I just want to know how quickly they drove - 80, or were they crawling along at 50 - 60?

I wonder?

Great result though.

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=181202#.UlT_HBNwZkc

http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2013/10/08/fiat-500l-models-smash-70mpg-barrier/

Ulpian said:

I just want to know how quickly they drove - 80, or were they crawling along at 50 - 60?

I wonder?

Great result though.

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=181202#.UlT_HBNwZkc

http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2013/10/08/fiat-500l-models-smash-70mpg-barrier/

Click to expand...

Impressive indeed, I would imagine to get such an optimum MPG your guess of 50-60 would be nearer the mark. That seems to be where most vehicles achieve the max MPG.

But at those sort of figures I can't imagine it would deteriorate that much at 70-80.

Agreed.

Actually I drove my brick (Doblo) with the 1.6 Diesel (not quite so modern, obviously) and I went very quickly for sixty miles (there was a nine on the speedo at times ), with some slower stretches included, but my acceleration off roundabouts etc. was really gunning it, and the slightly tired but legal front tyres did a fair bit of squealing, and this time I got an indicated 54!

What I want to do is a long, say 200 mile run, at my normal speeds to see what I get. High 40s would be good :devil:

Ulpian said:

Agreed.

Actually I drove my brick (Doblo) with the 1.6 Diesel (not quite so modern, obviously) and I went very quickly for sixty miles (there was a nine on the speedo at times ), with some slower stretches included, but my acceleration off roundabouts etc. was really gunning it, and the slightly tired but legal front tyres did a fair bit of squealing, and this time I got an indicated 54!

What I want to do is a long, say 200 mile run, at my normal speeds to see what I get. High 40s would be good :devil:

Click to expand...

They will also have likely had the advantage of being able to maintain a fairly constant speed over that distance - unlike if they had been attempting it on our cluttered motorways. The French Autoroutes in particular allow set speed cruising for many many miles - only slowing down for the tolls.

I drove Elsie along the M23/M25/M20 yesterday. I drove from Haywards Heath to Deal, in Kent. I set the Cruise control at 70 and 50 (M25....) and let her drive whenever I could. The average economy for the whole of the journey was 54mpg. This is with a Twin-air having done 1400 miles aprox. I was quite pleased with this, to be honest and I expect it to continue to improve as I put some miles on her.

The 'instant' mpg got suddenly better after about 1300 miles (expected, cos I was told the ECU 'relaxes' after this sort of mileage.) I don't expect to get near the quoted mpg but if I could average about 50mpg over a tankful in everyday driving, I'll be happy.

It was really interesting watching the instant mpg figure. On the flat, in sixth, at 70mph she was doing easily over 60 mpg. But the slightest incline dropped that figure dramatically and similarly, the small descent pushed it up to 99.9mpg! I reckon that on a flat motorway, at 70, she would happily do 70mpg. But unfortunately, the real world isn't like that.....

Also, I have been told that 'enthusiastic' driving of the Twin-air does decimate the mpg figures. And it is hard not to drive it thusly......

Also, on a trip from Exmouth in Devon, to Deal, in Kent, I once drove Myrtle, my old 120 Multijet Diesel Multipla, at no more than 50 mph, the whole way back. It was dreadfully tedious and took bloody hours, but over the journey I averaged 56 mpg, some ten or so more than the best I used to get in normal driving.

But when I thrashed it down there at somewhat dubious speeds, this mpg would drop to high thirties, as expected. But driving sensibly she would return 45/46 over the same journey.

So, driving like you stole it, definitely is bad. But driving like you're in a funeral is good. But briving sensibly is ok.

I'm not sure I've come to any unknown conclusions here, but conclusions there probably are!