millns84
Guest
That doesn't sound terrible around town, they're surprisingly thirsty in stop-start traffic. I get mid 30's around town and mid to late 40's on a run in my Toca.
It's always worth checking tyre pressures as these might be influencing it a bit, but probably only worth a couple of MPG though...
EDIT - Come to think of it, it's a new car and the engine will be a bit tight. It'll improve over time.
It's always worth checking tyre pressures as these might be influencing it a bit, but probably only worth a couple of MPG though...
EDIT - Come to think of it, it's a new car and the engine will be a bit tight. It'll improve over time.
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jamiebrannan92
Guest
I drive quite gently really and change gear when it flashes up to. I was just annoyed because at the dealership I was told it would more than definitely get 37-38 mpg around town and it doesn't do that lol thanks for replying 
jamiebrannan92
Guest
I change when it flashes up to. I sometimes use shell v power but that only sometimes gives a difference of 0.5 mpg
A complete waste of money on your engine. 95 octane will be just fine. It is an old engine design and sadly never was an economy marvel. It is one reason why I spent about £1000 more on a 1.2 TSI.
millns84
Guest
Without wanting to start one of those classic forum arguments over fuel, I find Tesco Momentum better in mine. Since Shell changed to V-Power Nitro, I've not used it. My old car didn't like it, used more fuel than normal so I went back to Momentum.
Testing has shown an increase in efficiency of around 6% with Tesco Momentum, worth a punt. Even if it's not that much of an increase in MPG, it runs smoother and has additional cleaning additives.
jamiebrannan92
Guest
31mpg is not miles off the average for town driving, but maybe you could get a bit better, possibly 37mpg max.
Try changing up before the indicator says, in fact climb the gears as quickly as possible while still making progress.
In my 1.4 I do 1st-2nd-5th when I'm driving in a 30 zone. It will cruise along happily in 5th and not use much fuel. It does mean a bit of gearstick stirring when you reach hills, but that's the character of these naturally aspirated 16v engines unfortunately.
Also take the MPG indicator with a pinch of salt. Calculate it over a tankload and see what you get.
If I thrash mine out of the drive and up the street, then drive it like a granny, I get crap MPG readings all day. If I ease it up the road than then thrash it up the motorway I get great MPG readings all day. So, the MPG reading does seem a bit off for me occasionally.
So basically, it will get better as you get more used to the car, and the engine breaks in.
Try changing up before the indicator says, in fact climb the gears as quickly as possible while still making progress.
In my 1.4 I do 1st-2nd-5th when I'm driving in a 30 zone. It will cruise along happily in 5th and not use much fuel. It does mean a bit of gearstick stirring when you reach hills, but that's the character of these naturally aspirated 16v engines unfortunately.
Also take the MPG indicator with a pinch of salt. Calculate it over a tankload and see what you get.
If I thrash mine out of the drive and up the street, then drive it like a granny, I get crap MPG readings all day. If I ease it up the road than then thrash it up the motorway I get great MPG readings all day. So, the MPG reading does seem a bit off for me occasionally.
So basically, it will get better as you get more used to the car, and the engine breaks in.
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jamiebrannan92
Guest
Thanks I'll give that a try and see if I get any better it just seems like I drive really economically well as much as I can and get rubbish results lol
I'd expect quite the opposite, if mainly doing motorway driving and even 70MPH max, I'd expect nearer 50MPG, if you backed off a bit to 60MPH I'd expect nearer 55MPG if the motorway part of your journey is at least 15 miles each way.
I'm basing that on what I can get on my daughter's late 2009 1.4 16V SC and my wife's late 2002 1.4 16v Polo SE.
Cars, especially petrol cars, don't work well in heavy town traffic full stop, even worse if it is going through its warming up phase in town traffic.
I wouldn't bother with expensive fuel it clearly says in the fuel cap that 91-95 ( estimation as Im not near the car) Ron is the most economical for the engine, I only every get 31-32 mpg crusing around town but I do find changing gear at 1500 rpm does help it, if you change to the live mpg counter then you can see where is the most economical time to change gear in your car, the highest I ever got was 41.5 mpg travelling to Blackpool so 115 miles which I thought was really good my car.
Doesn't say that in our filler cap. The higher RON fuel in ours does improve the mpg, but only by 1-2 mpg, so not really worth the extra, our does 38mpg on average with Nitro fuel.
millns84
Guest
VW used to recommend 98RON in every car, with most engines being approved for 95RON around five years ago. Some performance engines from the range still recommend 98RON though.
The higher RON fuel will have several benefits over standard unleaded. It's not just about power/economy - There are more detergents in the fuel also and personally I think engines run smoother on higher RON fuel.
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