Hi All,

I made a 7 mile return journey across my home town today (7miles each way).

The traffic was light both ways, 1/4 was dual carriageway, the rest a mixture of 30, 40 and 50 mph limits.

The outward journey was from a cold start, when I noticed 30mpg.

The car was parked for about 2 hours before the return journey.

On the return journey I noticed 40mpg.

Why don't manufacturers fit sump heaters, or at least sell them as extras, as in colder climes, just think of the fuel savings that could be made.

In the early 50's my Dad used to put a paraffin heater under the sump on winter nights; specially made for the job with a fine mesh for safety.

Makes you think doesn't it.

Regards

Tony :beer:

I notice this too and makes sense to me

I notice this too and makes sense to me

Gets cold in Wales boyo.

I've no doubt you could buy one for the Fabia's but just not in the UK, as the UK isn't really cold enough for them to be profitable.

Google-fu and translators should be able to get you something!

Webasto used to make a device that you plumbed into the cooling system.

On cold mornings before driving off you plugged it into the mains where it heated the coolant and avoided the cold start cycle with the increased fuel consumption. The other advantage was you got instant heating inside the car.

Let's be honest though. You don't buy a 180bhp VRS hot hatch (estate) to save a few quid on petrol do you ?

There is a huge performance increase with regards to MPG once the engine is warm. Unsur what MPG the last poster gets, but my VRS is probably the most economical car I've ever owned !

When I posted this topic I was not necessarily thinking about personal gain, but more to highlight how manufacturers are missing an opportunity to improve the operating efficiency of their cars.

The cold climate argument is not relevant here, because yesterday was a warm day for a UK winter and any warm start would be beneficial any time of year.

With the automation available these days in switching mains power on and off, even remotely and temperature sensing, I am sure very effective systems could be incorporated into car design.

The important issue would be the energy required to heat the engine should not be greater than the energy saved by the warmed engine.

Over to you scientists on this one.

BTW I have no problem with the fuel consumption of my vRS, it is a really economical car considering the performance.

Regards

Tony

When I posted this topic I was not necessarily thinking about personal gain, but more to highlight how manufacturers are missing an opportunity to improve the operating efficiency of their cars.

The cold climate argument is not relevant here, because yesterday was a warm day for a UK winter and any warm start would be beneficial any time of year.

With the automation available these days in switching mains power on and off, even remotely and temperature sensing, I am sure very effective systems could be incorporated into car design.

The important issue would be the energy required to heat the engine should not be greater than the energy saved by the warmed engine.

Over to you scientists on this one.

BTW I have no problem with the fuel consumption of my vRS, it is a really economical car considering the performance.

Regards

Tony

Yeah, I get where you're coming from completely, but the VW R&D team would not spend the time and money on this for this model.

Bluemotion etc maybe, but not performance models.

I expect there intetests lie elsewhere also, like electric, hydrogen etc.

Hello,

here in Finland the electric engine "heaters" are a must. And the recommendation for usage is: 0,5 hours if temperature is 5 degrees centigrade, 1 hour if below zero and 1 to 2 hours if below -10 degrees.

And boy, you can imagine the engine startup without the heater when it is -30 degrees

Then you really can feel how stiff the vRS's suspension is... it's like someone has replaced the spring coils with pure a block of iron!

Hello,

here in Finland the electric engine "heaters" are a must. And the recommendation for usage is: 0,5 hours if temperature is 5 degrees centigrade, 1 hour if below zero and 1 to 2 hours if below -10 degrees.

And boy, you can imagine the engine startup without the heater when it is -30 degrees

Then you really can feel how stiff the vRS's suspension is... it's like someone has replaced the spring coils with pure a block of iron!

Just researched some sump heaters; see below:

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/whatwill.html

This bears out my findings and:

http://www.engineheaters.co.uk/installation.html

I have sent for prices for a 240v sump pad for 1.4 litre Skoda Fabia vRS.

Will keep you posted.

I will probably rig it with a timer and or remote radio switcher from inside the house.

Regards

Tony

Price about £40 for 4 litre oil capacity, so we would get away with 1 hour at 0.5amps 240V I recon.

Had a 320 mile round trip from Kent to Leicester sunday... car full of passengers and luggage - 39.5 mpg and on the way home minus the luggage and one passenger 40.5 mpg

However, I did have a lead foot and the dartford tolls... both ways lol