fuel consumption

thafitz

im gonna be getting a new car soon and im wondering how much of a difference a bigger engine will have on the miles-to-the-gallon ill get. im currently driving a 1 litre car but am hoping to change to a 1.4 - 1.8 litre car when i get my full licence.

cheers
fitz

road_high

thafitz wrote:

im gonna be getting a new car soon and im wondering how much of a difference a bigger engine will have on the miles-to-the-gallon ill get. im currently driving a 1 litre car but am hoping to change to a 1.4 - 1.8 litre car when i get my full licence.

cheers
fitz

Big question is petrol or diesel?A 1.8 petrol will be significantly higher than your 1.0 litre car. And it varies a lot between make and model and size of car..

unkel

Rough ball park figures for mixed driving petrol engined:

1.0 supermini - 40MPG
1.4 small family hatch - 35MPG
1.8 family saloon - 30MPG

mike65

I can back Unkel up on those figures having owned 1.0 litre and 1.8

Mike.

roughan

i have a porsche Boxster which i get 25 around town and up to 37 on a long run

Kashkai

You also have to consider urban v country driving and whether you have a leaden right foot.

I get 45 - 50 mpg from my 1.4 petrol car doing country runs but this drops to 35mpg in the city.

My last car, a 2.0 SUV averaged 20mpg (which was why I got rid of it - besides, it was the wife who wanted to buy the damn thing in the first place:mad: )

Anan1

roughan wrote:

i have a porsche Boxster which i get 25 around town and up to 37 on a long run

The car is clearly wasted on you.;)

Budd

30-45 in city and 55-65 on intercity runs. VW Passat TDI 130 engine is one of the best diesels around.

thafitz

right ive been looking around and theres a 1.6 mazda mx5 thats looking pretty nice at the moment. thing is i dont wanna buy it and then find that its costing too much on fuel as i drive down to cork once a week ontop of my 30 minute drive to work everyday.

Supercell

thafitz wrote:

right ive been looking around and theres a 1.6 mazda mx5 thats looking pretty nice at the moment. thing is i dont wanna buy it and then find that its costing too much on fuel as i drive down to cork once a week ontop of my 30 minute drive to work everyday.

Would have thought that you have the best of both worlds with an MX-5.

Nice nippy car with great handling, but due to its small overall size surely has reasonable mpg?

Wishbone Ash

The length of journeys is also important. Driving a half mile to/from work will return a poor MPG figure regardless of engine size as the car will be running 'cold'.

(A work colleague wth a 1.0LMicra couldn't understand why he was getting about 20mpg. 3 min drive to work, 3 min home at lunch, 3 min back to work, 3 min home evening etc. may have had something to do with it.)

thafitz wrote:

when i get my full licence.

Confidence?

Wishbone Ash

thafitz wrote:

right ive been looking around and theres a 1.6 mazda mx5 thats looking pretty nice at the moment. thing is i dont wanna buy it and then find that its costing too much on fuel as i drive down to cork once a week ontop of my 30 minute drive to work everyday.

I would have thought that Insurance costs would be more relevant that MPG with an MX5.

Supercell

Wishbone Ash wrote:

The length of journeys is also important. Driving a half mile to/from work will return a poor MPG figure regardless of engine size as the car will be running 'cold'.

Definately true.
My 1.4L Fabia MPi is advertised at roughly 30mpg but in reality i'm getting about 40mpg because I start work early in the morning and avoid traffic so its pretty much optimal speed (40- 60) all the way, I horse it home on the M50 though but overall getting about 10 miles per litre which is about 40mpg, so very much depends on the journey the OP is going to be taking.

Alun

Longfield wrote:

... but overall getting about 10 miles per litre which is about 40mpg, ...

More like 45mpg, actually.

1 US gallon = 3.7854118 litres
1 imperial gallon = 4.54609188 litres

MAYPOP

thafitz wrote:

right ive been looking around and theres a 1.6 mazda mx5 thats looking pretty nice at the moment. thing is i dont wanna buy it and then find that its costing too much on fuel as i drive down to cork once a week ontop of my 30 minute drive to work everyday.

You can expect to see 35-40mpg in a 1.6 MX5, that should rise to well above 40 on a trip to Cork, depending on your driving style, of course.

Mighty Max

check out www.whatcar.co.uk
On the homepage (middle, left) you will see link that says "compare up to 3 cars". Click that, then select either new or used cars. After that put in the model, series and engine size. It will bring back stats on BHP, 0-60, car dimensions etc.
Look to the right hand side and up a little and click on the link that says "running cost", this part gives you the MPG for urban and country driving. You can also read reviews on the car. Nice the way you can compare 3 at a time. Give data on plenty of second hand cars and most new cars. Hope that helps.

roughan

gets about 15-18 if u go mad in it though !

Seth Brundle

what is this 'mpg' thing people are on about?

unkel

kbannon wrote:

what is this 'mpg' thing people are on about?

You want km/l or l/100km?

30MPG = 11 km/l = 9 l/100km
35MPG = 12 km/l = 8 l/100km
40MPG = 14 km/l = 7 l/100km

thafitz

thanks for all the feedback. should help me make a decision.

cheers
fitz

prospect

I had a 1.6 MX5 and it did roughly 30mpg, average. Funnily, it seemed to do this irrespective of whether I had an easy-going week or a bat-out-of-hell week, so to speak.

nialler

3.2ltr country driving 27-32mpg
City 8mpg-17mpg

The shell garage in Donnybrook rub their hands everytime they see me drive by.

Over the last 7000 miles since Feb she's averaged 19 mpg.

what_car

unkel wrote:

Rough ball park figures for mixed driving petrol engined:

1.0 supermini - 40MPG
1.4 small family hatch - 35MPG
1.8 family saloon - 30MPG

corolla 1.4 diesel 55mpg. i can quote this as having one in the family. very economical and nice to drive reliable.

mukki

presume some of you were waiting for my usual hdi mpg post

right...

peugeot 307 HDi (110 bhp, 1.6l, turbo, aftercooled, common rail, diesel engine)
i get between 55mpg and 65mpg depending how hard i drive it

and i have never turned the air con off!!!!

r3nu4l

thafitz wrote:

thanks for all the feedback. should help me make a decision.

cheers
fitz

I know you own a 1L but have you ever driven a 1.8? I'm not dissing your driving or anything but maybe a 1.4 would be the better choice for now as hitting the pedal on a 1.8 from a stopped position results in a hell of a difference compared with even the nippiest 1L. Also braking in a 1.8 feels a lot different to a 1L as well.

I'm not saying you can't handle it I'm just saying be careful and make sure you try a good 20 min (at least) test drive on different roads to get used to it.

Maybe you have driven a 1.8 and this advice is wasted but just to be safe and all that