after my first week of ownership of my vrs ive noticed that the fuel warning light comes on quite early, wel that is in comparision to my previous car, the red square on the gauge is very large so im sure its good for 60-70 mile? so i dont worry about it too much lol altho just to be safe and out of curiosity how low have you guys ever got the needle just incase it catches me out by surprise lol :S

also while on the subject of fuel, i was leaving my girlfriend up to uni tonight which involved 35 miles of motorway in each direction, i just sat at a steady 60mph in 6th at 2000 rpm. averaged 64.8 mpg, just wondering have you guys achieved better economy at this speed in 5th as ive heard several people mentioning that 6th gear at anythingr under 60 is a major fuel waster. going by this i take it that 60 would be OK but just checking lol and going from a petrol car to diesel the petrol has a lot more usable rpm so finding it a bit difficult to figure out the optimum time for gear changes for the best economy. so far ive just been driving and changing at 2000rpm and trying not to let the engine rpm drop lower than 1500rpm. is it ok to let the revs drop to the level? or would lower be ok? just want to know the best time for gear changes for the best economy i was also thinking that changing at 2000rpm would use more fuel as the turbo is beginning to spool so maybe changing earlier would kepp out of the turbo and save more fuel but would this cause the revs to drop to low? what would be the lowest rpm that the engine should drop to before it starts labouring? ive noticed that anything under 1500rpm doesn sound too good.

thanks, jordan

My tendency is to generally drive according to Rev counter (built-up areas) not included, as to what gear to use.

After a while you get a feel to know when/if to change gear.

Noticed today the engine was quite happy running at 40MPH in 5 gear just below 2000 RPM, on level ground,

in this power range flooring pedal would whizz me up to 110 MPH quickly without any bother.

Quick gear changes at 1500/2500 (RPM) through the gear-box are best suited to get to top speed ASAP, on flat surfaces.

But its different strokes for different folks.

Edited 27 September, 201015 yr by giandougl

I would recommend erring on the side of higher revs as making the engine labour arguably wastes more fuel. I look to change around 2k rpm's in normal driving.

FYI, the light comes on at 7.5l left in the tank, so if you know the mpg it's getting you can work out roughly how far you've got left. (~mpg + (mpg/2))

after my first week of ownership of my vrs ive noticed that the fuel warning light comes on quite early, wel that is in comparision to my previous car, the red square on the gauge is very large so im sure its good for 60-70 mile? so i dont worry about it too much lol altho just to be safe and out of curiosity how low have you guys ever got the needle just incase it catches me out by surprise lol :S

My fuel warning light on both my 2004vRS and my 2007vRS always comes on when the range drops to 70 miles.

also while on the subject of fuel, i was leaving my girlfriend up to uni tonight which involved 35 miles of motorway in each direction, i just sat at a steady 60mph in 6th at 2000 rpm. averaged 64.8 mpg, just wondering have you guys achieved better economy at this speed in 5th as ive heard several people mentioning that 6th gear at anythingr under 60 is a major fuel waster.

At 60mph on a motorway I'd be in 6th on cruise control. 5th would inevitably be less economical unless the road was hilly...

The problem is that roads have many hills (at least where I drive) and if your on the wrong gear i.e. too high, it will consume more fuel and wear and tear on the engine than perhaps 'a little above the optimum rev range'.. Thus I'd always prefer not to change gear until I know for sure I have lots of clear & level road ahead...

Edited 27 September, 201015 yr by JLneonhug