Best fuel economy at 80mph - 1.6 TDi or 2.0 TDi?

[keith3289]

The biggest difference in MPG is going to be your speed, as you have found out, drop your speed by 10mph and expect to see around a 10mpg increase.

Cruise set to 75 and mine shows approx 45mpg (calibrated maxidot so it is now accurate)

Cruise set to 65 and I can get 55 - 60 mpg.

This is in a 170CR Superb Estate.

This isn't even likely to be a 10mph drop. You won't be on cruise constantly, so I bet the difference in the average speed is more like 5mph. But having said that, I rarely do 65-70 on a motorway if it is safe and possible to go faster - I honestly think if people are made to drive too slow they are less likely to concentrate on the road.

[booke23]

I honestly think if people are made to drive too slow they are less likely to concentrate on the road.

I think you'll find that the road accident statistics absolutely do not support your hypothesis.

[stu220]

Road collision statistics show that excessive speed is only responsible for the accident in a tiny percentage of collisions and the fact that many people think it is shows what government spin can do. Feel free to check official stats that breakdown the causes.

The real issue is drivers' perceived ability over actual ability, inappropriate speed for the road conditions, poor judgement of speed and distance when overtaking. Inability to read the road ahead or read a bend, causing excessive speed to be carried into a bend and the car ending up off the road or on the wrong side of the road and beyond the drivers control. I could go on.

Concentration needs to go hand in hand with training and speed does not come into a persons ability to concentrate.

[booke23]

Road collision statistics show that excessive speed is only responsible for the accident in a tiny percentage of collisions and the fact that many people think it is shows what government spin can do. Feel free to check official stats that breakdown the causes.

Really? How come when a speed camera is placed on an accident black spot on a road to enforce the speed limit, the accident rate always drops significantly.

inappropriate speed for the road conditions, poor judgement of speed and distance when overtaking. Inability to read the road ahead or read a bend, causing excessive speed to be carried into a bend

Yes, it often boils down to speed.

[Web Ferret]

Doing 165 miles a day means fuel consumption is key to keeping costs down.

Thats some daily commute.

I though my daily 63 mile was high but as an employee I pay all my own costs.

I'm in a 2.0TDI but considering a drop down to a 1.6CR Fabia as the Rapid seems to be overpriced so far.

[fabia55]

Really? How come when a speed camera is placed on an accident black spot on a road to enforce the speed limit, the accident rate always drops significantly.

Yes, it often boils down to speed.

It boils down to the driver, you should drive as fast as it is safe to do so and based on driver ability.

How come most speeds cameras are strategically placed, on the places that catch people out and the faster but safer parts of roads, rather than where they should be, there are several schools in my area and not one of them has any speed cameras near, however on some roads there are cameras hidden behind a tree or some other object and usually at the part of the road where you're likely to be travelling fastest such as at the bottom of a hill even though it's a completely straight road no obvious hazards.

[silver1011]

Thats some daily commute.

I though my daily 63 mile was high but as an employee I pay all my own costs.

I'm in a 2.0TDI but considering a drop down to a 1.6CR Fabia as the Rapid seems to be overpriced so far.

Yes, it's not ideal, but I'm lucky in that there is little traffic so it's pretty stress free.

I get car allowance but pay for my private mileage so it's currently costing me around £400/month in diesel.

I one had a 1.6 TDi CR105 SEAT Ibiza Sport Tourer (estate to you and me) as a courtesy car and struggled to get anywhere near 50mpg. It was very new / tight though.

This has put me off the idea of a Fabia as I'm not sure what it will be like at 80mph, both comfort and economy wise..?

Edited 7 January, 2013 by silver1011

[Kiwibacon]

Octy 3 is teasing with 4.1 litres/100km in the 2.0tdi manual. 8.5 seconds to 100km/h.

http://www.octaviafa...new-octavia-is/

Might pay to wait. Depending on new or used and budget of course.

[booke23]

I can't speak for the Fabia 2, however I run a 2006 Fabia 1.9 TDI.

It is economical....I average 63 mpg calculated, and it's cheap to run. It's got enough power to happily cruise at 90 mph if you so wish. However it is certainly a significant step down in terms of comfort, refinement, quality and driving enjoyment compared to the Octavia.

Don't get me wrong...the Fabia isn't a bad car, and it's better than most small cars I've owned in the past......it's just when you own an Octavia too, you realise it's in a different league. But I can put up with it as my daily commute is only 40 miles.

The Fabia 2 might be alot better....but somehow I'm not sure it is.....and with such a large commute such as your's, I'd be tempted to stick to an Octavia.

[Davidsr20]

U really would miss ur vrs, if u get ur dpf removed u will get better mpg too, I couldn't go back to a 1.6tdi I often drove my mothers and there's no low down power at all, I can't understand why people bother as there is not much diff in the mpg on both, the vrs is an all rounder , looks/mpg/power.

Would u not buy a cr vrs there better on diesel although I drove a 2011 one today and can't come to terms with the power delivery

[polanglo]

Have you considered buying a 2.0Tdi with only 110bhp? This is a common-rail diesel with DPF. I have this version, but I live on the continent, so I'm not sure if it is, or was, available in the UK. I've got a 6-speed manual box and it's great. At an indicated 120km/h which is about 75mph in 6th it's only pulling 2000rpm. At 130km/h (80mph??) It's only 2,150rpm. Not bad, in my opinion. Anyone else on Briskoda with this combination? I'm beginning to feel like I'm a freak and a 'Johnny no mates.'

[Davidsr20]

Have you considered buying a 2.0Tdi with only 110bhp? This is a common-rail diesel with DPF. I have this version, but I live on the continent, so I'm not sure if it is, or was, available in the UK. I've got a 6-speed manual box and it's great. At an indicated 120km/h which is about 75mph in 6th it's only pulling 2000rpm. At 130km/h (80mph??) It's only 2,150rpm. Not bad, in my opinion. Anyone else on Briskoda with this combination? I'm beginning to feel like I'm a freak and a 'Johnny no mates.'

Over here there's only 140 and 170 bhp

[silver1011]

Would u not buy a cr vrs there better on diesel although I drove a 2011 one today and can't come to terms with the power delivery

I do like the vRS but I'm getting old and would sacrifice a little performance for softer suspension

This is why the 140bhp 2.0 TDi is sounding like the better choice.

It's just a shame this engine is so hard to find on used Octavia's, the market is flooded with 1.6 TDi's.

To make things more difficult I'd have to have an Elegance or L&K spec as I like my toys :think:

[TDIum]

Very happy with my 2.0 CR 140. I don't think the 1.6 would be significantly more economical under motorway conditions.

[silver1011]

If the SE+ came with a centre armrest and front fogs/DRL's I'd be all over one like a rash

[flinflon]

Really? How come when a speed camera is placed on an accident black spot on a road to enforce the speed limit, the accident rate always drops significantly.

Yes, it often boils down to speed.

Pls note stu220 is based in Kent. Kent police are not too worried about speeding. Motor bike clocked at 160 mph along the Sevenmile lane and was dealt with amazing leniency. A woman was stopped in 7oaks for doing 50+ mph in 30 area - naughty lady don't do it again! Try this in Surrey and you'll be without licence within a week.

[Web Ferret]

Thanks Silver

I may need a re-think oh and I've joined Fuely to track mpg.

[UplymeSkoda]

We have a new Octavia 1.6 diesel it's got just over 2000 miles on it now, we did a 400 mile round trip at the weekend and managed 54 MPG in "normal mode " and 51 in "Eco" on the way back some motorway some A roads it appeared in eco that about 77 mph was optimum and 80 mph was optimum in normal! The return trip it was doing 57 MPG and going up but as the temp outside dropped so did the economey.

 

Does anybody know the correct Economy style? I dont heel/toe or double declutch on the down shifts I let the speed build rather than use the turbo to push the car and block change down the box. we live in a hilly area and have a two drive East for one Motorway(M27) and an hour west for the M5 and abot 45 mins North for the 303 so it'll always be a combined cycle.

[Ultrasonic]

An old thread but...

We have a new Octavia 1.6 diesel it's got just over 2000 miles on it now, we did a 400 mile round trip at the weekend and managed 54 MPG in "normal mode " and 51 in "Eco" on the way back some motorway some A roads it appeared in eco that about 77 mph was optimum and 80 mph was optimum in normal!

What do you mean by optimal? If you mean it gives the best fuel economy, there is no way in the world that 77 mph or 80 mph is optimal. The aerodynamic drag is just too large for slower speeds not to be more economical. If you don't get better fuel economy at 60 mph I'd eat any hat in the world you can find.

Edited 11 November, 2013 by Ultrasonic

[booke23]

An old thread but...

What do you mean by optimal? If you mean it gives the best fuel economy, there is no way in the world that 77 mph or 80 mph is optimal. The aerodynamic drag is just too large for slower speeds not to be more economical. If you don't get better fuel economy at 60 mph I'd eat any hat in the world you can find.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

In broad terms, the most economical method when cruising at steady speed over long distances, is to drive at the slowest speed possible while still in top gear (while not labouring the engine). In the case of my Fabia this is around 47 mph. At this speed on a level road I get close to 80 mpg on a 1.9 PD. Of course even I don't like driving this slow, so I would choose a higher speed to get a better balance of economy vs time spend on the road......56 mph is about as slow as I'd drive on a motorway so as not to be a pest to lorries.

 

However as soon as speed is greater than about 55 mph, wind resistance starts becoming a major factor. As an illustration, If I drive to work at 56 mph, I usually get around 66-67 mpg. If I cruise only 9 mph faster at 65 mph, this drops to around 59 mpg. If I cruise at 85 mph economy drops again to 47 mpg. In other words my fuel bill would be 42% higher if I cruise at 85 mph as opposed to 56 mph.   

 

How slow can you go? That is the key to distance cruising fuel economy!     

[Gizmo]

Sorry but anyone travelling at between 50 - 56 mph in a car on the motorway ARE being a nuisance to lorries... their limiters are set anywhere between these two speeds,

No HGV should ever HAVE TO overtake a car on the motorway, if you really want good economy AND keep from being a nuisance to lorries then stick to 60mph.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[booke23]

No HGV should ever HAVE TO overtake a car on the motorway, 

 

Yep, that's why I said.....

 

56 mph is about as slow as I'd drive on a motorway so as not to be a pest to lorries.   

 

As I see it, the biggest pest to HGV's when it comes to overtaking slower vehicles are other HGV's. Half of them have 56 mph limiters and the other half have 50 mph limiters. Not to mention cranes, which seem to cruise at 40 mph on the motorway.  

[Ultrasonic]

I thought HGVs were all limited to 57 mph (90 kph) to meet some EU law? Or is it a question of this being the maximum speed allowed but they have limiters set to varying speeds below this?

 

When I have the time, I drive at an indicated 60 mph (sat nav says 57-58 mph) on motorways precisely so as to not cause HGVs to ever need to overtake.

[alberg]

My 1.6 tdi is averaging 5.5liter per 100km.

Have a mate who is doing 4.7liter and another 6.2liter.

More economical than the 2.0tdi 140hp, no I measure the same why, maybe because the 1.6 is only 5 speed and 2.0 6 speed.

[booke23]

I thought HGVs were all limited to 57 mph (90 kph) to meet some EU law? Or is it a question of this being the maximum speed allowed but they have limiters set to varying speeds below this?

 

The 90 kph limit is indeed the EU mandated limit for HGV's. However most supermarket chains and a few other operators now limit their trucks to 50 mph for increased economy. I suppose market forces will mean eventually more and more operators will be doing the same thing in order to compete.