Tips to increase MPG ?

[webhype]

Hey

Silly question to be honest... But il ask anyways lol.

I have a brand new 08 Cupra and i just cannot seem to get a decent average MPG, its around 22 MPG right now, but combined is supposed to be 34-36ish.

I do around town and motorway journeys. Is there any mods that help increase MPG, or have you found any ways to drive that increases it too? Im new to 6 gears, maybe im not usuing them all effectively.. im not wizzing round either, going steady and using the on screen MPG indicator to try and keep it high...

 

[rpmleon]

How long you had it ?

 

[DanGB]

What revs do you change gear at?

 

[CupraStoo]

prob not run in yet

 

[Stupra]

I find that coasting down hills & use cruise control on normal roads helps. Also reading road conditions, like not tailgating, harsh braking ( which looses momentum, & needs fuel to speed back up).
Its easy to pass trucks in Cupra's but if you sit behind them at 56mph, you get there almost as fast, and do save the jungle juice....

 

[webhype]

Hey

Had it 3 days... so maybe as you say, its not run in yet. Not sure how much that would effect the mpg though?

Im trying to keep revs low, not too sure when i change, around 3-4k though?

Yeah i noticed today that the cruise control works nicely at keeping the mpg higher, but i wasnt sure if i should be using it on the roads? dont wanna use it too much if its really meant for motorway journeys?

 

[DOLBY]

Hey

Silly question to be honest... But il ask anyways lol.

I have a brand new 08 Cupra and i just cannot seem to get a decent average MPG, its around 22 MPG right now, but combined is supposed to be 34-36ish.

I do around town and motorway journeys. Is there any mods that help increase MPG, or have you found any ways to drive that increases it too? Im new to 6 gears, maybe im not usuing them all effectively.. im not wizzing round either, going steady and using the on screen MPG indicator to try and keep it high...

buy a diesel...

no seriously, cos its new your MPG will be terrible..on the LCR the engine isnt fully loose till around 12000 miles which was when i started seeing huge improvements in the MPG
getting it mapped increases MPG if driven steady, as your driving using the torque as apposed to using the power..
just because you have 6 gears doesnt mean there is a race to see how fast you can get to 6th..like a friend of mine, he has a mini cooper s and he quite regulary is in 5th or even 6th in a 30 zone...im not joking...the only thing this does is make you use more fuel, and will kill your clutch...
i drive in 3rd at 30, 4th at 40-50...and 6th when doin motorway driving...

i average 26-27 MPG...but then again that is fantastic for a car of my power...

tbh, if you bought the cupra and are watching the MPG then your missing the point...these cars are designed to be thrashed...

hope that helps mate...

 

[DanGB]

My MPG hasnt really changed since new, and im on 22k miles

a remap can certainly improve economy, but then again, you may be putting your foot down more to take advantage of it

 

[webhype]

Yeah im not tooooo worried about the mpg, but it just seemed a little lower than i expected. Id be happy around the 30mpg mark... yeah i know the cupra is meant to be thrashed lol, but cmon, not all the time...

while on the thrashing subject, im astonished how the cupra handles the power.... foot down... woooosh in a straight line, no torque steer...amazing and so much easier to drive when the civic type r is next to you struggling away to keep it straight lol....

 

[DOLBY]

Yeah im not tooooo worried about the mpg, but it just seemed a little lower than i expected. Id be happy around the 30mpg mark... yeah i know the cupra is meant to be thrashed lol, but cmon, not all the time...

while on the thrashing subject, im astonished how the cupra handles the power.... foot down... woooosh in a straight line, no torque steer...amazing and so much easier to drive when the civic type r is next to you struggling away to keep it straight lol....

i was just kidding mate, about you being worried about the MPG...i have tried to drive mine super sensible and ive never seen 30 MPG and in the manual mine should average 32....

if you can get 30MPG in the mk2 then brilliant bud,...trust me it will improve significantly over the coming months....have faith my friend...

ive never driven the cupra, so i cant compare with the cupra r.....thats pretty amazing tho if you are getting no torque steer...mine is a beeeatch for it...

glad your enjoying your motor tho mate...these SEATS are amazing...

 

[Michael B]

I was getting <35mpg in my Fr TDI, I 're-evaluated' my driving, buy giving it less welly and using the cruise control more to maintain a steady speed I find I can usually get 45mpg!

Its important that tyres are inflated properly, remove any stuff lying in the boot which you dont need - I have a friend who drove around for 2months with a large gas cylinder in his boot because he couldnt be bothered to lift it out.

Its important to also use the correct gear, it your in 6th and not doing much speed, 5th is better so that the engine isnt labouring.

 

[s3atl3onFR]

average just over 24 in my TFSI FR, seen 32 before but thats using the high gears driving it fairly sensible speeds driving as smoothly as possible, wih few stop/starts. However that is I would say very rare!!

 

[SpursMadDave]

I know its a diesel but on my 16 mile commute on the A20/M25 (Dartford Tunnel) i average around 50mpg in my FR, i think i must go past about 20 speed cameras so i just set the cruise control and most of it is 50 mph anyway... so 50 mph gives you 50 mpg in a TDI FR!!

 

[Nathanio]

I was getting <35mpg in my Fr TDI, I 're-evaluated' my driving, buy giving it less welly and using the cruise control more to maintain a steady speed I find I can usually get 45mpg!

Its important that tyres are inflated properly, remove any stuff lying in the boot which you dont need - I have a friend who drove around for 2months with a large gas cylinder in his boot because he couldnt be bothered to lift it out.

Its important to also use the correct gear, it your in 6th and not doing much speed, 5th is better so that the engine isnt labouring.

This is very true. Changing the way you drive does increase economy. Just because you have a powerful car, doesn't mean like you need to drive it like you stole it

When I first got my Tolly I was seeing ~450m from a tank but as my daily commute over quadrupled I changed driving style (cruise at 65mph on commutes or long distances) but doesn't mean I don't still hoon it around when I feel like it. You just need to be a bit more aware of what you are doing (i.e. on the daily commute slow down abit; on long journeys keep it at a 70mph cruise than 80-85 etc)

 

[PhilOfCas]

please be aware there's absolutely no come-back from the manufacturer regards it not meeting the published mpg figure........

 

[BanziBarn]

My MPG Tips.

1. Avoid using the break as much as possible. i.e keep big distances between you and the car in front so when they break you just lift off, not break. When your foot if off the throttle with the car in gear the fuel is cut so for those moments you're getting an infinite mpg (you'll see the readout show this)

2. Keep in the highest gear as possible while at the same time pressing the throttle as little as possible. i.e if you have to floor it to keep the car going then change down. You should be able to keep the car going in urban areas whilst keeping the revs below 1.5k while hardly pressing the trottle. You can annoy people though as you have to accelerate very slowly!

I've not done a full test in my FR but in my civic I increased from an average of 280 miles per tank to 350 on the time I tried. Makes for very boring driving though!

I find though, that to maintain the fun element combine tip 1 with a bit of booting and you'll still see an improvement!

 

[kingkongsfinger]

Driving like a fag I can "show" on the MFD 33 mpg and thats over 80 ish miles.

I have had 340 miles out of a full tank.

But drive it like it should be and it low 'teens!!

 

[JC]

Pressing the ECON button on the Climate Control will shut off the aircon and may save a little fuel (you don't need the aircon running this time of year anyway, save it for summer!).

Apparently running on Shell V-Power / Tesco 99 will give better mpg as well (although obviously costs more so I don't if you really gain there).

 

[andycupra]

How fast do you drive on the motorway? (You will be amazed how much the mileage reduces the more you go over 60ish... 70 is not too bad)
Have you more information of the type of journeys you do. Whets the typical distance you drive? It’s very difficult to get good mileage on shorter journeys no matter how well you drive.

Try not to use the brakes, (unless you are about to hit something ) Imagine every time you touch the brakes you spend some money. Its amazing how anticipating traffic and not braking increases mileage.
I get better mileage on journeys that have roundabouts junctions etc than i do on a motorway. - When you are slowing down in gear you are effectively covering distance using no fuel, whereas in neutral you do.

I do not think changing gear up to 4,000 rpm is keeping the revs low either... Id say for economical driving you should be looking at 2,000- 2,500 rpm. Try to be in a gear keeping you around the 1,800 rpm mark. And also be aware of how the engine is working, for example if you are going up a hill then you should not work it hard in a higher gear but change down so the engine is not working so hard and use a few more revs to help.


And for those getting more mileage using cruise, in my opinion this is just due to you not driving in an economical way normally, you most likely use the throttle more than you think. , I actually find that while cruise is very good i can drive more economically if there are lots of undulations along the route as the cruise does not take advantage of downhill sections prior to uphil sections. It can be a little on/off in these circumstances. But don’t get me wrong, cruise is very good and its one of those things you never knew you needed till you get it.

There are lots of misconceptions about economical driving; it’s not just about keeping a constant speed, its anticipation. When people break records they accelerate and then coast, accelerate and then coast... if you accelerate sensibly this gives great returns.
I have done long journeys on the a1 and m1 and get better mpg on the a1 every time even if I cover the same distance in the same time as the a1 has lots of roundabouts.

 

[Nathanio]

Pressing the ECON button on the Climate Control will shut off the aircon and may save a little fuel (you don't need the aircon running this time of year anyway, save it for summer!).

Apparently running on Shell V-Power / Tesco 99 will give better mpg as well (although obviously costs more so I don't if you really gain there).

You do need air con at this time of year It dries the moisture out of the air in the cabin and stops the screens from misting