Sorry if this is a bit techy/boring.

I have had a year old diesel Fabia for a couple of months now and have been keeping a record of mpg, briming the tank each time I top up.

Two things have become apparent from the figures:

I am not getting the 60-70mpg I was hoping for yet. The best so far is 58. The car has done 12000 mile so perhaps it is still 'running in'. I live in mid Norfolk so most of my driving is done on country lanes and small roads with the occasional trip into Norwich.

Some fuels are better than others. The best so far has been BP super diesel (whatever they call it). Standard BP and Esso diesel gave about 56mpg. I am trying Shell super diesel currentlyly.

Also, when starting with the BP and Shell supper diesel after standard diesel, the engine idled badly for a few hundred miles. I assume that the computer is re-adjusting the engine settings to suit the change in fuel quality. The idling speed went up from 800 to 1000rpm but with it hunting up and down.I would be interested in any comments on this.

Once I have tried all the local suppliers I intend in settling on whichever fuel gives the best economy. I will avoid the supermarket stuff because of rumours that the injection pump only like the best. Time will tell if this is true but I don't want to find out the hard way. I have another car - a big 4X4 - which runs on supermarket diesel, mostly Morrisons or Waitrose, and seems happy enough. I run some injector cleaner through it about twice a year.

SB

Which diesel engine do you have?

Those figures you're getting sound very decent to me! People rarely match the claimed amanfacturer figure but you're not too far off at all...

I have the Roomster 1.4 tdi and over the last 5000 miles have averaged 54.7 mpg, mix of motorways and town work. Use only Morrisons fuel.

Edited 16 November, 201114 yr by freelanderman

Our last Fabia was a 1.9PD diesel, most seem to say the PD's are easier to get decent mpg figures than the newer CR's in the Fabia. That's not my experience with the 2.0PD V's 2.0CR but I know my uncle is dissapionted with the mpg from his 1.6CR 105 DSG Golf.

Diesels do tend to like a long run though, I could easily get 65mpg on a run out from the Fabia 1.9TDi but my wife usually does short drives of a few miles and high 40's summer and low 40's winter was the norm. She had one tankfull last winter when we were in the depth of -10 to -15 degrees when the little Fabia averaged 34mpg.

It's one of the reasons she's changed to petrol this time, I think the little petrol will be more suited to the journeys and it certainly warms up a lot quicker.

But the point of the post though is we have seen threads with massive variations on economy from the 1.6CR TDi and reading between the lines I don't believe there is a problem with build quality but it sounds like the engine is very sensitive to driving style and driving conditions. Certainly a lot more sensitive than the 1.9PD it replaced.

Cheers

Lee

I've the crtdi 105 bhp and I am getting 60 mpg but definabley prefers a longer run though to get the mpg

I had a 1.6CR for a day and managed 62MPG in it - that had only done 4k iirc. It needs more revs than you think to get the best out of it.

I agree with Seboni (as always!) - my mpg is consistently around the 60mpg mark with my 1.6 CR diesel. I have noticed it decreasing slightly to 57/58 on the last 2 fill ups which I put down to colder weather and winter diesel now appearing.

Slowbloke - one point about the idling speed going up to 1000rpm - the engine could be doing a regen of the DPF and the car can be a bit lumpy for a while as it goes through the process. This should only happen for a short period of time mind you. Could that be an explanation?

I agree with Seboni (as always!) - my mpg is consistently around the 60mpg mark with my 1.6 CR diesel. I have noticed it decreasing

Hi Slowbloke,

You consumption sounds not too bad at this stage of ownership. The 1.6cr takes a bit of getting used to. If you've had her for a couple of months then you are still finding things out about her such as when to change gear for best sweet spots etc. The maxidot will try to tell you to change gear too early and this increases the fuel used. The cr1.6 is a shorter stroke engine than the earlier diesels and as such likes to rev just a little more for best economy and power. In rural area's at this time of year there is often quite a difference in diesel from one garage to the next due to some garages getting their winter diesel sooner than others. Depends on how much diesel they turn over as to when they get the winter stuff. When I was at the Honda dealership and when we still had pumps we got out winter stuff straight away when it was produced because we were in a large town and sold loads of it. But the guys just outside the town got theirs up to 4 weeks later because of lower turnover.

Thanks for your comments.

The engine is the 105hp 1.6 CR one. I am very happy with the performance side of things. The poor idling could be from the DPF regenerating but it is odd that it has occurred twice immediately after filling up with super-diesel.

Given my moniker and the rural driving, I had hoped to see the mpg being over 60. I am probably driving with the engine running too slowly. As I mentioned, my other car is a big 4X4 with a diesel engine which rarely goes over 2000 rpm so it seems strange to drive the Skoda much about that speed.

Also, the car is quite high geared so that even at 60 the engine is only running just over 2000rpm. I rarely use 5th gear - there are no motorways in Norfolk!

Thanks again

Thanks for your comments.

The engine is the 105hp 1.6 CR one. I am very happy with the performance side of things. The poor idling could be from the DPF regenerating but it is odd that it has occurred twice immediately after filling up with super-diesel.

Given my moniker and the rural driving, I had hoped to see the mpg being over 60. I am probably driving with the engine running too slowly. As I mentioned, my other car is a big 4X4 with a diesel engine which rarely goes over 2000 rpm so it seems strange to drive the Skoda much about that speed.

Also, the car is quite high geared so that even at 60 the engine is only running just over 2000rpm. I rarely use 5th gear - there are no motorways in Norfolk!

Thanks again

I run my crtdi 1.6 105 on vpower shell and it fine a little more expensive but I think it's much cleaner less soot so less issues with DPF

Also, the car is quite high geared so that even at 60 the engine is only running just over 2000rpm. I rarely use 5th gear - there are no motorways in Norfolk!

Thanks again

This issue has been discussed over on the vwaudiforums, latest crop of VAG diesels are coming with very tall gearing to increase the extra-urban euro fuel figures. The new smaller CR engines like some revs to get the best out of them so on 5 speed models unless you are at motorway speeds you're left with a 4 speed box with 4 widely spaced ratio's. 4th in the 1.6CR Tdi 105 is actually taller than 5th was in the 1.9TDi 105, not ideal for keeping the engine in the sweet spot.

Seems to be the general thinking is having gearing that high on a 5 speeder is beneficial if you are doing the long higher speed runs, if your not it's actually hurting economy. Suppose a 6 speed manual would have been ideal or a 7 speed DSG.

On the gearing issue VAG are replacing the 6 speed DSG wet clutch with a new 7 speed dry clutch giving 15% efficiency saving. BMW have announced they are going to fit the 8 speed conventional auto into every model from 3 series upwards due to it's ability to keep the engine in the sweet spot and aid economy, the 8 speed auto is more economical than the 6 speed manual.

ZF have also announced a 9 speed auto for compact FWD models that will outperform and is cheaper than a 7 speed DSG. Intersting.

Cheers

Lee

I have had a year old diesel Fabia for a couple of months now and have been keeping a record of mpg, briming the tank each time I top up.

.....

I am not getting the 60-70mpg I was hoping for yet. The best so far is 58. The car has done 12000 mile so perhaps it is still 'running in'. I live in mid Norfolk so most of my driving is done on country lanes and small roads with the occasional trip into Norwich.

You are comparing the average mpg over the whole tank to the official figures that are from a single trip. You can't really do that. Look at what the computer is reading over one trip and you will get an indication of how well you are doing. I know the comp is not totally accurate, but they are very close. The longer the trip, the more accurate it will be.

My TSI is capable of getting its 53mpg on a run, but my long term average is about 41mpg because it spends 95% of its time commuting or doing relatively short trips.

I don't think you have anything to worry about with a long term 58mpg average, you're doing well!

My GL1 reliably returns 67 mpg. Driven carefully 70mpg is easy. Booting it you get around 60mpg.

Knock about 4-5 mpg off that for winter.

I do long runs which explains my reasonable figures. The further I go the better it gets. Engine needs to be proper warmed up for good economy.

Not really that useful as you cant get a PD engined Fabia anymore. I am encouraged that my 'older' technology engine still gives good economy and for its size excellent torque.

These newer CR engines are certainly smoother but I dont think economy is any better.

I agree with previous comments that you need to keep some revs on for best economy. Mine loves 2000 rpm. I dont use fifth gear unless I am well over 50mph. Pretty sure my GL1 gearbox is the same as all the new CR units. 70 mph is 2000 rpm in fifth.