The MPG Generation..

[jigger]

Its all about picking the right horse for the course IMO. I have a group of cars and they all have good and bad points. From a MPG point of view I cars at both extremes of the scale and more the economical ones rack up the majority of the miles.

One thing that makes me laugh more than someone looking to spend over the odds for higher MGP is people that drive like fools trying to eek out every last drop of economy out of something big and thirsty. I think that's a much sadder state of affairs.

 

[DiCe!]

So for all the "no this is better no that is better", what would be the best economical, slightly good, reliable and cheap to run car to buy?

 

[jigger]

That would differ from person to person.

 

[Abraxaz1]

The only reason why i have a small diesel eco car ( peugeot 206 1.4hdi ) is because i do 92 miles a day commuting and i pretty much sit behind a truck doing 60 mph or 2200 rpm all the way there on the motorway.
do between 650 - 750 miles from the tank depending on how late or bored i am.

 

[jigger]

I was looking for a small 4 door eco wagon to cut down on some silly fuel prices/maintenance costs and help save the Earth. I went for a 1.4 TDCI Ford and I haven't been able to find a fault with it 99% of the time. Its been that good I've grown quite fond of the ugly little spud. Its got a strange appeal maybe I'm getting old

 

[Dogbreath]

I'd question your driving ability or the fact that you obviously expect too much performance from a 90/110bhp car and therefore have your right foot planted to the floor constantly.

Yes it was a slug, and I wasn't hanging around. Cruising at ~85mph on motorways and 60 on most unrestricted single carriageways. However, if I had made the same journey in my 225bhp turbocharged petrol engined car, I would have expected 29-30mpg (based on the previous 40,000 miles I've driven the car for). My car also doesn't sound like a tractor on light throttle (I was genuinely surprised just how clattery the TDCi was with a light throttle) and I could have overtaken cars without having to plan a mile in advance for the run up.

What is the point in buying a lethargic, noisy diesel for economy, if you also have to drive it very slowly to get the economy? I can drive a petrol engined car slowly and get good economy.

On the plus side the Focus does have excellent body control and handling, though the steering is pretty dead. An ST could certainly be on my list for my next car, I need to get a test drive.

 

[Raymond Lin]

So for all the "no this is better no that is better", what would be the best economical, slightly good, reliable and cheap to run car to buy?

I quite what I ended up with. A Yaris. Yes it's boring compare to some but I like it.

1.8L
131bhp
08 plate
40mpg
0-62 9seconds (book figure, YouTube has it around 7/8 seconds?) it's not amazing but quick enough.
It's a Yaris so Toyota reliability (touch wood)

cost me £6,550 4 months ago, all it cost me so far are consumables (tyres) and petrol. I am hoping it'll last. I do want an Cooper S but scared that'll be a money pit to run.

 

[Dave M]

What is the point in buying a lethargic, noisy diesel for economy, if you also have to drive it very slowly to get the economy? I can drive a petrol engined car slowly and get good economy.

It's called economy not free energy.

Like the economy cycle on the washing machine - it uses less energy than the boil wash, it also does not boil.

If it boiled it wouldn't be called the economy cycle.

 

[Sukh]

Problem is in years to come there will be very few nice cars as everyone buys new eco boxes

 

[Minstadave]

Problem is in years to come there will be very few nice cars as everyone buys new eco boxes

For the next few years though we'll have lovely cheap large petrol engined cars as they're not mainstream anymore.

 

[Joshy]

I picked up on this trend a while ago when I realized that the other apprentices on training seemed far more interested in the mpg figures they got on the way down to the hotel than discussing any vaguely interesting aspects of cars. even more depressing when you remember their companies were picking up the fuel bill anyway.

I haven't got much of an issue of people in generally wanting economical cars, but when young red blooded males with an interest geared towards cars will rather brag about their mpg figures instead of 0-60 times I find it a bit sad. I wont take the increased cost of motoring as an excuse either. If you want to play you pay. It has always been that way. I like cars so I have spent every penny I can justify and more in order to in enjoy my hobby. But then that may be the issue, cars not being hobbies Anymore, but rather fashion statements and tools to get from a to b and nothing more.

 

[Dureth]

My only concession to getting high MPG is carrying more corner speed so I don't need to accelerate out of the bend again!

 

[Relentless81]

Thats unfortunate, powering out of corners is one of my favourite things about driving

 

[Dogbreath]

It's called economy not free energy.

Like the economy cycle on the washing machine - it uses less energy than the boil wash, it also does not boil.

If it boiled it wouldn't be called the economy cycle.

Not comparable - the washing machine does the same job with less energy. The car does not in this case. OK it got me to my destination which is ultimately it's job I suppose, but for the level of performance it (didn't) deliver I felt it should have returned better economy. I was changing gear when the green arrow lit up most of the time, and I wasn't in maximum attack mode.

 

[DBT85]

If you want to play you pay. It has always been that way. I like cars so I have spent every penny I can justify and more in order to in enjoy my hobby. But then that may be the issue, cars not being hobbies Anymore, but rather fashion statements and tools to get from a to b and nothing more.

This is it exactly. I want a car to get form home to work and to the shop. I couldn't care less if it does 0-60 in 12 seconds or 5 seconds. For people who have cars as a hobby, like quite a few here, its different. For everyone else they just want to not get a bill for £500 for new tyres, and everything else.

 

[233]

the problem is anyone under mid 20's has these days is that anything remotely interesting is silly money to insure.

i remember (back in the day when i passed my test) being able to insure nearly any hot-hatch of the day for under a grand at 17


i remember my first car( a modified xr2 mk2) running exhaust and filter uprated cam and loads of other mods being a quite shocking sub £600 to insure. my Escort Turbo was under £800 with over 200 brake. and my silly tuned R5 Gt Turbo being £650 or thereabouts.

now if your 17 and want anything other than a super eco box your paying thousands of pounds to insure.

the young boys cant afford performance so they look for something else to be proud of with their car, in this case its all about the MPGZsss y0


the sad thing is my insurance costs me a lot more at 30 than it did for even sillier cars at 20

example- modded LCR £700 a year FC at 30
modded cossie £540 a year fc at 20

 

[Fusion]

the young boys cant afford performance so they look for something else to be proud of with their car, in this case its all about the MPGZsss y0

Cost is an issue, but I don't think this is the only reason. The motoring zeitgeist is changing as a result of the simple fact that resources (conventionally extracted fossil fuels) are becoming more scarce and there has been a massive expansion in the past ten years in focus on sustainability, climate change, global warming and Carbon Dioxide emissions.

It is more fashionable and desirable for buyers to value qualities such as economy in the same way it is to buy Fairtrade products in a supermarket or organic milk.

Ironically though despite the eco-warriors seemingly having the upper hand, there has never been such a range of performance cars on sale as there is today- you can just as easily buy a ridiculously thirsty V12 as you could fifteen or twenty years ago. Cars are also more powerful generally, and outputs show no sign of slowing.

 

[speedyj]

It's difficult to remain enthusiastic about motoring when it's raping your wallet.

This.

 

[Gaygle]

It's difficult to remain enthusiastic about motoring when it's raping your wallet.

Buy a cheaper car then? No matter how much money i had i would always have a performance/fun car. There is nothing that could force me to have a boring car unless i was suddenly and unexpectedly doing a large amount of miles. Even then i'd just get a diesel version of the car i wanted. If i had:

1k to spend: Primera GT
3k to spend: Accord Type R
5k to spend: Civic Type R/Leon Cupra R/
7k to spend: Good 330i/Focus ST/Golf GTI Mk5/Megane R26/Clio 197
9k to spend: E90 330i/BMW Z5

etc etc

I think there is a performance or fun car at every price level. Performance cars don't *have* to be much more expensive to run than "regular" cars, but it is a case of looking at the big picture.

 

[jaybee]

I'm glad I have owned a couple of fun cars to be honest. And a motorbike. I just can't see me ever owning something fun and fast again. Just not affordable or fun on UK roads these days. Maybe it's rose tinted specs looking back at "the good old days", but I think as people have said in these economic times, running something that makes you considerably less well off when you could have some boring Diesel but have additional disposable income each month for other things...well it's an easy choice in terms of priorities. Speed cameras and pot holes curb (pun intended) a lot of peoples enthusiasm too these days. The best roads are all rammed with traffic.