On the same day as I picked up my 61 reg 5k miles vRS almost three weeks ago, my father picked up his brand new 1.2 SE 70PS one.

According to the trip computers on both, the vRS has averaged 30,4 mpg over 380 miles and his has achieved 32.4mpg over 190 miles. My trips have mainly been short, and on the longer runs I have pushed the car fairly hard once it has warmed up. He has been driving VERY carefully for mainly short runs. Obviously no real conclusions can be drawn, and the new Fabia will get better with age....BUT it made me smile that there is so little difference in consumption between the two cars so far.

The 70ps just has to work to hard.im not a massive fan of the N/A 3cylinder engine

My 1.2tsi 86PS is high 30s average driving around town

Easily mid to late 40s on longer runs. And if driven really carefully I've hit 54MPG

This is based on lots of cold starts for both cars.

Believe me, my father wouldn't push any car hard

But being such a low power engine, it would be working hard(er) every time you had to accelerate. I'd bet in normal, day to day running, especially around town, it would use nearly as much fuel as a four cylinder driven exactly the same.

Clarireysmurf, Hi! Congrats on the new cars. You probably already know much of this especially if you have been reading on this site, but neither of your cars is actually run in yet as you are aware. Even the engine in your VRs is still conforming and that won't finish until around the 10k mark. Inspite of what many think, although the initial running in is over on yours, you cannot speed up the remaining conforming process by very much as it's all about heating, cooling, hardening, and other chemical changes and wear patterns that will, and need to take place over time inside the engine. That process takes a while and won't be hurried. But once that has fully happened your performance and fuel economy will be even better. By how much will depend on you and how you drive.

I would also speak to dad about his car and make sure he gives the engine plenty of work to do. Certainly don't go around driving it gently trying to get good fuel economy during the running in period otherwise the bedding in and conforming process won't even properly begin and he will never get good performance or fuel economy. This is now very important on modern engines. Owners often don't give their engines enough power/revs during running in because they think they are doing the engine good by going gently. They are not! The first 500 miles are the most crucial. Suggest to him to get his foot down a bit on some longer 'hot' runs so the oil gets nice and hot (at least 10-12 miles). Short trips are no good in running in a car engine. Follow the book instructions on running in by driving it fairly normally but avoiding the extremes outlined in the book.

Incidentally, the little 70ps 3 cylinder motor in the Fabia is a real gem. It's powerful when run in and depending how you drive it (ie: heavy footed or light) and how it's used (ie: short or long journeys) will/can give very very good economy into the 50+ mpg. Put your foot down in one and it really goes well. Of course a smaller engine works harder than a bigger engine in the same car, but as anyone will tell you who has driven the 1.2 70ps, it's not short of power, and is reall fun to drive with more than enough power to take on the traffic even with passengers in the car. Have fun both of you and do keep posting with info on how you are both getting on. Please forgive me if you already know this but it doesn't hurt to keep repeating this sort of thing as it can help many.

I loved that comparison between the petrol guzzling monstar of a vRS ( a popular opinion) and frugal little 3-pot, both doing almost exactly the same MPGs, despite obvious age difference:)

I'd agree in principle with EM. Brand new engines will always use more fuel and comparing a fairly well run in motor (5k tends to be agreed upon as an end to running in period for petrols) of your vRS with a brand new and very tight 3-pot of your dad's is cheeky

However the process can be accelerated by a particular way of driving. There're running in threads here one can have a look at.

I only posted because I was feeling slightly disheartened at the 30mpg I had achieved (in the context of the 18k similar age Fabia TDi 75ps version I had before) and it was a largely throw away paragraph. My Dad has been driving since 1956 so I will let him figure out how he wants to run it in

If you drive your vRS like this car should be driven, at least once a day, then 30 MPG is not that bad. When I come out to play in my 5k miles vRS I get around 22mpg and this is woithout speeding (too much). When I just roll in "D" in MPG chasing mode I managed to get 42MPG on the same run of road in the same traffic conditions and the same ext temp. All depends how you drive it. 1.4 twincharger can run in fully naturally spirated mode (supercharger and turbo charger are bypassed) plus it can emply Stratified Combustion or Lean Running tech to be very economical for a motor producing 180BHP and 250Nm of torque - I love it!

It is all subjective to the maxi dot, I left the house this morning in the yeti, got straight on the motorway and didn't drop below 80 all the way to Stoke, then on the way back I had time to kill as my next appointment was two hours away and only one hour to get there.

So I drove steady, sat with the wagons and feathered the throttle, mpg was hugely different because of tricking the maxi dot.

Set off, feather the throttle, on deceleration just apply very slight pressure to the throttle and the maxi dot thinks you are driving so the average goes way up! Do the same towards every junction and roundabout and soon like I did the mpg was showing 64mpg, this also works in the vRS, I know because I wind the wife up about it, she averages 35, when I drive I get 45+ but this is only because I cheat with the slowing down foot lightly on the gas trick!

A car is bought to get from A to B, it burns petrol or diesel to do this, face it, you will use fuel. Enjoy your new car and change the maxi dot away from mpg or you will go insane. I find oil temp is a good thing to watch as it costs nothing

I thought the computer took into account 'coasting' when working out mpg?

Dammit, after switching me to fixed service I have no longer Oil Temp displayed!! Bugger...

coasting uses no fuel BUT if you just slightly squeeze the throttle you can confuse it.

Set your display to real time mpg, then coast, display is three flat lines, just apply a little pressure on the throttle and you can get it to show 199, do this a few times and your average goes up.

Dammit, after switching me to fixed service I have no longer Oil Temp displayed!! Bugger...

Our Fabia is fixed service and it has oil temp?

Exactly, "Skoda Tech" repeatedly assured me over the phone that there is no way of showing oil temps when car is on fixed service schedule LOL. Sometimes they can be rather exhausting!

EDIT: When they finally get that rear wiper motor in stock I will need your dealer's phone number for them call and confirm that in fact it is blooming possible! Perhaps I should write to SUK as well LOL!

I even got the temp up to 115'C when being enthusiastic around Oulton Park, this surprised me a little as it was only 3'C ambient and very wet too.

In the summer at how fast I am expecting this to go even higher.