Is my Mondeo really that thirsty?

nellocono

Hi Folks,
So I bought a 2005 Mondeo 1.8 Petrol. Nice car to drive and all that but I am wondering if it is costing me a fortune.

I put in about 70-75 petrol to fill it approx every two weeks. This lasts me for somewhere between 500 - 550 Kilometers. I do mostly stop start driving to work every day.

Is this a lot? Would I save much money per week/month if I moved to something like a Kia Proceed (i.e 1.6 Diesel)

.... it's the guts of 30mpg
Not bad, a ProCeed would do closer to 50mpg than 30mpg easily but spending €75 every two weeks on petrol isn't really getting into changing car territory for efficiency gains.

barura

30mpg (thanks RJ) in stop start driving? Assuming that's what it's mainly in (time wise) then yes, that sounds acceptable.

The problems that would arise from using a 1.6 diesel in the same circumstances would leave you with expensive DPF and DMF costs sooner rather than later.

A good compramise would be a hybrid in your case. Or something with that stop-start technology so you're not wasting petrol while sitting in traffic.

That or a smaller car + engine which wouldn't use as much to idle/move little gaps at a time.

Edit: My math was wrong! but yeah, 30 mpg is pretty solid in those conditions!

OldmanMondeo

Fecks sake, I put that in every week in a 1.8 Diesel Mondeo...

flyingsnail

I average 34-35 mpg in mine (2003 1.8), but its about 90% motorway driving.

MidlandsM

thats not bad for a petrol mondeo OP.

nellocono

Ok, cheers thats good to know then, I thought it was heavy enough but its pretty much my first car so wasnt sure what to expect...

Fishtits

Mondy TDDI will do late forties with a light foot. The TDCI will do mid 50's under the same usage.

TDCI was a first to market, they may suffer horrendous bills though, prone to injector/pump issues...

Johntegr

70 - 75 over 2 weeks with stop start on the way to work covering 550kms a tank wouldn't warrant the cost to change. If you already have a little car, use that to get to work.

Look more at how long you're sitting in traffic/stop starting rather than what mileage you're getting out of it. Then look at do you need a car that big? If you use it's boot/space/seats regularly for trips away, shopping, lugging the kids etc then keep it.

If not, there are far nicer cars to sit in just to go to work in.

nellocono

Look more at how long you're sitting in traffic/stop starting rather than what mileage you're getting out of it. Then look at do you need a car that big? If you use it's boot/space/seats regularly for trips away, shopping, lugging the kids etc then keep it.

If not, there are far nicer cars to sit in just to go to work in.

Actually, I realised that I dont need the space or the size of the car. What would you recommend is a far nicer car to sit in for trips to work ?

ottostreet

I think you'd be mad to change, and that amount of petrol useage is fantastic.

CiniO

nellocono wrote: »

Hi Folks,
So I bought a 2005 Mondeo 1.8 Petrol. Nice car to drive and all that but I am wondering if it is costing me a fortune.

I put in about 70-75 petrol to fill it approx every two weeks. This lasts me for somewhere between 500 - 550 Kilometers. I do mostly stop start driving to work every day.

Is this a lot? Would I save much money per week/month if I moved to something like a Kia Proceed (i.e 1.6 Diesel)

75 euro petrol at 1.56 per litre makes 550km.
That's fuel consumption of 8.73 l/100km.
On 1.8 mondeo in city driving it's really fantastic.

Johntegr

nellocono wrote: »

Actually, I realised that I dont need the space or the size of the car. What would you recommend is a far nicer car to sit in for trips to work ?

Depends. Are you old enough for a mid life crisis?

case_sensitive

I was driving around in my missus' 1.0 Yaris, which (tracked on fuelly.com) gets a little better than 7L/100km.
Got a 2001 Ford Puma 1.7 (similar displacement, but lighter car)last year; on pure motorway driving it's pretty decent, about 7-8L/100km, but it slurps heavily in traffic. My mixed cycle, including quite a lot of M50 and getting to and from it, yields 8.4L/100km. Try tracking your usage for a month; record the odometer readings whenever you fuel up, get receipts for the fuel, gives you a very good idea of how much you're using, and how much driving style/conditions can impact it.

I'm a nerd about stuff like this, so I have an Ultragauge in the car, connected to the OBDII port, gives instantaneous fuel economy readings that'd frighten you (25L/100km). Same gizmo in the Yaris (or the built-in one) rarely hits over 10, you really pay when you exercise the option of that extra power. Potter along in as high a gear as you can, time your braking carefully and you'll see improvement, but having done it, it's tedious, and far more fun to suck up the extra cost and gun it whenever you want. Sorry polar bears.

Joe 90

case_sensitive wrote: »

I was driving around in my missus' 1.0 Yaris, which (tracked on fuelly.com) gets a little better than 7L/100km.
Got a 2001 Ford Puma 1.7 (similar displacement, but lighter car)last year; on pure motorway driving it's pretty decent, about 7-8L/100km, but it slurps heavily in traffic. My mixed cycle, including quite a lot of M50 and getting to and from it, yields 8.4L/100km. Try tracking your usage for a month; record the odometer readings whenever you fuel up, get receipts for the fuel, gives you a very good idea of how much you're using, and how much driving style/conditions can impact it.

I'm a nerd about stuff like this, so I have an Ultragauge in the car, connected to the OBDII port, gives instantaneous fuel economy readings that'd frighten you (25L/100km). Same gizmo in the Yaris (or the built-in one) rarely hits over 10, you really pay when you exercise the option of that extra power. Potter along in as high a gear as you can, time your braking carefully and you'll see improvement, but having done it, it's tedious, and far more fun to suck up the extra cost and gun it whenever you want. Sorry polar bears.

Driving style does make a huge difference. Plan ahead, smooth=cheap. If your are sore of brake pads you will be sore on fuel.
Funny about the Yaris, I hired one in Dublin a few years ago and thought it would probably have a bit of a drink problem around town. With the tiny engine in a fairly big car I seemed to be a gear or maybe two lower than I would have been in any given situation in the wife's Ka.

S28382

nellocono wrote: »

Hi Folks,
So I bought a 2005 Mondeo 1.8 Petrol. Nice car to drive and all that but I am wondering if it is costing me a fortune.

I put in about 70-75 petrol to fill it approx every two weeks. This lasts me for somewhere between 500 - 550 Kilometers. I do mostly stop start driving to work every day.

Is this a lot? Would I save much money per week/month if I moved to something like a Kia Proceed (i.e 1.6 Diesel)

70 - 75 on petrol only does me for a week in my 1.8 mondeo :eek: what a car tho....gotta love em.:D