Combined mpg

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Location
Stone, Staffordshire
Looking to change the Alfa soon and so one of the things I need to consider is the MPG for the replacement.

The GT is quoted as 45.6 combined and on my daily commute I achieve around 44.5 (I only use the car Mon - Fri so do the exact same commute for 25k miles per year).

Is it safe to assume that I will achieve a similar reduction on the official combined figure on the replacement vehicle?

I'm looking for a car that's not going to be a downgrade from the GT (so also no older than an 06 reg) but don't want another Alfa. This one has been relatively bullet proof and I'm not sure I'd be so lucky a second time around!

This will be a car to simply go up and down the m6 5 days a week but must be a good place to be for up to 3 hours a day!

If the new car reduces my ongoing costs then that is good also! It shouldn't cost more to run than my current car!

Some current stats:

1) New front tyres every year (25k miles)
2) New Rears every other year
3) Insurance Group 15
4) Tax Band G for Road Tax
5) 12000 miles service intervals
6) 44.5mpg

I have a budget of up to £12k and will be putting 75k miles on the car in 3 years. I would say the car should be sub 50k miles currently to give some value at resale.

0-60 times aren't important, economy, reliability and comfort is the key!
 
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Is it safe to assume that I will acheive a similar reduction on the official combined figure on the replacement vehicle?

Depends what you buy. Recently, manufacturers have become very skilled at developing cars that return excellent figures on the combined test yet not in the real world..
 
52 was my best on a 150 mile run of mixed A road and dual carraigeway. On the same run my 530i returns 30-31 against a combined figure of 29.7.
 
[TW]Fox;18290412 said:
BMW are who I was thinking of, I never got anywhere near those figures in 118d or 320d.

Not sure how they do the tests but it seems to take 30,000+ miles before their engines get any near those figures.

I personally expect to see figures in between combined and extra urban for real world motorway driving.
 
my 1.4 tdci fiesta does 65mpg apparently

Not sure it's the kind of place I'd want to spend up to 3 hours a day in!

Not sure how they do the tests but it seems to take 30,000+ miles before their engines get any near those figures.

I personally expect to see figures in between combined and extra urban for real world motorway driving.

I can understand that if it's purely motorway but most of us have to travel to the motorway junctions and get off at the other end.
This is my daily route

I can tell you that my dad's mk4 mondeo econetic (1.8TDCI) manages 55-59mpg on a mostly motorway commute - so the 2.0TDCI can't be far behind that.

Thanks for clarifying that, that's good to know.

It's a real shame no-one offers a service where can hire slightly older cars so you can actually use them for your own routes and compare and contrast!
 
I never seem to get anywhere near the combined MPG figures quoted, no doubt that's because even though my commute is pretty average mix in terms of A roads / B roads / motorway / traffic etc the biggest difference is usage of the right foot ;)

The Mini Cooper S figures are Urban 29.1 Extra Urban 53.3 Combined 40.9. Me = 30mpg :)
 
[TW]Fox;18290125 said:
Recently, manufacturers have become very skilled at developing cars that return excellent figures on the combined test yet not in the real world..

I had a Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 as a courtesy car back in November for 3 weeks, quoted combined fuel consumption of 41MPG, actual consumption 25MPG, and i do a fair bit of motorway mileage!

I only managed 41+ on one journey and on that occasion I got 43MPG, however my 53 plate Mondeo TDCI manages 67MPG on that same journey as a lot of it is downhill on the motorway, where the hell did Chevvy get their figures from? :confused:
 
I've been thrashing my Alfa's combined figure of 23mpg, Road trip says 25mpg since September, peak of 29 and 21 worst. Commuting through Romsey using unclassified roads, the A27 and the A3090.

Got a budget?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2428191.htm

Budget is 12k max. Ideally nearer to £10k and if sub £10k then that's even better! That Mazda 6 sounds cheap but lack of pictures puts me off!
 
Yea, I wanted to find a low miler 2.0D to show you, but they all seem to do big miles. The one I linked will almost certainly be hiding something.

If you can find one in good nick in the 20kmiles range I think it will definitely fall in budget. Just a matter of finding one.
 
I had a Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 as a courtesy car back in November for 3 weeks, quoted combined fuel consumption of 41MPG, actual consumption 25MPG, and i do a fair bit of motorway mileage!

I only managed 41+ on one journey and on that occasion I got 43MPG, however my 53 plate Mondeo TDCI manages 67MPG on that same journey as a lot of it is downhill on the motorway, where the hell did Chevvy get their figures from? :confused:

The european standard drive test (NEDC) that does not feature motorway driving - the manufacturers present the cars for testing. An independant EU body actually 'gets' the figures.
 
118d LCI sounds like the best bet so far but need to drive one on the motorway to see how it goes.

The 120d offers the same economy with more performance. Can't see why you'd want the 118d.

Additionally, the 1 Series is a poor car for any sort of distance on a regular basis - its short wheelbase and joggy ride lead to a car which isn't pleasent on a trip of any real length.
 
To be fair I don't see there being much between the 2 engines but there seem more 118's available!

Thanks for the feedback on the ride. Will certainly be trying it out for myself to see how it compares. Mondeo is the second main rival. Car will be newer and more suited to going up and down the m6 each day. Has the Mk4 had engine refreshes do you know?
 
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