General Is a panda diesel going to be good enough in town?

[audicab26]

I have a 1.2 and not happy with the economy, im getting 250 miles to a tank.
Im not a fast driver and rarely go above 3k revs.....is a town car to et me to work, i have a fast car when i want thrills.

Im now considering getting a diesel, what can you tell me about it?
What mpg in town is everyone getting, also the car will live in town, is this alright? I hear many things going wrong on diesels if they are not doing the miles, is this true?

We have a 1.3 multijet. Never seems to drop much below 50mpg (according to the display) even it's driven 'Italian style'. Usually shows high 50's with mixed driving. It's a 2005 so I don't think it has a Diesel Particulate Filter (can clog up with urban use).

It's my wife's car and me changing the display from 'mileometer' to the average MPG on the car has had the effect of slowing her down as she has become obsessed with getting better MPG

£30 a year road tax a bonus too. Sadly, it's up for sale at the moment as it's one more car than we need, but if I could find an excuse to keep it I would, great little car. Would have another in a heartbeat.

 

[audicab26]

Quick trip into town ^

 

[A3jeroen]

With the handbrake on

gr J

 

[The Beard]

Mine is mainly used in and around Belfast. I would at least once a week get a run out down the motorway. I would get at least 60mpg but if I get a few runs out of the city, that would go up to 65 or so. I tend to measure tank to tank and do my own calculation. My Panda can be a little bit optimistic but it's not that far off.

My fuel light came on yesterday at 407 miles since last fill. Going pretty good on this tank of fuel lol.

My MJ returns between 54 and 60 mpg with roughly 60:40 in terms of time, if not mileage, motorways to urban running, although about twice a month it gets a 50 mile return motorway/a-road dual carriageway journey. Generally speaking the engine needs to be up to working temperature, before which consumption is generally worse, improving as the temp gauge gets up to normal.

My trip computer under-reads between 5 & 10% in comparison with my calculations at fill up. The fuel light comes on between 370 and 400 miles.

 

[Wee Smurf]

My MJ returns between 54 and 60 mpg with roughly 60:40 in terms of time, if not mileage, motorways to urban running, although about twice a month it gets a 50 mile return motorway/a-road dual carriageway journey. Generally speaking the engine needs to be up to working temperature, before which consumption is generally worse, improving as the temp gauge gets up to normal.

My trip computer under-reads between 5 & 10% in comparison with my calculations at fill up. The fuel light comes on between 370 and 400 miles.

I'd get about 360 miles by the time I'm down to a quarter of the tank. If I got a good run I reckon that the magic 500 mile tank is achievable (although I'm not brave / foolish enough to run it that low). A lot of the time I'd have the kids in the back with their dvds running too.

 

[jon1612]

I'd get about 360 miles by the time I'm down to a quarter of the tank. If I got a good run I reckon that the magic 500 mile tank is achievable (although I'm not brave / foolish enough to run it that low). A lot of the time I'd have the kids in the back with their dvds running too.

my 1.2 8v petrol says about 340 when tank its full (35ltr) always fill when ( or before light comes on ) always seem to get best part of 290 miles before light comes on and as the little blue lady says never risk it ( accident on motor way can hold you up for hours) as i do 40 miles a day good mix of motorway and urban, better in morning as 60mph most of the way and trip says 48 mpg but after being stuck in stop start for 15 mins on motorway slip road drops down to 44 ( friday is good day for me as less traffic and usualy get to do 60 most of the way and still shows 48 by time i get home )

ps. smurf you spoil those kids, DVD lol

 

[Wee Smurf]

Dvds are highly recommended with kids in the car. Best way of keeping them quiet!

Thomas the tank works wonders!

 

[Wee Smurf]

My fuel light came on yesterday at 407 miles since last fill. Going pretty good on this tank of fuel lol.

Hmm! Fuel light came on again on way home from work. Another 404.4 miles since last fill.

I'm still on my winter tyres too. Wonder if it'll improve when I get the Michelin Energy summer tyres on?

 

[Wee Smurf]

After an order oopsie with the winter tyres (I ordered but tyre place forgot to order the tyres in), I decided to change over to my summer wheels this morning. Now to see if the mpg improves! Lol.

 

[Jerseywurzel]

Well, I`ll chip in with my experience seeing as we're on to petrol Pandas

At home, I usually experience between 42mpg in the winter, up to 50mpg.

On long drives, at motorway speeds in France or UK, I get up to 63mpg.

So locally, a full tank will get me about 275miles, but longer trips will get in excess of 350

 

[Wee Smurf]

Hmm! Fuel light came on again on way home from work. Another 404.4 miles since last fill.

I'm still on my winter tyres too. Wonder if it'll improve when I get the Michelin Energy summer tyres on?

Things seem to be going well, better than expected.

The fuel light came on today at 421.0 miles since last fill up. Last tank was 65mpg on the nose. This one could be even better!

 

[Enfield]

Looks as if mine is not good, 220 miles from the tank and i drive the same.....never go above 2k revs as im in town.....average speed to tank is 12mph

 

[Matt100HP]

Looks as if mine is not good, 220 miles from the tank and i drive the same.....never go above 2k revs as im in town.....average speed to tank is 12mph

That doesn't sound healthy . I can quite easily get 220 miles from a tank in the 100HP whilst driving around town and according to ePER the 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 (100HP) all have the same tank.

 

[Enfield]

You get 200 miles out of a 100hp?

 

[Matt100HP]

You get 200 miles out of a 100hp?

Easily, there's no point ragging it around town

A) It'd make me look like a total tool; too many other cars, pedestrians and bloody cyclists about
B) It's a massive waste of fuel because town driving is horrid and more revs don't improve the experience
C) Most of my town driving is so short the engine doesn't have time to warm up fully, so I think the car might start hating me pretty quickly if I drove it hard
D) Harder driving puts extra wear on the car, something I'd rather only do when I can have maximum fun, rather than needlessly in town

If you gave me 200 miles of lovely, empty country roads however, the tank would be empty long before I got to the end :devil:.

 

[Wee Smurf]

Looks as if mine is not good, 220 miles from the tank and i drive the same.....never go above 2k revs as im in town.....average speed to tank is 12mph

Although mine is a diesel, yours does seem terribly low mileage for a 1.2 petrol.

I think I have found a sweet spot with mine. Last two tanks 65.0 and 65.2 mpg.

What tyres are you on? And have you got the pressure correct? I'm on Michelin Energy and keep a good check on the tyre pressure on my TyrePal. I keep to the recommended pressure as it can make a lot of difference .

 

[Matt100HP]

What tyres are you on? And have you got the pressure correct? I'm on Michelin Energy and keep a good check on the tyre pressure on my TyrePal. I keep to the recommended pressure as it can make a lot of difference .

I'd forgotten about tyres and pressures, the correct pressures are very important for getting good MPG. However, the pressures would have to be horrifically low for a 1.2 to be getting worse around town MPG than a 100HP on Eagle F1s (though my 100HP, as you'd imagine, does have the correct 32psi at the front and 30 at the back, as recommended by Fiat). I can't imagine a 1.2 being fitted with tyres which are less eco-friendly than the F1s on the 100HP haha .

 

[Wee Smurf]

I don't know what is going on but I'm now up to 427.5 miles this tank till the fuel light came on.

 

[HHR]

From a 1.2 I get:

250 miles purely up to 30 MPH short runs round town until light first comes on
280 miles mixed driving with dual carriageways, bit of town driving until light comes on.
Last tankful I got 302 miles but the gauge was half way through the red section and I'd been ignoring the light for two days (I don't normally do that!)

Town works out at roughly 38-40 MPG and mixed 45-46 MPG. That is consistent with all the 8 valve 1.2 FIREs I've driven or owned, so either they're at their economy limit or I'm at my economical driving limit! Interestingly I can get the trip computer to say 51 to 53.n MPG dead easy but it lies!

 

[HHR]

Think this was my old Panda: