General So pleased with my average MPG

[Tidus72]

I have had my 1.2 Pop for 9 months now and have been getting about 35 MPG around town, this is from a lot of sitting in traffic jams going to and from work day in day out :bang:

As I hardly get the time to actually go anywhere apart from back and forth to work and at the weekends all I have time to do is the dreaded grocery shopping and catch up on life, I though to hell with it, as the weather is so nice I would make the time and treat myself and the car to a nice run out into the country away from all the city traffic

On my way I reset the trip computer to see what mpg my little car would do outside of a city with a mixture of main roads, country roads and a stretch of motorway.

After about an hour of zipping around I arrived back home, checked my average MPG and it was reading 68.2 ! I admit I did not push her much over 60 mph but I was not light footed getting there

Who needs a diesel, will stick with my petrol 1.2

 

[306maxi]

The trip computer is not to be trusted tbh....

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

The trip computer is not to be trusted tbh....

:yeahthat:

I suspect is was only just in the 50's being completely honest.

 

[AndyRKett]

As mentioned above the trip never reads 100% accurately

Also a one off one hour drive does not an average make, if I was to do the same in my diesel punto I could easily see it read 85+mpg

What my diesel does do though is read 64mpg as an average for the last 8 or so months (calculated from fuel use and mileage not trip computer)

 

[jrkitching]

The trip computer is not to be trusted tbh....

Mine is generally optimistic by about 5-10%. It's least accurate when doing a lot of short runs; the fuel rail doesn't depressurise when the engine stops & I suspect some fuel may leak past the injectors which is not accounted for. On tankfuls consisting mostly of long runs, it's closer to the fuelly figure, but still optimistic.

:yeahthat:

I suspect is was only just in the 50's being completely honest.

I wouldn't dismiss it to that extent.

The 1.2 500 has the capability of being one of the most fuel efficient petrol cars you can buy and this current hot weather seems to suit it well.

My fuelly stats show mine has averaged 64.6mpg over the last 10 tankfuls .

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

My fuelly stats show mine has averaged 64.6mpg over the last 10 tankfuls .

What does that tend to show on the trip out of interest?

 

[jrkitching]

What does that tend to show on the trip out of interest?

As a rule of thumb, I need to be looking at 63-65 mpg on the trip to see 60 mpg true.

Did particularly well on the last tankful and made a couple of personal bests - the first time the trip over the tankful started with a 7 & the best ever mileage between fuelups .

That's with filling up until the fuel cuts off, so I'm limited to about 35 litres of fuel.

If I brimmed the tank, I reckon I could do London-Inverness without refuelling, given suitable weather.

 

[306maxi]

Mine is out by anything up to about 15%. The one in my Panda can be out by as much as 20%!

 

[jrkitching]

The one in my Panda can be out by as much as 20%!

:yeahthat:The trip computer in my Panda is nowhere near as accurate or predictable as the one in the 500. The Range function in particular swings about all over the place, to the point of being essentially useless.

 

[306maxi]

:yeahthat:The trip computer in my Panda is nowhere near as accurate or predictable as the one in the 500. The Range function in particular swings about all over the place, to the point of being essentially useless.

I do wonder if my brimming of the tank will ever actually hurt my 500, 50k+ miles so far and it's fine *touches wood*

You'd be able to go ridiculous distances if you ran yours dry and brimmed it to the top

 

[jrkitching]

You'd be able to go ridiculous distances if you ran yours dry and brimmed it to the top

I've managed 1024 miles on the last two tankfuls without brimming it so yes, I think 600 miles is possible if you filled it to the physical limit.

I'm now wondering just what I could get out of a TA? I have a feeling it would be slightly worse.

 

[306maxi]

Well, you can almost get 10 gallons in and you get a 60 average so 650 would be possible on a good day I reckon!

 

[UFI]

After some 'advice' on this forum, I accidently ran UFI out of fuel the other week, It takes 38.1 litres (I click the pump three times). At 60MPG, that's a theoretical 800km range

 

[306maxi]

Go on, brim it till it's got the full 42 litres in

 

[Tidus72]

After some 'advice' on this forum, I accidently ran UFI out of fuel the other week, It takes 38.1 litres (I click the pump three times). At 60MPG, that's a theoretical 800km range

I thought the 500 had a low fuel level warning light

What "advice" were you given UFI

 

[306maxi]

I thought the 500 had a low fuel level warning light

What "advice" were you given UFI

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/310769-fuel-tank-capacity.html?p=3106531

 

[UFI]

Go on, brim it till it's got the full 42 litres in

There's no way the top of the filler neck is 4 litres. Three clicks of the pump gets it to within 1-200ml of full. About 5 clicks on some pumps gets you brimmed and occasionally spills. Other times on a hot day cold fuel from the underground tank expands once it reaches the hot car and overflows even using the 3 click method.

On the otherhand, an extra four litres would just be 3kg's of ballast (until it's needed).

 

[306maxi]

There's no way the top of the filler neck is 4 litres. Three clicks of the pump gets it to within 1-200ml of full. About 5 clicks on some pumps gets you brimmed and occasionally spills. Other times on a hot day cold fuel from the underground tank expands once it reaches the hot car and overflows even using the 3 click method.

On the otherhand, an extra four litres would just be 3kg's of ballast (until it's needed).

Some maths for you
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/212153-1-3-mj-whats-your-best-fuel-range.html?p=2270148

Obviously you might see a larger temperature change

I've had 42 litres in my 500 a few times, it really does get 42 litres in there, but you've got to pull the nozzle out. With 42 litres in you have a ridiculous amount of range before the range starts to go down according to the trip computer.

 

[UFI]

I thought about looking up the expansion rate If I can get 42l in there that's a 900km range, or about six fill ups a year Sadly, UFI isn't due for another drink till mid next month.

 

[306maxi]

and I should point out that there are people (Jrkitching being one) who certainly wouldn't advise anyone to brim their car as I do. Just because my car doesn't appear to show any ill effects, it doesn't mean that it couldn't harm someone's car etc disclaimer etc

I literally fill it till there's fuel at the top of the filler neck, it's a sealed system and as long as you don't spill any out the neck, you won't spill any. Our Subaru isn't the same however and if you try and brim it, you tend to bet a nice pool of petrol from the overflow.....

Obviously it's personal preference as to whether you do it or not, but the extra minute or two you spend brimming the tank gives you an extra 20% fuel and means that you visit the petrol station less often and can drive longer distances without needing to fill up. Tis the difference between being able to drive at a steady pace over a journey and arriving with good fuel economy, or having to drive fast to make up for having to do another fuel stop