Drastic drop in MPG

gijohn2

gijohn2

gijohn2

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Joined
26 Jul 2013
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166
Location
England, Bromsgrove
Hi, I have a fiat punto 1.2 16v 99/00 (75bhp brum brum)

When I first started driving it as a learner I was getting 45-50 mpg easily without having to think about it, once I passed I was still getting that MPG but for the past month is been getting lower and lower.

It went from 41-45 to 37-39, I understand that my driving can effect it but even when I drive slow and smooth it still doesn't budge above 40. Tyre pressure is all correct at 28/32psi and I understand that the fuel mix changes in winter and that's meant to effect mpg but surly not a whole 10mpg!

Another thing, can a low oil levels effect the mpg? I have it topped up but having it full to its fill line help at all?


Cheers

Driving nooby
 
Cold weather typically reduces MPG by a noticable amount!

My car is in on Wednesday to have it's thermostat changed, as at the moment the car is having trouble maintaining coolant temperature!

My car was typically getting mid to high 60s with low 70s possible if traffic was flowing well and I lucked out on traffic lights. Currently I'm struggling to hit mid 50s.
 
My 325i dropped from ~27ish mpg to ~20mpg, turned out I had a sticking brake caliper, now sorted, the mpg is back where it was before.

I hadn't even noticed the sticking brakes tbh until it went to the garage for an unrelated job!

I'm envious of paradigm's figures, even his low one!! :o
 
It last had a service Sept 2012 and had everything done then and since that it has only done about 2-2.5k miles

I think I might do a crash course on how to service your own car
 
You passed your test. Youre probably driving everywhere like your arse is on fire, thats probably what happened to your mpg
 
Matt82 said:
You passed your test. Youre probably driving everywhere like your arse is on fire, thats probably what happened to your mpg
Click to expand...

Re-read my post, I do occasionally give it the beans but not all the time, even on motorway journeys the mpg stays low.

No matter how I drive it the mpg will not budge at all
 
My MPG has dropped a lot, but that's due to short journeys. I get around 35mpg local, but on a motorway run and once it's upto temp it's normal. Do not worry about it, just give it a service if it needs one and once the weather picks up it should be ok.
 
Cold weather and driving on wet roads can increase fuel consumption quite significantly. The better the mileage you car gets the bigger the difference it will make in terms of mpg.
 
Cheers vita and dogbreath, I'll just stick with it and hope that it picks up as it warms up, also the total mileage on the car is only 55k
 
My MPG has dropped from 51MPG to 45MPG, partly due to inner city/town driving over Xmas (as opposed to the long hauls to work every day), and also the cold and booting it.

I'm driving in Eco Pro Mode more than ever now and currently getting about 500 miles per tank; in Summer I was getting 600miles per tank. I don't think that is too bad.

(3 litre diesel)
 
I do lose some MPG in the winter but i'd not expect it to go down that much 66 to 63mpg for me roughly in the winter, i'd suspect something may be a miss. Look at your engine temp gauge, if its taking a long time to get up to the middle of the gauge and it goes up and down it could be a broken thermostat (usually a very cheap fix). Also after a journey check to see if any of your wheels are hot as a sticky brake or worn wheel bearing could be causing drag.
 
gijohn2 said:
It last had a service Sept 2012 and had everything done then and since that it has only done about 2-2.5k miles

I think I might do a crash course on how to service your own car
Click to expand...

If you're doing such a short amount of miles, then I suspect this is the main cause for your changeable fuel economy.

Assuming you drive 5 days a week, that means you're only doing around 8 miles a day at most, probably less.

I imagine during your driving lessons you were probably driving for longer times therefore your fuel economy would be better due to the engine being nice and warm. If you're only doing 4 miles each way somewhere, then I would say that's the biggest impact on your fuel economy.
 
Sounds about right to me, as said above it depends what type of driving you're doing. If short trips to town etc mpg is going to be lower than it will on a long run for example

Try not to worry about it too much
 
Wheyy, reset the computer and the MPG shot up to 45! I'm a happy chappy again!

My gf was abit confused when I said '**** yes 45mpg I have an erection at the thought'
 
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