As we all know manufacturer's almost seem to pluck their fuel econo figures out of thin air, as nobody is going to just drive at 50mph all the time.. well nearly everyone :p

My question though is due to the engineering and all, do either petrol or diesel (or which one?) actually get closer to the official figures. Through personal experiences and not just the science.

A better % MPG almost..

If I drive moderately sensibly, then on a 100 mile M way journey I can easy get the 37mpg average for the 2.0 tsi. I have got 41+ on a couple of occasions possibly a following wind assisted figure. My average over 5k miles now is 33.5 which includes short cold start journeys and several making very good progress A road journeys.

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Driving on mainly A roads with the odd little bit of town driving I average around 40mpg, that's not driving like a grandad either. So I reckon that's about on par with quoted skoda stats for a 1.8T. Every diesel car I've had has never come close to what's it's 'meant' to do, that's why I'm sticking with petrol.

It can be done I ran a 1.8TSi Octavia last year and was getting around 40 mpg but once on a steady run from the Isle of Skye to Glasgow the trip computer showed an average of 48.4 mpg.

I am currently running a Superb 1.6 Greenine hatch and today I had a steady run from Sheffield to Bridlington and back (165 miles round trip) fully loaded and the trip said 67.2 mpg. On normal day to day running its around 58/60 mpg.

I do around 50,000 miles a year on all types of roads.

Edited 30 March, 201313 yr by ruffday

I don't do diesel, so can't comment on that but, for me, petrol engines can get reasonably close to the quoted mpg on a long steady run, though I never get remotely close on urban driving (I guess I just like to get up to speed too quickly).

I know you said you only wanted personal experiences, but I think you'll find this interesting (particularly if you also follow the link to the original report):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21759258

I use an app on my iPhone called Road Trip Lite. Here's an example of what I'm getting to the gallon, calculated manually, brim to brim. I've a 100 mile a day commute, mostly on motorways, travelling at between 60 &70 mph.

To get the absolute maximum MPG you really have to have half an understanding of how an engine and its ancillaries work. Im quite a bore with this sort of thing. I have had some diesel cars over the last 11 years that encourage you to try and get the best out of them. A lot of it on diesel cars is when the turbo comes into play. Also, some have trick gearing to maximise economy and in the case my old Astra Eco4, make it a £30 a year tax avoider. And, to be honest, I don't think that ive ever had a car even since that was economical.

Skoda Fabia SDi - claimed mpg 55ish - actual 53.4 (135k miles)

VW Polo SDi - claimed mpg 56ish - actual 54.3 (173k miles)

Skoda Roomster 1.4 TDi - claimes mpg 55ish - actual 52.4 (49k miles)

This is a combination of learner drivers and me drivine to/from fleet work or police diversionary courses. I reckon that if I lived somewhere flatter (East Anglia?) it would be possible to better the manufacturers' claims.

I don't normally drive too hard, but if it's necessary I can 'make progress' (it also helps to blow the c**p out from time to time).

Problem is if you drive a 'modern' diesel like miss daisy to achieve the claimed figures you clog the bloody things up and cause no end of problems.

Thanks for all the replies. Was just wondering this as was driving the father's car the other day and the DPF light came on again. Caned it home and went off of course

Set me thinking about him maybe getting a petrol car next time, as he drives it pretty rarely. Got a trail of thought on fuel econo going..

Take a look in this months What Car? magazine.

They've been running with their 'True MPG' data for a while now, but this month breaks down the differences between what the manufacturers are claiming and what is actually achievable in the real world. They then show the top ten and worst ten models and break down the average percentage as an overall number.

Interesting reading.

I think the newer the car the less likely you are to be able to achieve the figures. On older cars it was easy to beat the figures, but not now with the way they do the tests.

I've not read the above report, I have a gut feeling that petrol gives less if a difference than diesel.

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