Q: How economical is the Ecomotive 1.6CR?

[GainfulShrimp]

A: Very.

Got my first >800 mile tank today.

(Sorry about the crappy reflections in this cameraphone pic)

I got an honest/calculated tank average of 65.1mpg to reach that. Figures have been climbing for the last four tanks and I'm interested to see where they eventually end up.
For the statistically inclined, my long term average (I started recording figures at the third tank) is 60.7mpg. The average miles per 55 litres is 734.4 miles. Long term fuel cost is 8.9 pence per mile (8.4 pence for this last tank).

It's taken a very disciplined right foot to get actuals >65mpg (which equates to about 70mpg journey average on the rather generous/optimistic MFD figure...) but if you're into coaxing every last mile out of a tank of derv - as I'm almost embarrassed to admit I seem to find fun nowadays - then the Ecomotive will definitely reward your efforts.

My driving is mostly a mix of country roads, dual carriageway and slow city traffic when close to work. I reckon if you tried a Top Gear style economy marathon with the Ecomotive - without the 40 mins of stop-start queueing that I do most days - then >900 miles should be easily possible. In terms that Clarkson would understand, that means I could leave my house in rural Leics and drive to Milan, Italy without filling up. Sounds like a fun challenge to try out one day...

 

[SteveTDCi]

if only the cupra would do that still I bet i have more fun finding the redline

 

[GainfulShrimp]

What's a redline?

 

[joolsvern]

That is very impressive. OK not so much fun but whats fun about sticking the pedal down only to heavy brake 20 seconds later.

If I was in the market for a car I would be seriously considering one as I don't do a lot of miles, I drive around for an hour or so every day and its all stop start and even with careful driving I can't get over 45, 36 on a "fck it" day.

What is like on a motorway, "in theory" would in cruise nicely @ 90mph or is it better suited to the 70 or 80 mark, theoretically of course.

 

[GainfulShrimp]

The taller eco gearing helps and it's quite civilised cruising at those speeds in fifth, although you won't see mpg figures like above if you drive quickly.

 

[SteveTDCi]

I think i averaged around 55mpg on a quick sprint in the Golf Bluemotion and that was over a short 14miles. I find them a little underpowered at low speeds but once upto 70mph they keep up with faster traffic quite well. Its a nice little engine and proof that you don't always need 6 speeds

 

[Rickst3r]

If you're this obsessed about saving fuel, then why don't you get out and push the car during the slow stop start city driving?!

I'm not intentionally having a dig at you, and the figures are impressive, but jeeez how bloody boring.

 

[coggie]

Top Gear Magazine drove a pre-FL eco back from the SEAT factory in Spain to BBC in London, then around abit more until it ran out after 930 miles. They stuck to 50mph the entire way and also taped up the doors and bonnet gaps.

That was the old 1.9 Eco, I would of thought the newer 1.6 might just break the 1000 mile barrier if driven the same way.

 

[joolsvern]

If you're this obsessed about saving fuel, then why don't you get out and push the car during the slow stop start city driving?!

I'm not intentionally having a dig at you, and the figures are impressive, but jeeez how bloody boring.

I don't agree with your first and third part of that second sentence. Hyper miling is going to be more relevant as fuel prices increase, I would rather know what a car can do normally before you start to look at thin tyres that are overinflated and probably dangerous. bla bla bla boring myself now lol.

 

[GainfulShrimp]

It can be boring going carefully, but it's much less stressful especially on busy roads and £350/mth on V-Power got *very* boring over the long term.

 

[IRC Kevin]

I wish mine would do what it said on the box. Best is 68mpg, usually 64 mpg and that's driving like a granny at 55mph ( 75 mile weekly run on motorway and dual carriageway). I could get 52 out of my Audi A5 3.0 tdi on the same run. It's only done 2500 miles and will still be tight, but those figures are nowhere near those advertised.

I've noticed that rain and dark both increase fuel consumption considerably, yet aircon on/off seems to make no measurable difference!! What speeds do you drive at to get those figures, Shrimp?

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Your figures seem very similar to what I was getting at about 2500 miles actually.

I don't think it's realistic to expect to get the official figures with a new engine... IMHO it's nigh-on impossible to reach the official extra-urban figure (of any car) without a fully run-in engine, perfect conditions, good hypermiling technique and a good deal of luck thrown in. Took me about 26k miles to beat the official extra-urban figure for my FR, for instance.

FYI, my best tank before I'd done 5k miles was 59.8mpg (calculated). It seems to be loosening up nicely now though. It's now done 7.5k miles and I've had over 800 miles out of my last two tanks - 66.9mpg calculated average from the last fill-up, which I'm pretty happy with.

I haven't noticed that dark makes any difference but I found the stock Pirelli P7s are much less efficient in the wet, yes. Car is currently fitted with winter tyres (Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 205/55 R16 91H) on steel wheels, and they are a fair bit more efficient than the P7s. When the time comes, I'm not going to replace the P7s with the same - I have previously been impressed by Goodyear EfficientGrips so I'll get those instead.

I keep a target speed of around 50-55mph, but allow variation when climbing/descending hills ('driving with load'). The usual tips definitely apply:

• Use *very* gentle inputs until the engine has warmed up fully. Harsh acceleration when cold is much more costly than the same when the engine's up to temp.
• Avoid unnecessary acceleration and braking (don't accelerate when you could predict you'll need to brake shortly afterwards).
• Anticipate the traffic behaviour at traffic lights etc - slow down early so you don't have to stop altogether but can roll on when the lights change.
• Use the auto start/stop if you do have to stop for longer than about 10 seconds.
• Change up as early as possible.
• Keep in gear (use engine braking) when slowing down - coasting in neutral uses more fuel than slowing in-gear.
• Avoid cruise control (if you have a disciplined right foot). This is especially important if you're trying to drive with load over inclines.

For friendly advice from more experienced hypermilers, I would recommend the forums over at cleanmpg.com. There are people there getting >1000 miles from a tank with various eco cars and some of them get respectable mpg from what I'd class as gas guzzlers... impressive stuff.

Hope some of the above info is useful anyway. How many miles are you getting per fill-up at the moment?

 

[GrahamFR]

I know its no where near as good as yourself Shrimp but im getting a decent 52mpg on spirited motorway driving out of my CR FR where i would only get like 45mpg out of my PD CR and ive only done 1.8k miles so far so very impressed

 

[IRC Kevin]

Thanks for the info, Shrimp. The engine is starting to loosen, but figures are so far off the stated consumption, that I'm doubting that it will ever get those figures. Oddly enough, the 68 mpg was the first run in the car with only 16 miles on the clock! Computer shows between 745-765 miles for a tankful.
I can't be that lead-footed, as I've managed to beat the extra urban in all my Audis in the first 1000 miles and that was actual consumption, not what was stated on the computer- (Four of my Audis and the Leon seem to be about 10% optimistic. RS6 was only 5% optimistic!)
Probably far too many hills between Wigan and Windermere to get the best out of the car and unlike the bigger engined cars I've owned, hills seem to really murder the consumption on this one. One hill, near the end of the journey takes 6mpg off the average, but only took 1mpg off the average in my A5.

 

[GainfulShrimp]

I've also noticed that the average is easily pulled down in certain circumstances. At the start of my journey there are a couple of hills and if I change gear slightly differently during the first minute, it can add/subtract 6mpg from the overall journey average of >1hr driving.

With lots of hills, your figures would definitely benefit from driving with load and allowing the car to accelerate on downhills and slow down on uphills, trying to keep the accelerator pedal steady as far as possible.

Those per-tank figures look pretty good to me, especially given that it's a new engine. I'm impressed that you've managed to reach the extra-urban figures within the first 1k miles in your Audis - much better than I've ever managed in any car! I understand that the computer has to calibrate itself when new so maybe the 68mpg figure was an anomaly before it sorted itself out?