Polo High Fuel Consumption

Hunter321

I have a 2006 1.2L petrol Polo. I have it for about 1 year and have always thought the fuel consumption was very high for such a small car. I don't have exact consumption figures but put about 40 euro in a week and only do small local drives each day. The car is running perfectly and was serviced on a few months back. Is there anything simply I could check or should I bring it to garage for diagnostics. I've heard these Polo models (3 cylinder) can give a bit of trouble. Any help appreciated.

biko

First of all, don't guess the consumption - find out easily by using the brimming method (search this forum).
Find out actual mpg, then we'll know for sure.

Then remove anything unnecessary from boot and car.
Check if calipers may be sticking.
Change plugs and air filter if not done in the last year.

Hunter321

Thanks for this Biko, I must read up on that method, but I know it is high for the milage I am doing. Nothing in the boot, air filter and plugs replaced. I will check the calipers, what's the easiest way of doing the, seeing if the car will roll down a hill??

biko

Yes, make sure car rolls easily in coasting.

Note that the car may be perfectly fine but have massive consumption in the city if it never is warmed up.

Atlantic Dawn

Driving in a city you could be getting low 20's with constant traffic and low gears, this would be normal.

Tea drinker

Short local drives are the worst, the car goes through it's warm up procedure each time and uses more fuel when cold.
tyre pressures have a big bearing on fuel consumption, but not as much as driving style.

But you really need to check as per the fill to brim method, then when refilling in a week or whenever it's low on fuel, record the litres and record your miles/km.... then you can work out exactly what you spend.

keyboard_cat

Check that your engine is getting to the right temperature (if the thermostat is stuck open the engine will stay cold) and cause your car to use more petrol
Also the airflow sensor if it's damaged or dirty the car thinks less air is getting to the engine and compensating with extra petrol
You should be getting 40mpg

vandriver

keyboard_cat wrote: »

Check that your engine is getting to the right temperature (if the thermostat is stuck open the engine will stay cold) and cause your car to use more petrol
Also the airflow sensor if it's damaged or dirty the car thinks less air is getting to the engine and compensating with extra petrol
You should be getting 40mpg

On small drives round town?Not likely .

allthedoyles

You could try a €7 bottle of Redex , it increased mpg on our Corolla. You will get at least 4 uses out of a bottle