250hp car with best mpg

[jp-sr71]

I commute ~3000 miles/month.

I use an old remapped A6 Allroad with 250K miles on it. I can eek 40mpg out of it on the journey.

From later this year it looks like I'll have to pay a ULEZ charge on top of the insane cost of diesel that powers my commute.

I'm curious what people's opinions are on the most economical/efficient, ULEZ compliant, ~250hp car would be for the journey that's under £20K. Preferably much less.

I'm happy to remap something to get to that power and I don't care if it's Petrol or Diesel.

320d? Something with a 2L TFSi in it?

[joropug]

A friend has an A6 Avant with the 1.8 petrol and it gets the same mpg as my 3.0 S5, I wouldn’t get a 2.0 petrol car personally I see them as the worst of both worlds but maybe that’s no longer the case with some brands.

A 320d is all the car most people will need but will fall short of your power expectations.

A bmw 3.0d is a good choice - can get even more power than your minimums. Mpg on a long run only a bit worse than a 2.0d but local journeys will be bigger difference.

530d would be my pick with the ZF8 gearbox.

[valiant]

I use a 308gti.

Bit smaller than your present car but 270bhp and I average 40mpg which is about 75%/25% between motorway and urban use.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Would a hybrid work for you:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210190...

How about a 5 series:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301083...

[TheStig44]

A 420d will remap to about 240hp and average 45 - 60 mpg depending what sort of driving you do. How long diesels remain ULEZ compliant for could mean a petrol is a safer long term bet though.

[littleredrooster]

Lexus, perhaps?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209300...

340brake, sensible economy.

[SilverShamrock]

RCZ R

[georgeyboy12345]

How many miles do you drive a day? Do you have a driveway?

If you do around 150 miles a day and have somewhere to charge, it might be worth looking into something like a Tesla Model 3 SR+ for around £26k.

Even if you are paying the price cap of ~34p/kwh, the cost per mile is still half that of something like a BMW 335d, at ~9p/mile vs ~18p/mile for the diesel. Over the course of a year, the Tesla would save you around £3k in fuel costs. Keep the car for more than 2 years and you'll be better off. You can also switch to a cheap overnight electricity tariff, further reducing costs. Plus the Tesla won't require oil changes every 6 months, it's very relaxing and refined to drive, especially compared to a clattery diesel and has more than enough power.

Here's one
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302043...


Otherwise, you are probably looking at a diesel like one of these - supposedly these are all Euro 6 and can do over 60 mpg

Mercedes C250d - will remap to around 240 bhp
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210140...

or the diesel hybrid C300dh - will remap to over 250 bhp and lots of torque
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212022...


BMW 125d - will remap to over 270 bhp
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211141...


Audi A4 3.0 V6 TDI Quattro - will remap to over 320 bhp! I'm not so sure about these doing 60 mpg though
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302013...

[Hitch]

320d remap to 250ish bhp. I think the 318d might as well and may be a cheaper starting point, but there's so many 320ds around. I'd find a Luxury spec for that kind of mileage.

[Jag_NE]

330d or 530d. Made for your circumstances

[TheDrownedApe]

not sure on the size you want but how about a 125d? only 225bhp but might suit in a smaller car?

[scot_aln]

And if going BM stay with rwd if economy is a key consideration.

[Scootersp]

V60 plug in diesel hybrid?

[Ice_blue_tvr]

330E?

In the spirit of recommending your own car!

50mpg on a run, 20p a litre less than diesel (similar cost to a diesel doing 60mpg), I still manage around 35mpg around town with a depleted battery, option to run local journeys on pure electric, some have remapped the ICE engine to give a combined bhp of over 350bhp.

[jp-sr71]

I commute 291 miles each way about 4-5 times a month.

No Charging Stations at work so until an EV can do 700 miles on a charge, they don't work for me. The last thing you want to do when you've got a ~4hr drive ahead of you on a regular basis is stop and p**s about charging your car. Even filling up is a PITA, so ideally, I also need at least a 650 mile range from the tank.

My remapped 2.7L TDi Allroad will get me 40mpg on the commute. The DIS says anywhere between 42-47mpg. The long term average sits presently at 39.1mpg.

The drive is 286 miles Motorway and/or Dual Carriageway.

Oddly, my wifes 3L TDi A5 Cabriolet will get 45mpg on the exact same commute and the DIS is pretty much spot on. It has a smaller tank but I can get over 600 miles out of a single tank.

I'm not interested in the quoted figures for the car. They're nigh on useless. I tend to use https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/real-mpg/ to try and get a better idea of the true efficiency of the car in question.

When you drive this many miles a year, and the price of diesel is what it is, every single mpg improvement adds up.

I'm curious whether there is a ~250hp car out there that has a genuine 50+mpg long term average, that will cost me <£20K and has a 650-700 mile range from a tank?

A Petrol powered vehicle would need to be no less than 12% worse in terms of efficiency to out-perform a diesel at this moment in time based on the local differential in price between the 2 fuels where I am at the moment...

[clockworks]

I had a Skoda Superb 280 estate for a year. Averaged a true 36mpg. 40mpg possible on a run, but less than 25mpg in traffic when cold.
Might meet your requirements, depending on your commute?

Currently driving a BMW M140i, mpg very similar to the Skoda. Not bad for a 3 litre 6 pot with 340bhp.

[otolith]

I often do a 260 mile drive in my 335D, and if I set the speed limiter to 75mph and stick it in eco-pro it will claim to be getting 49mpg over the length of the journey.

[bencollins4]

Surely an F30 330d will do the job? Would have thought that would get 50mpg at a cruise on the motorway. I used to pretty much get that in a 2007 E90 330d that had over 190k on the clock!

[anonymous-user]

Passat 2.0Tdi Bi turbo?

[ninjag]

Lexus RX

3.5 450H LUXURY 5d 259 BHP LEXUS WARRANTY SEP 2023
2016 (66 reg)

A little more at £26,490

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209230...