Hi all, I've used the search function but can't seem to turn up any useful info without a raft of other topics getting in the way....... Apologies if there have been many discussions on this topic previously - if you have seen any please point me in their direction!

I have a Fabia VRS 130PD on a 2004 plate. It has 52000 miles on it and a full service history. It hasn't had (or doesn't seem to have had) a difficult life.

Since I've had it, the fuel consumption hasn't been amazing - I've averaged maybe 37mpg (by physical computation - not by the on board computer). I went on a distance drive the other day with a friend who owns a Fabia VRS diesel and he was surprised at how little I was getting to the gallon.

On a motorway run of 170 miles with no speeding (max 75 - 80mph tops) and no lead foot acceleration and aircon off, the car only returned (via the computer) a maximum of 45mpg for the trip. My friend said he'd expect to see 57mpg easy (with the aircon on too).

On my journeys to and from work (13 miles) driving like Miss Daisy I have managed a maximum of 45mpg for the journey.

My driving style whilst in Daisy mode is to change gear to the highest possible asap without the engine 'bogging', thus returning the 45mpg. My friend, however, said that he never drives like that and still gets really good mpg's.

Is there anything worth checking to find out what (if anything) is wrong? I bought the car as a fun car with good consumption, but the consumption bit has never really been realised :(

what size wheels you running? mine dropped to this level with 18"s

The car is standard apart from PD160 trumpet and pipercross green panel filter - though I couldn't imagine these two mods would cause the issue

check your air filter its a washable one so wash it dry it then put it back in see if that makes a difference first, if not id be tempted to change the air mass meter

Ta Trevor - I'll try that

I'm also experiencing the same problems on basically identical car, 2004 PD130, 58,000 miles with the PD160 trumpet and green cotton filter, standard wheels, i'm also getting roughly the same figures with regards to fuel economy.

I've read that its normally better just to replace the MAF sensor as its quite delicate, i'll be really interested to see if you notice any results from cleaning it