Hi, I am looking into ways of improving the MPG on my 05 Fabia VRS, do re-maps/tuning boxes really improve the MPG? Car is completely STD at the moment.....

My car had a cheap ebay chip on it when I got it and I am sure it was getting better MPG then but kept setting the waarning light off.

Just looking at various options....

Any advice much appreciated.

Tom

Ps Sorry if this has been asked before.

Be lighter on the throttle and you won't even have to spend any money

yes remap would give you 5% maybe, but if you've got extra power you're bound to use it and can easily decrease MPG by 20%

have you tried Millers Diesel Power Sport 4? it's supposed to be good.

Search it and theres a very helpful and informative post on it.

I can get my mpg down to about 28avg if i nail it round the lanes on the way to work... but on the same route, i can get as good as 73.somthing avg (cant remember what the point somthing was, but did take a photo of it on my phone if you really want to know!).

HTH, Dave

just remember anything you spend out you'll to recoup in your saving before actually making a saving so increasing your mpg by say 3mpg by spending hundreds of pounds may take a long time to even out, just drive in a my economical fashion mate

I totally agree that changing your driving style will show you the most benefits. After all to get a tuning box or a remap, you have to outlay a sum of money which could be used for fuel for 'X' amount of time.

As Clarkson said last week on Top Gear - 'Its not what you drive - it's how you drive it'

You can always put your foot down once in a while (quite often actually haha) and clear the cobwebs out!!

Yeah I guess my driving style could be the biggest improvement, I was thinking on the way to work that - as people have said - if I have the extra power I will probably use it!! I do around 30-35k miles per year in the Fabia so I was thinking it may take 15-20k to re-coup the money (assuming £400 spend) so 6-8months. I have also got a trip to Italy planned which will be 3k+ miles in 2weeks.

As Clarkson said last week on Top Gear - 'Its not what you drive - it's how you drive it'

Clarkson is just a self-delusional fool. It is simply not true that a big heavy car with a powerful engine will give fuel economy that is as good as a light car with a sensible engine. He is so full of cr*p like that. He is typical of the type of person who distorts the way the world is to justify what he wants to do, rather than accepting the way the world is and modifying his behaviour to suit.

Clarkson is just a self-delusional fool. It is simply not true that a big heavy car with a powerful engine will give fuel economy that is as good as a light car with a sensible engine. He is so full of cr*p like that. He is typical of the type of person who distorts the way the world is to justify what he wants to do, rather than accepting the way the world is and modifying his behaviour to suit.

I take it your not a Fan?!

I agree that driving style will be a big factor in improving MPG but I was also under the impression that re-mapping would help, I am not looking for great hikes in BHP maybe +20bhp.... For the first couple of months I would see it as a challenge to get my MPG as high as possible, after that I probably wouldn't care!!!!

I know I used to get readings of 60+ with my cheap ebay chip and since then I can only manage 53 max on the same journey....

We map these for an improvement of approx 5MPG on average.

Plus it will go like stink

£265.00 all in for members

Clarkson is just a self-delusional fool. It is simply not true that a big heavy car with a powerful engine will give fuel economy that is as good as a light car with a sensible engine. He is so full of cr*p like that. He is typical of the type of person who distorts the way the world is to justify what he wants to do, rather than accepting the way the world is and modifying his behaviour to suit.

And that's why he can get better economy out of an M3 than a Prius?

M3 = big heavy car with mentally powerful engine.

Prius = Lightweight piece of overhyped useless c**p which only exists to delude celebrities that they are helping the planet.

Like the man said 'Its not what you drive - it's how you drive it'

Clarkson is just a self-delusional fool. It is simply not true that a big heavy car with a powerful engine will give fuel economy that is as good as a light car with a sensible engine. He is so full of cr*p like that. He is typical of the type of person who distorts the way the world is to justify what he wants to do, rather than accepting the way the world is and modifying his behaviour to suit.

i beg to differ, my 1400Kg+ 4x4 octavia with nearly 300bhp was better on fuel over a 400mile or so trip than my brothers 1.8 petrol focus i believe and we weren't hanging around either.

more power = less labour

a 1.2 corsa is always going to drink more than a 3.0l doing 70 on a motorway. the 3.0 doesnt have to work hard to get any power.

that prius was driven hard to get the best lap time. the m3 just had to follow the prius, was probably in 3/4 all the way @ low revs.

If you used a simple cheap e-bay plug-in then it would affect the computer readout. I tried one and it worked but gave a rough engine when hot so took it off. When using it the real MPG was about the same, but the computer indicated magnificent unreal economy. I use Millers Sport4 and it does work. Also have a washable foam air filter so equivalent of a clean filter every 5K. For extra help it's possible to use higher tyre pressures. See some posts by Bas for more tips such as Cade mod.

remove the cheap chip and go back to standard and have a search for SAFED driving will save you more fuel than a cheap cheap.

Hi, I am looking into ways of improving the MPG on my 05 Fabia VRS, do re-maps/tuning boxes really improve the MPG? Car is completely STD at the moment.....

My car had a cheap ebay chip on it when I got it and I am sure it was getting better MPG then but kept setting the waarning light off.

Just looking at various options....

Any advice much appreciated.

Tom

Ps Sorry if this has been asked before.

Modest remap - £350. (should see 165bhp and maybe 5-10% extra mpg with a light foot)

Cruise Control - £160. (makes maintaining 65mph or whatever easier).

Lighter right foot is the most effective solution, together with a proactive approach to driving. Plan to use the engine to slow down, leave gaps. Use the brakes as little as possible and try not to come to a complete halt if possible.

J.

Thanks for the replies so far, just thinking, I do alot of "motorway miles" and was thinking would a chipped car sitting at say 75mph return better mpg then an unchipped car sitting at the same speed? or should it return the same? I assume there is less effort in getting to (and maintaining?) the speed in a chipped car?

Thanks for the replies so far, just thinking, I do alot of "motorway miles" and was thinking would a chipped car sitting at say 75mph return better mpg then an unchipped car sitting at the same speed? or should it return the same? I assume there is less effort in getting to (and maintaining?) the speed in a chipped car?

Assuming you're maintaining a constant 75mph, I'd say that the standard 130hp is more than sufficient.

Think of it from a physics point of view. Regardless of if or if not your car is chipped, the forces required to maintain / alter your velocity will always be the same. As work = force x distance, regardless of the capability of your engine to produce more power, the same amount of energy (work) will be used to do the same route at the same speed/velocity. As that energy is gathered/transferred by burning fuel in an internal combustion engine, the same amount of fuel should be used each time you make that journey.

Unless a chip/remap makes the PD engine more efficient in the way it burns fuel, you will burn exactly the same amount of fuel to do 5 miles @ 75mph with, and without that chip/remap...

To add to this point, I bet every one of us that drives a VRS could get the same fuel economy as those of us driving 1.9SDI cars (if not even better!) if we accelerated at the same rate, and went at the same speed as the 1.9SDI cars go. The only reason that the VRS tends to use more fuel than the more "efficient" cars is because the power is there, and we use it...

I hope I'm making some sort of sense!