Technical Brava - fuel economy

[DrGonzo]

The fiat nerd is back with his bugging questions

Ok, some more info about my fiat:

Fiat Brava 1.6 16v ELX

what are your opinions on the fuel economy of this car? I have driven quite a bit in its first week in my possession but still found the amount of fuel i wasted a tad too excessive. Taking note of mile counter now since last refill. I was hoping 1.6 wud not be too heavy on the wallet as i heard of the infamous 1.4 bravo

 

[mountainmachine]

Depends what kind of mpg you getting?

Fiat says 37mpg

http://www.fiatboo.co.uk/buy-a-bravo.htm#performance

 

[Dr_Pepper]

I measure mine pretty acurately (same engine as yours). About 40mpg is pretty much the maximum I can get, 38 is the average. The mpg is consistant, consistantly crap. But as said that is Fiat's spec - it's just not very good.

 

[ChristieCruiser]

my 1.6 SX i get about 300 to a tank before the Red light comes on..... but i have only had it two weeks so am still a little heavy footed and getting used ot the clutch / gearing

 

[jug]

fuel economy in the 1.6 is not as good as i expected.

in my 1.6 i got about 75miles to £10.

so i was lucky to get 30mpg.

emissions tests confirmed it was running fine and not overfueling, my driving style was the problem.

in my 1.8 fuel economy is about the same.

 

[mountainmachine]

emissions tests confirmed it was running fine and not overfueling, my driving style was the problem.

lol

Me too

 

[DrGonzo]

so pretty bad fuel economy then hehe

 

[ZZR6]

It aint a diesel ya know I think 37mpg average aint bad.
I've also got a Trofeo 100. I think its down to wanting to play in it that its not so good on fuel

 

[mountainmachine]

O got 35mpg off my last tank.... But FIAT say 30mpg, so i'm happy with around that if i want better i buy another car! Like my Punto JTD i got my sister!

 

[Venters]

my 1.6 SX i get about 300 to a tank before the Red light comes on..... but i have only had it two weeks so am still a little heavy footed and getting used ot the clutch / gearing

I got over 350 on a full tank!!
either I'm driving like a grandad or you have a petrol tank the size of grandads bladder!

 

[jug]

I got over 350 on a full tank!!
either I'm driving like a grandad or you have a petrol tank the size of grandads bladder!

actually you're right about the petrol tank size difference. all mareas have a 60 litre tank. almost all bravo/as have a 50 litre tank (except 1.8 and 2.0 that also have 60 litre). so you have 20% more fuel in your tank than the average bravo/a.

 

[ChristieCruiser]

on the subject of that, how big is the "reserve" or red light section of the tank?

usually they are around 5ltrs...

i was working out my mpg yesterday and found it to be about 30.2 lol... but the size of the reserve canchange that so would like a more acurate figure

 

[jug]

no idea.

 

[Dr_Pepper]

Well I can drive for at least an hour after the orange light comes on, but I've never actually run out so obviously you could push it even further if you want to live on the edge!

As for working out the mpg, surely the most acurate way to do it is to fill the tank to the maximum, then next time you fill up you know exactly how many litres you used to travel whatever milage you've done. That way there's no guessing involved as to how much is left in the tank.

 

[jug]

As for working out the mpg, surely the most acurate way to do it is to fill the tank to the maximum, then next time you fill up you know exactly how many litres you used to travel whatever milage you've done. That way there's no guessing involved as to how much is left in the tank.

yep thats the only way to get a half accurate measurement.

 

[abyss113]

the resereve is 7 litres on the all the brava models and thats from the manual

 

[ChristieCruiser]

yea lol. i read my manual this morning (didnt see that post lol)

 

[brava1.4]

Having got one of the infamous 1.4, After coming back from holiday, rough calculation of around 38 to 40 mpg, around town,on a run the Fiat has gone a high as 45 mpg . My last car 1.4 rover 200 used to give 35 to 40, this is around town. Your driving style does has a lot to do with mpg.

 

[ChristieCruiser]

think i know why mine seemed crap...... i filled her right up today and she only seemed ot take 39ltrs........


so i wonder if their is a dent in the tank? or if i was being impatient when i was filling it lol.. ahha,,,

it should be a 50ltr tank with a 7ltr reserve. so 43 ltrs to the red light (theoretically)

 

[jug]

i filled her right up today and she only seemed ot take 39ltrs........

so i wonder if their is a dent in the tank?

yes there is. the fiat manual even describes the likelihood of air getting trapped in the tank when you fill it up due to the shape of it. check the bottom right comment on the attached image.

this is another reason why the mpg spreadsheet discussed in leisure lounge is impossible to use accurately (but i didnt mention this at the time coz they all seemed so keen). there seems ot be a pipe that is designed to reduce the chance of trapped air, but its common sense that it wont work since there is no way for the trapped air to go up, and the air can only rise.

you could assume you've used 20litres, but actually you've used 22litres, and 2 of them are now trapped air. then your mpg calculation seems better than it should be, you've worked out you've used 20L insterad of 22L. then next time you dont have trapped air you wonder what happened to your mpg.