General GP MPG - What are YOU getting?

[Aresby]

Aresby, are you aware that Shell V-power is a gas-to-liquid product and (from what I have read) boasts a higher cetane number but probably has lower density than standard fuel.

A common theme reported by forums I have seen is lower mpg than standard diesel, up to 10% less mpg in a lot of cases.

You should try standard fuel (or BP ultimate if you want to pay premium prices :nutter

No, I wasn't aware about V-Power but I don't really understand the technicalities of what that means either. However, I'm dismayed at the thought of getting less mileage with V-Power than with either normal diesel or with BP Ultimate.

I'll fill up with BP Ultimate for a month or so and see if it makes any kind of difference.

Once thing is for sure: Both Ultimate and V-power give a smoother delivery of power to my car. OTOH perhaps a remap and reverting back to standard diesel is the answer!

 

[AllSaintChris]

Guy's.......I'm hoping that all these mpg figures that you're quoting are not just being read from the cars mpg dashboard read out display.
You are resetting the BTrip, driving, then filling the car back up to the brim and dividing your mileage covered by the number of gallons you've just put in?
I do this because I have found the on-board job to always show WAY more mpg....
It's not very accurate.

Agreed - partially!

I have found thatthe trip comp is very accurate when doing long constant journeys. Did a 320 mile round trip at the weekend and the trip read 48.5 mpg (not bad for Active Sport 8v!), and when i filled it up a the end the manual calc was 48.2mpg.

On shorter journeys however it does seem to be out be a lot more. Sometimes up to 5 mpg out if i have just been pottering around town on a tank of fuel.

 

[AllSaintChris]

Jusy a quick point, was intersted to see how bad the mpg got on may car when travelling at high(ish) speed.

Since i had the car service the mpg has been suprisingly good, as did another run and nearly touched an average 50mpg, then had to do a quick 100 mile dash up the motorway at higher than average speeds (Active Sport only does 105mph but was well outside that), and the consumption went down to 28mpg!

Was quite suprised to say the least! Seems for every 1mph you go above 60mph the fuel consumption goes down by 1mpg! Even the Active Sport is in need of a 6th gear to make motorway cruising a bit more economical as the other gears are so short.

 

[jawkithenoo]

Just gave it its first real run Glasgow-Dundee-Edinburgh back to Glasgow according to trip computer averaged 46mpg. (1.2 petrol)

 

[auto_blanco]

My motorway MPG was not great, and after a couple of pretty long trips my average is 40.9 at pretty much constant 80 and above, not great I have to say, better with an induction kit and a few long runs though, but I still think Fiat are taking the micky a little

 

[grandemike]

i dunno if my induction kit is helping or not. i know people have said the K&N makes it worse,

 

[auto_blanco]

I dont know wether its the fact that the engine is maybe still loosening up a little too although its nearly on 4k now, but it has seemed better than it was, especially around town, on the motorway, its certainly passes better now but MPG wise im not sure.....

 

[minnnt]

i dunno if my induction kit is helping or not. i know people have said the K&N makes it worse,

i found that the only reason the MPG went down was because you were planting your right foot to hear the induction noise.

i have found that my MPG has got better as the mileage has gone up, which makes sense really. i'm really impressed with the MPG.

 

[luvduvs]

Currently done 3100 miles and averaging about 38.7mpg on a Dynamic 1.4 8v - 100% city driving.

 

[alangowdy]

Sporting 1.9 - around 43 mpg on mostly fast main roads. Very disappointing figure as my SEAT Ibiza (also 130 bhp diesel) gave better than 50 mpg on same roads and driven in the same manner.

 

[Aresby]

Sporting 1.9 - around 43 mpg on mostly fast main roads. Very disappointing figure as my SEAT Ibiza (also 130 bhp diesel) gave better than 50 mpg on same roads and driven in the same manner.

But did you get the same performance from your SEAT as you do from your GP? Or does the 130 bhp of the GP disguise a gutsier engine? And hence a penalty in economy terms?

 

[dpr59]

Normal weely mpg is about 47-48.
Thats in town and the 5ml trip to work on an A road.

On a run, well keep it down around 3000rpm and it sips fuel, take it up to 4500 and it as thirsty as my Lotus (and thats got a pair of dellorto 45 carbs).

60mph was giving 57mpg.

Not bad for a 1.4 8v.

 

[j1wpr]

GP Sporting 130bhp:
The trip computer seems fairly accurate on long easy runs, I do Scottish Borders to Preston every week (using cruise where possible), 60mph set on the A7 Selkirk to Carlisle (for around 60 miles), 70mph set on the M6 Carlisle to Preston (around 100 miles). Best figure for the 160 mile trip is 54 mpg. However, if I introduce a little town driving into the mix, its not long until it drops to 48/49.

Anyway, more interestingly, I'm sure there's a 170bhp upgrade on the way. Just need to be sure that the chassis can handle it.

 

[alangowdy]

But did you get the same performance from your SEAT as you do from your GP? Or does the 130 bhp of the GP disguise a gutsier engine? And hence a penalty in economy terms?

The SEAT was a slightly better performer. It developed the same BHP but more torque. The GP has a more modern injection system and the power is delivered in a linear fashion, whereas the SEAT used to suddenly give a (very satisfying!) kick in the backside at around 1900 rpm. The SEAT ran out of puff a bit earlier than the FIAT, which is more rev-happy, as you'd expect from an Italian car. Also the sixth gear in the SEAT was a bit longer - 70 mph represented around 1850 rpm where the GP is turning at over 2000.

The GP engine is more refined but not quite as smooth and quiet as I expected, certainly well short of a Honda Civic that I test drove (but discounted partly because of its looks but also because the price was way too much).

When you consider that FIAT quote over 50 mpg for the larger upcoming BRAVO diesels - even in 150bhp form - I think the GP's economy is definitely a disappointment. It should give an easy 50 mpg, with perhaps 60 mpg possible if the performance is not exploited.

 

[Aresby]

The SEAT was a slightly better performer.

Oh well, so much for the Sporting's reputation! Mind you, you can get the Sporting remapped to 170bhp which, I suspect, would be more than a match for your ex-Seat. And for £300 not such an expensive option, either.

Regarding your point about the mpg as advertised by FIAT, I too am a bit disappointed. I truly thought I might get the 61mpg they were promising on a combined journey, but unless I drive at 60mph for very long periods it just doesn't happen. Then again, I should have realised that the 61mpg was the absolute best I could ever expect, not what an average driver might achieve.

Having said that, my 49 - 55mpg it still pretty good, especially when I think of the performance extracted from my 1248cc engine! And new FIAT diesel engines are on the horizon apparently...

 

[alangowdy]

Oh well, so much for the Sporting's reputation! Mind you, you can get the Sporting remapped to 170bhp which, I suspect, would be more than a match for your ex-Seat. And for £300 not such an expensive option, either.

Regarding your point about the mpg as advertised by FIAT, I too am a bit disappointed. I truly thought I might get the 61mpg they were promising on a combined journey, but unless I drive at 60mph for very long periods it just doesn't happen. Then again, I should have realised that the 61mpg was the absolute best I could ever expect, not what an average driver might achieve.

Having said that, my 49 - 55mpg it still pretty good, especially when I think of the performance extracted from my 1248cc engine! And new FIAT diesel engines are on the horizon apparently...

It's worth bearing in mind that VW power outputs tend to be conservatively quoted - often when tested on a rolling road prior to chipping, their "130" bhp engines can be shown to produce nearer 140 bhp. I know from experience in pitting it against other cars of known performance that the 0-60 mph time was rather better than that claimed by VW. The PD engines are getting old and are pretty unrefined but boy do they go.... and 50 mpg is easy to achieve without driving like Granny going to church on Sunday.

Don't get me wrong - I'm pretty pleased with my GP overall (it's now done around 2300 miles) - I just wish it was a bit less thirsty. On the performance front, I'd consider getting it remapped to add perhaps 20 or 30 bhp but would be concerned that the additional torque might shorten the life of the clutch and gearbox to an unacceptable degree.

 

[corsakid]

I have an 2 tonne Alhambra with the old 1.9Tdi engine and I average 55 mpg - but I do drive for economy and know all the tricks.

However I didn't start getting this kind of mpg until the engine got to 60,000+ miles. In the first 10,000 miles I averaged way under 40mpg.

Remember your engine has to loosen up, and IMO this will involve at least putting 20,000 miles on the clock. AFAIK the first factory oil fill is usually a mineral or semi synthetic oil that is quite thick (15W-xx), this is to help the engine bed in during the period to the 1st oil change. At this point I recommend switching to using a low friction (5W-xx or 0W-xx) fully synthetic oil.

The gentler you drive it, the longer the engine will take to loosen up, and especially if you've changed to fully synthetic before the bedding-in is complete.

And remember, performance is inverse to fuel consumption. The Government figures are obtained by driving to a fixed profile common for all cars tested, which includes very modest acceleration and braking. So, if you use the full performance to accelerate to the limits and brake like feck.....the car will oblige and not concern itself too much about mpg.

 

[Aresby]

The gentler you drive it, the longer the engine will take to loosen up, and especially if you've changed to fully synthetic before the bedding-in is complete.

:yeahthat: So I have always been led to believe (including by Dr. Diesel in What Diesel? magazine) but no-one on this forum has yet seconded that opinion - until now!

Well, I have 7,500 miles on the clock now, probably 15,000 by January next year so we'll see if my average mpg gets better as we near that time.

 

[Jason_6780]

Mine has.. it was something like 32.. upto nearly 40.

I think, can't quite remember... :idea:

 

[SimonP]

Lately i've been getting 54+ sometime 56 on my 1.3 Multijet 90 Bhp 6 speed

My 1.3 Multijet 90 BHP 6 speed has 8,500kms(5,200miles) on the clock and I'm getting 58.85 mpg(4.8L/100kms) on the B trip On the very first tank, I got 53.3mpg(5.3L/100kms).. These figures are from commuting to work which consists of 85 kms of freeway and 40 kms of city suburbs traffic.