What's up with this!

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 01:51

First of all. If this sounds totally stupid, or whatever... don't laugh or shout at me. I am new to all this car stuff!

Well. I've been driving for a year now. I have a Mazda 3 Takuya, 1.6. It's one of those special editions. A re branded Ts2 with some extra toys. (so I've been told)

It's a very slow car. I'm far from a boy racer, however, I'm struggling to overtake pensioners when their reversing. It really is that bad. Around the town it's fine, as soon as I hit the bypass, it's got no juice what so ever!

I sort of learned to live with it, and just stick to the slow lane. The good thing I always thought would be, it's bound to be good on petrol.... well.... It's not!!! I put £20 in an empty tank and I'll average 77 miles. Am I being unreasonable here thinking that's pathetic? Or is this normal and I should suck it up? As I said, all I know about cars is what Clarkson tells me on a Sunday night.

The car looks good and is nice to drive. That's about it. However, I'm pretty sick of the lack of juice and the petrol.

I do notice the acceleration dropping significantly with a full car. Going from 10mph to 50mph seems to take an eternity with the foot down.

Anyway... anyone fancy sharing their wisdom with me?

MissChief · 20 Jul 2011 at 02:02

official performance figures are 0-62 in 11.6 seconds so it's never going to feel really fast. 77 miles from £20 sounds lower than I'd expect though. have you ever brimmed the tank from empty to see how many miles you get from a full tank?

There could also be a problem with it, possibly a lambda sensor meaning the engine is running rich or a MAF sensor possibly.

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 02:18

MissChief said:
official performance figures are 0-62 in 11.6 seconds so it's never going to feel really fast. 77 miles from £20 sounds lower than I'd expect though. have you ever brimmed the tank from empty to see how many miles you get from a full tank?

There could also be a problem with it, possibly a lambda sensor meaning the engine is running rich or a MAF sensor possibly.

I don't think much is slower than 11.6. It feels like a week. 60-80 I think is another 11.6 seconds!

I have indeed filled it from empty... 330 miles on average... dependent on petrol price at time etc.

MissChief · 20 Jul 2011 at 02:20

330 miles doesn't seem too bad. how big is the tank? my 306 gti6 gets about 350 miles but can cost around £80 to fill!

Have you checked your tracking and tyre pressures?

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 02:28

MissChief said:
330 miles doesn't seem too bad. how big is the tank? my 306 gti6 gets about 350 miles but can cost around £80 to fill!

Have you checked your tracking and tyre pressures?

Embarrassingly, no. I can check the tyre pressure at petrol stations with the machine can't I?

I would need to take it to a garage for tracking? Wouldn't I feel it sort of unaligned if the tracking was off?

The figures don't make sense really. £20 =77 miles £58 = 330

That's 100 miles I'm losing out on. Is it always the same with cars, if you only put in 20 quid or whatever, it's less economical. Is it always best to fill it to the top?

77 miles for 20 quid. Sometimes I feel like taking the bus. (which I believe to have a greater 0-60 time) I wouldn't feel half as bad if it was a 2L sub 8 seconds car.

Thanks for your help and advice btw. It's really appreciated.

MissChief · 20 Jul 2011 at 02:53

if you really don't like it, chop it in for something else?

if the tracking is off, does the car drive straight if you let go of the wheel (on a quiet, flat street!)? it may pull to the left very slightly as Uk roads are cambered that way to let the rain run off. Also is the steering wheel centred when driving in a straight line?

If you lift off the accelerator and put the car into neutral does the car 'coast' and slow down slowly or does it slow down quicker than you would expect? I hope you're not riding the clutch or even the brake pedal when driving? is the handbrake binding a little bit? So many things to check.

J4K3 M · 20 Jul 2011 at 03:05

Im not the best on cars but 77 miles of £20 is pretty poor, well depending on petrol prices.

I put £30 from empty in my 1.4 polo the other week and it got me 210 miles. Decided to see how many miles I can get from a full tank and that cost me £48 to fill it up from empty to full today

I paid 130.9 today for mine but will more than likely vary where you live

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 04:37

MissChief said:
if you really don't like it, chop it in for something else?

if the tracking is off, does the car drive straight if you let go of the wheel (on a quiet, flat street!)? it may pull to the left very slightly as Uk roads are cambered that way to let the rain run off. Also is the steering wheel centred when driving in a straight line?

If you lift off the accelerator and put the car into neutral does the car 'coast' and slow down slowly or does it slow down quicker than you would expect? I hope you're not riding the clutch or even the brake pedal when driving? is the handbrake binding a little bit? So many things to check.

The steering is fine. Doesn't pull left or right. Coasting is fine, it goes on for quite a bit without stopping. I take it this eliminates brake pads rubbing?

I never ride the clutch or the brake. My dad mentioned something about people riding the clutch, saying it was stupid bla bla... what exactly is the purpose of this? Why do people do it?

Handbrake seems fine. I think it's just a generally **** car with regards to fuel consumption.

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 04:39

J4K3 M said:
Im not the best on cars but 77 miles of £20 is pretty poor, well depending on petrol prices.

I put £30 from empty in my 1.4 polo the other week and it got me 210 miles. Decided to see how many miles I can get from a full tank and that cost me £48 to fill it up from empty to full today

I paid 130.9 today for mine but will more than likely vary where you live

201 miles. God! That's amazing! I can only dream of getting anywhere near that. How is your driving? What are you changing at? 2000rpm? Higher?

I bet it's quicker as well... god. Sooner I get a bike the better I think. Anyone know what there like on petrol?

ZX6R specifically?

horseunderwater · 20 Jul 2011 at 05:43

it will be slightly more econimical with half a tnak (£20) than if you fill it right up due to carrying less weight

bledd · 20 Jul 2011 at 06:24

It should get 43 mpg according to book

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=48104

Fuelly (real world) shows around 32mpg

http://www.fuelly.com/car/mazda/3

Do this..
Fill your tank with petrol, zero the odometer
When it reaches as low as you dare go into the red, fill it up again and whack the details into this website.

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/fuelcalculator/

Doing it over say 5 full tanks will give you a more accurate reading

-Judge it by litres, not by cost. The amount you save by not filling the tank is negligible and is outweighed by not having to do the ball-ache task of going to get more petrol so often

metbandit1 · 20 Jul 2011 at 07:44

Buchanan0204 said:
201 miles. God! That's amazing! I can only dream of getting anywhere near that. How is your driving? What are you changing at? 2000rpm? Higher?

I bet it's quicker as well... god. Sooner I get a bike the better I think. Anyone know what there like on petrol?

ZX6R specifically?

Youll get anywhere between 35-43 ish on a zx6r, but you wont car much about fuel economy when you having so much fun!

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 14:28

metbandit1 said:
Youll get anywhere between 35-43 ish on a zx6r, but you wont car much about fuel economy when you having so much fun!

35-43? is that MPG? Or how many miles for 20 quid?

I'm sure it's going to be amazing, and as you say. The mazda is boring as hell. The ZX6R on the other hand, well...

Berger · 20 Jul 2011 at 14:36

I got 1000 miles for £20.

Oh but I forgot to mention I was in Venezuela and it was $0.12 a gallon (US).

How many miles for £20 is a completely useless figure. You need an MPG figure derived from filling the tank to the brim then driving the car and then filling it to the brim again and recording the milage and the litres used.

Philz0r · 20 Jul 2011 at 14:39

my trip computer in the astra says i get 100miles for £20 . The astra is also a 1.6 but mine has a turbo and i drive like a granny.

Your talking about your accelerating. If u redline up to 70 a lot No wonder its low.

Buchanan0204 · 20 Jul 2011 at 17:13

Philz0r said:
my trip computer in the astra says i get 100miles for £20 . The astra is also a 1.6 but mine has a turbo and i drive like a granny.

Your talking about your accelerating. If u redline up to 70 a lot No wonder its low.

My computer says 90 miles. I don't red line it at all. I change at 3-4k on the bypass, 2-3 in town. Very rarely will I red line it.

Jano · 20 Jul 2011 at 17:25

If its a 1.6 its the same as mine (Ts2 here though). From a full tank I get around 400 miles, give or take. The Mazda 3s are notorious for bad fuel economy, and the 1.6 is particularly noted as the weakest of the engines.

1st is gutless. 2nd is better. Getting the revs up in 3/4th and thats where the power is.

[TW]Fox · 20 Jul 2011 at 17:27

Not Mazdas best engine this

Berger · 20 Jul 2011 at 18:37

Jano said:
If its a 1.6 its the same as mine (Ts2 here though). From a full tank I get around 400 miles, give or take. The Mazda 3s are notorious for bad fuel economy, and the 1.6 is particularly noted as the weakest of the engines.

1st is gutless. 2nd is better. Getting the revs up in 3/4th and thats where the power is.

With first and second gear being shorter ratios than third and fourth the car would accelerate better in these?

benskia · 20 Jul 2011 at 21:01

Hi.
I'm quite drunk at the moment, so this could be wrong:

£20 / £1.32 (per litre) = 15.15 litres of fuel put into tank.
77 miles / 15.15 litres = 5.13 miles per litre
5.13 * 4.55 (litres in a gallon) = 23 mpg

Maybe what you would expect for some kind of performance petrol engine.
Would be disappointing to pay that much and drive like an 80 year old.