Yes it was driving like a nun, on a nice warm dry day. 60-70mph behind lorries down the motorway and a little bit of A-roading. Air con was also on the whole time; I know people say air con makes a big difference to fuel economy, but in all honesty I've never ever noticed it make any difference!
It looks like diesels are less affected than petrol's with respect to fuel economy being reduced due to AC usage. I can only guess that this is due to the higher torque the diesel engines produce which doesn't notice the AC drag/sapping power as much as it would in a petrol engine. As a result, less loud pedal is required to keep the same speed relative to a petrol engine up to 2litres and 4 cylinders.
I'm averaging 50mpg on the button over 2000 miles now (4 tank fills). About 400 of that was motorway and the rest to and from work. The commute trips are really short in my case, 2 miles each way, so the engine hardly warms up and I don't hang about during traffic hour as neither does anyone else. In addition I waste at least 10 minutes of fuel every time it is frosty or my windows have steamed up on the inside by running the car, AC and heaters to clear the glass.
All in all, given my style of driving and type of trips I do, 50mpg is not a bad combined average for the 1.3Mjet. The moral of the story, if you want economy, especially if you are doing A-roads and M-ways mileage, get a diesel.
With regards to the OP question, MPG is directly related to your right foot and your driving style my friend. A case in point, E36 328 2.6 6-cylinder 24V on track, started with a full tank 80+ litres, 5 hours and 220 miles later we were out of fuel. The computer read 14.1MPG
I'm the driver in the vid and my friend avoiding being seen recording by marshals on track is in the passenger seat......but apparently I'm not allowed to post a you-tube link on this board and Im constantly being kicked out, asked to refresh and re-login....hmm I forgot how annoying this phpbb board actually is lol
Humour