Comments about economy

[gdelargy]

Two questions:

First, what's the best figure/max range that people have achieved between fill-ups? I just got back to Glasgow after a round trip to Oldham, and managed 65.5mpg (and 443.7 miles) on a tankful. Mind you, even though I succeeded in doing what I set out to—drive the whole way without having to top up again—I'm actually disappointed. I drove at a really gentle 50-60mph the whole way, and didn't get anywhere near Seat's claimed 78.5mpg "extra-urban" figure. Have other diesel owners seen better, or is this as good as I can hope for?

Second, is it just me, or is the Arosa's fuel guage really pessimistic? The first time I filled the car up the needle was saying it was down to one quarter full, but I only managed to put in 20 litres instead of the 25+ I expected. And for the last three fill-ups, I've driven the car until the needle was below the red zero marker, but still only been able to put 30 litres in. That means there's five litres (15%) still left. I know that it's better to be pessimistic than optimistic, but it's quite difficult to eke out the very best economy figures since the more fuel you have onboard, the heavier it is.


Regards,
G

 

[lunalupi]

Just be glad it's pessimistic and you're less likely to run out of fuel at an inopportune moments!

And I wish I could get 65 mpg - mine was down to 30mpg the other week

 

[mac83]

Mine is about 45-50ish mpg....

But that's on a 10yr old 1.0 petrol lump! I think i'll do the whole plugs, filters and oil change in spring and run some Redex through him. See if I can resurrect some bhp and mpg!

Any recommendations people?

 

[lunalupi]

That's about right for that engine - mine is the same, what I'm getting is classed as low MPG

But a service is always a good thing, so you won't loose by it.

 

[Boo]

Im useless at calculating things, Just found this site though - http://www.calculate-mpg.co.uk/ Im averaging 52mpg, 320 miles on 28 litres of petrol

 

[mac83]

It's a piece of cake GG!


1 gallon is about 4.5 litres.

So... Divide the number of litres (28) by 4.5, which is 6.2gallons.

Concentrate - here comes the science bit!



320miles divided by 6.2gallons is 51.6 miles per gallon.

 

[UncleFester]

so 51.6 rounded up is 52 then?

 

[Boo]

It's a piece of cake GG!


1 gallon is about 4.5 litres.

So... Divide the number of litres (28) by 4.5, which is 6.2gallons.

Concentrate - here comes the science bit!



320miles divided by 6.2gallons is 51.6 miles per gallon.

Ok now I feel stupid ! Such a mission to work it out yourself when there is a link to do it for you ................................

 

[cardaft]

Mt TDi gets 54-58MPG on average, i dont usually hang about mind, so im fairly pleased with that MPG. Sometimes i think its done very badly but when i fill up its fine.

The best i have had is 74MPG on two occasions, and 70MPG once - all on long motorway drives. Ive no idea how i managed that, i can bearly get over 64MPG on a good long run now, and seem to average my average even on a run now, of 55ish MPG.

I always think it should do better, its a tiny car with an engine built for economy (bigger cars get close to my average MPG!), so ive tried findign out if there is anything thats causing it to use a little more fuel. I recently had my termostat (and coolent) changed which has made economy more constant, as before it would sometimes get 47-50MPG on a tank, it is now back up to 55ish.

Which is what most other TDi owners get, most people say they average around 55MPG.

Fuel tank gauge is a little odd, its not accurate. The tank holds 34 litres, although do you know about the expansion space? If not - When you remove the fuel filler cap, just inside there is a little lever on the right, push that back and your operating the expansion space, which means you can get a little more in, actually if you patient enough you can get around 6-7 litres extra in. To fill it up you either need to keep the thing pressed in until its full, or press it, then fill the tank, then press it and fill etc etc.

So im not sure if this is included in the 34 litre tank, as there is no mention of this in the handbook, so i asume its not to be known about! However, using this make it very difficult to work out your MPG, as you dont know how much fuel you have used, unless you fill the expansion tank righ the way up, which is probably not recommended, as it is an espansion space. You could work your MPG out from light to light fills though. I dont use the expansion space very often, only on a long run, but its there if you want it.

I find it very hard to improve my MPG, even sticking to 60 makes hardly any difference than it does doing 70. My car hates 65mph, it feels a little rough and uses more fuel, so i always stick to around 70-75 ish, although even sitting at a faster speed it still doesnt nock fuel econonomy too much. Ive given up now, and just drive it how i like! I still get similar MPG!

So yours seems fine, you might think it should do more, but as ive came to the conclusion, mine and yours are probably fine. Seats MPG figures are tested in a lab, perfect conditions, not like our roads.

One thing to remember, they always use more in the winter (my 1.0 is currently averaging 38MPG around town!) and the TDIs take forever to warm through.

 

[R3bb]

I average 32mpg - absolutely rubbish.
I can do the same on a run in my Evo.

 

[allallyouyou]

Dont think arosas are built to be eco friendly, the diesels are a bit medioka from what I hear. Its best not to think about it or you will start driving like the much older generation. (wont say pensioners etc due to legal reasons )

 

[m0rk]

I average 32mpg - absolutely rubbish.
I can do the same on a run in my Evo.

There's something wrong with the car then.. or you've only fully explored the first two gears

 

[R3bb]

There's something wrong with the car then.. or you've only fully explored the first two gears

Kinda difficult in an auto, but... yeah!

 

[Boo]

Kinda difficult in an auto, but... yeah!

Mine is an auto honey and I dont have any issues with high fuel consumption - when was the last time you serviced it and have you checked your tyre pressure is correct ?

 

[R3bb]

I've had it a year now, and it's my runaround, so doesn't get serviced!
It's not my biggest issue with it - the petrol gauge doesn't work, handles like a barge, and slides around roundabouts!
Oh, and it's the only auto I've driven that can be stalled!

 

[cardaft]

Well you cant complain if you dont service the thing! I just hope your not expecting it to be reliable

I agree with allallyouyou, i dont think arosas are ever great on fuel. Sure ive had over 70 MPG on two occasions, but ive never achived that again, usually about 60 on a run in the diesel, and 52-55 average. There are a number of larger cars which can do similar MPG, Just look at the Citroen C4 Hdi, average book figure for that is 61MPG! Its a much bigger car.

My 1.0 is pretty poor on fuel, but i cant complain as its usually doing town work with the occasional run to give it a blast. But it does get very well serviced and more often than stated too. That does about 44MPG with mixed town and mainly motorway or 38-40 around town. Not bad but again a lot of bigger engined bigger cars achieve around the same.

Still, arosas are great

Oh and for the record, they actually handle rather well

 

[R3bb]

Well you cant complain if you dont service the thing! I just hope your not expecting it to be reliable

Well, yes I can actually.
I've had my Arosa for a year, and the one thing I'll give it, is it's reliable, and the auto box is good. THATS IT.
A decent normal car shouldn't need servicing very often at all.

Oh and for the record, they actually handle rather well

 

[lunalupi]

A normal car should be service once a year or every 10k miles, whichever comes around soonest....so as you've had yours a year, I'd say it's coming up service time

It's only these posh new cars with their extended servicing periods that don't need servicing for ages - swanky lot

 

[Boo]

Regardless of what type of car you drive you should at least do an oil filter and oil change every 12 months, otherwise you end up running rubbish through your engine. Its a simple 20 minute job that you can do yourself honey and your looking at £30 max for the filter, sump plug and oil. Your stalling issue is probably a dirty throttle body too. Thats a 1 hour cleaning job.

 

[cardaft]

Dont forget R3bb, all arosas have slightly different suspension set ups, my TDi has stiffer springs and shocks to cope with the more weight than the 1.0s etc, Arosas sports have very slightly lowered but much stiffer suspension (i have this on the back of mine!). Ive not driven one lupo or arosa which drive the same (and ive driven every engine model apart from the auto), they all drive different depending on mileage, engine size etc.

I think my two handle well, the 1.0 is very light, the suspension is stiff and it doesnt roll very much, the TDi rolls a little more but is a little softer but both grip very well, when compared to other small cars. My two also have wider tyres than yours, tiny tyres dont grip well. Although if you have crappy make tyres and the wrong pressures that really doesnt do them justice and they can grip very badly.

Servicing should be every 10K or 12 months, as Luna and GGS have said, which ever is first, the fact you are not planning on servicing it will put a lot of wear into the engine, fuel economy will get worse as will performance and the noise of the engine.

How i see it, your car serves you well, it takes you wherever you want in total reliability, so why not serve your car well and service it when it needs to be, or it will become unreliable. Not to mention you would have to be a total idiot to ever buy a car which doesnt have a good history, so its value and desirability will decrease.

Its not like it costs a lot to do a basic oil and filter change, you could even do it yourself for about £20 for the oil and filter!

TBH im not sure why you would join a car forum when you hate your car so much

I dont often agree with new car servicings either. Take the Audi A2 TDi, it has exactly the same engine as my arosa TDi, but th Audi can go for 30K miles between services. Im not sure why Audi has done that, but nothing with the engine has changed and they use the same PD oil that i use in mine. Mine needs servicing every 10K, where do Audi find the extra 20K miles from I love A2s, but i wont be buying one if they all go 30K between services, thats madness. Just think, you buy a car with 89K miles on the clock, and its only been serviced twice Mine would have had 10 services by then!

As you can tell im into servicing, my car is always serviced every 7-8K miles which is usually about every 5-6 months. Why not, oil is cheap! Even though my car is a diesel the oil is always very clean, as the inside of the engine is so clean. I also use fuel system cleaners on a service and always clean the air intake system too. Ok i may service mine a little too often than is really needed, but stick to the service intervals, I cant see why anyone wouldnt want their car running right

Edit, you have an Evo? Dont they need servicing every year or 6K miles or something?!