Block heater is on my list of mods, the gains won't be much, but if 100mpg is the goal every bit adds up

UFI said:

Went out into the hills for a good blast on narrow tyres, basically drove like I stole it. UFI handles a lot better on the less grippy tyres, you can get lift off oversteer now and point much more aggressively at apexes. On the 195's all I ever got was understeer, even driven on a closed circuit.

Over a 50 mile run, lots of heavy throttle and shifting at 4-5K, I got 66MPG UK. The tank looks like returning 62MPG with a lot of running about back and forth across the city.

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Well I've never heard of anyone going out for a 50 mile burn in a TA and returning 66mpg. I drove extremely gingerly over 40 miles a while back and got 67. Most owners report mid 40's for average use, Panda Cross owners seem to get high 30's.

Mercky said:

Well I've never heard of anyone going out for a 50 mile burn in a TA and returning 66mpg. I drove extremely gingerly over 40 miles a while back and got 67. Most owners report mid 40's for average use, Panda Cross owners seem to get high 30's.

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Mercky, a cool here in the UK is like a winters day there.

Also, roads and traffic are different there. In Europe roads are windier and require the use of brakes more often.

14" steel wheels are not common on Twinairs in my experience.

Mercky said:

Well I've never heard of anyone going out for a 50 mile burn in a TA and returning 66mpg.

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Gentle driving isn't always the path to best economy. I've been messing with hard wired dash cams lately, so I might do a temp install of my next set up in UFI and post a video. In max hypermiler mode I've already seen 100mpg, albeit for a fairly short distance (15km from memory) - and that was on the 16's.

Actually it's not that hard to explain why my mpg doesn't change in attack mode, the higher the corner speeds, the less I have to brake, and basically UFI is quite capable of taking 90% at or close to the speed limit. In essence it's not that different from just going on a straight run. Go for a drive in the city on the other hand and drive like so many people do, just gas/ brake hard at every oportunity and MPG's plummet.

UFI said:

I've long suspected that the TA's relatively poor MPG was a result of the official test being performed on 14" steel wheels and 175 tyres, while most buyers of TA's seem to go for Sport or Lounges with big 16" wheels and far too heavy 195's.

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I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but in my country you can't order a new 500 with 14" steel wheels anymore. Even the cheapest 500 has 15" steel wheels now.

UFI said:

Go for a drive in the city on the other hand and drive like so many people do, just gas/ brake hard at every oportunity and MPG's plummet.

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Or drive in the suburbs like I do where everyone in front of you does 40km/h in a 50km/h zone and there are speed bumps every 30 metres = destroys your fuel efficiency

Took the Prius out over the same loop today, driving in much the same manner, recorded 4.8l/100km (I don't yet know how accurate the MFD is but most say it's optimistic). So there you have it a Twinair is more economical than a Hybrid

UFI said:

Took the Prius out over the same loop today, driving in much the same manner, recorded 4.8l/100km (I don't yet know how accurate the MFD is but most say it's optimistic). So there you have it a Twinair is more economical than a Hybrid

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haha the prius is a barge its what 300 kgs heavier than 500 TA?

I drive the TA Ypsilon fairly often now so I have it on instant consumption to learn how to drive it properly = ) Funny little engine, noticeably more economical on the cruise than the 1.4, but on the acceleration with the turbo, no not at all. Maybe they got those headline urban figures by disabling the turbo = ) FYI so far averaging about 7.7 l/100 km with strictly urban driving, vs probably about 8.2l/100 km on the 1.4 16v.

I checked the trip computer of previous driver over 16,000 kms, they averaged 7.2l/100 km.

Of course will probably get more economical the more I learn how to drive it.

Weight doesn't really matter all that much with the way I drive. My petrol 1.6 Renault can weigh over 2 tons and still average 8.0 in city traffic (and it has a 0.45 Cd - my lifetime average speed is 30km/h so it is proper traffic).

When you add weight to a car you actually make it more efficient, as the engine operates closer to peak efficiency, even if economy drops. A bus loaded with passengers is efficient even if it's economy is dismal.

Efficiency = Fuel used/ useful work done
Economy = Fuel used

I ran the numbers (roughly as I haven't got precise frontal areas), but the far superior aerodynamics of a Prius should make it more economical than a 500 at speeds over 60km/h (at very low speeds the Prius should also win thanks to EV ability). At 110 (70mph) a 500 needs 17.5hp to cruise while a Prius takes 16hp. This equates to 6.3l/100km for the Fiat or 5.7 for the Toyota.

Right now, I'm almost happy with UFI's economy but disappointed in the Prius