I have found the flaw in having great MPG figures.

ESBlonde

My Octavia is big but small enough to park/city traffic dispite being an estate. It is manoeuvrable, comfortable, economical to buy service and run.

it's a 1.9 tdi and regularly returns good MPG, the last six weeks (typical motoring for me) i have driven 2121 miles and at fill ups returned 59.43, 60.04, 58.63, 58.31, 59.16, 58.18 MPG but because the fuel flow is computer managed it does sometimes stall when pulling away in second if you don't boot it, I always thought a diesel was all but impossible to stall but computers make that no longer true. Worse though is that the engine is so efficient with fuel that if doesn't get warm in these low temperatures we are experiencing for about 8 miles or a good ten+ minuets. Leaving it ticking over on the drive is no help because the heat doesn't build up on tick over. Makes clearing the windscreen a PIA. 

Time to get the moleskins and tweeds out for winter driving. 

chillidoggy

Most people tend to use 1st gear for pulling away, Phil.

dindude

Wow, that is some good economy. You must drive like a vicar?

I've just bought my first deisel, brand new Golf, and I'm strugging to get 40 out of it!

Amittedly it is a bit pokey and I have a heavy right foot but I'm really hoping it is going to improve.

Get's warm quickly though

bertie

brand new diesels need time to 'bed in'  for optimum fuel economy........... apparently -   certainly true of my V-50 -   took a good 5 or 6k for it to return the MPG it ought to.  On my usual run, I was getting about 38/39.   after 10k  45  and  now 47

the one brill thing about the mondeo I had before that -  was the heated windscreen

FX_Munkee

Yes, at tickover they are running very lean nowadays also add to that the effect of the dual mass flywheel (DMF) to reduce the torque (smooths it by reducing it) into the gearbox and you have something that's about as easy to stall as a petrol.
Oh and don't set off in 2nd, in fact don't "labour" it in general, it's a sure fire way to knacker the DMF and that's a costly repair you don't want.
As for getting warm, use the money you've saved on fuel to by yourself a spanky new bobble hat

boogieman

Diesels are notorious for slow warm up. I'd forgotten this, thank god for the heated seats in my Jag.
@dindude. You'll probably get better mpg when it's got a few thousand miles on it. Mine's got 6k under its belt now and I got 42 mpg on a recent run. That's from a big ol' lump of car with a 3 litre V6.

Lodious

+1 for what munke said, labouring a diesel or setting off in 2nd gear is not an economicly sensible idea.

fretmeister

bertie said:

brand new diesels need time to 'bed in'  for optimum fuel economy........... apparently -   certainly true of my V-50 -   took a good 5 or 6k for it to return the MPG it ought to.  On my usual run, I was getting about 38/39.   after 10k  45  and  now 47

the one brill thing about the mondeo I had before that -  was the heated windscreen

My Focus has the heated front screen and heated wing mirrors.

Superb idea, and when I change the car I, seriously considering another one.

monquixote

That's crazy MPG I didn't even get that in my Fabia which has the same engine and considerably lighter and I don't drive like a mental.

ESBlonde

bertie said:

brand new diesels need time to 'bed in'  for optimum fuel economy........... apparently -   certainly true of my V-50 -   took a good 5 or 6k for it to return the MPG it ought to.  On my usual run, I was getting about 38/39.   after 10k  45  and  now 47

the one brill thing about the mondeo I had before that -  was the heated windscreen

I'm a tight wad, bought the car used so nicely run in. 

I treated it like a lady the first six weeks and got

59.11

61.22

60.47

59.95

61.78

62.52

whilst driving 2225 miles.

Weekly figures might be misleading because necking the tank is the best you can do, but over a few weeks it is clear she is frugal with the go go juice.

Prior to this motor I had an old Shogun and 29.3 was the best I could manage, usually about 28mpg.

 

ESBlonde

FX_Munkee said:

Oh and don't set off in 2nd, in fact don't "labour" it in general, it's a sure fire way to knacker the DMF and that's a costly repair you don't want.
As for getting warm, use the money you've saved on fuel to by yourself a spanky new bobble hat

I don't set off in second, but if you're still rolling as you approach a junction/roundabout you should use second gear but sometimes it's a bitch. This hasn't the grunt to pull off from stationary in second. Perhaps pulling away in my first statement is misleading, I should have said accelerate from a slow speed.

I have lots of hats though another is always a treat. 

monquixote

I've just got an old 2.5 diesel A6 and I'm getting about 40 out of it ATM as compared to about 54 in the 1.9 Fabia.

jellyroll

I'm liking the 2 decimal places in your data. None of that sloppy "oh, about 60 mpg" nonsense. Precision reporting. Nice.  

bertie

ESBlonde said:

 but if you're still rolling as you approach a junction/roundabout you should use second gear 

ah yes one of our "many over the years" driving courses  we were told in normal driving "never stop the car if you can help it"  and "always select the gear for pulling away, as you're reaching your slowest point"

chillidoggy

Another vote for Ford's Quick Clear windscreen, the one on my Monderosa is superb.

ESBlonde

monquixote said:

That's crazy MPG I didn't even get that in my Fabia which has the same engine and considerably lighter and I don't drive like a mental.

The advantage of a weekly check is you know when a filter change/service becomes economical. When I had a month of readings between 52 and 55mpg in August I knew spending £12 on a filter set was worthwhile even if the service interval wasn't yet due.

A fair bit of my driving is along twisty country lanes so a bit of breaking and accelerating but not much. Probably only 20% mileage is dual carriageways at 70mph (honest officer). I am probably reasonably light footed because I see loonies squeal past me in the mornings only to pull up behind them ten minuets later at a junction or behind a school bus. No point in wasting angst and fuel for no appreciable gain. /[owd git mode off]

ICBM

I get an average of 42-43 mpg in my 1.6 *petrol* Renault Grand Scenic. Ok, I drive it like a particularly skint vicar , but if you can't get at least that out of a smaller diesel engined car you're doing something wrong.

It really doesn't make anywhere near as much difference to the journey time as you think, either.

jd0272

46.8 in my 2.2 D Rav4. Warms up nicely to at tickover and defrosts no bother.

Wish it had heated seats tho.

Danny1969

35 mpg out of my 4.2 Ton Transit with 6 speed box and 2.4 duratorq engine. I do a lot of rolling, it's surprising how far you can roll in neutral when you carry a lot of weight. 

ESBlonde

jellyroll said:

I'm liking the 2 decimal places in your data. None of that sloppy "oh, about 60 mpg" nonsense. Precision reporting. Nice.  

I haz a smart fone wiv polaris office, what better place than a spreadsheet to collate and store the data.

For the record (see what I did there) I nearly always fill at the same Morrisons forecourt so it's none of your fancy branded diesel with additives and go faster stripes. 

After the years in the Shogun getting less than half this efficiency I was particular to get a vehicle that would optimise the fuel cost. 

+5 miles per gallon at 50mpg is worth about 12p a litre. Wouldn't you like your fuel to cost less?

A typical 40 litre fill saves you nearly a fiver every week for being light footed.

FX_Munkee

I get ~40mpg out of my Alfa 159 2.4 jtdm that's a weeny bit "tweaked" (about 250bhp and more torque than you can shake a stick at).
I could get better economy, but my inner Stig won't let me