best MPG cage?

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by GavinD

My gf has just got a new fiesta 1.4 diesel as her lease car so will let you know.

My bruv has one and it seems to do around 60mpg in mixed driving. Pretty damn good, but the ECOnetic one Hovis is on about has a higher claimed mpg than the 1.4 TDCi!

Originally Posted by hovis

errrrr why?

It's like polishing a turd

http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/faq/

This is why they can claim those figures... they bare no resemblance to real life imho.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

It's like polishing a turd

or putting a gixxer front end on a SV?

[Wideboy]

doubt that, probably in a massively controlled environment, most the the new fords diesels I've driven are crap on fuel, the new mondeo is the worst considering its meant to be a rep-mobil

Originally Posted by hovis

yeah, but it looks crap

Oi! you dissin' our car?

The Smart actually sells petrol back to the petrol station it's that cheap to run, even in town 2-up with a weeks' shopping in the back. Unlike my MG, which needed a fleet of petrol tankers to follow it everywhere...

[keith_d]

Don't buy a 3 litre Mondeo Estate. Mine only manages about 30mpg on the motorway, and I've seen 18mpg thrashing it around twisties.

I wonder, do the lab tests just take into account the rpm of the engine when used in a particular situation, or do they also take into account the throttle position? Do they conduct the test with the engine under load, or just stick it on a bench? The reason I wonder is because an engine, not under load, will rev quite freely on a little throttle opening. But under load i.e. on a road, to acheive the same rpm requires a wider throttle opening, so more fuel used

Incidently, my throttle openings have been quite wide lately. My fuel light came on for the first time in 3 months today

[Sir Trev]

The only way I've ever got anything like the claimed economy is in Rover 416 back in 2000. I'd only just bought it (two years old) when the fuel protest cut off supplies in my area just before we went on holiday. We were determined to go and I worked out the tank theoretically had enough range to get us there and back. Driving with the lightest touch got close to the 40mpg combined. (and yes we did get back).

Drive like that now and you'd get hounded off the road by everyone else for being a mobile chicane!! In the real world I got 2/3 of the quoted figure if I was lucky. My current car (2.0 Mundaneo) is the same. 35mpg my foot - try 30 on a good day.

[Mej]

my 330d will do 45mpg on the motorway and that is at a decent pace as well. Drive conservatley u will easily get 50mpg. but at the same time put your foot down and it will never go under 30.