As I wrote in my first post, I am an older lady driver, who loves her Octavia.(black ambiente 1.9Td 2002). She's the most ladylike of cars and almost drives herself. I often run with the average miles per gallon displayed. At 60-70mph,in 5th gear, ( and downhill with a following wind as we used to say) with aircon switched off, I get about 58mpg. I'm a gentle driver, light footed on both throttle and brakes. Does anyone know if there's a "best buy" diesel? At the moment I'm just going to the local Sainsbury's. Is city diesel any better than the ordinary one? are fuel additives any use?

Techies out there must know more than me.:confused:

An additive I and many others on here can thoroughly recommend is Miller's Diesel Sport 4

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/fabia/millers-diesel-power-sport-4-a/71245/?highlight=millers

Enhanced economy (or performance - trouble is you can get too used to the extra power so the economy stays arounnd the same ), quieter smoother engine, cleans injectors so lower emissions and better chance of MOT pass.

I've used it for around 20 years in several diesels (one I drove 180k in) - heck, even my wife can tell when it's not in the tank :eek: .

Plastic bottle costs between £8 and £12, 500ml, 1000 to 1 dilution ratio = treats 110 gallons.

Thanks, I'll try that

Thanks, I'll try that

I should mention I'm no 'techie' - but I think lots on here would agree.

I'm totally ignorant when it comes to diesel engines, but as I've understood it the main point with city diesel is that it's friendlier for the environment (80 % reduction of sulphur contents). If you can afford the extra p's per gallon, go for it.

Also, the thread that anonymouse suggested for further reading shows that opinions on additives are split. As long as you, hana, remain a gentle driver and your engine is purring nicely I doubt if additives gives you anything but more holes in your wallet. It could be different for those who want maximum performance from their engines, and diesel experts will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong.

With an Ambiante, I'd say so! I'm pretty lead-footed, and still managed to match that (based on fill to fill mileage) on a hired Ambiante!

58mpg is a fairly respectable figure and it depends why you want to better it really. "Premium fuel" may return more mpg, but you'll also find it costs more in the first place so it may be a false economy. Removing unnecessary weight will help (do you really need a spare wheel and toolkit?). That sound proofing is all a bit heavy too, and when was the last time you used the back seat (that can be rhetorical )?

I've never seen any gain in economy from fuel additives, although making sure the car is serviced regularly, cleaned and waxed, and the air filter is clean may help. Check tyres are correctly inflated and at replacement time, go for longer-life tyres (Michelin Energy's) rather than super grippy ones.

Another thing you can look at is planning ahead to minimise your use of brakes and accelerator to keep the car moving, and also try not to be in too higher gear at any time as you may find more fuel is being used. The instantaneous mpg is good for monitoring this....

Chris

Yeah, I suppose I should explain. I say I'm lead-footed, but that just means I accelerate hard and keep the engine spinning.

This takes a bit of practice, but I get up to speed, then back off the throttle, and it can be amazing just how much you can back off without actually slowing down.