MPG

[PCM]

Curious as to what MPG people are currently getting in their IQ.

I 'do' mixed urban and a little motorway... and get about 53-54.

For the car size that's ok I think and far better than my 22mpg Lexus RX back in the day.

Not sure I'll get much more than that.

-2c this morning...

[Barkley]

I’ve managed 56 but after 4 refills the average seems to be 53.8 (as of 01/12). I’m using the manual 1.0 engine, but I would assume those with the 1.33 and automatics might be hard pressed to reach 50?

[Touring_Dave]

Sounds about right, usually 52-54 but occasionally 60 when I'm driving like Miss Daisy 🤣

[Monkeyboy2283]

On a mix of country and town driving (mainly country) I average about 45mpg, that's with a manual 1L, but let's day I'm not hyper mile driving style 😉

[STEVEJAMES]

I have a 2009 iq2 and my regular journey to work is on country roads of 30mph and 40mph and averaging 57mpg so really pleased.

[eein]

I've posted before that on long journeys in the summer (approx London to Glasgow) I'll get 70mpg, running at indicated 60-70 on the motorway.

My usual commute is 2.5 miles (yea, I know I should walk...) with town roads, junctions, etc, and the engine only just warms up by the destination, and this runs at ~55mpg in the summer, and ~45mpg in the winter. I go to work 2-3 times a week on average, and therefore aside from the occasional long journey mentioned above, I only fill up 4x times per year!

I'm a iQ2 1L manual, and while I don't drive like a granny, I will anticipate ahead and lift off and drop in to neutral a lot.

My other car used to be to a 6L V12 which did 20 mpg long journeys and 8mpg on my commute. So it's nice to now be at the opposite end of the scale with the iQ!

[74hct04]

I can't legally drive more than 40MPH where I live... From late July I averaged 57MPG according to the trip computer (seems to be very accurate) and it's now approx 55MPG. My regular journey is an ~11 mile non-stop round trip, comprising a mix of 30MPH and 40MPH limits, both country 'twisties' and 'highway' driving.

One factor to be considered (*deep breath* oh dear, am I going to start an argument online? 😆) is the fuel you are using. Although I could purchase upto 5% or upto 10% ethanol fuel, I am fortunate enough to be able to obtain ethanol-free 95RON petrol and it's the only fuel I will use in my cars.

I really should do a comparison with my also-EURO 5a tuned 1KR-FE enigined, and also almost-the-same-weight C1, one of these days but it'd take me an awfully long time to get to the point of being able to pull out my calculator to find out. 🙃Gut feeling, given what the C1 could acheive in the UK, is that it's slightly more economical.

I love both cars for different reasons and can't honestly say that one is better than the other.

[eein]

I totally agree on the fuel type, at least the RON. Regardless of what 'the internet' says, there's actually factual science that underpins this. My long journey figures above are all using 98/99 RON. Versus normal 95 I find around 8-10% mpg different.

Also, with a 1L manual, I notice the difference in power in 5th gear on long inclines. The power increase will be small, but such a low powered car is on the limit in these conditions, so a slight increase is useful. With 95 I'll have to drop a gear or two to hold my speed, with 98 I can (just) maintain speed on those long M6/M74 slopes.

[74hct04]

Interesting reading, thank you eein.

I didn't think that a higher octane fuel would make any difference with these cars, but apparently it does! 🙂

[Dutchrav]

My 1.0L CVT runs worst on E10 fuel..  its already better on Shell V-Power (E5) but runs very smooth and silent on BP98 (no ethanol added). Getting a bit better MPG on BP98 too.

[eein]

Higher octane will always contain more energy which all cars will benefit from, so long as the tune of the engine allows it. All modern injection engines automatically adjust to the octane you put in. I've seen 8-10% more mpg in all moderns cars I've owned from our 60bhp / 70mpg iQ to my 550bhp / 22mpg 760Li! In the latter the additional power was imperceptible as it had too much anyway, however the iQ it is more noticeable because you're often on the limit of what the power can do (ie you are flooring it!).

It was back in the carburettor days that you had to manually tune for one octane value over another. I spent many a year with a (real) mini adding octane boost at the petrol station when 99 ron was not available (or even 105 - remember that?!).

[Cyker]

Funnily enough the opposite is usually the case - To get the octane numbers up, they have to have more additives, so the actual energy content of super is usually *lower* than regular fuel.

It's only cars that can run higher compression ratios and super/turbo engines that usually benefit from the high octane part, as even tho' there is less energy available, they can extract more of it.

What tends to benefit normal cars are the other additives - Mainly the cleaning agents (These can make a very noticeable difference on injection engines that usually use normal fuel and don't see fast roads often), and lubricity enhancers, friction modifiers and various other things which help the fuel burn more completely and evenly.