General 4x4 after 4 (months)

[La Lepre]

Ok - we have had our TA 4x4 for over 4 months now and it seems an appropriate time to review our experiences so here goes, negatives first:

Initially the only problem we experienced was the reversing light and the fog light were the wrong way round, or the right way for Europe. This had not been picked up during PDI - kinda makes our car unique ( or does it! ) so we have not had it sorted yet although the garage are aware of the issue. Might be illegal to drive so please don't pass this on outside the forum!! Bit of character.......

I freely admit we struggled with the TA to start with - mpg was way lower than expected but looking back we didn't know how to drive it. We now get high 40's regularly with the occasional low 50 on some trips - now at 6500 miles. We do use ECO mode and it does make a difference on the commute to work ( we think ) but then turning off the aircon also seems to make a difference.

Positives:

Hugely engaging car - hard to define character but the Panda has it in spades. Both daughters, 21 and 18, grudgingly admit they like it ( they wanted the Fiesta Ecoboost but they don't pay the bills! ). The engine is a peach and I can only sing it's praises - recent motorway run was superb now the engine is bedding in - out of ECO you have to watch your speed as it is very easy to find yourself slightly in excess of the national limit.

Winter is on its way and we look forward to testing Gino de Pando's ( alright, the girls named him) capabilities - we live in North Yorkshire so we should have ample opportunity. We have taken 'Gino' off road and it is fair to say that this is where he excels. The ELD does make a difference and the TA is surprisingly suited to this kind of driving - takes a kind of gusto approach sometimes when compared to a diesel - which we did consider - but the TA has plenty of torques anyway.

Enough for now but as we say in Gods County - The Panda is 'reet grand'!

 

[Shrub]

I like the sound of low 50s mpg from a 4x4 TA.

 

[triumph7]

I like the sound of low 50s mpg from a 4x4 TA.

Me too but I'm miles away from that. Currently 40.6.....I'm clearly doing something/everything wrong!

 

[La Lepre]

Probably not! The commute into York is pretty much dead flat and approx 20 miles - ideal conditions for getting the best out of the TA.

 

[La Lepre]

And before anyone spots the obvious and asks why on earth we got the 4x4 in the first place, our work also takes us into remote rural areas all year round - we will probably have the mildest winter in years!!

 

[Ulpian]

We WILL have a mild winter, I'm putting winter tyres on my Doblo, which goes out most nights in all weather!

Fuel consumption is weird. I get @ 42 mpg when going about the place, and on slowish journeys, but the other morning I had to get twenty miles away and then back in a hurry, and I really wasn't bothering about economy at all. I was going quickly and racing up sliproads to join and overtake traffic, and there were two slow 40mph stretches totalling sixteen miles, and I got 55!

A mystery then.

 

[Moultoneer]

We WILL have a mild winter, I'm putting winter tyres on my Doblo, which goes out most nights in all weather!

Fuel consumption is weird. I get @ 42 mpg when going about the place, and on slowish journeys, but the other morning I had to get twenty miles away and then back in a hurry, and I really wasn't bothering about economy at all. I was going quickly and racing up sliproads to join and overtake traffic, and there were two slow 40mph stretches totalling sixteen miles, and I got 55!

A mystery then.

I'm also a bit mystified- my Trekking TA is averaging 55mpg overall, but
its best economy (63mpg) was on a couple of shortish (25 mile) trips
when I wasn't trying too hard

Conversely, on a long 120 mile journey on normal flattish roads, when
driving very carefully, I only achieved 57mpg (when 60 appeared a
possibility )

OTOH, it's only just reached 4000 miles, so is still a youngster



Chris

 

[asxetos]

Sometimes, when we drive normally, not being too careful about economy, we tend to pick up more speed than we really need, then we lift the foot off the accelerator in order to lose some speed.

Same thing happens in a slight down slope sometimes, we do not apply brakes, just lift off the accelerator to lose a bit of speed.

In the above situations, many injection systems go into "cut off" mode, that is the injectors do not spray at all. Of course, no manufacturer can suggest that we drive like that to obtain fuel economy.


On the other hand, when driving very carefully keeping constant speed, not accelerating suddenly etc, the fuel injectors are "on" all the time, my guess would be that there might be routes where this kind of driving could produce slightly worse mileage compared to normal driving if enough injector "cut offs" result from the latter.


Just my 2c.

 

[babbo_umbro]

Ok - we have had our TA 4x4 for over 4 months now and it seems an appropriate time to review our experiences so here goes, negatives first:

Initially the only problem we experienced was the reversing light and the fog light were the wrong way round, or the right way for Europe. This had not been picked up during PDI - kinda makes our car unique ( or does it! ) so we have not had it sorted yet although the garage are aware of the issue. Might be illegal to drive so please don't pass this on outside the forum!! Bit of character.......

I freely admit we struggled with the TA to start with - mpg was way lower than expected but looking back we didn't know how to drive it. We now get high 40's regularly with the occasional low 50 on some trips - now at 6500 miles. We do use ECO mode and it does make a difference on the commute to work ( we think ) but then turning off the aircon also seems to make a difference.

Positives:

Hugely engaging car - hard to define character but the Panda has it in spades. Both daughters, 21 and 18, grudgingly admit they like it ( they wanted the Fiesta Ecoboost but they don't pay the bills! ). The engine is a peach and I can only sing it's praises - recent motorway run was superb now the engine is bedding in - out of ECO you have to watch your speed as it is very easy to find yourself slightly in excess of the national limit.

Winter is on its way and we look forward to testing Gino de Pando's ( alright, the girls named him) capabilities - we live in North Yorkshire so we should have ample opportunity. We have taken 'Gino' off road and it is fair to say that this is where he excels. The ELD does make a difference and the TA is surprisingly suited to this kind of driving - takes a kind of gusto approach sometimes when compared to a diesel - which we did consider - but the TA has plenty of torques anyway.

Enough for now but as we say in Gods County - The Panda is 'reet grand'!

I found eco mode to be dangerously slow - makes you more of a coniglio than a lepre (reminds of the old Italian joke - What do you call a hare? - answer - A rabbit Abarth?) Currently seeing 41.5 on our trip to Umbria, which I'm about to update.

 

[Ulpian]

On the other hand, when driving very carefully keeping constant speed, not accelerating suddenly etc, the fuel injectors are "on" all the time, my guess would be that there might be routes where this kind of driving could produce slightly worse mileage compared to normal driving if enough injector "cut offs" result from the latter.

You may very well be right. I read once that cruise control can worsen fuel consumption for just this reason, whereas anticipating hills and speeding up on the downside and feathering it on the incline can actually improve consumption.

Anyway, while I don't exactly drive like I stole it, my feeling is that I only have one life and a few more quid spent on fuel is well worth it as long as I have a bit of fun now and again.

And since all forms of motoring are likely to get very expensive, and encumbered with more policing very soon, we might as well enjoy motoring while we can. And worrying about saving money all the time isn't much fun. Hey, I don't smoke or buy 'stuff', so why not

 

[La Lepre]

Babbo - have you heard the story of the tartaruga and the lepre!!!
To be fair I aught to say that our obsession with mpg is reserved for the commute only - we also enjoy the TA and the fuel consumption when you venture off road is how should I say - 'spazzatura'