MPG

digitalwolf

digitalwolf

digitalwolf

Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2004
Posts
3,589
Location
England
How do I achieve decent MPG in my Saxo without selling it haha.

I need to make this tank of Petrol last until pay day. I'm currently short shifting and going 1,2,3,5. Worth it?

I mainly do urban driving!

Any tips?

Thanks ;)
 
Sitting at 30mph in 5th doesn't necessarily give you better fuel consumption. You'll most likely get more mpg in 4th gear as the engine is under less load even though it is running at a higher RPM.Don't change to 5th until over 40mph.

Leave plenty of braking distance from the car in front so if it slows down momentarily you dont have to slam on the brakes and accelerate again. Use engine braking to slow you down unless you have to use the brakes.

Also, empty any unnecessary weight from the car. If you've got a load of crap in the boot (like me) then removing it may go towards giving you an extra couple of miles.
 
Read the road ahead, so for instance if traffic lights half a mile away on an NSL road go red, just ease off and slow down slowly.... quite often they'll go green again before you get there. If you just rushed up to them and then had to brake to a standstill, you'd have to accelerate from standing up to speed again which kills fuel ecomony.

Also try not to use full throttle, keep a decent distance from the car in front so you don't keep braking, drive smoothly etc.
 
I was messing with my MPG meter thingy and found these worked for me to bring my MPG up :

- Coast as much as possible, (clutch down)
- when you hit 35mph hit 5th gear
- change gear at 2000rpm (on a 1.25 fiesta)
- avoid 1st gear
- leave a huge gap in front of you so you can avoid slowing and speeding up a lot

the coasting is probably killing my car...but that was only to test my theory out... and it worked!
 
Kappa said:
- Coast as much as possible, (clutch down)


<snip>


and it worked!
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Afraid coasting won't work.

With the clutch down, the engine needs to burn fuel to enable it to turn over at it's idle point and not cut out.

However, when slowing down with the car in gear and the clutch up in a modern engine, the fuel will be totally cut off and the engine allowed to turn by the momentum the car has turning the wheels/gears etc.

If the trip computer told you it gets better consumption with the clutch down, it's probably just because it hasnt been programmed with that eventuality.

I should add that when the fuel supply is cut off to the engine and it is turning under the vehicles momentum, the trip computer in most cars displays 99.9 or whatever the largest figure is that it can for fuel consumption.
 
PeterNem said:
I should add that when the fuel supply is cut off to the engine and it is turning under the vehicles momentum, the trip computer in most cars displays 99.9 or whatever the largest figure is that it can for fuel consumption.
Click to expand...

Mine goes up to about 240.0 then 850.0 then it gives ---.- when engine braking so I assume that it isn't using any petrol since the mpg increased dramatically to a point where it would suggest that I get infinite mpg.
 
Scuzi said:
Also, empty any unnecessary weight from the car. If you've got a load of crap in the boot (like me) then removing it may go towards giving you an extra couple of miles.
Click to expand...

Why are you in his boot? :eek:
 
saitrix said:
Why are you in his boot? :eek:
Click to expand...

I'm trying to disconnect the bomb. If he goes under 50mpg the car will explode.

My boot is full of crap, coats, blankets, jumpers, tools, boxes etc...
 
I'm really surprised by the amount of people that think they are going to save fuel by going everywhere at 20mph in 5th gear,by pulling away in 2nd or by missing out gears.
If you really want to save fuel fuel don't do short trips in the car, plan your journey so your not sitting in traffic for too long and drive smoothly without over revving or labouring the engine. As already said, read the road ahead much further than the end of your bonnet and try to anticipate traffic lights etc. so you don't have to stop.
Driving with your windows and sunroof open can reduce fuel economy by about 5mpg due to added drag.
 
digitalwolf said:
How do I achieve decent MPG in my Saxo without selling it haha.

I need to make this tank of Petrol last until pay day. I'm currently short shifting and going 1,2,3,5. Worth it?

I mainly do urban driving!

Any tips?

Thanks ;)
Click to expand...

As you're mainly doing urban driving there isn't much you can do. Most of your braking is probably determined by traffic and junctions, so out of your control.

As has been said, your best bet is to try and read what's happening ahead and try to plan for it...
 
Use 3/4 throttle when accelerating and shift at 2.5k (ish), feathering the throttle just drags out any acceleration and is counter productive.
 
Thanks for the tips.

Pay day is next Friday and i've currently done 100 miles since Saturday (when I last filled up) and it's used 1/4 of a tank.

I always usually shift at 3k revs and 3.5k in 3rd so when I knock it into 5th it picks up nicely.

So, I gotta shift at 2.5k and not short shift?
 
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