General T.A.,fuel economy, drive it like a diesel?

[gavin]

Just wondering,...as the twin air's max torque is at a lowly 1900rpm, do we have to drive it like a diesel to get near the official economy figures?

 

[alfatastic]

A friend has just replaced a 1.6 mito diesel with a twinair, he hasn't done 300 miles yet but has mention over 10 miles around the peak district he got a 70 mpg average on the computer, so you may have a valid point.

 

[loveshandbags]

A friend has just replaced a 1.6 mito diesel with a twinair, he hasn't done 300 miles yet but has mention over 10 miles around the peak district he got a 70 mpg average on the computer, so you may have a valid point.

My OH has a MiTo 1.6 MJ and when she drives my T-jet (petrol) she changes gear way too early. I would question the long term impact on 'lugging' a petrol engine. The extra 5mpg is probably shortening the engine life so it could end up costing you more particularly on a new engine.

 

[nemchenk]

I tend to change up around 2000 RPM, and find that the engine gets about 75MPG cruising at around 1500RPM. It's loosened up significantly in the 3500 miles / 3 months I've been driving it -- until quite recently, it was unhappy pulling at 1500RPM.

 

[jrkitching]

My OH has a MiTo 1.6 MJ and when she drives my T-jet (petrol) she changes gear way too early. I would question the long term impact on 'lugging' a petrol engine. The extra 5mpg is probably shortening the engine life so it could end up costing you more particularly on a new engine.

Yes, it's important not to lug the engine.

Lugging the engine is a combination of load & rpm & is very dependent on how much you depress the accelerator pedal. You can run safely at surprisingly low rpm provided you also have a very gentle right foot - after all, the engine idles at around 800rpm & noone would describe an idling engine as being lugged. Especial care is needed when going uphill at low rpm & if in doubt, shift down to protect the engine.

For the 1.2 petrol, FIAT's ecodrive website recommends shifting into 5th at 1400 rpm but you then need to accelerate very carefully indeed; delaying the shift until 1600 feels more natural & sometimes I'll hold it in 4th all the way to 2000rpm if the conditions demand it. I also find you need to hold another couple of hundred revs in all gears when running with the lights on.

Ecodriving most definitely isn't just shifting into 5th at 28mph & flooring the pedal; all that will get you is a wrecked engine.

 

[gavin]

my point was that the max torque is at low rpm, just like a diesel,...the twin air feels like no other petrol car i've driven,...more like a diesel,...driving close to max torque is surely not lugging?

 

[Robnw67]

I borrowed a TwinAir Plus for a test drive over the weekend and try as I might, I couldn't drive it like my current diesel car. The up shifts felt way too early for me and I rarely drive past 2500 rpm usually!! As a result the engine felt laboured and I managed an average of 43mpg. I managed to get it down to 37mpg by having 4 large pie eaters in the car and driving across the Pennines but that seemed a bit of an unfair test (even though we noted that the room inside the car, even in the back is phenomenal!).