ive read many times on here about people getting 60mpg+ at times

no matter how slow i drive my car, im never ever going to see 60mpg, the car drives fine, no warning lights, no smoke on start up and very little when accelerating

is it possible the MAF has degraded over time ?......as ive read that this can cause the mpg to drop

i recently did a drive from Wigan to Leeds, and although i wasnt at a constant speed all the way i was only getting about 55mpg

60 mpg requires a very light foot and ideal conditions. I managed it once.

As far as your MAF, if the car is performing well, it's probably OK.

Its not just doing what you have been doing ,you also need to read the road ahead as far as you can see (or if you know the road using what you already know) . Taking your foot off the accelerator before you need to brake at a junction ,allowing the car to lose its speed without braking. Applying brakes lightly before the 'Stop' (or Give Way) sign at the junction,to stop the car. Also try and keep the momentum the car has built up by going down a hill as fast as safely as possible to be used going up a hill that sometimes follows a downwards hill. When you come to a set of stopped traffic lights ,you may be able to change down earlier ,allowing the car to slow . Then when you get to the lights ,they may well have changed to green,and your car has not actually had to stop.

I also ride a motorcycle,where you need to be much more aware ,of your surroundings,I often come behind car drivers who are much too involved in talking (with hand movements) .They have to brake hard at every junction (wasting fuel) ,and not fully reading the road ahead. I dont mean this to sound like a 'Mobil Economy run' ,but its really up to you how much you want to keep you car with less mechanical wear and tear ,and save fuel at the same time. I hope this gives you, and others some help.

Edited 12 May, 200917 yr by AndyPandy

It also depends on those in front of you. As stated above, it's all about conserving momentum and driving very smoothly. That needs good conditions and a lot of concentration on the road ahead, and that's a lot easy if the people in front of you are driving in the same manner.

Yep it's more about the driver than the car. Says the guy who's only getting 30mpg out of his Octavia

Yep it's more about the driver than the car. Says the guy who's only getting 30mpg out of his Octavia

I rarely have the patience for good MPG.

I used to drive like a saint and get 57 - 64mpg regularly. Just recently I've decided to enjoy the car instead and am seeing 48 - 52mpg as 'normal'.

I once got 67 mpg on the trip computer on my 8 mile journey to work. I must admit though it was mostly down hill. The best tankful average is 54 mpg when I was travelling the 30 mile journey to and from Darlington last summer. I normally average 45-50 mpg per tankful.

ive read many times on here about people getting 60mpg+ at times

You'll probably find that a lot of people that have quoted these figures are taking them from the trip computer (as it's by far the easiest way to get the figures). Unfortunately the figures from the trip computer are a bit of a joke:rofl:. It seems to vary from car to car, but almost without exception they tend to be rather optimistic. Mine seems particularly bad and typically reads 15-20% too high. This would mean that some who claimed to be getting 60mpg might only be getting 48mpg.

That being said, if you follow AndyPandy's tips you should be able to get close to 60mpg. My best was on a really boring drive being exceptionally well behaved to Northampton and back for which I got 64mpg (incidentally the trip computer was reading 78.5mpg!).

My dad (Radiotwo) drove home from liverpool the other day, and he averaged 95MPG down the m62, as soon as he turned off onto the m60 he put his foot down a bit, and it dropped down to about 75MPG.

But that was driving better than a saint, in a 06 plate fabia VRs!

Chris

It's also my understanding that the ECU adapts to the driving style, and so maybe if you hoof it normally and then decided one day to try for 60mpg+ you just won't get it.. a few days of soft driving might start to produce the results your after?

..My car had it's batt disconnected the other day and then I went from junction 1 to 26 on the M1, cruising between 60-70mph (I just wasn't in the mood to rush)...

This seemed to pop the ECU into some kinda of ECO mode, when I took it out the next day it had Nooooooo power.. after a half hour of hoofing (at legal limits mind).. it came back to life so I think the learning ECU can make a big difference.

I get 50mpg on average. my commute is 15min urban (but not many junctions) and 15min 40/50.

I've seen 60mpg, but never on a tank, just a single trip and only on very soft prolonged driving. The sort of driving that pees everyone off behind you as you pull away from junctions slower than ya Nan

I work my mpg out by resetting my clock when I fill up. then, when down at 10-15miles left in tank I add that to the miles covered and divide by 10 (as the tank is 10 gallon) The computers usually a couple mpg over the reality.

I once drove at 56mph for 50 miles and part of that was sitting behind a lorry.. i got about 95mpg too on the fuel computer!

06 plate vrs

I once drove at 56mph for 50 miles

God I want cruise control! My foot just won't do that on the motorway!

.

I always get better MPG on holiday- my best ever was from Killin back home- the first part of the journey, steadily cruising on wide NSL roads with little braking saw around 60mpg. Near home in West Midlands traffic would drop it below 40 without much trouble. Oddly enough, I hate driving near home, and quite enjoy it on holiday. Second-best MPG was on the way to Scarborough- on good A roads again.

thing is i havent got cruise control, just a steady foot and i was really being careful with it just to see how economical it would be that day

i still think im 5mpg down at least again some others on here

i dont tear around all the time, very very rarely in fact

I used to drive like a saint and get 57 - 64mpg regularly. Just recently I've decided to enjoy the car instead and am seeing 48 - 52mpg as 'normal'.

Yea, this is what I get, I call it normal for the summer driving temperatures...

I got this from Newquay to Kent. Thats not really trying either (no 55mph business), with a full boot, above half tank and 4 adults in the car. I do use millers though. On the way there trying I was getting above 60mpg, then I got bored.

Get a 1.4 TDI. 75-80 no problem. Overall summer and winter 70. Truth is if you buy a car for economy and drive hard there's no point, similarly if you buy a car for fun and try and get extreme economy, your likely to be disappointed. BTW have you tried the 2 stroke additive? Still trying & will post when 1K overall finished. Millers does make a difference.

Enjoy your motor

Get a 1.4 TDI. 75-80 no problem. Overall summer and winter 70. Truth is if you buy a car for economy and drive hard there's no point, similarly if you buy a car for fun and try and get extreme economy, your likely to be disappointed. BTW have you tried the 2 stroke additive? Still trying & will post when 1K overall finished. Millers does make a difference.

Enjoy your motor

Heh. I used to get 50mpg from a 1.4TDI Polo. I think it may have got thrashed .

I'll disagree with you a bit: I drive a TDI for economy (and have for years) but drive hardish. If I had a petrol car I'd see a lot less MPG.

Remember, people who say "Hey I got Ø 67mpg on a trip from Blah to Blah" (myself included) are just going off the trip computer. That is at least 5–10mpg optimistic, especially it seems on newer cars. Best I've ever had on a tank / miles calculation is about Ø 52mpg and that was a lot of motorway driving in France on nice smooth roads with very hard tyres. Having said that I do think the PD160 mod had actually increased my Ø mpg (not remapped btw)

My vRS used to get a real-world average of 39mpg even when driven carefully!

40 mpg for very short stop-start journeys around town.

Up to 52 mpg on long motorway journeys (driven quite quickly ).

I always brim to brim for my calculations.

I wish people would stop the patronising replies of 'oh the 60mpg crew are going off the trip computer' - because not all of us are/were.

On any occasion when I have claimed an MPG figure on this site it has been calculated using the brim to brim method over a distance greater than 400 miles, so the margin for error is quite low.

If you drive in the right kind of area (little urban driving) sensibly and without interruption, driving with fuel economy greater than 50mpg, entering in to the early 60s is more than possible.

Those of you averaging 39mpg or thereabouts either drive like complete loons, do a lot of city driving, have a faulty car or are purely enjoying the car (for which I wouldn't blame you).

I can get my mpg down to around 35 or 40 on a trip (that is indicated, though) by really enjoying myself with the car. But most of the time the environment does not allow and it is far more relaxing to cruise along between 1800 and 2200rpm in 4th, 5th and 6th, achieving mid-50s mpg without any real effort to.

Here's an interesting one for you.

2000rpm in 6th on the cruise control (I think this is AROUND 70mph, but not sure) - on motorway journeys I will now average 56-57mpg (indicated) - 52-54 actual - this is with soft compound tyres and a full tank of fuel.

Up that to 2500rpm (I think this is just over 80mph), and the indicated fuel economy drops to about 44 or 45mpg (40-43 actual).

Before my tyre change these two figures were much better - the 70mph figure was closer to 60mpg and the 80mph figure was closer to 52 or 53mpg.

So remember, the factors here that change the economy of the vrs are plenty:

- How long are the journeys?

- Where are the journeys?

- How do you drive?

- What tyres do you have fitted? Are they all inflated correctly?

- How much stuff do you carry around in your boot?

- Was your economy figure taken with passengers, or without?

- Did you have a full tank of fuel?

Here's something for you.

If you have a full tank of fuel (Let's say 35 litres extra over empty) - that's 35kg.

If you have three male adult passengers - that's approximately a conservative 210kg.

IF you have a full boot of stuff - let's call that 15kg.

That is an extra 260kg mass. The Fabia vRS on it's own is circa 1300kg, so that 260kg is an increase in mass of 20% - that is going to make a big difference to fuel economy.

Once got an indicated 72mpg from Newport to Guildford... no idea what the real figure was though!