600 Miles On One Tank!

[HoneyBear1980]

My Verso 2.2d 140hp 08 plate SR has just done 15k miles in 13 months and i've just got the most miles out of one tank.

I can remember that my first tank only did 450 miles and used 45 litres - I was disappointed at first as I used to get more miles from a petrol VW bora with one tank. It does seem strange however that the tank on the Verso is meant to be 55 litres as i've never filled up with more than 49 litres before the pump clicks off.

Anyway I did 605 miles and put just under 47 litres in it which I think is about 59 mpg. The on board computer average said 71 mpg although its always over optimistic by about 10%.

One strange thing though, i've done quite a few motorway miles on this last tank and for long periods the instant mpg readout said 99.9 mpg for 80% of the time dropping to 60-70 mpg when going up inclines - so why does the onboard average only say 71 mpg? I would guess it should have been well in the 80s unless when it reads 99.9 mpg it doesn't actually calculate its averages properly.

[cabcurtains]

59MPG thats good going , yet 450 from 45 litres is still 45MPG which isnt a bad figure :)

[Will_de_Beest]

"99.9 MPG" indicates that at that moment the engine is using no fuel at all. Modern engines - petrol as well as diesel - cut off the fuel when there is no load and no pressure on the accelerator. Part of the art of economical driving - which you seem to be managing pretty well - is to maximize that time where the car is effectively giving you something for nothing.

Conversely - and a bit off-topic - you could see braking as the opposite: you've burned fuel to get up to speed, and now the brakes are turning all that useful kinetic energy into useless heat.

Good going anyway. I've never seen more than 45 mpg from our 2.2D - measured by the same pump-to-pump method as yours. I'd be interested to know what sort of motorway speeds you were doing; ours seems to use noticeably more fuel once the needle gets above about 75.

[HoneyBear1980]

Good going anyway. I've never seen more than 45 mpg from our 2.2D - measured by the same pump-to-pump method as yours. I'd be interested to know what sort of motorway speeds you were doing; ours seems to use noticeably more fuel once the needle gets above about 75.

The steering wheel has started to wobble a bit from 65mph and above (I plan to take it to kwik fit to get the wheels checked, out of balance?) therefore it is uncomfortable at the moment to go much over 60mph. I normally drive at approx 60mph on the motorway but will accelerate to go downhill and ease off going up hill - I have noticed that this keeps the instant mpg figure on the computer at its highest overall average.

Strangely my driving style doesn't seem to have too much effect on the onboard calculated mpg as i've just done a 120 mile round trip this morning mostly on the M25 in the outside lane and trundling through the centre of Watford and the average trip mpg is showing 74.1mpg.

I have noticed that our car does feel quite muscular but when overtaking on B roads etc it doesn't accelerate quite as savagely as you would expect, although it is smooth. The demonstrator we tested for a day before we bought it was the same 2.2d but seemed much quicker whilst the instant mpg mostly stayed at between 40-50mpg. My driving style wasn't any different.

[hertsnminds]

I have noticed that our car does feel quite muscular but when overtaking on B roads etc it doesn't accelerate quite as savagely as you would expect,

I can't complain about the grunt when accelerating off a roundabout on a dual carriageway. On a B road you have a bit of body roll through the bends but if the revs are above 2,100 you should get good pull from the engine. For swift overtaking you probably want to be between 2,500 and 3,500 revs to be getting the most power from the engine, so at B road speeds (40 - 60 mph) that is 3rd or 4th gear. Instant MPG display when doing this can drop below double figures :)

[HoneyBear1980]

On a B road you have a bit of body roll through the bends but if the revs are above 2,100 you should get good pull from the engine. For swift overtaking you probably want to be between 2,500 and 3,500 revs to be getting the most power from the engine, so at B road speeds (40 - 60 mph) that is 3rd or 4th gear. Instant MPG display when doing this can drop below double figures :)

I must say that I would normally accelerate at those sort of speeds in 4th or 5th. It seems to pull quite hard between 2000 - 2500 rpm where it pushes you back into the seat but after that it doesn't have much left you have to change up, doing that whilst trying to overtake seems cumbersome especially when you can see oncoming traffic bearing down on you. Additionally because the gear change doesn't seem to like to be rushed by the time I o change gear and release the clutch it seems to be caught a little off-boost with the turbo.

[HoneyBear1980]

On a B road you have a bit of body roll through the bends but if the revs are above 2,100 you should get good pull from the engine. For swift overtaking you probably want to be between 2,500 and 3,500 revs to be getting the most power from the engine, so at B road speeds (40 - 60 mph) that is 3rd or 4th gear. Instant MPG display when doing this can drop below double figures :)

I must say that I would normally accelerate at those sort of speeds in 4th or 5th. It seems to pull quite hard between 2000 - 2500 rpm where it pushes you back into the seat but after that it doesn't have much left you have to change up, doing that whilst trying to overtake seems cumbersome especially when you can see oncoming traffic bearing down on you. Additionally because the gear change doesn't seem to like to be rushed by the time I change gear and release the clutch it seems to be caught a little off-boost with the turbo.

[Will_de_Beest]

...Additionally because the gear change doesn't seem to like to be rushed ...

Curious. I'd have said our Verso's clutch-gearchange combination was remarkably sweet and light, especially considering the torque it has to handle. Mrs Beest on the other hand, seems to find it difficult sometimes - I think because she pushes the lever too hard. Certainly a 3rd-4th upshift, with spring assistance from both sides, is something you ought to be able to achieve with two fingers.

And to continue the wander off-topic, our Verso generally seems happier at B-road (40-55) speeds in 4th than 5th. Certainly on a twisty road where I'm repeatedly backing off for corners, it seems easier and smoother all round to keep it in 4th than to do a short stretch in 5th and have to change down for the next bend. It still doesn't have to rev at more than about 2500, which is perfectly comfortable for it, and it has plenty in reserve if you do need to overtake.

But then I think a lot of drivers tend to use too high a gear in many situations in the mistaken belief that it saves fuel. My dad was a terror for this - especially when he got his first car with a fifth speed, but even ten years later he'd be trying to drive up low-speed hills in absurdly high gears. And he was an engineer; civil though, not mechanical.

[dieselweasel]

Well, I've only done 400 miles in our 09 2.0td Verso, and having brimmed it, have got 48mpg out of it in mainly town driving, so I'm quite pleased.

i can't really comment too deeply yet, but it seems that the gauge (digital bars) are very pessimistic, dropping to 3/10's full after 300 miles. The computer seems to be odd too - avergae consumption seems spot on with the one brim to brim so far, but range is very pessimistic.

From 1/3rd full, i could only put in 30 litres out of a 55 litre tank, so think the gauge may be poorly calibrated. We'll see

PS The gearchange seems very light, but it doesn't like being rushed into 1st or 2nd.....!!!

[tuneznvibe]

Well, I've only done 400 miles in our 09 2.0td Verso, and having brimmed it, have got 48mpg out of it in mainly town driving, so I'm quite pleased.

i can't really comment too deeply yet, but it seems that the gauge (digital bars) are very pessimistic, dropping to 3/10's full after 300 miles. The computer seems to be odd too - avergae consumption seems spot on with the one brim to brim so far, but range is very pessimistic.

From 1/3rd full, i could only put in 30 litres out of a 55 litre tank, so think the gauge may be poorly calibrated. We'll see

PS The gearchange seems very light, but it doesn't like being rushed into 1st or 2nd.....!!!

have managed 400miles from full tank even with some aircon consumption which is very good, but for some reason when filling up and resetting all trips the range setting still only shows 359miles with full tank, although i can get more miles

[tuneznvibe]

On a B road you have a bit of body roll through the bends but if the revs are above 2,100 you should get good pull from the engine. For swift overtaking you probably want to be between 2,500 and 3,500 revs to be getting the most power from the engine, so at B road speeds (40 - 60 mph) that is 3rd or 4th gear. Instant MPG display when doing this can drop below double figures :)

I must say that I would normally accelerate at those sort of speeds in 4th or 5th. It seems to pull quite hard between 2000 - 2500 rpm where it pushes you back into the seat but after that it doesn't have much left you have to change up, doing that whilst trying to overtake seems cumbersome especially when you can see oncoming traffic bearing down on you. Additionally because the gear change doesn't seem to like to be rushed by the time I o change gear and release the clutch it seems to be caught a little off-boost with the turbo.

have so far been very happy with power/torque on my verso, very smooth in any gear when overtaking, but you must at least be over 2500rpm. to avoid any turbo lag between changes try changing at higher revs before shifting gears this should ensure that you wont get caught out when overtaking on b roads.