Fuel Tax approaches

[CFB]

jrw

Your "I told you so" was perfectly timed

Have you heard the expression "banging your head against a brick wall"?

Well you have now!

It looks like none of the sane people in this thread are ever going to get through to

I'm giving up and going to look for the nurofen and a stiff drink HIC!

[Sirbendy]

If coasting is illegal, most automatics surely would be breakign the law? Given that certainly on Astras if I lift the foot off, the engine drops down to idle (or near as damn), regardless of road speed unless you're going under 48mph, at which point it'll downshift and bring the revs up...

[jrw]

If coasting is illegal, most automatics surely would be breakign the law? Given that certainly on Astras if I lift the foot off, the engine drops down to idle (or near as damn), regardless of road speed unless you're going under 48mph, at which point it'll downshift and bring the revs up...

Mine doesn't do this and no of no other Auto that does it. Regardless of this anyway, the car is still 'in gear' and not freewheeling.

[ScoobyChris]

If coasting is illegal

It's not ... at least in the UK ... and is just poor driving. If you were to be prosecuted it would be under Careless or Dangerous driving offences, although you'd have to be pretty bad at coasting to end up in that situation.

Chris

[CFB]

It's not ... at least in the UK ... and is just poor driving. If you were to be prosecuted it would be under Careless or Dangerous driving offences, although you'd have to be pretty bad at coasting to end up in that situation.

Chris

More likely to be "without due care" but it would be very difficult to prosecute unless loss of control negotiating a bend, or other hazard, can be proved.

Running wide and mounting the kerb would probably be the only indication worthy of a "tug" from the boys in blue.

[ScoobyChris]

More likely to be "without due care"

"Careless Driving" is the same offence as "Driving without due care and attention".

Chris

[CFB]

"Careless Driving" is the same offence as "Driving without due care and attention".

Chris

Yes I suppose so.

It's all in the wording more than anything I guess.

Someone would still be in the brown stuff

['daiking']

Well I figure its going to cost so much to replace my car that I may as well just keep it until it rusts away. Obviously that differs for other people.

But I can't help but fell that buying the least efficient car in the fabia range is really goign to achieve what you are trying to.

[cheezemonkhai]

In a TDI 110 I saw 90mpg* on a daily basis.

* Each gallon was a my gallon, which is equal to 1.5 UK gallons.

[VWD]

This post prompted me to do a quick check on Furby . Most times I stick £10 in .That's at £1.41 a litre . From my calculations that's approx 45 MPG,and that's go to shops, go home, take dog to park,go home .Park /shops are no more than 2 mile .

[Cutmore]

I've had to stop driving like a tool, so far my MPG has gone from low 40's to around 50. That's from a PD130.

If I was to be doing more miles per year, I can see it being financially viable to buy a new car, I'm doing around 12,000 per year. So basing that on my Average MPG, and fuel prices staying the same for the next year, which I know they won't, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Anyway, a year of driving will cost me £1700 in diesel.

The deprecation loss totally outweighs buying a new car, I do like the look of the new Vauxhall Ampera mind. But with a start price of £32,000. (including the £5k government incentive.) According to the Vauxhall figures the car achieves 235 Miles Per Gallon.

[Soot1e]

What to do? Hmmmm buy an electric car. Problem solved.

[Aspman]

They've stopped production on the Volt (Ampera), no one is buying them even Stateside where they are cheaper.

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/03/05/vauxhall_denies_us_volt_production_shutdown_will_impact_uk_launch/

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/03/05/general_motors_halts_volt_ampera_e_car_production/

Late last week, the car giant admitted it was closing down assembly of new Volts on 16 March for a five-week period. Its reason: dealers have all the vehicles they need.

In other words, too few folk are buying the $33,500 (£21,177) plug-in hybrid e-car, which went on sale in the States in December 2010 and is set to arrive on UK forecourts in May.

Some of the comments are claiming that the fuel economy is allegedly not nearly what it should be, but it got a bit bogged down in trolls, as per..

Also that the Prius in the US is reletively much cheaper and gives as good a green-sheen .

[Ad Lav]

Well, to throw a spanner in the works i've just been for a spirited drive as someone was in my parking space and left with 270 miles range, driven 15 miles and now got 320 miles range

Its not bad on fuel, trip is showing 45mpg average but even so that's not guaranteed day to day...

[jrw]

Well I have got a new record in my van

Was on 91mpg before i took the pic! Judging by lol's maths i can now claim that this is my average mpg.

Also coasting uses a lot more fuel.

Experimenting today in the van which has a more varied mpg readout as it goes up to 999mpg instead of 99mpg on mine. Coasting downhill the instant was between 400-500mpg. Went back up the hill to come back down and did the same but in gear and it was 999mpg.

Also coasting is a little pointless as yes you will freewheel and generally speed up but 9 times out of 10 you will need to brake anyway so you may as well keep it in gear, keep legal and save fuel.

[seboni121]

Buy a golf bluemotion

[Mr Ree]

Drive slower, change car? With over 50K miles on the Octy now (1.8 TSI - 42 mpg) time to shift to a more economical car so Fabia VRS (petrol) (ex-demo) ordered today.

Sorry. Am I actually reading this correctly please? You're buying a new and expensive car to save money on fuel, from an alledged 42mpg to a very best possible of 45, but a more probable 30-40? I'm no mathmatician, but this really is not adding up on my calculator. Edited 7 March, 2012 by Mr Ree

[jrw]

Sorry. Am I actually readong this correctly please?

You're buying a new and expensive car to save money on fuel, from an alledged 42mpg to a very best possible of 45, but a more probable 30-40?

I'm no mathmatician, but this really is not adding up on my calculator.

Its the lol school of Mathematics.

You also forgot a 10litre smaller fuel tank! Thats after over a year of banging on about the fuel tank being too small on the Octy.

I feel for you all in the Fabia II section :peek:

[Mr Ree]

All a mystery to me this thread. :think:

I'll be changing my works van soon, as the warranty is nearly up.

Fuel consumption is high on the agenda, so not really needing a van quite so big, I'm probably going for the Fiesta 1.6 tdci without the turbo munching problems.

Consumption should hopefully drop considerably from the current 'real world 45-50 (manf. claims 52 combined) to a much more pleasing 70+ (manf. claims 78)

I understand the logic on that one.

[jrw]

All a mystery to me this thread. :think:

I'll be changing my works van soon, as the warranty is nearly up.

Fuel consumption is high on the agenda, so not really needing a van quite so big, I'm probably going for the Fiesta 1.6 tdci without the turbo munching problems.

Consumption should hopefully drop considerably from the current 'real world 45-50 (manf. claims 52 combined) to a much more pleasing 70+ (manf. claims 78)

I understand the logic on that one.

Off topic but i used to have a Fiesta Van, good if you don't need access all the time as it is a PITA to get to the back of the load bay from the hatch. You don't realise how much you miss a side door until you haven't got one!

I used to have the 1.4TDCI and got 50MPG all day long on the redline!

Edited 7 March, 2012 by jrw

[Mr Ree]

Off topic but i used to have a Fiesta Van, good if you don't need access all the time as it is a PITA to get to the back of the load bay from the hatch. You don't realise how much you miss a side door until you haven't got one! I used to have the 1.4TDCI and got 50MPG all day long on the redline!

Very true, and that's why I haven't made a final decision yet. Trouble is, nowt comes near it on the figures with a slidy side door,

With fuel now rocketing away, with predictions of a TWO almost unbelievable POUNDS a litre now being forecast, consumption has to be the main consideration for the future. No side door will be a small sacrifice by comparison.

Same as the car. I really couln't live with 30-40 mpg on a regular basis anymore. 50+ is bad enough on the wonderful mk1 vRS!

[Mr Ree]

Off topic !

True, and apologies 'cus I started that .

I'm still trying to work out the logic to the o.p. here. Please help !

[D15VRS]

Stand every vehicle for a day, if the Goverment take no notice stand for Two, then Three, then Four, stand for a week they would have to act then. We are all in this together unless you are a Goverment Minister and you don't pay for Fuel.

[gadgetman]

Buy a golf bluemotion

Dont talk to me about Bluemotion!

[gac]

Stand every vehicle for a day, if the Goverment take no notice stand for Two, then Three, then Four, stand for a week they would have to act then. We are all in this together unless you are a Goverment Minister and you don't pay for Fuel.

They wouldn't have to do anything if we leave our vehicles standing at all. We're going to need fuel SOMETIME. It's the reason forecourt boycotts don't really work IMO, the suits in charge of Esso and BP probably don't care if their forecourt profits are down on a Monday through people refusing to buy fuel, by the end of the week they'll be right back up to normal again because for many people, doing without it simply isn't an option.