What Mpg Are You Really Getting?

[SJandMR2]

Hi Andy,

Thats some quite extreme suggestions you made their and agree that most would work in improving mpg in prinicple although I have to disagree with the coasting (of by coasting you mean by which the engine is no longer comected to the wheels and not over-run) this is quite unsafe driving (and I dont think its good for the car either I have heard). As you say theres a time and a place you do it but even so, if someone was to jump in front of your your would have a slower reation time in getting out of their way. Theres a reason its a minor on a driving.

I am not mpg watcher myself (probably why I am always broke :lol) , but with the current price and possibly lack of availability of petrol I dont appreciate the efforts people are making but I think it can be taking to far in some instances. Apparently the a new addition to the driving test is eco driving and people will be taught to keep their revs below 3k except for emergencies, I dont agree with this either I think more emphasis needs to be made on safety and keeping it below 3k will not help keeping up with traffic among other things.

SJx

[zakelwe]

Hi Andy,

Thats some quite extreme suggestions you made their and agree that most would work in improving mpg in prinicple although I have to disagree with the coasting (of by coasting you mean by which the engine is no longer comected to the wheels and not over-run) this is quite unsafe driving (and I dont think its good for the car either I have heard). As you say theres a time and a place you do it but even so, if someone was to jump in front of your your would have a slower reation time in getting out of their way. Theres a reason its a minor on a driving.

Hi :)

Yes, they are all possibles, not something I'd say you have to do, take your pick....

Not having the wheels connected to drive is more dangerous in some situations and safer in others, it's up to the driver to work out when is appropriate. Say you were not coasting and had your foot on the gas, if someone jumped out in front of you then you would have to factor in moving your foot from the gas to the brake where as the coaster will already have the brake covered (in theory). On the otherhand you can't get out of trouble by applying the throttle if you need to when coasting.

At least with coasting you are thinking ahead on when you have to go out of coast. With none coasters you could be tempted to use your mobile phone, twiddle with the stereo or heating etc etc. Keeping up momentum is a marvellous way to concentrate the mind and think about spatial awareness, but like I said, don't try it with other traffic around.

Regards

Andy

[PaulGP]

The oil change won't be necessary, the factory oil is 5w30 fully synthetic, and standard tyres are already a very skinny 155.

Interesting that they put fully synthetic in a 1litre car with 68bhp. Overkill considering the cost of the car to be honest. Can you provide a link for this

in relation to Aygo?

For the tyres 155 is not skinny, you can get a good 135 or 145 that will be far more economical and green for the car if that sort of thing floats your boat. The term"very skinny" only applies to if you "very young". Damn, I have had Cavaliers on 165's and they were considered more than adequate for the time! :D

If you can post the link to the Aygo using fully synth that that would be appreciated and save me some dosh.

Regards

Andy

Double check with them about the oil - they gave me a litre free - Mobil 0w40 & the guy said they are now using this as standard. I think mine would have come with 5w30.

[SJandMR2]

Hi Andy,

Thats some quite extreme suggestions you made their and agree that most would work in improving mpg in prinicple although I have to disagree with the coasting (of by coasting you mean by which the engine is no longer comected to the wheels and not over-run) this is quite unsafe driving (and I dont think its good for the car either I have heard). As you say theres a time and a place you do it but even so, if someone was to jump in front of your your would have a slower reation time in getting out of their way. Theres a reason its a minor on a driving.

Hi :)

Yes, they are all possibles, not something I'd say you have to do, take your pick....

Not having the wheels connected to drive is more dangerous in some situations and safer in others, it's up to the driver to work out when is appropriate. Say you were not coasting and had your foot on the gas, if someone jumped out in front of you then you would have to factor in moving your foot from the gas to the brake where as the coaster will already have the brake covered (in theory). On the otherhand you can't get out of trouble by applying the throttle if you need to when coasting.

At least with coasting you are thinking ahead on when you have to go out of coast. With none coasters you could be tempted to use your mobile phone, twiddle with the stereo or heating etc etc. Keeping up momentum is a marvellous way to concentrate the mind and think about spatial awareness, but like I said, don't try it with other traffic around.

Regards

Andy

Hi

Am sorry I am not wont for disagreeing with people on this site but that is possibly the worlds weakest argument, the theory of coasting alone would in no way indicate that a person is A) got their foot on the brake, and B) not texting, playing with stereo etc, in fact I think the exact opposite is true if you your cheap enough to do this, as I said the benefits are very minimum if any, not counting the problem it could possibly caused to your car - long term cost, then could also mean someone is ok to think its texting is fine etc.

All I am saying in principle is that I am not against econimical driving at all! I just dont think it should come the cost/risk of safety - this should always remain paramount when driving and a lot of economical driving suggestions are not.

SJx

[walfice]

I have to agree with SJ here. Speaking as someone with many years in the driver training industry I see no benefit from your ideas on saving a few pennies at the pump. Putting safety issues aside, coasting uses more fuel because petrol is needed to make the engine tickover, whereas using engine braking uses no fuel (or very little) because the overrun keeps the engine running. To suggest people who don't coast do not concentrate makes me wonder if your argument is even a serious one.

Also, putting thinner tyres on the car as well as inflating them well above what is recommended makes the car less stable. It would feel like driving on ice which would mean you need to go much slower into corners which results in more acceleration needed when exiting the corner (requiring more fuel)

Not having a go, just balancing the argument.

[PaulGP]

I paid £1.11 a litre last time I filled up with v-power - just over a week ago. Does the price vary that much around the country???

115.9p per litre in Coventry yesterday,so yes,seems to vary quite a bit!

Unfortunately I haven't noticed V-Power going down in price yet!!

Still,the little red Ferraris are nice

Paid £1.14.9/l for v-power today. Worked out the last tank gave me 59mpg.

[Tibsie]

I have to agree with SJ here. Speaking as someone with many years in the driver training industry I see no benefit from your ideas on saving a few pennies at the pump. Putting safety issues aside, coasting uses more fuel because petrol is needed to make the engine tickover, whereas using engine braking uses no fuel (or very little) because the overrun keeps the engine running. To suggest people who don't coast do not concentrate makes me wonder if your argument is even a serious one.

Also, putting thinner tyres on the car as well as inflating them well above what is recommended makes the car less stable. It would feel like driving on ice which would mean you need to go much slower into corners which results in more acceleration needed when exiting the corner (requiring more fuel)

Not having a go, just balancing the argument.

I was just about to post something very similar to this.

When coasting the ECU has to supply fuel to the engine to keep it ticking over. When leaving the engine in gear and keeping your foot off the throttle the ECU doesn't need to supply any fuel.

I used to coast up to traffic lights, in jams and down hills but now I use the engine. It also has the advantage of less wear on the brakes.

Tom

[feldman]

Engine braking = economic, good driving technique, safer and (if done properly) better for wear and tear as it can save your brakes a wee bit.

If you coast- roll forward in neutral- you're wasting the momentum you used fuel to build up and wasting petrol as the engine is using it just to tick over.

In my Aygo I find that if you're slowing from 40+mph plus without using the brakes (imagine a very long, straight dual carriageway and you spot a red light in the distance that's just changed from green) then:

You're in 5th. Foot off the accelerator, check your mirror in case you need to touch the brake pedal for brake lights. Let the car slow on it's own. When you get to 30mph, ish, clutch down, 4th gear, clutch steadily up.

23/24 mph- clutch down, into 3rd, clutch steadily up.

11/12 mph- clutch down, into 2nd, clutch steadily up.

At no time is the engine disconnected from the wheels. At this point there's several things slowing you down- and none of them are the brakes.

1) Friction from the wheels/tyres/axles.

2) Friction from the engine: the momentum of the car's driving the engine- not petrol.

3) Air drag.

4) Other stuff. I got a C in Physics, alright?

If the light changes in the meantime, you're already in gear and rolling- gently accelerate to match any traffic in front of you.

Apparently you use the most amount of fuel getting going from a dead stop. Overcoming your car's intertia- even one as light as the Aygo- is a killer. If you spot traffic/a junction/red lights/pedestrian crossing or whatever- brake earlier and try to time it so you don't come to a complete stop. Even rolling forward at 3mph is better than a dead stop.

The above is what I was taught by my driving instructor and what I've picked up along the way. There are some good guides on the Net with sites like the RAC, AA etc. I'm not saying it's gospel, but I get pretty good mileage out of my Premium Unleaded (trust me- I've done full tanks of Premium and Regular Unleaded- Premium works out cheaper).

It never ceases to surprise the people I see that accelerate like mad, burning petrol like a lunatic, overtaking left, right and centre and... you catch them up at the lights/roundabout. They've gained 5 feet in front of you and burned a ton of petrol and shaved a ton off their brake discs.

Always happy to discuss/converse/be shot down in flames

[BadBoyVTEC]

I think reversing everywhere is most economic.

[Ullevi]

Same engine,different car,I had a loan 1.0 Yaris T3 and I got 54 mpg on a journey of 240 miles,mainly dual carriageway/motorway.

So if a Yaris with 2000 miles on the clock can achieve this,then I am sure an Aygo can do better.This was mainly at 65-70 mph.

Interestingly the Yaris had a computer display with mpg on it,and as people have already said on this thread,if you use engine braking,you can be really economical,as in approaching roundabouts etc,lifting your foot off the accelerator,the display would read 99.9 mpg!

So that seems a really good tip for economical driving.

[Jan van de Wouw]

I think reversing everywhere is most economic.

With an Aygo maybe yes, as 1st is geared lower than

reverse, but on most cars reverse is the lowest gear :P

[Tibsie]

Well my mpg has improved to 50.79 on the latest fillup. Price was 107.9ppl at Asda.

Tom

[Jazzy Jase]

My car is averaging 47.72 mpg after 19000 miles, but with the last tank of fuel I thought I would see just how many MPG I could get. Well it took me 2 weeks of driving like a granny, but I managed 59.05 mpg! Brilliant. I will miss the fuel economy when the Aygo goes back in a few months.

[BadBoyVTEC]

Why you getting rid of it?

[Jazzy Jase]

Why you getting rid of it?

Need something a bit more practical. ie. Larger boot, more comfortable on longer journeys. So getting a Fiat Grande Punto Sporting!

EDIT: Having said that, I had my heart set on a Fiat 500, which is no larger than the Aygo. I guess I want something a little bit quicker than the Aygo too.

[BadBoyVTEC]

Dont get a fiat 500 they are just wrong. Punto Grande Abarth is unreal. You seen it?

[Lister2020]

Im getting around the 60mpg point now. 850 miles on the clock.

[adilmon]

I find all your comments interesting. The below are the driving habits I have adopted after about 2 years of driving diesel Aygo;

Engine braking- If I know I'm likely to to stop I try and use 2nd or 3rd gear. Saves on the brakes and if i don't need to stop the engine is already sitting at an rpm which is in the powerband. (The momentum of the car gets the revs up instead of adding fuel)

Coasting- Generally only put in neutral going downhill when leaving it in gear would negate any free accelaration (not often). If I'm only doing about 40mph I actually use less fuel putting it into 5th gear and letting the weaker engine braking maintain the idle rpm. I cut the engine at level crossings and in traffic jams.

Minimising Drag-

OIL- 5w30 is thin enough for a diesel engine that hardly ever goes over 3000 rpm. Viscous drag is not really a great problem. The camshaft followers are on lower friction rollers instead of bucket tappets.

AIR- I do close the windows over about 50mph. I looked at adding a panel to cover the rear wheel arches (ala Honda Insight various older citroens), but my insurers class that as a bodykit and wanted more money.

Added a shark fin ariel, but I doubt this has any advantage over the standard ariel.

The air filter was also changed sooner than recommended because it looked like it needed it. The turbo probably needs what little ventilation comes through the engine bay, especially since the oil cooler is at the front. So taping up the vents is probably not a good idea.

I regularly sit behind tall lorries or coaches if they can manage 60mph. The mpg goes up about 40% instantly (I've touched 135 mpg doing this and 160mpg whilst I was being sandwiched by 3 lorries).

TYRES- I used to over inflate the tyres, but getting back up to speed after exiting dual carriageway roundabouts was an issue, because the lower grip meant I had to slow down quite a bit. Nowadays the tyres are only slightly overinflated (to allow for cold mornings) and take corners a bit faster (with a broad smile)

WEIGHT- no excess weight, but I'd rather have a spare wheel and not need it, than need it and not have one. Yet to be convinced that saving 15kg and running half a tank of fuel is worth the effort. If anything the diesel aygo is a bit more front heavy than the petrol version, so a full tank helps with the weight distribution. Also, I get up to 500 miles per tank and filling up less often means I don't get hit as much by the now regular fuel price rises.

My mpg average is in the mid 60s because the journey to work is only 10 miles and the engine doesn't get up to temperature until about 3 miles to go. I've no problem averaging 80+mpg on long runs.

Sadly, the diesel Aygo is no longer sold, and these stats can only be matched with Citroen C1 HDi.

[Jaifli]

I'm up to 1750 miles on the clock and the various fills of petrol into my Blue Slate MMT have changed the average very little.

The last calculation was 49.9 mpg which is poor compared to everyone else's declared rate.

[BadBoyVTEC]

i only ever get 40 mpg everytime. 280-300 miles per tank to the flashing light.

[Smithy07]

i only ever get 40 mpg everytime. 280-300 miles per tank to the flashing light.

yea , same as me ... i think my last calculation was 43mpg , i filled up at 286 miles and this was only 'cos i was going on a realtively long journey and wouldn't ahve had enough to get me there .

[Aimee]

well, my second blob has just vanished and ive got 150miles to them... not bad considering i normally get about 100 :) think a long stretch down the m6 helped her :)

[walfice]

i only ever get 40 mpg everytime. 280-300 miles per tank to the flashing light.

yea , same as me ... i think my last calculation was 43mpg , i filled up at 286 miles and this was only 'cos i was going on a realtively long journey and wouldn't ahve had enough to get me there .

You two need to stop driving everywhere in first gear lol

[Smithy07]

i only ever get 40 mpg everytime. 280-300 miles per tank to the flashing light.

yea , same as me ... i think my last calculation was 43mpg , i filled up at 286 miles and this was only 'cos i was going on a realtively long journey and wouldn't ahve had enough to get me there .

You two need to stop driving everywhere in first gear lol

hahaha funny !!! ... Most of my driving is around town where it's stop/start or 20/30 speed restrictions ... for the record i think i change up too quickly if anything lol

[BadBoyVTEC]

i only ever get 40 mpg everytime. 280-300 miles per tank to the flashing light.

yea , same as me ... i think my last calculation was 43mpg , i filled up at 286 miles and this was only 'cos i was going on a realtively long journey and wouldn't ahve had enough to get me there .

You two need to stop driving everywhere in first gear lol

hahaha funny !!! ... Most of my driving is around town where it's stop/start or 20/30 speed restrictions ... for the record i think i change up too quickly if anything lol

Mine is in town but I zat it everywhere. So it doesn't surprise me. Although still on motorway journeys it doesn't alter much, maybe 10-20 miles more to the tank.