One for Mad_lad or anyone else who wants to join in

dh0011

Well all,
I am moving to Dublin from Cork (after the weekend I cant be smug about being from Cork). I am going to be on the motorway every week driving Dublin -> Limerick -> Cork and back to Dublin at least once and possibly twice a week.

I am tempted to change my 1.6 avensis to something more fuel efficient or convert the avensis to LPG.

One car that has my attention is the Prius so I was wondering if anyone has one and uses it for this sort of driving. If so how do they do mpg wise. I can get about 40mpg in the avensis so for a car to make financial sence I would be looking for 55mpg or more from it on the motorway.

I have also been thinking about an Honda Insight but am wondering why they are so cheap?

If anyone else has other suggestions please feel free to offer them. I have also been considering a diesel but am not convinced as they are expensive if they go wrong and I am having nightmares about flywheels, DPFs, ...

Bigus

How old and how many miles on the Avensis , I think I'd be going the gas route on this first to save on capital outlay.

CiniO

Get a diesel without DMF and DPF is you are having nightmares about them.

I don't know - maybe Hyundai i30 1.6crdi something around 2008.
It doesn't have DMF. I think it doesn't have DPF.
And tax at the moment only costs 200.
You should easily get 55MPG on motorway if you drive it gently.

dh0011

Bigus wrote: »

How old and how many miles on the Avensis , I think I'd be going the gas route on this first to save on capital outlay.

the avensis is 03 and has about 140K on the clock. Car feels like new which is why I was thinking about the LPG. I would be confident of getting a geed few more years out of her as I mind her well.

CiniO wrote: »

Get a diesel without DMF and DPF is you are having nightmares about them.

I don't know - maybe Hyundai i30 1.6crdi something around 2008.
It doesn't have DMF. I think it doesn't have DPF.
And tax at the moment only costs 200.
You should easily get 55MPG on motorway if you drive it gently.

I'll add the diesel hyundai to the list.

Idbatterim

whats your budget?

dh0011

5/6K with the avensis (which I would probably sell myself and get 2500 is for it)

Bigus

dh0011 wrote: »

the avensis is 03 and has about 140K on the clock. Car feels like new which is why I was thinking about the LPG. I would be confident of getting a geed few more years out of her as I mind her well.



I'll add the diesel hyundai to the list.

Well if you're going to add high miles to any car you're going to knock the balls out of it depreciation wise , so maybe stick with the divel you know and put it on gas if practical to fill up ,and save the capital for nice holidays. You might need them :eek:
Ps I like Prius '

bazz26

Civic IMA?

dh0011

Bigus wrote: »

Well if you're going to add high miles to any car you're going to knock the balls out of it depreciation wise , so maybe stick with the divel you know and put it on gas if practical to fill up ,and save the capital for nice holidays. You might need them :eek:
Ps I like Prius '

I was thinking that - wanted to hear someone agree with me.

bazz26 wrote: »

Civic IMA?

Looked at one on the web aswell as an insight. Look like very good value.

ba_barabus

bazz26 wrote: »

Civic IMA?

I've driven a Civic and Prius back to back. The Prius wins hands down. The IMA is shyte.

Anan1

A hybrid has no advantage over a simple ICE at a steady cruise. All else being equal i'd keep the Avensis.

dh0011

Thanks for the advice lads I think I ll hold onto the car and look at getting the lpg.

Bigus

Anan1 wrote: »

A hybrid has no advantage over a simple ICE at a steady cruise. All else being equal i'd keep the Avensis.

It does get. A lot better mpg, speaking from experience , but in this case , hanging on to a good car is the way to go.

dh0011

Thanks Lads - mind made up avensis is being kept til she dies.

ba_barabus

dh0011 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice lads I think I ll hold onto the car and look at getting the lpg.

One thing about LPG and it could be my sheer ignorance of the system but I've always been lead to believe that on lower capacity petrol engines (anything below 2000cc) you will loose a lot of power/torque and end up with a dead feeling engine meaning any economy gains will be written off by the fact it has to be driven harder.

I've spotted this on UK forums but it may relate to older petrol engine or just be hearsay.

dh0011

I ll look into that before converting.

ba_barabus

dh0011 wrote: »

I ll look into that before converting.

As said it's just something I've spotted but I can't say if it's true or false.

dh0011

I ll check it out before converting as there is no point throwing about a grand into the car to realise it was a waste of time.

Thanks again lads

CiniO

ba_barabus wrote: »

One thing about LPG and it could be my sheer ignorance of the system but I've always been lead to believe that on lower capacity petrol engines (anything below 2000cc) you will loose a lot of power/torque and end up with a dead feeling engine meaning any economy gains will be written off by the fact it has to be driven harder.

I've spotted this on UK forums but it may relate to older petrol engine or just be hearsay.

That's entirely not true.
LPG will cause engine to loose a small bit of power, but we are talking about few percent.
I had LPG in 1.6 fiat bravo years ago, and difference between LPG and petrol hardly could be felt.
I also had LPG in 0.9 litre cinquecento which obviously is underpowered car. It run on LPG without any hassle, and difference in power or acceleration to petrol was negligible. Returned about 40MPG on petrol, and 43MPG on LPG - mostly city driving.
I remember in 2003 when I got it, LPG cost me about €0.28 per litre, so fuel to drive 100km was below €2.

ba_barabus

CiniO wrote: »

That's entirely not true.

I'm happy to admit its wrong. It's something I had read before. As you say however there is a slight power loss so possibly just someone exaggerating the effect

Idbatterim

ok i dont know if this is practical or possible, but could the 5 speed box be replaced with a 6 speed one for motorway cruising? There is the alternative of say going out and buying a 1.9 or 2L diesel for about the price you get for the toyota...

Cee-Jay-Cee

Idbatterim wrote: »

ok i dont know if this is practical or possible, but could the 5 speed box be replaced with a 6 speed one for motorway cruising? There is the alternative of say going out and buying a 1.9 or 2L diesel for about the price you get for the toyota...

There was no 6spd gearbox available in the age avensus and so it's not possible.

Cee-Jay-Cee

ba_barabus wrote: »

I've driven a Civic and Prius back to back. The Prius wins hands down. The IMA is shyte.

Explain how it was shiite?

ba_barabus

CJC999 wrote: »

Explain how it was shiite?

It was all down to the CVT box in it. It was just gutless and was very slow to deliver the power. I found the Prius (1.5l) was able to do it a lot better. Now the IMA came with a high spec and would be fine around town but other than that it felt like it would be out of its depth.

One other thing to note is that the IMA doesn't give much extra return in mpg.

visual

Dont do the lpg in a 1.6 avensis
There is a bigger drop in power with the heavy body and smaller engine.

Drove a 1.3 small car van and when on lpg it couldn't go up the hills in howth head. Had to switch to petrol to get it up the steeper hills.

Plus LPG doesn't add value to a car come sale time.

Use the avensis as it is while you look out for a 6 speed 2.0 diesel. The extra 6th gear will make the motorways much nicer to cruise.
Not a requirement rather a nice to have is cruise control.

Take your time to get the right car with the comfort and economy to match. Dublin to Cork dirrect is plus 2 1/2 hours without stopping or dirverting. I place more importance on comfort and the 1.9 / 2.0 engine rather than stressing a smaller engine.

CiniO

ba_barabus wrote: »

It was all down to the CVT box in it. It was just gutless and was very slow to deliver the power. I found the Prius (1.5l) was able to do it a lot better.

Heh all because prius doesn't have CVT gearbox

CiniO

visual wrote: »

Dont do the lpg in a 1.6 avensis
There is a bigger drop in power with the heavy body and smaller engine.

Drove a 1.3 small car van and when on lpg it couldn't go up the hills in howth head. Had to switch to petrol to get it up the steeper hills.

Maybe LPG conversion was not adjusted properly.

ianobrien

dh0011 wrote: »

Well all,
I am moving to Dublin from Cork (after the weekend I cant be smug about being from Cork). I am going to be on the motorway every week driving Dublin -> Limerick -> Cork and back to Dublin at least once and possibly twice a week.

OP This may be a rather stupid question but if you are travelling from Dublin to Cork then why are you going through Limerick? Even if you're travelling from Mallow I'd head to Michelstown rather than face the Mallow/Charleville/Croom road.

Before you rush off spending money to save money, I'd try keep the Toyota for a while. Keep the tyre pressures are spot on and keep away from the loud pedal. I know that my car burns a lot less petrol (6.4l/100km against 7.2l/100km) when I travel at 115km against 130km on the Cork/Dublin motorway.

galwaytt

dh0011 wrote: »

5/6K with the avensis (which I would probably sell myself and get 2500 is for it)

Your just about at 08 Prius money there tbh......stretch it a teeny bit.

In the meantime I'd do as others say and try driving the Avensis for a while and learning how to maximise it's efficiency.

For the 5/6k you're proposing to spend, you'd buy a lot of petrol...........

dh0011

Thanks again for your comments lads - all good points

ianobrien wrote: »

OP This may be a rather stupid question but if you are travelling from Dublin to Cork then why are you going through Limerick? Even if you're travelling from Mallow I'd head to Michelstown rather than face the Mallow/Charleville/Croom road.

Before you rush off spending money to save money, I'd try keep the Toyota for a while. Keep the tyre pressures are spot on and keep away from the loud pedal. I know that my car burns a lot less petrol (6.4l/100km against 7.2l/100km) when I travel at 115km against 130km on the Cork/Dublin motorway.

D'mother lives between Limerick and Mallow so calling home to Mammy that is the shortest route. The little woman lives in cork city and now work is in Dublin.

A bit of a disaster.