Sorry....wasn't very clear there.

He now has an Astra 1.3 cdti. It is the same engine as the Panda, but doesn't seem to be any good in a heavy estate car full of equipment and ladders etc. In the Panda we drove it was really good though.

Arjay said:

Ey up, I'm new here and was just wondering how everyone's managing such low fuel consumption? I've had my Sporting (1 yr old, 14,000m) for about a month and despite driving mostly A-roads at 60mph+ and accelerating normally, using 4th gear for 30 mph etc., I'm only managing 47.4 mpg! Is something wrong or is it just me? RJ.

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There are 3 secrets to obtaining good fuel consumption, but you may not want to take them up.
1. Drive as slowly as possible without straining the engine, preferably in 5th, but in 4th up anything more than a gentle incline.
2. Use the middle pedal so little that it starts rusting solid between services. Think to yourself that it uses 5x as much fuel as the accelerator pedal, anticipate situations where you have to slow down, and let the engine do your braking.
3. dont let your wife drive the car.
Oh, and for ultimate overall long term economy, have areal good burn up once a fortnight!

Paul Jaggard said:

3. dont let your wife drive the car.

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:nono: Not all females drive uneconomically... I usually get 60 miles to the gallon doing (nearly all) city driving...:nerner:

Wee Smurf said:

:nono: Not all females drive uneconomically... I usually get 60 miles to the gallon doing (nearly all) city driving...:nerner:

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I was just going by Doblos quote. Actually, I would guess that on average the girls get more mpg than the guys!

I think Iz gonna follow Jai's advice cos I did a little bit of city centre driving and it's now down to 46 mpg.

just as a comparsion from diesel to petrol, worked out the running for the blackpool trip:

460 miles total, 440miles on motorway, 4 miles for the illuminations
total driving time home-->blackpool-->home:12hrs, 3 hours for the illuminations:bang: :bang:
total average speed : 38MPH/60.8KMH
49.5 litres = 10.88 gallons(UK)
overall = 42.3 MPG by my reckoning
overall = 46.6 MPG by the trip computer.......

there was a lot of hanging around in roadworks:bang: , at least 4 motorway stops for the mrs , as well as some very very spirited driving when conditions permitted......

now im never sure which of the official quoted figures best relates to this sort of driving:

Fuel Consumption Urban (mpg) 39.8
Fuel Consumption Extraurban (mpg) 58.9
Fuel Consumption Combined (mpg) 50.4

i'm certain the extensive roadworks and massive gridlock on the promanade have skewed the figures horribly......

On the way home there was a strong headwind down the motorway - and 70 mph was reading about 45 mpg - It's usually about 55-60 mpg.
H

Paul Jaggard said:

I talked to a really helpful guy at Desira Norwich today, who tells me that when the cars are made, they measure the output from each injector, and enter this data into the fuel computer. This would therefore mean that my car is probably injecting the right amount of fuel, which is of course what really matters. He has however offered to get its flow rates tested for me. I think I will leave it another month or so, in order to get more data, and see if its accuracy changes.
I'm enjoying driving it though. It seems to have the best of both worlds, drive it with a light foot, and get excellent economy, or put your foot down, and get pretty good overtaking acceleration.
Next week, it gets a towbar, and is supposed to tow 900kg. Thats a fair sized caravan!
Has anyone else tested its towing performance?

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Hi everyone i've just joined when i found this site by accident. regarding towing with the panda multijet. i tow a sterckeman 370ce caravan its got a max loaded weight of 900kg but when i am loaded its around 850kg. at motorway speed (60mph) its getting around 40mpg. wonderful car does all i want it to.

Having done 15,000 miles since taking delivery of my multijet in March I have paid particular interest in the mpg, as the car was purchased to be as cheap to run as possible.

After about 5000 miles of running in, the mpg seems to have settled down as follows (all from trip computer):

Long motorway runs from Cheshire to Devon and back (90% motorway, 10% A roads), driving at speed limits gave 56-57mpg.

When doing the same but towing a trailer, approx weight 400kg, and max speed 60-65 mph, it still managed 52-53 mpg average.

On my daily commute, 33 miles each way, 75% motorway, 25% 30 and 40mph city roads, I am managing 67mpg average, by cruising at 60mph on the m-way and using 5th gear at 40mph.

Its very dependant on load and headwind though; with each seat occupied, or a significant headwind, its generally 5mpg down.

Impressed, I am. The money I'm saving in fuel each month alone over my old 2-litre Mazda more than pays for the finance. And its quieter, smoother, more comfortable too.

Loury777 said:

Hi everyone i've just joined when i found this site by accident. regarding towing with the panda multijet. i tow a sterckeman 370ce caravan its got a max loaded weight of 900kg but when i am loaded its around 850kg. at motorway speed (60mph) its getting around 40mpg. wonderful car does all i want it to.

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Thats better fuel consumption than you would expect from a larger car towing a similar sized caravan, but does'nt it feel a bit like the tail wagging the dog? Does it feel safe and stable on typical A roads? I quite fancy an eriba caravan weighing 900kg, but with a pop top, and therefore less wind resistance, for touring Europe. What do you think?

I think the Eribas are nice, looked at them this year, also the Freedom caravans seem suitable for Panda-ing:

http://www.freedomcaravans.com/



and then there's the Little Guy, if you just want a mobile bed...

http://www.littleguy.co.uk/

Hi Paul in my last post i quoted 40mpg towing a sterckeman 370ce caravan, i guess on that trip i must have had a following wind, as on a trip last monday i was into a headwind for 125 miles and got 34 mpg. which is still good. i always check the nose weight and i have not experienced any tail wagging the dog with the sterckeman , i use a snakemaster stabiliser which helps. i have also had a freedom jetstream which did sway at times when hitting the tramlines on the m5 northbound. if i had to be critical regarding the jetstream it was too light on the nose weight and i had to fill the water container (in the front box) with 20 litres to achieve the required weight. i would say to anyone thinking of towing with a multijet panda go for it providing the mtplm is about 850kg the panda takes it in its stride, it should be ok up to 900kg but i havent as yet towed with that much behind me so cannot say for sure. i am taking my rig to spain next april and i will post again on my return in may. PS another lightweight caravan is the Trigano Rubis 310 popup unladen weight 580 kg, mtplm 850kg. regards to everyone Lou

panda mulitjet diesel fuel economy

Hi, I've worked out filling our new panda tank to tank, its doing 67.5 miles per gallon, its flat where we live, and also we do alot of motorway work, is anyone getting any better ?

Filled mine up tonight and the onboard computer reckons I can go 613 miles to the next fillup, so I'll fill up again at the end of next week and work out the old fashioned way what mine's doing to the gallon and post it up here.

I was amazed it only took £16 to fill it up with an expected mileage of 613 cos I'd been bunging in over £40 quids worth in the metro up til this week. :slayer:

Wish my Classic Mini was as economical, only does 55 mpg but then it has a tuned race engine so I guess I can't complain.

Black Panda said:

Filled mine up tonight and the onboard computer reckons I can go 613 miles to the next fillup, so I'll fill up again at the end of next week and work out the old fashioned way what mine's doing to the gallon and post it up here.

I was amazed it only took £16 to fill it up with an expected mileage of 613 cos I'd been bunging in over £40 quids worth in the metro up til this week. :slayer:

Wish my Classic Mini was as economical, only does 55 mpg but then it has a tuned race engine so I guess I can't complain.

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Minis, Metros, Multijet,Mor....sorry, Norfolk, are you sure you're not me?!!

LOL You from Naaarfolk then?

We could be dopple gangers ooh err!

Well after using the mj for a couple weeks it's averaging about 65.9 mpg each week.

Not bad eh?

How are you managing that.?

I'm lucky to get 51mpg out of mine.

Dunno, I just drive normally.

I travel about 30 miles to work, and 30 back, a mix of 5 mile runs and some gear changing here and there when I get to villages.

I tend to stick to the speed limit (50) mostly on the long stretches, unless I'm late for work when I tend to accidently tread on the pedal a little heavy

I dont use the brakes much, unless I want to stop. I use the engine more to slow down, and tend to stick at the same speed on bends without slowing down. Maybe that's the secret? Steady speed, hardly any braking.

Wee trip computer hit a new high at the weekend with an estimated 647 miles to go.