Suzuki Swift 59 1.3. Good MPG, Average MPG, Bad MPG ?

gamehungry · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:12

Right been browsing the old forums and came accross this one, so here I am for some advice ! Hope you don't mind.

So Ive owned a Suzuki Swift 1.3 Petrol (59) since September 09. The car was/is new, it's currently got 2569 Miles on the clock.

The probem, a couple of months down the line I started to think I'm spending rather a lot on fuel compared to my last car which was a Fiat Punto 1.2 (01). At the moment I'm spending between £40-50 a month covering anywhere between 200-260 miles.

My main usage of the car is going to/from work, that journey is 1.6 miles each way. The car idles for around 2-3 mins on the journey while I remove the car from the garage, when i'm on the move I go through 3 sets of traffic lights stopping/going at some of them. I take the same route home. This journey is made at 6AM.

Now my car's telling me I'm getting an average of 28MPG over the month. Resetting it this morning and seeing what I get on one journey to/from work I got a result of 23MPG.

In summary I'm wondering if what I'm getting is right or not. Can anyone shed any light on this ?

While I'm here there's something else, the clutch on the car is very sensitive and has a high biting point so it makes it difficult to get the right revs when pulling off so I sometimes over rev it. I have gotton used to it nearly but it just seems strange again compared to my last car. Does this sound normal ?

Sorry for the essay !

Cheers,

gamehunrgy

danza · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:19

The clutch on my Swift Sport is awful. If I need to pull away in a hurry, it's a nightmare. I've managed to smoke it a couple of times now! I'm used to the rather heavy clutch of my Civic Type R, which requires standing on to operate.

My Swift averages ~35MPG, but that includes a 26 mile per day commute which the wife drives. I suspect it's not a great deal worse 'around town'. Yours sounds dreadfully low to me, unless you drive everywhere in 1st gear.

Lashout_UK · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:27

Doesn't sound like there's anything wrong to be honest. My grandad's modern Clio (think it's a 1.4 - I find it so boring and depressing that I've never bothered to look) returns similar figures in similar usage. Never really gets even properly warmed up.

The cold weather hurts economy so don't forget to factor that in - even more so if you're doing very short, low speed, numerous start-and-stop drives.

If you're that concerned run it into the dealer, get them to run a quick check on it - looking for any error codes and mixture test just to make sure it's not running rich, or lost a sensor somewhere along the line......

[TW]Fox · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:31

You are doing incredibly short distances where the car wont get up to operating temperature and this is where an engine is at its most inefficient.

And of course for 3 minutes of the journey your car is acheiving 0 mpg whilst it sits there idling for no reason whatsoever, so that'll hamper things as well.

Sirrel Squirrel · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:33

My missus has an 09 1.3 Swift and averages about 45mpg

gamehungry · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:35

danza said:
The clutch on my Swift Sport is awful. If I need to pull away in a hurry, it's a nightmare. I've managed to smoke it a couple of times now! I'm used to the rather heavy clutch of my Civic Type R, which requires standing on to operate.

My Swift averages ~35MPG, but that includes a 26 mile per day commute which the wife drives. I suspect it's not a great deal worse 'around town'. Yours sounds dreadfully low to me, unless you drive everywhere in 1st gear.

At least the clutch isn't just me then !

I thought it sounded bad, I don't drive everywhere in first gear no but I don't get higher then 3rd for much of the journey to work what with the starting and stopping.

I've driven from Scarborough to Newcastle a coupe of times and can manage that at around £25. So 186 miles around £25. Does that sound bad ?

With regards to my driving style I try to get into the highest gear possible as soon as possible. I usually go into 3rd at around 22-30MPH, 4th at around 30-40MPH and 5th at 40+MPH. I use my brakes rather then my gears to slow the car down, I cruise to junctions etc in what gear I'm in and stop.

Any suggestions to increase MPG ?

Thanks for your input btw !

gamehungry

PMKeates · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:35

gamehungry said:
The probem, a couple of months down the line I started to think I'm spending rather a lot on fuel compared to my last car which was a Fiat Punto 1.2 (01). At the moment I'm spending between £40-50 a month covering anywhere between 200-260 miles.

My main usage of the car is going to/from work, that journey is 1.6 miles each way. The car idles for around 2-3 mins on the journey while I remove the car from the garage, when i'm on the move I go through 3 sets of traffic lights stopping/going at some of them. I take the same route home. This journey is made at 6AM.

I don't quite understand. You cover between 200 and 260 miles per month, yet the main usage of the car is a 70 mile journey per month?

[TW]Fox · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:39

PMKeates said:
I don't quite understand. You cover between 200 and 260 miles per month, yet the main usage of the car is a 70 mile journey per month?

The most frequent journey type is a 1.6 mile run. Once a month he does a long trip.

The main usage of my car is driving to work - 4 miles away - yet once a month I cover 400 miles. Despite this I spend more time in the car doing the short trip than I do doing the long trip.

Yet another reason why mileage sucks when buying cars, I wonder what 'harms' my car most, my super low mileage twice a day every day or my 400 mile trip...

gamehungry · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:40

Ah more reply thanks guys ! Glad I asked here.

Does Scarborough to Newcastle (Metro Centre) (186 Miles Round Trip) at around £25 sound about right then ?

I'm thinking I should maybe start walking to work.

Thanks again.

gamehungry

ZG002 · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:41

Something is not right there mate.

My 09 swift gets high 30's to low 40's

Think its average is about 39.5 or something and I'm pretty heavy footed.

The clutch on them is a bloody nightmare tho!

PMKeates · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:43

[TW]Fox;15802899 said:
The most frequent journey type is a 1.6 mile run. Once a month he does a long trip.

The main usage of my car is driving to work - 4 miles away - yet once a month I cover 400 miles. Despite this I spend more time in the car doing the short trip than I do doing the long trip.

Yes but mathematically speaking, the average economy will be affected more by whatever else he is doing with it, which is why I was curious.

And those 400 mile journeys are crippling your car. You should buy a Polo Bluemotion for them.

gamehungry · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:43

PMKeates said:
I don't quite understand. You cover between 200 and 260 miles per month, yet the main usage of the car is a 70 mile journey per month?

Sorry, I forgot to mention the regular trips to the supermarket, trips to see family etc along with other small journeys. I always seem to cover around 200+ miles a month though.

I've travelled to york once a month the past coupe of months which is 80+ Miles a round trip. I'll reset the MPG counter next time I go from here (Scarborough) to York to see what i get.

PMKeates · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:45

gamehungry said:
Sorry, I forgot to mention the regular trips to the supermarket, trips to seem family etc along with other small journeys. I always seem to cover around 200+ miles a month though.

That's fine, but I would bear in mind that all those other journeys are affecting your average economy and thus overall fuel costs more than your journey to work!

gamehungry said:
Does Scarborough to Newcastle (Metro Centre) (186 Miles Round Trip) at around £25 sound about right then ?

That would be over 35mpg, depending on fuel price. As it's just an estimate that sounds OK.

siumatfung · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:46

thats worse than my teg haha

gamehungry · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:47

So if I was to take the car to my local Suzuki dealer what would you suggest I tell them. Just walk in and say my car is doing rubbish MPG, can you look at it ?

Cheers,

gamehungry

ZG002 · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:49

Which dealer you get it from?

PMKeates · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:50

I would say the economy is fine. It's a new car, probably not fully loosened up, and you are driving a very short journey with several minutes of idling. Trips to the supermarket etc. are all going to keep that just as bad.

My suggestion would be to reset your trip computer as you set off on the 186 mile journey and then report the mpg back here. If this is low then I personally would advise you to speak to Suzuki, but I suspect it will be OK.

Janesy B · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:52

Sounds about right to me. I wouldn't expect good MPG on short stop start trips.

gamehungry · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:52

ZG002 said:
Which dealer you get it from?

I got the car from the Suzuki Dealer in York (Glen Garage). We have a Suzuki dealer here in Scarborough though (GT Garages). I didn't get the car here in Scarborough as I went to 'Look' in York while I was there and came out with a new car.

Begbie · 23 Jan 2010 at 14:53

gamehungry said:
At least the clutch isn't just me then !

I thought it sounded bad, I don't drive everywhere in first gear no but I don't get higher then 3rd for much of the journey to work what with the starting and stopping.

I've driven from Scarborough to Newcastle a coupe of times and can manage that at around £25. So 186 miles around £25. Does that sound bad ?

With regards to my driving style I try to get into the highest gear possible as soon as possible. I usually go into 3rd at around 22-30MPH, 4th at around 30-40MPH and 5th at 40+MPH. I use my brakes rather then my gears to slow the car down, I cruise to junctions etc in what gear I'm in and stop.

Any suggestions to increase MPG ?

Thanks for your input btw !

gamehungry

I can do 300miles Wolverhampton to Edinburgh for £40~, thats in a 2.2 so that sounds pretty naff to me.