MPG in my 8v

[edc]

Most of the driving I do is in the town, I’ve yet to take it for a decent motorway drive, but might take a long trip this weekend and see how it goes.

The oil temperature seems to fluctuate a bit too. After driving a while it’ll sit steady at 78’c, about ½ on the needle, then it’ll suddenly drop to about ¼ showing 70’c on the MFA. As you can probably guess, I’m fairly useless at anything mechanical

If those are the oil temps as shown by the MFA after some prolonged driving then there is something wrong.

 

[nodrog]

my cordoba 1.6 can do 43.7mpg on the trip computer and have managed 320mils to a full tank. it costs me just over £42 to fill from dry.

 

[cozzie121]

any thoughts on what the problem could be? my mechanical knowledge is somewhat limited to changing spark plugs and air filters!

 

[Fl@pper]

my cordoba 1.6 can do 43.7mpg on the trip computer and have managed 320mils to a full tank. it costs me just over £42 to fill from dry.

you definately are not trying hard enough

 

[hopkinsgm]

...The oil temperature seems to fluctuate a bit too. After driving a while it’ll sit steady at 78’c, about ½ on the needle, then it’ll suddenly drop to about ¼ showing 70’c on the MFA...

Ahem - MFA will give you oil temp, but the gauge in the clock pod is water temp...

 

[cozzie121]

ha ha, woopsy, when i said i know not a great deal, i wasnt joking!

 

[Fl@pper]

last tank of optimax = 185.1 miles

after waiting 20 mins to get in to the station and another 5 with the pump in the car the tannoy announces that the tills have crashed and they are closing - borrox

down to BP for a tank of Super Unleaded @ £1.05 a litre then

 

[pinsnpies]

I got 44MPG when I did 50 all the way down to London. It was painful.

 

[Mckellar]

for optimum MPG on the motorway i think its around 65-70mph..
well it used to be

 

[jenk]

I mostly sit on the motorway not moving and get about 240miles

 

[jaketalbot]

i get about 28 or so around town, and high thirties on longer journeys if im lucky. as soon as i put my foot down in first gear or second gear it soon drops a bit though! all part of the fun!

by the way, i find that if i use 99 octane petrol my car uses it quicker than if i use 95 octane? i know 99 is better for performance etc but i didnt expect it to burn sooo much quicker than 95? anyone else have this problem?

 

[AlpineWhite]

well checked my MFA today and in 2950 miles i've averaged 35.5mpg. happy with that, considering oh, it's only been fed v-power bar one occasion where i put in 10 quid of tesco fuel.

 

[Mckellar]

by the way, i find that if i use 99 octane petrol my car uses it quicker than if i use 95 octane? i know 99 is better for performance etc but i didnt expect it to burn sooo much quicker than 95? anyone else have this problem?

following on from your comment about it burning quicker - your not half wrong!!
i usually just put 95ron fuel in mines as my local garage doesnt stock 98R.

my 95R got 259 miles to £25
my £40 of optiflop got me...280

who ever said being a student is fun is an arse!

 

[jaketalbot]

good, sounds horrible, but im glad im not the only one! i've just started using 95 now as can't afford 99, but when i get my new job ill be straight back on the 99- just because i can

 

[soamer]

went to combe on sat 123 miles at 65 to 70 avg 42.9 15 mins ontrack another 12 miles ontop so 135 and showed 36.5

 

[Brummy]

as said to Soamer down at CC, I average about 29 mpg (with added grin) so I suppose all in all its not too bad..

 

[cubixgames]

Im getting most days around town doing school runs and stuff 29.7mpg but when heading off to work that goes to 35 to 40mpg no problems at all

 

[cozzie121]

hmmm, i've been keeping an eye on mine, averaging about 24 in the town and 29-32 motorway.

 

[monkee]

last tank of optimax = 185.1 miles

after waiting 20 mins to get in to the station and another 5 with the pump in the car the tannoy announces that the tills have crashed and they are closing - borrox

down to BP for a tank of Super Unleaded @ £1.05 a litre then

I believe the higher the octane rating, the faster it burns. Of course this would mean petrol being fed through the engine quicker, as it burns quicker. For example, jumbo jets use fuel with an octane rating of around 108-115, as opposed to 95-98 in our filling stations.

 

[hopkinsgm]

...I believe the higher the octane rating, the faster it burns. Of course this would mean petrol being fed through the engine quicker, as it burns quicker...

Ummm... Your ECU controls the flow of fuel injected into the engine. It has no concept of octane rating. It calculates how much fuel is required based on engine speed, engine load and air flow and then pulses the injectors open for long enough to allow the desired amount of fuel into the engine. There's none of this clever adaptive mapping on our cars...

More advanced system use knock sensors to detect "detonation" (which is more likely to occur with low octane fuels) - but they generally do this by adjusting the timing to suit, not the fueling.