Gerrycan

I think it wise to follow the manual's recommendations and resist the temptation to lower pressure even if it feels 'wrong'. The Octavia is a relatively light vehicle (less so if you have diesel and awd version) so a 1300kg towing weight on the back is compromising performance but I am sure you are aware of the potential risks and drive accordingly. I'm presuming the caravan is a single axle unit with simple sliding mechanism activating drum brakes. The brakes are essential but they do have their limitations and their effectiveness can easily be compromised by water ingress, overheating or even irregular servicing. In the event of an emergency braking situation there are all sorts of unusual forces being exerted on the rear of the vehicle (effecting both front and rear tyres) with excessive thrust and downforce on the towbar the extent of which will depend on a number of factors including caravan centre of gravity, its braking system efficiency and road gradient. In the worst situation you will need the recommended high car tyre pressures to resist tyre deformation and consequent compromised tyre/road contact that could eventuate from heavy braking loads. I'll repeat what I posted in another tyre pressure topic: You don't wear seatbelts for the comfort or convenience but for when things go drastically wrong and I consider this is a similar situation and personally I would go for safety over comfort tyre pressures.

I remember a Briskoda post years back where a mk3 2.0tdi estate owner was happily getting 50 to 60 mpg on his commute and then he swapped with his wife's small petrol car for a month or so. She remarked after a while that it needed refuelling so when he refueled he was amazed at the poor consumption (much worse than the OP's). She was only doing short local runs and there must have been constantly interrupted regens. Normal consumption resumed when the cars were swapped back.

Welcome @Slick2097 I just looked up the Tolkien run on the net and the promo video of the route looks quite fantastic! Quite envious of you even though I'd now be struggling to do 10km especially with some steep bits. Really popular too having completely sold out. Looking forward to hearing a report from you about the event.

I can relate to what you said regarding exercise and mental health. It certainly helped me through a really protracted phase where I was unemployed and the difficulty I experienced of getting any employment was a real shock. Life happens and there are setbacks, but you have a good conditioning base that is going to help you to heal faster and I expect you to come out the other side with a reasonable level of fitness. You will be able to increase the levels of exercise as you heal. Do not underestimate the benefits of a good walk, physically and psychologically. To quote my wife's physio when she had debilitating and painful lower back issues from a sudden disk prolapse a couple of months ago. "You're in good health and physical condition and I'm optimistic we can resolve your issues without major interventions. Of course if you were carrying a 20 kg stomach then this would be an entirely different conversation". He was right by the way and she improved rapidly

Sorry to hear about your injury, unfortunately there is not much that can be done about a rib break. I did one ice skating and as I was a very poor skater it was an easy thing to give up but I could not do anything active for a month or so. A chest ligament tear from coughing was actually the more painful if anything, so it will be interesting to see what your x-rays reveal. If you can do a gentle walk then that is good, just do what is comfortable and you might have to adjust your diet for your lower energy consumption.

A story from the safe driving course, I have related before, was about a complaint they received from previous participant who said she followed their instructions and went to her local garage and put the recommended extra psi into her Datsun 120 (that gives an indication of the age of the story although cars just do not rust here) but it was bouncing all over the road and rattling to bits, she lived locally so they asked to pop in to the track. They tried a standard 'pencil' tyre pressure gauge on and the end popped out of the housing, they eventually found a gauge that could measure it. My memory is a bit vague about the fine detail but I believe they said it was around a 100 psi. Unbelievable the tyres did not explode, or pop off the steel rims and equally that the forecourt pump with malfunctioning gauge could get it to that pressure. She did say it seemed to take a long time!!! I've picked up brand new cars on two occasions that had pressures in the mid 40's which just felt wrong and I had to let down. I assumed they weren't checked during the PDI. Apologies to the OP for going so far off topic

I have links to the Ballet work where they emphasise the importance of strength training over stretching for reduced injuries. This resonates with me because during my time with youth gymnastics I always hated the amount of forced stretching that some coaches employed. STRENGTH BEATS STRETCH | The Australian Ballet The other link is to an ABC 'great moments in science' program. The actual university research found that if the human Veillonella bacteria present in elite athletes guts were introduced to mice systems then they immediately performed on average 13% better on treadmills than control mice with none or other bacteria added. The bacteria is not present in sedentary humans. Bacteria of champions - ABC Radio National Felt like a run for the first time in two weeks since contracting Covid and seized the feeling before it passed. Lovely day 17 dec C, and topped up the winter Vitamin D as well. Post covid catarrh/cough is significantly less (at the moment). I was not happy returning to work unless I could prove to myself I could complete a 5 km run so quite relieved.

That tiktok is so on topic in our house it is almost frightening. My wife had an accident on the bottom step of our stairs the other day resulting in a mildly hyper-extended ankle. Initial panic as we tried to assess how much damage she had suffered, then immediately into a raised leg position with a cold bean bag from the freezer applied.....because that's what you do. We never really liked the idea of compression of an injured area (unless to stop excessive bleeding, or to slow the spread of venom from a snake bite). Long story short, it was mild, there was some general swelling, movement was restricted for a a day or two and today she went for a gentle two kilometre before work and 'all the colours of the rainbow' bruising is now appearing. The cooling and raised leg did not really do any damage, but probably did not do much good either, what has made the difference is that she got back moving as soon as possible. I've done some really bad ankles and Achilles tendons in my time and thankfully fully recovered from them, but healing always accelerated when I could resume sensible movement. I remember of a report some years back of someone who was running the equivalent of two marathons a day running the circumference of Australia. At one stage he had two really bad Achilles tendon injuries (presumably over use?) but against all advice he chose to continue (restricted) running. His progress was being monitored by an Australian university program and they were astounded at how fast the condition healed, way faster than any expectations and there were mutterings that it could lead to a revolutionary change to the way that such injuries should be treated.

As @AGFalco said the minimum recommendations are comfort biased. During the safe driving course introduction a couple of guys checked the participant's cars tyre pressures. More than fifty percent were below minimum recommendations, including mine on my first time at the course. Tyres are naturally porous and leak air, slowly but steadily so unless checked regularly are likely to be under. Pressure varies with temperature so if set when tyres are cold on a hot day then they will be lower as the ambient temperature falls, overnight or even on as daily temps fall from current highs in the UK. Running at comfort settings leave little margin for error so I always follow the course recommendations. It is a bit like wearing a seat belt, a bit of discomfort and inconvenience for a whole lot more safety when things go wrong.

Under heavy braking the additional load on the front tyres causes them to flex the outer casing enough to lift the centre of the tyre. Pre abs apparently it used to manifest in parallel skid marks from the outer edges of the tyres only being in contact. Higher pressures reduce the wall deformation to allow road contact across the whole tyre and better braking. That is what they told us on the course and I have had a veteran traffic cop confirm it to me as well.

Not much running lately, due to work commitments and then inevitably I contracted Covid. After four vaccinations I thought I'd be invulnerable but of course it does not work like that. Between long and many sleeps during my convalescence I managed to read some interesting stuff on the internet: Ballet! Probably one of the hardest physical occupations in the world with endless hours of demanding constant exercise, rehearsal and performance. Despite the many years of training experience and conditioning from institutions like the Bolshoi, historically, it is not unusual for ballet dancers to suffer from a lot of ankle injuries. Apparently an Australian looked at the stats and thought it could be done better and insisted that dancers in the Australian Ballet should spend a lot more time conditioning the ankle and calves. Despite some initial resistance, the statistical reduction in injuries suffered was so immediate and obvious that now nearly every international major ballet company now allows a session for the "Australian exercises" during their barre work. What I got from this was that just because something has always been done in a certain way (for more than a century), does not mean it is necessarily the best or only way. Another bit of information that piqued my interest is more running related. The human microbiome is increasingly being recognised for its importance in our general health and even mental state. It is very complex with thousands of types of bacteria in our gut contributing their bit depending on what we feed them. When we first start (or resume) 'serious' running I'm sure that everyone has experienced the stiffness that occurs with lactic acid build up in the muscles. As we train more then our system becomes more efficient at removing the lactic acid. Apparently many endurance athletes like the top marathon runners systems go one step further and the lactic acid is returned to their digestive system where a specific bacteria converts it into glucose for the muscles to burn again. This efficiency makes sense when you look at how lean they are and still have the energy reserves to run 42 km or more. What they are not sure is whether the bacteria is always present in the gut awaiting for sufficient and constant food (lactic acid) or whether it enters from outside and survives because the conditions exist, but not every elite endurance athlete has it. I'll try to find the original material to put links up at some time.

Funnily enough I can sometimes get better consumption from our bog standard ICE 1.4tsi mk3 estate pootling around Adelaide urban areas out of rush hour than on a long drive. Requires light traffic, a lot of anticipation of traffic movement, a minimum 16km run, average speeds above 35kph (usually 60kph speed limit), at least 50% green lights and I'll achieve 4.0 to 4.4L/100 indicated average. Longer highway (interstate highway meaning an undivided single lane in each direction) runs with a proportion stuck behind 100kph B-double trucks will probably achieve 4.5L/100 at best or if very little traffic then 5.5L/100 at our 110kph speed limit. Hybrids (and EVs) with regenerative braking and electric assist on acceleration would love urban areas and their slower speeds. The wife is the principal driver of the Octavia on her 13 km commute and when I refilled the car tonight (low price point of our local price cycle) I noticed she was achieving an indicated 5.9L/100 for tank and long term averages, which I thought was quite good since she really does not care much about that sort of thing. 5.6L/100 = 50mpg (imperial gallons).

Run the higher pressure: A. It is much safer in emergency braking where G forces place extreme loads on the front tyres. I have been on two business sponsored safe driving courses that have drummed home this point. B. Better fuel consumption. C. Caters for unusual short duration loads like giving a couple of friends a lift. I have never experienced extra or uneven wear from the higher pressures. Uneven wear has only been due to misalignment but you don't need to pay for a four wheel alignment as the rear has un-adjustable torsion bar suspension. I also prefer the ride and handling with the higher pressure which is about 5 to 6 psi more than than 'normal'.

Your fuel costs should be measurably less too? I thought the loan Fabia we had for a week was a brilliant package.

Yes, I'd like to hear the outcome from @papasmurf too. My money (IF I were a gambler) would have been on mis-alignment from the factory which I have experienced myself on brand new Mk2 Octavia. Should that be true then I'd like to know whose is responsible, the factory or the dealer during PDC, and who should be paying for the early demise of the tyres.

I have no experience with a PHEV type vehicle but based on experience with other vehicles (petrol, diesel, Toyota hybrid) I find the discussion really interesting but somewhat at odds with my expectations. Our old 1.4tsi Octavia estate on a long run, on flat roads, I've found consumption is adversely affected more by a strong headwind than a full load (guessing +350kg), and was getting just over 50 mpg with the large load at highway speeds. So I am surprised that an iV (which has far better aerodynamics than a mk3 estate), even when it is lugging a large empty battery around, is only reported to give mid 40's mpg returns. I'd also expect the occasional braking regen recuperation to allow some level of assistance from the hybrid system to improve consumption a bit. A hire diesel C'eed in the UK returned calculated 60mpg and 70mpg near full tank refills from a lot of touring using motorways. Far better than I got from my mk2 1.9pd by the way. A hire Toyota Corolla 1.8l hybrid sedan returned 65mpg with extensive touring in the Australian Northern Territory (speed limits up to 130kph). This has a really small NmH battery that it only uses half of its capacity anyway. The low performance atkinson engine is optimised for efficiency and the hybrid component fills in its weaknesses at lower speeds, but does not do so much at higher speeds. Add in the huge gearing range offered by the CVT gearbox and that all mostly explains how it is does so unusually well at high speed runs. I am interested in a PHEV but the only affordable ones here are Chinese and their ICE components are not particularly efficient at the best of times. The iV is not sold here, in fact the only lower priced mk4s on offer here only have the old 1.4tsi with an 8 speed Aisin torque converter box.

Very unusual for cars to show any rust in Adelaide (low humidity and rainfall) unless they are parked permanently outside next to the sea so a 10 year old I-Miev is unlikely to have that problem here. My primary concern with a 10 yo I-Miev would be what condition the battery is in, and how much to replace (someone in Western Australia is asking $2000 for a 2011 year battery with 70 km range when last used) Other than that a suitable urban runabout if you can get hold of one.

@wyx087, I have to agree with you about the importance of efficiency. Pre covid there a was biennial solar car race from Darwin to Adelaide where I occasionally went to view the 'cars' at the finish. Remarkable vehicles but no real practicality at all, a bit like Formula 1 cars. It is great that one of best of those competing teams has applied the lessons and tech into a demonstrably practical vehicle. Certainly would be great where I live in Adelaide Australia (about the same latitude as Southern Spain), so potentially lots of sun. One of the first EVs that was available here was the Mitsubishi i-Miev (2010), which was a small kei car with a small battery and relatively low range. It looked fairly futuristic for the time and semi-aero but I was appalled to learn that the drag coefficient was 0.38 which explained a lot why it was reported to be so inefficient on an out of town run. To demonstrate how bad that is my 2003 Toyota Echo has a claimed cd of 0.30 and that is with the drag from ICE radiators and a short stubby body. It is a real disappointment that so many manufacturers currently produce truly inefficient EVs and rely on big expensive batteries to achieve a usable range.

Don't need the photo, we believe you. There is little risk when the range left is close to distance left to travel as there is usually a few litres more in the tank when the gauge is showing as empty. More courage is required when the range left is zero and there is 50 miles to go but it is all pretty unnecessary when you can fill up and calculate from the refill amount what your consumption is like. I do like the convenience of the quick refuelling of ICE on our now infrequent longer journeys, but I don't like the rising fuel prices, I don't like it that most fuel comes from politically unstable areas which could limit our ability to refuel at all. And I'm feeling increasing guilt from the effects of burning fuel on the environment. I want an EV, but I do question what happens when say 10 cars are all fast charging at the same time at the same station, using the same amount of electricity as a thousand homes (that is a guess), then scale that up when EV sales increase. Electricity is itself subject to limited generation capacity and high demand, especially in winter. It is about time we all valued energy and conserved its use whatever its form. I'll be very happy if I can buy an EV with a relatively small battery that can achieve 10km/kwh at say 60 mph (100kph) with a range of 500km. Nothing available at the moment but the Merc EQS has proven it is possible.

Jerry can? Did someone call? I've wanted to get a 1000km out of a tank but have either been thwarted by strong headwinds or chickened out at about 900km but did not feel too bad about it as the distance was achieved with a four people and full of luggage and booze bought in Tasmania. Probably would have done it but wrong to include my UK guests in the experiment. 1.4tsi wagon is pretty economical

@26DIPP I was given the same advice on my business sponsored safe driving course. Higher tyre pressures were to stop the front tyre deforming under emergency braking conditions. Better fuel economy was just a bonus.

My limited recent experience on UK motorways is that they can carry an awful lot of traffic and often in very close proximity to each other, and means there is a lot of drafting going on, even if it is largely unintentional. I'll expect the the M42/M1 was carrying a lot more traffic than the M18/M180 so going onto the less busy roads left you out in the wind on your own so to speak and using more fuel. We got ridiculously good consumption in our hire Kia Ceed diesel with calculated refills of 70 mpg with extensive touring using UK motorways and having to drive a lot closer to the car in front at speed than I am used to in Australia. If I left my usual comfort distance then it was continual invitation for someone to slip in the gap, usually a BMW and usually without indicating and the M1 was restricted to 60 mph on the overhead gantries most of the time when we used it Incidentally your Fabia revs at 70 mph are similar to my Echo and reflects that of many other similar small and lower power NA manual cars. If you want to know how much fuel your car uses while idling then if you go into your display options and change it (temporarily) to metric L/100km then the display will probably show stationary idling consumption in L/hour. Australia is metric and on our 1.4tsi Octavia it is 0.5L/hour with no ancillaries (aircon, heated rear windows, heated mirrors etc) running but increases with greater loads I've thought of buying an after market fuel consumption display for my Echo which I put it off since I intended to get rid of the car when something major failed. However the thing just keeps on going, even the aircon has not been recharged in 19 years and still works well.

I have no experience with this engine so I had to look it up to get an idea of the specifications. The official figures (rounded) are city 39 mpg, urban 63 mpg, and combined 52 mpg. Power 60 or 70 bhp, torque 109 - 111 Nm (at 3000 rpm) and 0-60 between 14 and 16 seconds. From your consumption figures I'd say you are a little off what they could be, possibly giving away about 5 mpg? But the urban figures are usually la la land so if you getting around the combined figures on a run then that is not too bad. With the limited torque available I don't think a longer gear is really going to help much. On the plus side the torque comes in at relatively low revs for a small capacity NA engine so what does that 3k revs correspond to in speed in top gear? Max torque revs are usually where the engine is most efficient, although not necessarily where it is most economical. Unless you can get confirmation from someone that an extra and higher gear can get you quantifiably better economy, then it is difficult to justify the expense or effort. Sound advice from others about increasing your tyre pressures. I actually think that 30 psi is too low and 36 psi all round will make the ride a little firmer but you will actually feel the car roll along better. You can always fine tune pressure to your liking. Make sure the correct maintenance schedule is adhered to, take out any unnecessary weight you are carting around and look up the road to anticipate traffic and reduce unnecessary braking or accelerations. Done correctly it does not affect others and will make a significant improvement to consumption, especially in urban areas, but you don't seem to be doing to bad at the moment truth be told. The turbo Fabia are definitely more economical, I was very impressed by the loan 1.0tsi manual Fabia we had for a week. My wife drives our Octavia but my runabout is a 2003 Toyota Echo 1.3L manual which is quoted as having a little more performance and a slightly worse consumption than yours but my overall returns are similar to what you are quoting for different scenarios. The killer for me is the large number of short runs from cold starts that it does, but my monthly mileage is relatively low so the extra cost is bearable and I still spend more on local road tax and insurance than on fuel in a month. At least there is no further depreciation costs possible on mine

I've often commented on the lack of engine braking on my manual 2014 1.4tsi. It is not a problem where I live which is largely flat but when I do encounter a reasonably steep downhill (about 1 in 8 ) even 2nd gear revving its nuts off requires additional braking to remain under the speed limit. Every other vehicle I've owned whether diesel/petrol/manual/auto would be speed restricted happily in 3rd gear on the same hill. @sneal I was looking at getting a manual 1.5tsi Scala during Covid restrictions but couldn't get a test drive in one (DSG only) I asked a few times in different threads if anyone could give me an idea of the gearing in a manual 1.5tsi but never received a response. When you are in top gear (6th) what sort of revs are you pulling at 70mph? My 1.4tsi is about 2700 rpm which are relatively high revs but not a real problem as the engine is smooth and it even allows me to accelerate up that long downhill I mentioned in top gear as long as the engine is in the max torque zone ie over 1500rpm, which also suggest it is a bit undergeared.

I calculate from your original run figures that you used 53.6 litres of fuel. Did you refill with that amount? It is impressively more than the official 45 litre capacity. I'd be curious to know what your average speed was for the journey.