First long trip

[Smartbear]

Hi, just returned from a weekend in Essex (from Somerset) around 420miles in total on one tank of unleaded & just hovering above the red section.

the maxidot shows just over 42mpg which is ok but I’m hoping it improves a little when the warmer temperatures return.

its still only covered 8k miles so maybe it’s still not loosened up fully yet?

rob

[widdershins]

You don't say what type of driving you were doing, or whether you have the 2wd or 4wd version.  I'd assume from the distance and the timeframe a large part was motorway driving.  The Yeti is about as aerodynamic as a block of flats, so bombing down a motorway at ohh say 70 (because no one on these forums ever breaks the speed limit officer.  ) would kill your mpg.  Also lugging round the 4wd gubbins bolted to the underside would knock a few mpg off your figures also.

 

I have a 4wd diesel Yeti and when driven in a spirited manner on twisty rural roads, or at 70 on motorways, sees my mpg drop into the 30's.  However when I drive more sensibly, my off-peak motorway commute at 60mph and a more boring driving style on country roads it's usually in the mid to high 50's for mpg.  I wish I could bring myself to drive sensibly more often.

 

[Jayp33]

I have had a 2013 Yeti diesel 4x4 170bhp dsg pre-facelift L&K model for a couple months now, bought to be ready for winter weather which in years past saw me get cut off in my Warwickshire village. Initially I was very concerned about the terrible fuel economy I seemed to be getting, mostly in the mid thirties mpg and somehow showing an average consumption of below thirty, despite doing very little city driving... for my winter preparation I swapped the fancy 17” alloys that came with the car (with some average Dunlop tyres fitted) for some Skoda Spectrum 16” alloy wheels  with a new set of Nokian WR A4s. Almost immediately my range on a tankful of diesel went up by over hundred miles. Since then I have been obtaining even more spectacular fuel economy by using cruise control at 30, 40, 50 and 60 mph (have not done motorway driving since cc experiments started) - it seems counterintuitive but the best economy with cruise control comes in S mode on the DSG when the dashboard displays S6 selected even at speeds as low as 45 mph, and even on quite hilly rural roads...

 

[Smartbear]

7 hours ago, widdershins said:

You don't say what type of driving you were doing, or whether you have the 2wd or 4wd version.  I'd assume from the distance and the timeframe a large part was motorway driving.  The Yeti is about as aerodynamic as a block of flats, so bombing down a motorway at ohh say 70 (because no one on these forums ever breaks the speed limit officer.  ) would kill your mpg.  Also lugging round the 4wd gubbins bolted to the underside would knock a few mpg off your figures also.

 

I have a 4wd diesel Yeti and when driven in a spirited manner on twisty rural roads, or at 70 on motorways, sees my mpg drop into the 30's.  However when I drive more sensibly, my off-peak motorway commute at 60mph and a more boring driving style on country roads it's usually in the mid to high 50's for mpg.  I wish I could bring myself to drive sensibly more often.

 

 

We have a fl 1.2 cambelt engine, trip was 70% motorways around 65/70mph, I shall see what it settles down to with our normal local use which is much slower.

rob

[Stubod]

Had my 2015 1.4 (4x4) for 12 months now, (14k total miles) and have averaged 44mpg (actual). Mainly rural driving and "taking it steady". I learned a long time ago that the difference between "giving it wellie" and taking your time probably only saves you about 5 mins in every hour traveled so for me I would rather leave a few minutes earlier and have less stress on both the car and myself!

Ambient temp seems to make a big difference even though the "tech" ensures the engine temp gauge reaches normal in about a mile or two. When really cold my work commute (20 miles) I struggle to get much over 40mpg by the time I arrive, when the weather is warmer it can be nearer 50! (same journey and driving style).

Edited 4 February, 2019 by Stubod

[Llanigraham]

2 hours ago, Smartbear said:

 

We have a fl 1.2 cambelt engine, trip was 70% motorways around 65/70mph, I shall see what it settles down to with our normal local use which is much slower.

rob

The Yeti has the aerodynamics of a brick, and I have found that keeping speed around 60 is much better for the pocket. I suspect that is very applicable when using the smaller engines.

Edited 4 February, 2019 by Llanigraham

[devilman9050]

I'd agree with what the others have said, if you can keep to a moderate speed and stick the cruise control on your MPG will most likely go up, through a stretch of M1 roadworks the other week cruising at 50 I averaged 65mpg, normally I average about 35-39mpg (because I don't tend to cruise along at 50).

 

Mine's the 2.0 L&K DSG (2015), so 170bhp, since I picked it up on the 31st Dec i've done just under 4000 miles (dad was in hospital on the coast) with average consumption (over a tankfull, using the Fillup App) worst was 32.82 mpg, best was 39.28. Sounds bad, but the Mercedes ML280 I had before would never get over about 28mpg under the same conditions, I do drive the Yeti a little slower than my Merc though (just a little bit)

 

Dez

[Sad555]

had the l & k 170bhp facelift and with a mix of motorway and rural could get over 50 without going to much near the limit on motorways on a 100 plus mile run and the more miles at a steady speed could push it up to mid 50s but with the extra weight of the 4 x 4,gearing and lack of aerodynamics never got close to the 67mpg from the Octavia estate with the same engine.

[kenfowler3966]

Whilst I use cruise control a lot it can waste fuel.

When driving manually, losing speed going up a hill and speeding up again downhill should give more mpg than a cruise control using extra fuel to maintain speed going up and then not taking advantage of gravity to accelerate back to required speed or even slightly more downhill as you prepare for next uphill section.

You won’t be popular with following vehicles though!!

[Expatman]

4 hours ago, kenfowler3966 said:

Whilst I use cruise control a lot it can waste fuel.

When driving manually, losing speed going up a hill and speeding up again downhill should give more mpg than a cruise control using extra fuel to maintain speed going up and then not taking advantage of gravity to accelerate back to required speed or even slightly more downhill as you prepare for next uphill section.

You won’t be popular with following vehicles though!!

You are right  - you won’t be popular with following motorists. Having lived in the USA for many years I got used to driving on the Freeways (motorways) where everyone used cruise control so you could match your speed to the rest of the traffic and drive for miles up hill and down dale without having to disconnect cruise, no traffic bunching or need to brake and accelerate because all traffic going same speed properly spaced out. In the UK traffic seems to slow on up gradients and speed up on down gradients requiring me to keep modifying cruise settings - slowing and accelerating - a complete pain and I can’t see it saves any fuel in the long term and certainly causes potentially dangerous bunching of traffic. Why Oh why do drivers not maintain a steady speed so preventing bunching and the need to continuously adjust speed?

[kenfowler3966]

Having been involved in road design about 40 years ago;

In America there is a culture of all driving at the speed limit and you can pass either side in any lane. This allows all lanes to be full and running more or less at the same speed.

In UK there are always some vehicles travelling at lower speed. Often on a 3 or 4 lane road they won’t move over. All traffic wishing to pass has to sit in the outside lane travelling nose to tail as too many vehicles. No one will give up his place in the overtaking queue. It is illegal to undertake yet numerous vehicles get impatient and do anyway, then reach another slow vehicle and pull out again. A slight amount of braking due to this often runs back down the road due to cars travelling to close together, ending up with cars stationary maybe a mile back!

Hence we end up with stop start in outside lane and half empty inner lanes.

 

Interestingley to get the maximum number of vehicles down a road the traffic speed needs to be controlled to 55mph, hence the use of 50mph average speeds where number of lanes are reduced for works. At 50mph traffic can all travel at the speed limit so less temptation to go for the outside lane. Hence all lanes run full. At 50mph cars travel legally closer together as stopping and reaction distance is less so comfortable being closer, hence more cars fit into the available road space. Minor braking is much less likely to stop cars completely some distance further back.

 

So if we want more cars without more lanes and less delays we are going to have to accept draconian speed camera control with all cars running at the speed limit and not trying to overtake.

 

Oh, of course that is nearly here! Self drive cars will do this  as part of their operating design, all talking to each other, and take away the ability of a few to hold back the many by bad driving.

Edited 6 February, 2019 by kenfowler3966

[Expatman]

I would love to see driverless cars dealing with Cornish lanes, often single vehicle wide with doubtful passing points requiring driver experience. Just what algorithm is going to deal with that or wandering sheep!

 

[kenfowler3966]

Easy the cars will all know where they are and what is coming the other way. One nearest a passing point will stop and wait even if the passenger can’t see a car due to a bend or jump.

 

Perhaps the sheep will also need position sensors!

[Expatman]

Yes, but will both cars know that the nearest passing point is covered 8 inch deep in mud and impassable or blocked by a farm trailer? As the designated car sinks into the mud will any sensor say “hey this isn’t right - how do I get out of this? Or will it then give up and leave the driver to wade out and summon a farmer with a tractor to drag him out?

[lawnmowerman]

7 hours ago, kenfowler3966 said:

Having been involved in road design about 40 years ago;

In America there is a culture of all driving at the speed limit and you can pass either side in any lane. This allows all lanes to be full and running more or less at the same speed.

In UK there are always some vehicles travelling at lower speed. Often on a 3 or 4 lane road they won’t move over. All traffic wishing to pass has to sit in the outside lane travelling nose to tail as too many vehicles. No one will give up his place in the overtaking queue. It is illegal to undertake yet numerous vehicles get impatient and do anyway, then reach another slow vehicle and pull out again. A slight amount of braking due to this often runs back down the road due to cars travelling to close together, ending up with cars stationary maybe a mile back!

Hence we end up with stop start in outside lane and half empty inner lanes.

 

Interestingley to get the maximum number of vehicles down a road the traffic speed needs to be controlled to 55mph, hence the use of 50mph average speeds where number of lanes are reduced for works. At 50mph traffic can all travel at the speed limit so less temptation to go for the outside lane. Hence all lanes run full. At 50mph cars travel legally closer together as stopping and reaction distance is less so comfortable being closer, hence more cars fit into the available road space. Minor braking is much less likely to stop cars completely some distance further back.

 

So if we want more cars without more lanes and less delays we are going to have to accept draconian speed camera control with all cars running at the speed limit and not trying to overtake.

 

Oh, of course that is nearly here! Self drive cars will do this  as part of their operating design, all talking to each other, and take away the ability of a few to hold back the many by bad driving.

 

Respect

 

Bill