Fuel Consumption

[pwranyone]

Hello

I recently purchased a 2008 Skoda Fabia HTP 70 and was wondering what should my mpg be? I would expect it to be above 40MPG

Fill 1 - 37.71 litres - I did 323 miles which averaged out at 39mpg - this included 172 miles driving the car home after purchasing along motorway at approx 70mph. There were lots of holds ups and diversions so accepted that I would use more fuel.

Fill 2 - 37.81 litres - on this fill I did 400 miles which averaged out at 47mpg which I was really pleased with. I also noticed that the car did 150 miles before the fuel gauge moved.

Fill 3 - 37.72 litres - on this fill I only managed to do 310 miles to a full tank average 39mpg - this time the petrol gauge started moving after 50 miles.

Fill 4 - 37.34 litres - this is my current fill and again the gauge has started moving after 50 odd miles and is averaging about 36 miles for each notch which will probably barely take me over 300 miles for a full tank.

For the last 3 fills my journeys have all been roughly the same. Although relatively short, they are mainly along dual carriage ways. I can't understand why the fuel consumption has suddenly gone up by 20 -25%.

At the start of Fill 2 the car was serviced - new filters, oil change, spark plugs changed. Tyre pressures are correct. Just had its first MOT and emissions are fine. Skoda garage also said they had done a diagnostics test and no errors were found. I haven't got a heavy right foot and I try and drive it as economically as possible.

I am mystified how I managed to do 400 miles one month and then for it to drop so suddenly. Also intrigued why gauge didn't move for 150 miles on fill 2 but then dropped after 50 miles on later fills.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

[adamc260]

On the second fill up, did you have any fuel in the bottom of the tank that you may not of known about... remember, when the gauge shows it as empty, it isn't really as proven on topgear. Jeremy Clarksons jag said it was empty but had enough fuel to do 120 miles still.

[raisbeck]

Hello

I recently purchased a 2008 Skoda Fabia HTP 70 and was wondering what should my mpg be? I would expect it to be above 40MPG

Fill 1 - 37.71 litres - I did 323 miles which averaged out at 39mpg - this included 172 miles driving the car home after purchasing along motorway at approx 70mph. There were lots of holds ups and diversions so accepted that I would use more fuel.

Fill 2 - 37.81 litres - on this fill I did 400 miles which averaged out at 47mpg which I was really pleased with. I also noticed that the car did 150 miles before the fuel gauge moved.

Fill 3 - 37.72 litres - on this fill I only managed to do 310 miles to a full tank average 39mpg - this time the petrol gauge started moving after 50 miles.

Fill 4 - 37.34 litres - this is my current fill and again the gauge has started moving after 50 odd miles and is averaging about 36 miles for each notch which will probably barely take me over 300 miles for a full tank.

For the last 3 fills my journeys have all been roughly the same. Although relatively short, they are mainly along dual carriage ways. I can't understand why the fuel consumption has suddenly gone up by 20 -25%.

At the start of Fill 2 the car was serviced - new filters, oil change, spark plugs changed. Tyre pressures are correct. Just had its first MOT and emissions are fine. Skoda garage also said they had done a diagnostics test and no errors were found. I haven't got a heavy right foot and I try and drive it as economically as possible.

I am mystified how I managed to do 400 miles one month and then for it to drop so suddenly. Also intrigued why gauge didn't move for 150 miles on fill 2 but then dropped after 50 miles on later fills.

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

I had a 1.2 HTP. On a reasonable long run on A roads I would average about 48mpg. Over 70 it does suck the fuel a bit. Usually just went on to reserve at 400 miles. If you happened to catch the vent port on a fill up this would give you about 4 litres more than normal. I did this occasionally and when you do it takes about 150 miles to come off full.

You can do the vent trick to get more range but its not recommended if your going to leave the car full on a warm day.

Gentler longer runs 45mpg plus should be achievable (if your aircons off)

[gadgetman]

Does your higher MPG tie up with periods of warmer weather by chance?

[Ad Lav]

As above, i'd expect it to be better in summer/warmer weather. Not looking forward to mine in winter lol

[pwranyone]

Thanks for the replies.

Each time I have filled it up I have done so when the fuel light comes on. So I have ended up putting in roughly about the same amount of fuel each time - 37 litres. I don't drive it until the tank is empty as I have read this can damage the catalytic converter. I would assume there is probably about 7 litres left each time at this point.

The higher MPG was when the weather was nice in April, so that may have some affect but the mpg has dropped by about 25%.

I don't think I have filled up the fuel venting area as I have put the same amount of fuel in each time ie 37 litres. I am baffled how on the second fill it did 150 miles before the fuel gauge started moving. If it would do this again then I would be happy with the fuel consumption as this would push it closer to the 400 miles per fill up which is about 47mpg. I would even be happy with 350+ per tank which would still be over 40mpg. However at the moment I am only getting about 300 miles to a full tank which is mid thirties mpg. It seems like there is 100 miles of fuel disappearing into thin air. There are no fuel leaks that I am aware of. Garage has confirmed this. They also said when I had the MOT that they had done a diagnostics test and no errors came up.

At the moment I am counting the number of miles it does to each 1/2 notch on the fuel gauge. This varies between 15miles and 19miles. There are 14 1/2 notches which means that if I multiply 14 x 15 miles = 210 miles plus 50miles it does before the gauge moves = 260miles. Or at best if I multiply 14 x 19 miles = 266 + 50 = 316miles per fill up.

Really baffled why the fuel consumption has increased so much when the journeys I am doing are the same.

Edited 25 June, 2011 by pwranyone

[raisbeck]

Thanks for the replies.

Each time I have filled it up I have done so when the fuel light comes on. So I have ended up putting in roughly about the same amount of fuel each time - 37 litres. I don't drive it until the tank is empty as I have read this can damage the catalytic converter. I would assume there is probably about 7 litres left each time at this point.

The higher MPG was when the weather was nice in April, so that may have some affect but the mpg has dropped by about 25%.

I don't think I have filled up the fuel venting area as I have put the same amount of fuel in each time ie 37 litres. I am baffled how on the second fill it did 150 miles before the fuel gauge started moving. If it would do this again then I would be happy with the fuel consumption as this would push it closer to the 400 miles per fill up which is about 47mpg. I would even be happy with 350+ per tank which would still be over 40mpg. However at the moment I am only getting about 300 miles to a full tank which is mid thirties mpg. It seems like there is 100 miles of fuel disappearing into thin air. There are no fuel leaks that I am aware of. Garage has confirmed this. They also said when I had the MOT that they had done a diagnostics test and no errors came up.

At the moment I am counting the number of miles it does to each 1/2 notch on the fuel gauge. This varies between 15miles and 19miles. There are 14 1/2 notches which means that if I multiply 14 x 15 miles = 210 miles plus 50miles it does before the gauge moves = 260miles. Or at best if I multiply 14 x 19 miles = 266 + 50 = 316miles per fill up.

Really baffled why the fuel consumption has increased so much when the journeys I am doing are the same.

The fuel gauge isnt linear, very few are. Your method will not be accurate.

Only accurate way is go by litres used at fill up.

[fabked]

I usually do 14 miles a day to and from work. I notice a huge difference between warm weather and cold weather for fuel consumption. Sometimes I can hit 50mpg average on a warm day, on cold days I can struggle to reach 40mpg.

I was really disappointed with the fuel consumption of the HTP 70 engine (my old mk1 Fabia was far more economical). Here's hoping that the 105 TSI is a little better.

[raisbeck]

I usually do 14 miles a day to and from work. I notice a huge difference between warm weather and cold weather for fuel consumption. Sometimes I can hit 50mpg average on a warm day, on cold days I can struggle to reach 40mpg.

I was really disappointed with the fuel consumption of the HTP 70 engine (my old mk1 Fabia was far more economical). Here's hoping that the 105 TSI is a little better.

In the 100,000 miles I covered in my old HTP Fabia it always did around 400 miles to reserve be it rain or shine, hot or cold. We also have an old Mk 1 1.4MPI, now thats a thirsty motor. My PD engined Greenline is very affected by temperature. Hot summer days you can get close to 80mpg driving carefully. In the depths of winter this can go down to very low sixties.

I dont buy in to the winter diesel theory, its outside air temp that makes the biggest difference imo.

I would have another HTP. Mind you when it comes to change my car it wont be a Skoda. I just fancy a change after having three over the years.

[Kie]

Fuel lasts longer in warm weather were as performance is higher in colder weather due to the air being more dense so the ECU sends more fuel into the engine to compansate the higher air mass levels picked up from air mass (flow) meter..

[gadgetman]

One question is are you using the gauge, car computer or an excel sheet to measure your MPG?

You also have the issue of every pump nozzle clicking off at a different point. For consistency you'd ideally have to use the SAME pump at the same garage every fill up to eradicate errors in MPG or make an allowance for an error margin of between 5% & 10%

[pwranyone]

One question is are you using the gauge, car computer or an excel sheet to measure your MPG?

You also have the issue of every pump nozzle clicking off at a different point. For consistency you'd ideally have to use the SAME pump at the same garage every fill up to eradicate errors in MPG or make an allowance for an error margin of between 5% & 10%

I am using an excel spreadsheet to monitor the fuel consumption. This converts the litres into gallons to give me an avg MPG. I'll probably monitor it over another 5 fills to get an overall average of how the car is doing.

Edited 28 June, 2011 by pwranyone

[Ad Lav]

Or use Fuelly.com

Enter in the details, making sure you put it in UK Gallons etc and it works it out for you as per my signature

[pwranyone]

Or use Fuelly.com

Enter in the details, making sure you put it in UK Gallons etc and it works it out for you as per my signature

Thanks for the tip.