General GP MPG - What are YOU getting?

[RichC]

According to the trip my average speed on the journey was 57mph. There was a little bit of slowing down and picking due to a few roadworks and many speed cameras, etc. I was taking my speed from my Snooper so i know that it is accurate. I would say because of the really bad rain on the way back 60-70 was about average.

Rich

 

[new2fiat]

I've posted before about the poor mpg in the 1.9 MJ....mine's done about 12500 miles now and I still only get 42 mpg at absolute best - and that's about 80% B and A roads, and 20% city driving. Still, it was 39mpg during the winter, so it has had a slight improvement.

Admittedly I've never been bothered to work it out properly brim to brim - this is just the fuel computer...but surely the computer can't be totally wrong.

Like others have said...it's nowhere near the quoted Fiat figures, and nowhere near as good as the VW PD diesels.

 

[Dann]

Just calculated 50.6 MPG from my 1.9 Sporting. That was over 1343 miles with 80% motorway 15% A-Roads and 5% round town.
It's pretty much the same as the 1.9 CDTI[150] astra I used to have, which is OK but the astra did have an extra 30BHP, so I was expecting better economy. My cars done 4.5k miles.

 

[sharkrider]

Just calculated 50.6 MPG from my 1.9 Sporting. That was over 1343 miles with 80% motorway 15% A-Roads and 5% round town.
It's pretty much the same as the 1.9 CDTI[150] astra I used to have, which is OK but the astra did have an extra 30BHP, so I was expecting better economy. My cars done 4.5k miles.

my old vRS used to give 48 ish, so was dissapointed with the GP's 42 ish I was getting on an average day... today was the first day I have run it at work since the re-map, and it's now doing 47.5 , had it at 53 on an a-road run at the start of the day , before the town driving brought it down.... well impressed, again a to angel tuning.... oh, and dan... just do it, you know you want to... 170 bhp... lol....

 

[Aresby]

Now, I don't know whether this is coincidence but since my GP 1.3 90 Mjet has reached the magic 5,000 miles it has certainly increased its fuel economy.

As regular readers of this thread may know, I've been driving like a granny trying to get my mpg into the 50's and more or less succeeding at the expense of driving enjoyment.

Since my tour of West Yorkshire at the weekend (about 500 miles) which averaged just short of 50mpg (a mixture of fast motorway, moderate motorway and 30% A/B country, rural roads) I have managed to get the high 50's easily on my daily 40 mile commute.

As other GP owners will know, the mpg computer is very twitchy to begin with and settles down as the miles pile on (after a Trip A Reset). But I was getting 55mpg without too much difficulty. Today it's day 4 since my reset and I'm at 53.x. From an economy point of view, it seems to like running at around 2,000 rpm without slogging it out in higher gears until you get a cruising speed of at least 50mph at which point dropping it into 6th gear at about 1500 rpm is OK.

So, things are looking up and maybe if I save my pennies for an Angel remap I will get better still one day...

 

[Turbodiesel]

I'm still confused about all this... Some people say that they struggle to achieve 40mpg in their Sportings and the fuel economy is poor while others are getting around 50+mpg which I think is very good.

What I would like to know is why they differ so much, they all have the same engine so what's with the large discrepancies between owners even with similar driving styles?

 

[sharkrider]

I'm still confused about all this... Some people say that they struggle to achieve 40mpg in their Sportings and the fuel economy is poor while others are getting around 50+mpg which I think is very good.

What I would like to know is why they differ so much, they all have the same engine so what's with the large discrepancies between owners even with similar driving styles?

well with me, the 40's to 50's is directly on the type of drive... if I'm stuck in a que of tourists (I live in the lakes) and am forced to tootle along at 45-50 mph on the a-roads (carefully feathering the throttle in 6th, trying not to brake or accelerate hard) and this goes on for 15 miles, it'll go above 50 easy.....

If I have the same road to myself, and I'm "having fun" this will drop to 42 ish...

to me, it's just how you drive..... I know if my mother owned my car and was tootling along at 50mph, she's probably have it in 4th gear, and be only getting 44ish mpg..... probably be braking more into the corners, then having to accelerate more out the other side, because not looking ahead and reading the traffic conditions enough ect ect.....

on the m/way for example, try sticking to EXACTLY 70 mph, instead of 80-90, I believe this will save about 10-20% of your fuel on a m/way journey.... (of course looking WELL ahead , and WELL behind to time your lane changes to avoid accelerating and braking)

If you bought the sporting for the "sport" then just rag it and be happy that a petrol hot hatch would only give you 30mpg, and yours is giving you 40

 

[sharkrider]

well with me, the 40's to 50's is directly on the type of drive... if I'm stuck in a que of tourists (I live in the lakes) and am forced to tootle along at 45-50 mph on the a-roads (carefully feathering the throttle in 6th, trying not to brake or accelerate hard) and this goes on for 15 miles, it'll go above 50 easy.....

If I have the same road to myself, and I'm "having fun" this will drop to 42 ish...

to me, it's just how you drive..... I know if my mother owned my car and was tootling along at 50mph, she's probably have it in 4th gear, and be only getting 44ish mpg..... probably be braking more into the corners, then having to accelerate more out the other side, because not looking ahead and reading the traffic conditions enough ect ect.....

on the m/way for example, try sticking to EXACTLY 70 mph, instead of 80-90, I believe this will save about 10-20% of your fuel on a m/way journey.... (of course looking WELL ahead , and WELL behind to time your lane changes to avoid accelerating and braking)

If you bought the sporting for the "sport" then just rag it and be happy that a petrol hot hatch would only give you 30mpg, and yours is giving you 40

edit : none of the "you" and "yours" are directed at you turbodiesel! lol... just general discriptions!

 

[Turbodiesel]

No worries at all mate, your insight was very helpful

I've been contemplating a GP for ages now, still haven't bought one mind you so that's why I like to know details.

My round trip to work is around 100 miles everyday so fuel economy is a big factor. It's mainly motorway driving but I don't wanna buy this car and then discover it's a heavy drinker.

 

[luvduvs]

Here're my two cents: filled up last night, drove in heavy traffic, and the average consumption was about 14L/100km Then drove it today in mainly light traffic, allowed it to stretch its legs, dramatically improved to about 7.3L/100km, so under normal circumstances fuel economy improves as you drive on freeways at higher speeds.

 

[Aresby]

well with me, the 40's to 50's is directly on the type of drive... if I'm ... forced to tootle along at 45-50 mph on the a-roads (carefully feathering the throttle in 6th, trying not to brake or accelerate hard) and this goes on for 15 miles, it'll go above 50 easy....

:yeahthat:

My old Astra was just a workhorse, there was never any fun factor built into it. Even though I don't have a Sporting, my GP Mjet still has much more verve and life than the Astra and occasionally I am tempted to use it - with disastrous consequences regarding mpg!

But I'm getting more relaxed about it all now; if I drive light (as per sharkrider's description) then I will get mid to high 50s; if I hack it a bit down the country lanes it will drop to low to mid 40s. Horses for courses.

And for all new GP turbo diesel owners, let the car run in a bit before worrying about low mpg. Incidentally I didn't push my car from new at all but on the other hand I most certainly did NOT drive like a granny either. A new car needs a bit of bedding in, not driving with kid gloves. That way the engine is properly run in and gives better economy later in life. IMHO of course!

 

[Ulpian]

OK, I've got a Doblo 1.9 JTD, so, same engine, only 100bhp, and a big, bluff, heavy? body.
I drive in town, a lot, and can go as low as 36mpg. This is slllooowww stop-go traffic by the way, in winter.
On the open road I get around 45/47mpg, and if I cruse at 80-100 (abroad) I can get in the mid 40s too. As long as there is no headwind the speed seems to make little difference, indeed, it seems more economical at 90 than at 70. Nuts, but there you are.

By the way, on country A and B roads, at 50-60, I get around 60mpg, but that means gently pootling along in steady traffic on a 50 mile journey. This is consistent by the way, so I guess if I was a 'careful', meaning economical rather than careful as in alert and sensible, I could average about 50.

And no, I only use the car's readout as a guide, so you can amend those figures for digital distortion if you like.
And I always 'use' all the power by the way; I don't drive like a granny. Unable to, sadly.
The Fiat engine is not as economical as the VW engine, I know that, but it is a better drive. Crisp and smooth, and very sweet. And Fiats are not VWs, thank God:devil:

 

[Turbodiesel]

Well just for comparisons my 1.8 auto Nissan Pulsar (Almera in UK) does about 40mpg on my everyday work runs which are about 60% motorway cruising and the rest backroads.

I think that's pretty good, but I'm hoping the Sporting will do at least 50mpg or better. The 1.8 struggles a bit up hills in top gear due to the lack of torque, hence a bit of pedal effort is required.

 

[Jamie]

im only gettin average of 35mpg. but the engine only has 508 miles on it.

 

[The Street End]

Im getting about 38mpg on my 1.2 Active, mainly lots of stop/start city driving

 

[Renegade_8]

I have been lurking in this thread for a while, a 60 MPG car is quite appealing but posted results are not encouraging. There is a lot of accumulted knowledge about driving 4 exconomy, sure you can find a lot more but quick trawl turned up this
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html
I always drive for economy if I am not driving for fun, or safety I am never going along with that part of my brain in neutral. By this I mean that if I am passing 2 lorries in lanes 1 and 2 of a motorway I won't faff around feathering the throttle in lane 3 between a 40 ton truck and the Armco, I'm out of there . When we went to Scotland this month 4 family stuff I brimmed the 1.8 Marea Weekend here, loaded it with our stuff plus about 6 months accumulated presents for the various Grand nieces (high car weight, low economy) and economy drove the car all the way there. We ran off just under 430 miles in 7 1/2 hours and I brimmed the car there with 43 l of fuel. If all u r gonna get is 50 it hardly seems worth getting a diesel GP.

 

[faster4_tec]

I drove a 1.3 mjtd GP pretty much when it came out as a test drive car (both teh 1.2 8v and 16v are a total waste of time) and found that off boost there was so little power that it would shudder and feel like it was knocking (even at around 1900-2250rpm where most diesels LOVE to be). so had to rev it more (usually over 3k) just to avoid the knocking
also tried a 120eleganza (no sportings available) and the difference was MUCH better, it had enough power off boost to move the car around nicely, and didn't feel that nose heavy to drive, much more balanced than I was expecting.

managed around 48mpg in both though, but much rather spend the bit extra to get the 1,9 (iuf I did buy one, which I won't be, saving for a van instead:yum: ) and actually be able to enjoy driving it, rather than hardly moving.

 

[Aresby]

I drove a 1.3 mjtd GP pretty much when it came out as a test drive car ... and found that off boost there was so little power that it would shudder and feel like it was knocking (even at around 1900-2250rpm where most diesels LOVE to be). so had to rev it more (usually over 3k) just to avoid the knocking...

Can't say my experiences of same car coincide with yours. Yes, the power from 1000 revs to 1500 revs is virtually nil, from 1500 to 2000 very modest (gets better after a few thousand miles on the clock) and from 2000 rpm it runs great.

However, even at 1500 revs (6th gear at 50mph, cruising) it runs sweet and there is no knocking or complaining from the engine at all.

I hardly ever get to rev it to 3000rpm unless I'm really 'thrashing' it (eg overtaking in 3rd on an A road) as it has so much torque between 2000 and 3000 there is never a need IMHO, of course!

But I concede that the 'off boost' power in lower gears is a tad disappointing, esp. since my previous diesel car (1990's) was a normally aspirated 1.9 Peugeot 205 that pulled strong from 800 revs! Never any flat spot there at roundabouts or T-junctions!

 

[Cal Culater]

Long term average 1.4 Active Sport

My wife's car is a Jan-06 55 reg 1.4 Active Sport 3 door.

Sad I know, but we record miles and fuel used at every fill and put it on a spreadsheet.

Over 11000+ miles of ownership, with a 25 mile mixed A-road/urban journey to/from work and a 100 mile motorway trip most weeks, the car has averaged 44.44 mpg with a max of 48.7 and a min of 39.0. The computer usually reads about 5-10% more than is actually achieved.

 

[luvduvs]

Re: Long term average 1.4 Active Sport

Sad I know, but we record miles and fuel used at every fill and put it on a spreadsheet.

Is that why you're called Cal Culater?

I was going to do that too, though more like a diary/blog of all the things that happens to the car, but laziness got the better of me