Is my car using too much petrol?

annascott

Can someone tell me if it is extraordinarily bad for a 1.4 car to only do 120 Kilometres on €10 of petrol?

My car seems to be getting through petrol at an alarming rate. It is 07 - hardly new but not really old enough to be classed as a banger. I was driving yesterday and tested from red engine light to red engine light.
The roads were busy and icy too so I wasn't breaking any speed limits.

YanisSprunks

annascott wrote: »

Can someone tell me if it is extraordinarily bad for a 1.4 car to only do 120 Kilometres on €10 of petrol?

My car seems to be getting through petrol at an alarming rate. It is 07 - hardly new but not really old enough to be classed as a banger. I was driving yesterday and tested from red engine light to red engine light.
The roads were busy and icy too so I wasn't breaking any speed limits.

Consider yourself Lucky, i Had a 1.0 ibiza that did 90km/ for 10 euro and that was when petrol was in 1.30`s but i guess it all depends how you drive and where? citiy/coutry/motorways

R.O.R

120km from €10 seems pretty good to me. Can't be bothered working out the l/100km or mpg though - sure someone will

Supergurrier

Im coming up with 53mpg or 5.2l/100km which seems really really good

Im pretty derp at maths though :pac:

YanisSprunks

Supergurrier wrote: »

Im coming up with 53mpg or 5.2l/100km which seems really really good

Im pretty derp at maths though :pac:

Yeah that is really good

advertsfox

annascott wrote: »

Can someone tell me if it is extraordinarily bad for a 1.4 car to only do 120 Kilometres on €10 of petrol?

My car seems to be getting through petrol at an alarming rate. It is 07 - hardly new but not really old enough to be classed as a banger. I was driving yesterday and tested from red engine light to red engine light.
The roads were busy and icy too so I wasn't breaking any speed limits.

Assuming the current rate of €1.60 - a litre, €10 gives you 6.25 litres.

120KMs = 6.25 litres
100KMs = 5.20 litres
That equals 5.29 L/100KM = 53 MPG

That's an excellent mileage to be averaging, absolutely nothing to worrying about. Don't try calculate mileage by price because it's always changing. Next time you fill up, even out the liters instead and reset your trip, then calculate.

What car have you got? Surely a 2008 will have a built in mileage counter.

bazz26

People also forget that at this time of year with frosty mornings, they have the heater on along with the windscreen defroster on alot, especially when the car has been parked up from the night before. This increased use of energy results in added fuel consumption.

You also need to look at when the car was last serviced, condition of tyres, etc, these can have an effect on fuel consumption also.

GhostInTheRuins

annascott wrote: »

I was driving yesterday and tested from red engine light to red engine light.

Not exactly the best way to test your fuel efficiency. Do a proper test and you'll know for sure how good or bad your usage is.

silverfox88

Was wondering something along the same lines, my jeep seems to absolutely rip through diesel on the motorway - Im getting through the best part of €10 doing less than 45 km!!!

Mr Benevolent

annascott wrote: »

Can someone tell me if it is extraordinarily bad for a 1.4 car to only do 120 Kilometres on €10 of petrol?

My car seems to be getting through petrol at an alarming rate. It is 07 - hardly new but not really old enough to be classed as a banger. I was driving yesterday and tested from red engine light to red engine light.
The roads were busy and icy too so I wasn't breaking any speed limits.

Come, on, that's very good, engines don't run on air! Mine does 35mpg and that's a 1.2 auto, so you're doing well tbh.

forzacalcio

For every €10 I put in Im getting 40 miles before I hit the "Orange light"

1.6 Audi! Shocking so count yourself lucky!

Mr Benevolent

forzacalcio wrote: »

For every €10 I put in Im getting 40 miles before I hit the "Orange light"

1.6 Audi! Shocking so count yourself lucky!

30 mpg? That's fairly average if you're using it in an urban environment. I drove a 1.8 and got the same.

MrDerp

Stop buying your petrol in euros. If you fill up by a tenner you can't expect the same results each time.

If I were you I'd try to start filling up by, say, 10L. The price will fluctuate, but this will give you a better idea of what kind of distance you're getting from your car.

Unfortunately petrol isn't something you can readily budget for. Planning to spend a tenner a week when the overall trend is up will only leave you short of petrol with no money at the end of some weeks/months (depending on how you're paid).

If you buy whatever you need for the week (trial and error) e.g. 8L every pay day, you'll always* have your petrol for the week, instead of being a litre short the day before pay day with an empty pocket.

Now, I'm not saying you live week to week like that, I'm just illustrating an example of how Litre-based petrol buying can give you better control of your finances and avoid unexpected petrol lights.

*unexpected trips notwithstanding

MuppetCheck

The only way to know is by filling the tank, driving and filling it up again. Then use the distance travelled between the fills to get MPG.

There is no way of knowing how much petrol was already in the car in the first place so any figures quoted above cannot be taken as accurate.

corkgsxr

i find if you only put a 10er in you feel like your getting petrol every day.

put in 30 or 40

Del2005

bazz26 wrote: »

People also forget that at this time of year with frosty mornings, they have the heater on along with the windscreen defroster on alot, especially when the car has been parked up from the night before. This increased use of energy results in added fuel consumption.

My consumption has gone up over the last couple of weeks, but I'm not going to turn off my heated seat:D

silverfox88 wrote: »

Was wondering something along the same lines, my jeep seems to absolutely rip through diesel on the motorway - Im getting through the best part of €10 doing less than 45 km!!!

If you're doing 120km/h in any car you drink fuel, a 4x4 at motorway speeds will never be easy on fuel. Drop back to <100km/h and it'll improve, drop back to 90km/h and it'll be better again.

anthony4335

Seriously 53mpg,6.2l/100km and you think that is bad? mine dropped to 15mpg last week, suspect bad petrol as it should do nearly twice that.

annascott

corkgsxr wrote: »

i find if you only put a 10er in you feel like your getting petrol every day.

put in 30 or 40

I don't usually put such a small amount in, but I was in a hurry and it was quicker to pay the attendant cash (all I had was €10) than fill up and queue to pay by card.

TURRICAN

Doesent cold air equate to more fuel consumption.

annascott

It did under 100k yesterday on the motorway for €20. Something is wrong. I have filled up completely now and reset distance clock. That should give me a general idea on all journeys.

GE90

What are you driving? A small displacement engine will drink petrol at 120km/h on the motorway.

The only way to know what your consumption is to do the following:

1. Brim your tank (First time the nozzle clicks remove it)
2. Reset your trip computer
3. Drive around for a while (The more distance you drive the more accurate the result will be)
4. Brim the tank again and note how many litres you put it.
5.You now have a distance and how many litres was used so pop the figures in hear:http://www.eforecourt.com/calc_mpg.htm and get your result.

6. Stop basing your fuel economy on how much you paid for the fuel.

Leonard Hofstadter

GE90 wrote: »

6. Stop basing your fuel economy on how much you paid for the fuel.

+1 on this, there's no such thing as 'miles to the euro'. Brim the tank, drive say 100 miles, brim the tank again and tell us how many litres were used. Then we'll at least have a someway factual account of the car's true fuel consumption.

silverfox88

Del2005 wrote: »

My consumption has gone up over the last couple of weeks, but I'm not going to turn off my heated seat:D



If you're doing 120km/h in any car you drink fuel, a 4x4 at motorway speeds will never be easy on fuel. Drop back to <100km/h and it'll improve, drop back to 90km/h and it'll be better again.

Did this this morning, such a simple thing but it made a huge difference!! Cheers for that!!

niallu

I'm using between 10 to 10.5 litres per 100km on motorway driving.

So 10 * €1.60 = €16 for 100km on motorways

Driving around town is a disaster probably €20 per 100km