The Furb vrs is the first diesel i've driven and i think my fuel economy is being effected by my lack of knowledge of which gear I should be in- Another issue is the strain I might be putting on the engine.

I'm usually in the following gears (on flat roads):

30 mph : 4th gear

40 mph: 5th gear

50 and above: 6th gear

So for instance, on a long road with a 30 mph speed limit, i will stick it in 4th and leave it there.

Is this about right??

Cheers guys

I usually do 30mph in 3rd, 40 in 4th, 50 in 5th, 60 in 6th. Everyone has a different driving style so you will get different answers.

I agree with wozza here. 10mph 1st, 20mph 2nd, 30mph 3rd, 40mph 4th, 50mph 5th, 60mph 6th

If going from 40 - 60 I usually use 3rd - or - if there's no rush - 4th, then go to 6th to cruise

I dont touch 6th until im at 60.

I find being in 6th at 50mph is worse on fuel than 5th as the engine labours.

I've only the PD100 engine but definitely 3rd @ 30, just seems to be too much strain at any minor incline if in 4th.

Also I don't tend to get into 5th until at least 50, usually 55-60, and I tend to hit the MPG I should be getting (55-60/gallon)

Im usually in 4th or 5th at 30mph. Pending how im driving. If i want to hit boost or get away quick i will drop it a gear or 2. 3rd gear at 30 is the perfect balance between revs and power i think. But id rather stay off boost and put it in 4th.

If you want to be very fuel efficiant, you can drive it with out touching the throttle. Each gear is 5mph, so 3rd is 15mph 4th is 20, 5th is 25 and 6th will maintain a steady 30mph on a flat road. Being a diesel it will maintain those speeds without any throttle input from you and will even cope with slight inclines. With our previous car (Cit AX) I could drive to the end of our road from my drive without moving my right foot and being gentile with the clutch when changing gear.

So for 30mph I normally use the top 3 gears, (4th,5th or 6th) depending on traffic. Obviously changing down to 4th or 3rd when accelerating out of 30 Zones.

Thanks for all your replies guys, i'll change to 3rd @ 30 mph then!!

If you want to be very fuel efficiant, you can drive it with out touching the throttle. Each gear is 5mph, so 3rd is 15mph 4th is 20, 5th is 25 and 6th will maintain a steady 30mph on a flat road. Being a diesel it will maintain those speeds without any throttle input from you and will even cope with slight inclines. With our previous car (Cit AX) I could drive to the end of our road from my drive without moving my right foot and being gentile with the clutch when changing gear..

I used to do this with my metro, and hence wasn't fussed if i damaged it..... does this damage the clutch at all?

Using 3rd at 30mph will increase consumption of diesel. Diesel engines have a lot of torque low down the rev range, so keep the revs low and be rewarded with much better consumption. I know I dont drive a furby vRS, but my 6 speed 2.0PD octy is as follows, 30mph - 4th (possibly 5th if taking it easy), 40mph -5th, and from around 50mph I use 6th. There is nothing to stop you changing down a gear at an incline. Driving like this, my 2.0PD 140 gets around 55mpg on my daily commute.

If you drive a diesel like a petrol engine, then you get poor economy. Drive it how its meant to be driven and you get rewards on the MPG front.

My Fabia does not like 4th until 45mph. Accelerating onto the motorway then it's 3rd all the way to 70 and block change to 6th for cruising

30 mph : 4th gear

40 mph: 5th gear

50 and above: 6th gear

Cheers guys

This is about how I woiuld drive given a flat road, but I'd certainly switch down if I wanted to accelerate.

I certainly wouldn't drive at 30 in 6th gear! That would put too much of a strain on the engine and I think you may find your economy would be worse than if you drove it in 4th.

I certainly wouldn't drive at 30 in 6th gear! That would put too much of a strain on the engine and I think you may find your economy would be worse than if you drove it in 4th.

6th gear at 30 is ridiculous.

Keep the engine between 1700-2100

Only had the Vrs two weeks but I've been trying to work out which gear to be in for what speeds as it's totally different to the Clio 182 I had. Suppose I'm still in the habit of driving that.

I keep looking at the 'instantaneous mpg' in the trip computer so I can get a feel for which gear the car likes to be in and I slowly think I'm getting there.

I'm not sure about 6th gear for 30mph, I only use 6th for 60mph+ as otherwise it seems to eat fuel:thumbdwn:

Cheers,

Stan

I find jeans and a T-Shirt works fine at most speeds

Smart casual at 30mph

6th gear at 30 is ridiculous.

Keep the engine between 1700-2100

Petrol yes, drive at that RPM. Diesel is different, its quiet possible without labouring the engine to drive along at 1100rpm and still have torque under you foot. At 1700RPM the turbo is spooled up and your throwing in fuel and extra air for no additional gain. For ultimate economy a diesel needs to be kept off bost, so that means less than 1500rpm. I did some testing in my octy this morning, and in 6th gear at 30mph my engine is doint 1K rpm, which was fine on the flat but needed a change to 4th for an incline.

Smart casual at 30mph

:orb_lol:

Petrol yes, drive at that RPM. Diesel is different, its quiet possible without labouring the engine to drive along at 1100rpm and still have torque under you foot. At 1700RPM the turbo is spooled up and your throwing in fuel and extra air for no additional gain. For ultimate economy a diesel needs to be kept off bost, so that means less than 1500rpm. I did some testing in my octy this morning, and in 6th gear at 30mph my engine is doint 1K rpm, which was fine on the flat but needed a change to 4th for an incline.

I in fact disagree, especially at low speeds ie below 40mph where you will typically be in a built up area - I know you can drive along at 1100rpm without labouring the engine but I was taught to have "usable power" at all times. Think of a situation on a large roundabout for example where you need to poke the throttle to get out of the way of a car that is already on the roundabout. If you're at 1100rpm you have a (not really wanted or needed) pause before the surge of acceleration.

I'd much rather burn a little more fuel and have instant throttle response in terms of acceleration. All this obsession with economy driving at the moment can (in my view) sometimes make the roads less safe.

Sitting in a line of traffic behind a lorry or slower car on an A road, and I'll agree with you - but won't go much below 1300rpm (still off boost though)..

Just my 2c worth .

I've actually tested this out on a flat road by watching the "real-time" mpg read-out on the little display (not particularly scientific I'll admit), and I've actually noticed a significant rise in my mpg by changing down from 5th to 4th or 4th to 3rd depending on the speed. I find driving at a constant speed around 18-2000 rpm overall gave me the best result, although if you're on even a slight incline or decline then it starts to vary quite quickly.

I agree more or less with Mozza. My best run when I was actually trying was 51mpg from Reading to Oxford (no motorway) which would have been more like 55 if I hadn't been stuck in roadworks once I got there.

I found that it was something that you tend to just get used to, I had a 1.4 Rover 25 before my furby and it does take some getting used to switching from a petrol to a diesel.

I'm usually in 4th at 30ish if i'm on a flat, 5th at 40 on a flat, 6th at 50 and change down for an incline, but keeping the revs anywhere around 1600-1900 seems to be fairly economical for me even though it is using boost.

Occasionally I do go down to Cardiff from Bradford and I usually get around 55mpg sitting at around 85mph which is about 2000-2200 rpm if i recall correctly? I think as long as you have a steady right foot rather than flooring it then letting it off it tends to be more economical.

Petrol yes, drive at that RPM. Diesel is different, its quiet possible without labouring the engine to drive along at 1100rpm and still have torque under you foot. At 1700RPM the turbo is spooled up and your throwing in fuel and extra air for no additional gain. For ultimate economy a diesel needs to be kept off bost, so that means less than 1500rpm. I did some testing in my octy this morning, and in 6th gear at 30mph my engine is doint 1K rpm, which was fine on the flat but needed a change to 4th for an incline.

I tried 6th at 30 on the flat today. I will never do it again. Plus my fuel economy dropped from 49 in 3rd to 36 in 6th on a long straight level road.

As far as i am aware, in a diesel max fuel economy is at peak engine torque (according to a lorry economy driving instructor for asda).

I found that it was something that you tend to just get used to, I had a 1.4 Rover 25 before my furby and it does take some getting used to switching from a petrol to a diesel.

I'm usually in 4th at 30ish if i'm on a flat, 5th at 40 on a flat, 6th at 50 and change down for an incline, but keeping the revs anywhere around 1600-1900 seems to be fairly economical for me even though it is using boost.

Occasionally I do go down to Cardiff from Bradford and I usually get around 55mpg sitting at around 85mph which is about 2000-2200 rpm if i recall correctly? I think as long as you have a steady right foot rather than flooring it then letting it off it tends to be more economical.

You do realise that you will get much better fuel economy if you do less than the speed limit. Having a lead foot can cost you mpg but so can taking to long to get up to speed.

I think this hits the nail on the head really... it's a matter of smoothness more than anything else:

I think as long as you have a steady right foot rather than flooring it then letting it off it tends to be more economical.

I personally find the real balance is not so much the gears, but fun\journey time vs MPG. If I'm driving back to my hometown where I know the roads then it's all out fun, regardless. If I don't know the roads though then it's time to play the MPG game. Anyone can put extreme hypermile-ing into practice if they so wish

Edited 22 September, 200916 yr by Roysvork

Some interesting replies - Its seems like a split decision, some (as I do) are using higher gears at lower speeds, yet others not.

Like yegnold said - I too was always told to have usable power just in case something happens - although it doesn't really take long to drop a gear and floor it, if need be