220 sportine cosumption.

[nicknorman]

1 minute ago, Rainmaker said:

Gawd all this talk of saving fuel. Do people really buy expensive, heavily depreciating biggish petrol engine cars and then worry about whether they spend £40 instead of £20 a week enjoying them? Just hit the county roads,  knock it into manual or sport and floor the bloody things haha. You’re a long time dead and one day you might not even get the option of a proper nice ICE car.   

My view is that I might as well drive economically when it makes no difference to progress, eg around town traffic. So for example as soon as I see a red traffic light in the distance, I’ll close the throttle. Some other people seem to focus only 10 yards ahead and keep the power on later, then brake sharply to a halt. But when I have an open road I am quite happy to floor it up to the red line! (and being on remote roads in Scotland, I can get away with it!)

[nicknorman]

18 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

Confused,

OK Clear English then.

The cars are smarter than the drivers sometimes. Put into 'D' and drive. sometimes lift off the throttle.

Try it, see if it saves fuel.  & try a DSG sometime, with an open mind.

I’m still a bit unsure but on my main journey Aberdeen to near Aviemore via Tarland, Strathdon, over the Lecht etc (a great road when you know it!) I have noticed that when I bimble along in D, the fuel consumption seems to be marginally worse than when I drive in a more brisk fashion using manual mode / the paddles. One thing I dislike about D is braking for a corner and then applying power - at which point it decides to change down 2 gears and so there is that annoying hesitation. In manual mode one can of course be in the right gear before applying power, and the car seems to prefer it.

[Ootohere]

Exactly as with me.  But then it is a location, location, location thing...

It is my trip weekly, sometimes a few times a week.

Getting to the Lecht is different from coming back down on either side though.

http://lecht.co.uk 

 

Re Spirited driving.

Some seem to miss that in Scotland there are so many routes now with Average speed cameras that you might as well chill, 

and get to 'Driving Roads' for the enjoyment and having as much Super Unleaded still in your tank can be good, 

Especially if you are 'having fun' where there are not Filling Stations with Super Unleaded, or not at the usual prices.

& especially if you are going north or Inverness and some other places with great driving roads.

 

Edited 17 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[nicknorman]

Yup I know it well. If I said I’d had it up to 100 going up the long straight 10% gradient from the Tomintoul side I would of course be lying. Hmmmm. Only thing wrong with your photos is that they show 4 cars. I normally travel Friday evening /Sunday evening and it’s rare to see a car outside of the skiing season.

 

As to average speed cameras, fortunately my normal route doesn’t have them but the A9 and A90 are rather spoilt. My general feeling is that it’s easy to get caught on trunk roads / dual carriage ways / motorways but pretty unlikely on rural A roads around here anyway. Having done that 85 mile each way journey probably 30 times a year since 1988, I have only once seen a speed detecting device - a “safety” van parked on the long straight coming into Tomintoul from the Lecht. Spotted in good time so embarassment avoided!

[Ootohere]

I have had some rather nice 'spirited drives' vs Audi and the like, seeing them in the mirror coming up fast.

Royal Protection from Balmoral on a mission, and an Heir to the throne and one further down the line at the wheel a few times.

Nice if they give a wee flash of the Blues if you let them pass.

Edited 17 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[nicknorman]

We are very lucky. You just don’t get roads like that in Englandshire these days!

[Ootohere]

Do you take the chance to turn off and head across from the A939 towards Braemar?

Gairnshiel / B976.

Just love it, then to Ballater, South Deeside and to the Cairn o Mount.

Edited 17 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[nicknorman]

I have done that route occasionally, but not often. Ditto Cairn o’Mount. But neither frequently because, living in Aberdeen, they’re not roads between places I go to!

Edited 17 January, 2018 by nicknorman

[juux]

You are all, or course, correct. I was remembering the (sudden) drop in revs as it going to 0, not to idle 

 

Nowadays, with a chunky enough battery, EPAS and a vacuum pump there really is no need for an engine to be running if disconnected from the gearbox though. Apart form anything else, a Leaf, Tesla etc. wouldn't get very far otherwise.

 

An automotive engineer friend assures me that modern engines use zero fuel on the overrun so in theory I guess a coasting Superb is using a tiny amount of fuel compared to one that is simply running without throttle. I'm guessing the fact that the coasting car doesn't need to have the throttle applied as soon/often means it potentially saves overall.

 

3 hours ago, Rainmaker said:

Gawd all this talk of saving fuel. Do people really buy expensive, heavily depreciating biggish petrol engine cars and then worry about whether they spend £40 instead of £20 a week enjoying them? Just hit the county roads,  knock it into manual or sport and floor the bloody things haha. You’re a long time dead and one day you might not even get the option of a proper nice ICE car.   

 

This is also my attitude. I've never understood people who buy a car that depreciates thousands of pounds a year and then proceed to moan about an extra tankful per month, £80 tax a year, or £400 for decent tyres instead of £330 for ditchfinders 

[facet edge]

 

On 17/01/2018 at 18:27, juux said:

You are all, or course, correct. I was remembering the (sudden) drop in revs as it going to 0, not to idle 

 

Nowadays, with a chunky enough battery, EPAS and a vacuum pump there really is no need for an engine to be running if disconnected from the gearbox though. Apart form anything else, a Leaf, Tesla etc. wouldn't get very far otherwise.

 

If the engine cut out when coasting the power steering would stop working....

[Ootohere]

Just as well VW Group sorted that out before putting on sale the likes of the Golf 1.5TSI EVO.

 

 

Edited 19 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[xman]

9 minutes ago, facet edge said:

 

If the engine cut out when coasting the power steering would stop working....

 

I've read that's the case (in motoring articles). However I believe the superb uses the older electrohydraulic system (electrically powered hydraulic pump) so it should in theory be possible to have it still powered for a short while although I know it takes mega amps.

 

Other cars (fabia i,ii, octavia ii) lose power steering if engine stops so I suppose there's a good reason behind it.

Edited 19 January, 2018 by xman

[facet edge]

2 minutes ago, xman said:

 

I've read that's the case (in motoring articles). However I believe the superb uses the older electrohydraulic system (electrically powered hydraulic pump) so it should in theory be possible to have it still powered although I know it takes mega amps.

Believe me, the steering cuts out. My car autostops when I a trying to turn into my driveway and the steering locks up!

[juux]

12 minutes ago, facet edge said:

 

If the engine cut out when coasting the power steering would stop working....

 

Yes, by design on our cars, but there is no technical reason why this is the case nowadays when EPAS is pretty much universal and electrical systems are much beefier than they used to be. 

[D402]

21 hours ago, xman said:

However I believe the superb uses the older electrohydraulic system (electrically powered hydraulic pump)

No, it's electro-mechanical EPAS. I agree that the loss of assistance while moving is annoying. Have you noticed that the engine restarts if you try to turn the steering wheel while the engine is stopped?

[xman]

Thanks for the correction. I haven't got my Superb yet so can't comment further.

[dg360]

I did a little experiment the other day.  When costing in eco mode.  My 220 reports a power output of 2kW but no fuel consumption....  One of those readouts is lying to me!  (I think I know which...)

Still like eco mode when being driven by someone else though

[Zenbasses]

I tend to use  Coasting mode when the road conditions are just right,

 

For example, on the commute to work I can get on the motorway and a get up to 70mph and then I can effectively coast for nearly 3 miles without barely touching the accelerator. The downward nature of the motoway on this specific section obviously has enough gravitational pull coupled with the momentum already gained to keep the car near or near about the same speed for a good couple of miles.

 

Its weird..

 

I was driving on the A1 yesterday  with lots of peaks and troughs as well all know, and it was busy, again coasting works well in this situation as you can go up and down the dips without really needing to push on with the loud pedal... Only for short sections but it add a few mpg over the course of the journey.

 

For normal town driving, stick with comfort you can always put the car in sports mode (easy with a DSG) should u want to pull away from a junction/roundabout with a bit more urgency, I also find Sports mode particularly useful when negotiating tight and steep multi story car parks as it holds the lower gears for longer... In comfort/Eco mode I barely see 1st gear on the central dispaly..seems to skip to 2nd almost instantly..

 

Equally when coming to halt and anticipating the flow of traffic I'll back off the accelerator and allow the engine to slow itself down as the DSG shuffles down the gears and use the brake at the latest/safest opportunity..

 

I have a 190 SCR with a DSG and my long term average is 46mpg the best I've ever had out of it on a long run was 56mpg  whilst my 12 mile commute to work which include hills,traffic, motorways ....(the usual) ...gets me around 45mpg... I've done the run in a warmed up car and I'll get closer to 50mpg......As mentioned, the cold weather really does take its toll on mpg and I was only getting around 38mpg when it was hovering around -2 degrees these past few weeks.

 

For what its worth, using traditional cruise control often meant I could get better MPG when doing it myself, with the ACC activated it seems to do a pretty good job of getting the balance right to the point we are juggling with the off 1 or 2 mpg.....Life is too short at that point to care..!!

Edited 26 January, 2018 by Zenbasses

[facet edge]

I find the ACC uses the brakes too much for my liking. When I am driving I can see that the road drops ahead and ease off the accelerator early. ACC will not do this but start braking half way down the hill. The same when closing on a hazard, I can anticipate it and adjust my speed but ACC will carry on at speed and then slow down, usually just before the hazard has cleared. It then thinks a bit and decides, yes the road is clear and resumes speed.

Don't get me wrong I think it's a fantastic bit of kit, just not quite as good as us!

[dg360]

New record today. 31 miles, mixture of A road + M6 and M56.  55-60. It was more of an experiment into what is possible.

Eco definitely helps. If you read the road ahead and lift off completely at the crest of every hill, you can coast down the other side in eco whilst keeping up with the traffic for quiet a while. Without eco, the drag from pumping air with the engine is too great and you need to get back on the accelerator much sooner.

 

Why oh why are people buying diesels still!

 

Tomorrow I'm doing the opposite experiment.  See how fast I can legally get home and what my consumption is like then.

[GlennLyttle]

7 months in and 35.4mpg is the maximum I have managed to get. And that's long distance motorway driving, in eco consciously trying to be economic. 

 

50mpg just seems impossible... I'd be happy with 40!

Edited 14 August, 2018 by GlennLyttle

[dg360]

Might be worth getting it checked over. On motorway, at normal speeds ~70, I get 40ish.

Going across France at around 80, it did drop noticeably.

[GlennLyttle]

Thought has crossed my mind. I've recently changed jobs and my commute is slightly longer and the roads are a lot quieter but on average I only get about 30mpg. The return journey with traffic is mid 20's at best. I still. Love the car though, it is an amazing drive. This one issue is just starting to niggle me. 

[100andthirty]

46 minutes ago, GlennLyttle said:

7 months in and 35.4mpg is the maximum I have managed to get. And that's long distance motorway driving, in eco consciously trying to be economic. 

 

50mpg just seems impossible... I'd be happy with 40!

Try the Normal mode rather than ECO. My experience is that Normal delivers slightly better mpg.

[flyingpigvrs]

4 hours ago, GlennLyttle said:

Thought has crossed my mind. I've recently changed jobs and my commute is slightly longer and the roads are a lot quieter but on average I only get about 30mpg. The return journey with traffic is mid 20's at best. I still. Love the car though, it is an amazing drive. This one issue is just starting to niggle me. 

Definitely get it checked. I can thrash my 220 and it still stays at 30mpg

 

I easily get 38-40mpg on my 12mile trip to and from work which is motorway and normal roads