martin.cat
Guest
Well I collected my 60reg 1.6 ecomotive Altea XL SE on 30th June and on the whole am pleased with it with one big exception of a water leak from the air con which gave me some wet carpets. Thankfully this hasnow been repaired and new carpets / mats have been fitted under the warranty.
Before i purchased the ecomotive i asked for peoples thoughts / comments regarding the 2 engines. Since i have had a 2.0 as a courtesy car for nearly 3 weeks I thought i would share my thoughts / experiences
When i collected the ecomotive the first thing i noticed was that the gearing was different to my previous car (1.6 Renault Megane petrol). In particularly 4th gear was not good at 30mph even though the gear indicator advised you to change up. I’ve found that to be comfortable in a gear with no labouring you need to times the gear by 10 so for 4th gear 40mph 5th gear 50mph etc. You can use the gear at upto about 10mph less than that but the engine labours and acceleration is retarded so really just for coasting. Incidentally this isn't unique to ecomotive it’s the same on the 2.0 though that benefits from a 6th gear.
I have done almost 2500 miles in the eco and am seeing a 50mpg return. My usual journey to work is only 3 miles and i do actually get 45mpg against 30 in the Renault. The eco actually rarely delivers less than 45 unless you have been hard on it. On longer trips you easily get low 50s and high 50 / low 60s with kind driving 60-65ish. If you drive at 80plus unkind driving you looking at 45-50. The best return so far was 680 following a trip to Keswick and then later in the week Ayr this was mixed with150 miles of urban driving so I was pretty impressed. I've found that if i run a full tank i typically get 550 to 600 range when you add the remaining range.
With the 2.0 TDi I have covered 600 miles and to be far never filled it up and only put small amounts in at a time due to it being a courtesy car and expecting to return it in the near future. What i did find was that on my journeys to work mpg was around 40 and the return high 30s as traffic was heavier and got caught at lights more (no stop start here) On the motorway the 6th gear kept the revs down below 2000 for the higher speeds and this gave you a 50ish mpg even at 60-65 you only got up to 54ish. Power wise there was more but having gone back to the ecomotive i wouldn’t say its underpowered.
For me if your drive is 95% motorway the 2.0 6 speed is better but in urban driving mpg is typically 10-20% less and more in heavier conditions. The Eco is far better in good urban conditions and excels on open A roads
Before i purchased the ecomotive i asked for peoples thoughts / comments regarding the 2 engines. Since i have had a 2.0 as a courtesy car for nearly 3 weeks I thought i would share my thoughts / experiences
When i collected the ecomotive the first thing i noticed was that the gearing was different to my previous car (1.6 Renault Megane petrol). In particularly 4th gear was not good at 30mph even though the gear indicator advised you to change up. I’ve found that to be comfortable in a gear with no labouring you need to times the gear by 10 so for 4th gear 40mph 5th gear 50mph etc. You can use the gear at upto about 10mph less than that but the engine labours and acceleration is retarded so really just for coasting. Incidentally this isn't unique to ecomotive it’s the same on the 2.0 though that benefits from a 6th gear.
I have done almost 2500 miles in the eco and am seeing a 50mpg return. My usual journey to work is only 3 miles and i do actually get 45mpg against 30 in the Renault. The eco actually rarely delivers less than 45 unless you have been hard on it. On longer trips you easily get low 50s and high 50 / low 60s with kind driving 60-65ish. If you drive at 80plus unkind driving you looking at 45-50. The best return so far was 680 following a trip to Keswick and then later in the week Ayr this was mixed with150 miles of urban driving so I was pretty impressed. I've found that if i run a full tank i typically get 550 to 600 range when you add the remaining range.
With the 2.0 TDi I have covered 600 miles and to be far never filled it up and only put small amounts in at a time due to it being a courtesy car and expecting to return it in the near future. What i did find was that on my journeys to work mpg was around 40 and the return high 30s as traffic was heavier and got caught at lights more (no stop start here) On the motorway the 6th gear kept the revs down below 2000 for the higher speeds and this gave you a 50ish mpg even at 60-65 you only got up to 54ish. Power wise there was more but having gone back to the ecomotive i wouldn’t say its underpowered.
For me if your drive is 95% motorway the 2.0 6 speed is better but in urban driving mpg is typically 10-20% less and more in heavier conditions. The Eco is far better in good urban conditions and excels on open A roads
