Have just done my first decent trip in the new MJ which i've now had just over 3 weeks.

It had just 1000miles on the clock when we left and tbh i was just thinking i'm going to have to accept that its going to be a bit slow on the motorway compared to our old 325i coupe.

Well it is I guess, but actually after the reasonably slow drive down there cruising at 75 or so, it started to feel like it was loosening up a bit.

I know its naughty but on the return journey from SE London to Manchester, I was surprised at how well it will cruise at 80 or even 90mph. No problem at all. It got up to an indicated 100 with no issues and felt like there was bit more to come, have to say i was quite pleasantly surprised.

One thing i did notice is that to accelerate on the motorway you have to floor it to get the turbo spinning, but that in itself is no problem as such.

I guess what's nice is that even at high cruising speeds being a diesel it doesn't feel like you are thrashing it as the revs aren't too high.

I reckon i now have the dirtiest 3 week old car, it was cumbia beige, but now its pretty much black! Still averaged 50mpg.

All new fiats are quite nice to be in on the motorway

Diesels might be noisier around town, but on the motorway they settle down to a nice background hum

We have just got a MJ and it is a bit disappointing how flat it feels at 70mph, like you say it needs a got boot of throttle. Having said that, push it upto 85mph and the turbo is spinning and it could cruise all day. Not sure how much it will hit the economy yet.

Have got alot of travelling to do over christmas so will experiment further. (especially with going slower and getting mega economy)

trackdayqueen said:

I reckon i now have the dirtiest 3 week old car, it was cumbia beige, but now its pretty much black! Still averaged 50mpg.

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Done Cumbria to Glasgow twice and cumbria to West Yorks once since the 29th Now and the milage is now 1499. On the motorway, coutry and town it's just brilliant and now it's loostening it takes off nicely if you need a little burst although I've had to wash it almost daily on my days off but I suppose i'm lucky it's black to begin with

Only problem so far is the dash is developing a little rattle so will probably get it tightened after chrimbo...

ivantate said:

We have just got a MJ and it is a bit disappointing how flat it feels at 70mph, like you say it needs a got boot of throttle. Having said that, push it upto 85mph and the turbo is spinning and it could cruise all day. Not sure how much it will hit the economy yet.

Have got alot of travelling to do over christmas so will experiment further. (especially with going slower and getting mega economy)

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Agree with you on that. At 80-90mph you are right in the powerzone so the car does feel a fair bit more responsive than it does at 70mph. We still averaged 50mpg on the way back compared to 51.5mpg on the way there when we cruised at 75ish.

I bought my MJ in March '05. I bought it after a test drive of a car from the compound, complete with wax on the body and plastic covers on the seat. They hadn't officially been released. It's now done just a touch under 30K miles. It has consistently done 50-55 mpg in a mix of driving including urban roads and motorways. It has been fault-free apart from wearing out the front brake pads and scoring the discs just before the 24K service. Ouch!! On country roads it is a bit lacking in the road holding department even with its optional 165 tyres, however, it's certainly good enough when it comes to overtaking. Just get used to where the torque and power are at their strongest. Try selecting a gear that gives you about 2500 revs before accelerating and go up to about 4000, before changing up. It's fairly quick and on a cross country run driven briskly will easily return about 62 mpg. Although I haven't done anywhere like the mileage the experts say you should do to justify the extra cost of buying a diesel, it is easily the strongest performing engine in the range (before the introduction of the 100hp) and the most economical.

Use my MJ for dispatch work, and now at 15k it seems to be run in nicely, I have looked down at the speedo, and found myself doing 85/90 mph without realising it. Generally get 55-58mpg on most tanks. The other lads reckon I'm mad for using to do dispatch work, but I get good all round vis, most loads fit with the seat folded down, other road users let me in - thanks very much! and other than Fuel it will pay for itself with less than 14k of paid miles, is 100% tax deductable. I hear you say but what about the depriciation? - I genarally keep cars untill they are BER, and view them as just tools. MJ is just super for my needs.

trackdayqueen said:

One thing i did notice is that to accelerate on the motorway you have to floor it to get the turbo spinning, but that in itself is no problem as such.

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That will improve as the engine gets run in.
I presume you bought your car from Moss Rose Motors being from Macclesfield.

doblo said:

That will improve as the engine gets run in.
I presume you bought your car from Moss Rose Motors being from Macclesfield.

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Yep bought it from Moss Rose in Macc, just down the road from me. Its done over 2000miles now, feels a bit looser i think.