The inevitable "What mpg do you get?" thread..!

[Very Tall Brad]

I don't know
I don't care

These cars vary by so much you can get a rubbish 2 litre and a good 2.7 and they are poles apart. There is a lot of inconsistency with these cars and I reckon 20mpg upwards and you are doing okay. 30mpg and you're definitely having no fun behind the wheel!!

Motoring has never been cheaper in terms of overall costs and I've been driving for 31 years. What do you reckon, John (47P2)?

[Tenesmus]

Yup, must admit I fail to get excited about the cost of petrol. When I were a lad we barely has a pot to etc... so when people go on about the poverty line I tend to think "what, can't afford the sports channels?"

Anyway. Early 20s or below due to short journeys, which is better than my motorbike.

[Richard Moss]

My Omega does 35mpg on a run, no im not kidding, i have averaged 29 since i bought it.

The Si I have no idea but it's miles less.

That's because, as always, Rover undergeared these cars in 5th. It's why the diesel box conversion on my mk2 was such a success.

[Lord Sterling]

I don't know
I don't care

I second that.

30mpg and you're definitely having no fun behind the wheel!!

Thats probably why I end up having to put £30+ a week in my car and one of the reasons why I am now broke.

Lord Sterling - Yeh, If I was I wouldn't be broke.

[JulianO'Connor]

I adopted that approach with my MG when that was my daily car and it surprised me by doing low 30s.

My 825 is cheap on fuel, I've been running it and the Focus without much effort. Each achieves an average of about 38 mpg. From that I conclude I could run a single car that achieves low 20s.

Taking that further I could run the derv and a car that does high 20s to 30.

Still, I have got used to keeping out of petrol stations for 3 or 4 weeks at a time. I hate petrol stations!

[BRG]

You guys shouldn't be so 'postmodern' about the price of petrol.

You're the reason it does cost so bleedin' much! So, cheers!

[jago]

my average is 21.3 over the last 2100 miles, with a peek of 32 and a low of 7

[aryan57]

Nomad, just read your post. Anybody remember a book by Vincent Lombardi? I think the title was something like "How to double your Miles per Gallon" Since reading it years ago, I have always used the tips which included: Read the road ahead and anticipate, try to avoid coming to a complete stop at traffic signals and conserve momentum once the car is rolling. Drive off straight away from cold and get into high gear as soon as possible. Avoid drag strip type take offs, it wastes fuel. Use the right engine oil and make sure the engine is in good condition, plugs, timing etc.
Its surprising the black smoke you see from car exhausts, this is unburned fuel that was paid for but wasted. I dont feel the need to overtake everything in sight but its surprising how many people do. I just want to get there in reasonable time and safely. The more I can deprive Mr McBroon of tax, the better I like it and petrol is not 75% tax as many people think, its actually 300% So I think its quite possible to get good MPG and enjoy ones car to the full. IMHO.

[Tenesmus]

ok, I'll bite... how do you get 300%?

[Richard Moss]

75% of the cost of a litre is tax, meaning that just 25% of it is the cost of the fuel.

That means that the tax is 3 times the price of the fuel - or 300%.

[BRG]

It maybe means that petrol is three times more expensive than it needs to be on account of the amount of tax levied on it. You can't have 300 'per cent', on account of it needs to be a number of 100 or less to actually mean anything. Something which used to cost £1 and now costs £3 (for eg) has not increased in price by '300 %'. It's price has multiplied. A percentage would only be relevant to the original number, and would ideally be smaller.

It's latin for 'the amount out of every hundred', you see.......

So, things can not 'increase by 300%', because they can only ever be 100% in the first place.

As for Mr Lombardi's book: I'm sure I've seen it advertised in the supplements. He might have also been the author of "You Can Increase Your Earning Potential Like Me: Earn $100,000+ Per Year!" Badda bing.
Can't believe motorists would have to buy a book to tell them these things.
Actually, can believe it. Capacity for stupidity among Britain's motorists well known to be more than 750%....

[CHR15E]

That's because, as always, Rover undergeared these cars in 5th. It's why the diesel box conversion on my mk2 was such a success.

Depending where I am I'm not going fast enough to use it.

[Kyle]

doubtless with very tall gearing.

Malcolm

2500rpm @ 70mph yes tall gearing.

The Kv6 revs slightly lower than this at 70 believe it or not ! But as you know an 827 auto is doing 3000rpm.

Don't ask what revs my current car does at 70, because i don't have a rev counter and quite frankly i don't want to know how many revs it takes a 1235cc engine to do 70 And the difference in economy between 60 and 70 is possibly 10mpg or more !

[malcolm_durant]

And today (the last day of my little experiment)?

147 miles equals 19.16 litres (surprised by that as I had a 3.5 hour journey back which was really congested and detour for an emergency loo break due to congestion...). That's 33.79mpg...

And re. the comments above about driving slowly to get over 30mpg; don't forget at least 95% of this mileage is motorway driving. I can assure you as much of all the journeys as possible have literally been spent in the fast lane...admittedly not always actually travelling very fast!!

Malcolm

[Richard Moss]

Motorway congestion can help MPG if it keeps speed down. I get better MPG at 55mph towing a trailer than at 70 without.

Increasing speed from 50 to 70mph DOUBLES aerodynamic drag.