think my A2 must just be one of those cars that never makes the manufactuers guidelines. The new 215 tyres make fuel economy much worse for me and round town (short runs) I struggle to better 40mpg during normal driving. The car's going in for a much needed service on Monday and hopefully this will improve the mpg. I can only dream of 72mpg on a run!!! wow ;)

[Poor_John]

Hi Mr K,

How about popping over to Google Docs and creating a fuel log spreadsheet to record and publish your excellent MPG? Let's see if you can keep up your high standard?

John

[old-growler]

The maximum average MPG I have seen is 73 over the journey of 100 or so miles between Perth and Inverness on the A9.
That was including the odd times I had to stick my boot down to pass slow trucks :)

[Mr K]

Hi Mr K

What kind of figures do you get normally? Your car seems exceptionally good, the best I have had is close to 60mpg, being really careful, long journeys, coasting, turning off whilst stationary etc... In normal day to day driving, high 40's is the best I get, equating to around 300 miles from my 32ltr tank.

Does your car have any mods, which might help me, what tyres are you running on please.


The car is mostly used for short urban trips by SWMBO and 3 little ones, where it averages a little under 50mpg, close to the official urban figure. I switch off the engine whenever stationary, but she doesn't.

Its correctly calculated (rather than an average of averages, if you see what I mean) long term average is 50.4mpg, reflecting the fact that it isn't generally used for longer trips.

Mods - I've swapped the SE alloys for a set of standard 15" alloys from a non-SE A2 and 175x15" tyres. They suit the way we use the car better, save fuel and are more comfortable. The SE alloys will go back on if I ever sell the car.

The only other things to mention are that for the journey this weekend I took the rear seats out to save weight and provide space for the bike, and checked the tyre pressures.

So essentially, it's a standard car.

The only other thing to mention is that I'm an "advanced" driver (IAM tested, both car and m/c), which is partly about making progress smoothly. I additionally use advanced techniques adapted to save fuel, e.g. planning ahead to avoid getting stuck behind a slower vehicle on a motorway, as it wastes fuel every time you accelerate unnecessarily. I don't ever accelerate hard towards the back of a stationary queue waiting at the next roundabout, instead I aim to drive at such a speed that I arrive just as the queue clears, losing no time and saving fuel in the process.

Hope that helps.

[Mr K]

Hi Mr K,
How about popping over to Google Docs and creating a fuel log spreadsheet to record and publish your excellent MPG? Let's see if you can keep up your high standard?


I keep a spreadsheet for my own purposes, but I'm not planning on publishing it - I can't imagine it would be of interest to anyone else.