RAV4 mpg.

[Nick72]

One of my past mercs, 2.2l turbo diesel used to regularly deliver over 70mpg on the motorway. I had over a 700mile+ range on that car. Sounded like a tractor of course. 

AMG was another matter.

Of all the cars the R4P is for me the best overall of all my past cars. Mpg, performance, size, AWD, reliability. 

[Flatcoat]

The point I am making is the fuel economy is still good at high speeds. I would expect any modern car to be economical driving at 50mph. Tomorrow I am driving (towing) 350 miles to Cornwall and will report back on mpg returns. 

[Oscarmax]

24 minutes ago, Flatcoat said:

The point I am making is the fuel economy is still good at high speeds. I would expect any modern car to be economical driving at 50mph. Tomorrow I am driving (towing) 350 miles to Cornwall and will report back on mpg returns. 

All varying data is good high speed low speed etc it just paints a better picture, are you towing, and if so HV ECO or Sports mode

[Flatcoat]

I am towing. Not sure about mode other than running on ICE start to finish. I always save the Battery for local running around at destination. More efficient use of the energy. When we went to Inverness a couple of weeks ago I used Sport on the way north, forgot mostly on the return leg and the economy was slightly worse. However there was also weather, traffic and wind affecting the driving so difficult to assess the pros/cons. I also always use E5 premium fuels too. 

[Oscarmax]

I have not tried E5 yet

[FROSTYBALLS]

On 5/21/2024 at 4:46 PM, Mead said:

Just completed a recent trip with a nearly one year old Suzuki Across

Please update your profile to include the Across.

[ernieb]

+1, E5 fuel.

[Oscarmax]

To date I have not tried E5 with the Suzuki Across to be honest the fuel consumption of the Across is excellent plus the majority of our journey are in EV mode, however with our 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4 PHEV prior to the change over to E10 we used E5 unleaded we did notice our fuel consumption towing dropped from 31/32 mpg down to 28/29 mpg.

We are due to tow our 1500kg caravan down to the New Forest 181 miles last time we achieved just over 35mpg, I will give E10 a try.

 

 

[ernieb]

Could be totally wrong but as I also don’t use much fuel I think the E5 survives better in the tank than the E10. Subjectively I think that the engine sounds a little more rough on E10.

[Oscarmax]

1 hour ago, Oscarmax said:

To date I have not tried E5 with the Suzuki Across to be honest the fuel consumption of the Across is excellent plus the majority of our journey are in EV mode, however with our 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4 PHEV prior to the change over to E10 we used E5 unleaded we did notice our fuel consumption towing dropped from 31/32 mpg down to 28/29 mpg.

We are due to tow our 1500kg caravan down to the New Forest 181 miles last time we achieved just over 35mpg, I will give E10 a try.

 

 

That should have read E5 not E10

[Strangely Brown]

3 hours ago, ernieb said:

+1, E5 fuel.

+1 here too.

[Nick72]

On 5/24/2024 at 8:07 PM, ernieb said:

Could be totally wrong but as I also don’t use much fuel I think the E5 survives better in the tank than the E10. Subjectively I think that the engine sounds a little more rough on E10.

Completely agree with that. Smoother and quieter on E5. And feels like there's more power. 

[Nick72]

Just recently, and running on E5 pretty much routinely these days, I'm getting 54 to nearly 58mpg depending on conditions but mostly via motorway driving. Driving around the mountains and it's closer to 52mpg. 

[Oscarmax]

I have downloaded a fuel APP super unleaded prices vary quite dramatically in our area, we still have  about 40 litres+ of E10 still left in the tank, I am going to to top up with E5 before we tow the caravan 181 miles mid June, I don't expect to see any improvement on the way down, once I burnt some fuel off I will see if I can better 35 mpg on the way back.

[Flatcoat]

My drive towing to Cornwall gave mpg figures of 31.9, 28.9, 31.6 to 25.9 on the 4 stretches between stops. Cruise control set at 63mph but with miles of 50mph restrictions through Nottinghamshire for phantom roadworks, horrendous delays around Birmingham with traffic and roadworks and from Bristol south for over an hour. The last 125 mile stint was after refuelling with Shell E10, Vpower wasn’t available. It also included the drive over Bodmin Moor with its more undulating road, albeit also slower too in places, rain, a bit of headwind and lower temperatures. Car ran like a dream, towed as steady as a rock. As usual the detachable tow ball won’t, so another trip to the dealer on return. This happens 2/3 times a year. Time for a warranty claim me thinks! 

[Oscarmax]

A30 Bodmin is a fuel consumption killer, we avoid the M6/M5 its a carpark, I opted for a fixed swan neck.

[Flatcoat]

M5 is the least worst option for us. It typically takes us 8-9 hours from home to St Mawes, this time it wax over 10…… had a fixed tow ball on my first couple of tow cars, shin bruisers! 

[Oscarmax]

If you hit Bristol M5/M4 junction and the Bridgewater A39 junction for North Devon at the wrong time, we once got stuck in traffic at the A39 junction for 2 hour one year.

[Oscarmax]

Just filled up with Super Unleaded at Tesco £1.51.9 litre 10 litres £15.19 9 pence (5.5% dearer than E10) ready for my caravan towing holiday in June, hopefully I will see a improvement on the way back.

[philip42h]

19 minutes ago, Oscarmax said:

Just filled up with Super Unleaded at Tesco £1.51.9 litre 10 litres £15.19 9 pence (5.5% dearer than E10) ready for my caravan towing holiday in June, hopefully I will see a improvement on the way back.

The calorific value of bioethanol is about 65% of that of pure gasoline (i.e. E0). And, with the best will in the world, an engine can't get out more energy than is available in the fuel that it burns. So, if an engine burning E0 fuel can generate an output of 100%, an engine burning E5 will generate 98.3% of that while an engine burning E10 will achieve 96.5%. And, thus, you will get better mileage with E5 than with E10. 👍

But, E5 is just 1.8% better - so if you are paying 5.5% more for E5 than you would for E10 it will be costing you money. 😉

Though that is only part of the story - when folk say that their cars run better on E5 they are really comparing unbranded or standard supermarket E10 with a branded premium fuel E5. And in that case, the price difference may well be even higher, but you are then paying for the additives which make for smoother running more than improved mileage.

We make our choices and pay our money ... 🙂

[Oscarmax]

23 minutes ago, philip42h said:

The calorific value of bioethanol is about 65% of that of pure gasoline (i.e. E0). And, with the best will in the world, an engine can't get out more energy than is available in the fuel that it burns. So, if an engine burning E0 fuel can generate an output of 100%, an engine burning E5 will generate 98.3% of that while an engine burning E10 will achieve 96.5%. And, thus, you will get better mileage with E5 than with E10. 👍

But, E5 is just 1.8% better - so if you are paying 5.5% more for E5 than you would for E10 it will be costing you money. 😉

Though that is only part of the story - when folk say that their cars run better on E5 they are really comparing unbranded or standard supermarket E10 with a branded premium fuel E5. And in that case, the price difference may well be even higher, but you are then paying for the additives which make for smoother running more than improved mileage.

We make our choices and pay our money ... 🙂

I have been more than happy with the August 2023 Suzuki Across running on Tesco E10, but I am willing to give E5 Super Unleaded a try, our previous 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4 PHEV towing on the old E5 unleaded achieving 31/32 mpg, when E10 unleaded was introduced towing fuel consumption dropped quite dramatically down to 26/27 mpg, to be honest I am not expecting to see much of an improvement if at all.

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, philip42h said:

The calorific value of bioethanol is about 65% of that of pure gasoline (i.e. E0). And, with the best will in the world, an engine can't get out more energy than is available in the fuel that it burns. So, if an engine burning E0 fuel can generate an output of 100%, an engine burning E5 will generate 98.3% of that while an engine burning E10 will achieve 96.5%. And, thus, you will get better mileage with E5 than with E10. 👍

But, E5 is just 1.8% better - so if you are paying 5.5% more for E5 than you would for E10 it will be costing you money. 😉

Though that is only part of the story - when folk say that their cars run better on E5 they are really comparing unbranded or standard supermarket E10 with a branded premium fuel E5. And in that case, the price difference may well be even higher, but you are then paying for the additives which make for smoother running more than improved mileage.

We make our choices and pay our money ... 🙂

Another thing to consider is Super tends to have less % of fuel as it has more additives - Cleaning agents/detergents, octane boosters, lubricity enhancers etc. - so even though it has less ethanol it may also have less petrol too!

On another tangent, I had a close call and ran my car down the lowest it's been - Had to fill up at an unfamiliar station, a Jet, for I think the first time; Was only E10 but was surprised as it was noticeably smoother, mainly during stationary charging idle, than the tank of sainsburys E10 it replaced!

Will be interesting to see if that was a fluke and the car goes back to normal over the rest of the week, or stays like this!   

[Flatcoat]

My local Shell Vpower is £1.53.9p/litre so quite happy with that. And when not on holiday I fill up less than once a month so to be honest, the 10p or so premium pretty litre is not going send me bankrupt. 

[Flatcoat]

Sur le continent (or at least the German parts of it) there is 95 octane E10 and E5 in addition to 99 octane E5 available at most filling stations. 

[philip42h]

13 minutes ago, Flatcoat said:

Sur le continent (or at least the German parts of it) there is 95 octane E10 and E5 in addition to 99 octane E5 available at most filling stations. 

But none of us can actually afford to buy any fuel in Germany - ouch! 😉

On the Tesco's forecourt there is Tesco Momentum 99 - their E5 is a 99 octane blend with appropriate additives - which is what I buy when I feel the car deserves a treat!