Not very economical petrol car
Discussion
Hi. New to the group so no laughing 😅. For 7 years I had a 1.6 diesel Focus, but as I don't do much driving, and many dpf issues, I traded it in for a 2017 Astra Ecoflex 1.0. Thinking it would be more economical around town and shorter journeys being a petrol, I'm surprised to see it isn't. It's costing more to run than the old diesel and the range drops much much quicker?
But on the upside, no more dpf issues!
I have seen reports of poor mpg around town with that engine in Corsa's, so it's going to be worse in an Astra.
The car might have something wrong with it, but assuming you've checked all the usual things it could be due to driving style - the engine is pretty low power and doesn't respond well to be being slogged in high gears like a diesel.
I have seen reports of poor mpg around town with that engine in Corsa's, so it's going to be worse in an Astra.
The car might have something wrong with it, but assuming you've checked all the usual things it could be due to driving style - the engine is pretty low power and doesn't respond well to be being slogged in high gears like a diesel.
I genuinely wouldn't expect the car you've just bought to be any better on mileage than that 1.6 diesel. If anything, as you've found, a little worse.
A diesel of that capacity is very frugal, but as you've pointed out, no good for lots of town driving and short trips due to the DPF issues so there is your advantage with the swap.
A diesel of that capacity is very frugal, but as you've pointed out, no good for lots of town driving and short trips due to the DPF issues so there is your advantage with the swap.
If you’re doing low miles then low mpgs shouldn’t be a big issue. My old 1.8T Passat was crap on mpg round town in busy traffic - low 20s. On a decent long run on the open road I’ve been able to hit 40+ mpg, so you might surprised when you go for a longer run.
In any event, if it’s a car that’s spend it’s life chugging around town, I’d find an excuse to give it an Italian tune up and see how it runs after.
In any event, if it’s a car that’s spend it’s life chugging around town, I’d find an excuse to give it an Italian tune up and see how it runs after.
One thing to consider is that a small engine is going to require some working to get the car moving, even if it has a turbo. So it won't be as economical in an Astra in part due to the size of the car. That said 35mg round town sounds fairly respectable.
If you do the boring maths bit with a full tank to full tank does it work out much worse than the diesel or is it based on the readout from the trip computer?
If you do the boring maths bit with a full tank to full tank does it work out much worse than the diesel or is it based on the readout from the trip computer?
35MPG Sounds relatively normal for a Petrol used on shorter runs / Town work.
What were you getting from the Diesel by comparison? In my experience, admittedly limited, they always seem worse than petrols for MPG in town.
All the usual tricks would apply, Try to minimise idling and combine trips where at all possible - With that and gentle driving, I can usually manage 38ish out of 2L Turbo DI Petrol engines in the Civic / Jag even in urban driving.
The super-downsized engines like you ve got here tend to shine on longer runs at mid-high speed, like gentle rural commutes or motorway runs, as they re targeted to be running wider throttle openings / higher load with lower pumping losses - Not that it always works out in the real world;
An interesting case for comparison is the Civic 10G, Where it’s very commonly reported that people get better MPG from the 1.5L Engine than the 1L - So there is stock to the big car / tiny engine problem, where you’re operating outside the efficient range just to keep up with traffic.
What were you getting from the Diesel by comparison? In my experience, admittedly limited, they always seem worse than petrols for MPG in town.
All the usual tricks would apply, Try to minimise idling and combine trips where at all possible - With that and gentle driving, I can usually manage 38ish out of 2L Turbo DI Petrol engines in the Civic / Jag even in urban driving.
The super-downsized engines like you ve got here tend to shine on longer runs at mid-high speed, like gentle rural commutes or motorway runs, as they re targeted to be running wider throttle openings / higher load with lower pumping losses - Not that it always works out in the real world;
An interesting case for comparison is the Civic 10G, Where it’s very commonly reported that people get better MPG from the 1.5L Engine than the 1L - So there is stock to the big car / tiny engine problem, where you’re operating outside the efficient range just to keep up with traffic.
Edited by Haltamer on Thursday 12th February 12:16
mpg around town -- if the car is always starting from cold, then the main maintenance thing would be whether it's warming the engine quickly (eg. is the thermostat sticky). Older cars can sometimes get to a point where the stat sticks open all the time, so while the engine would never overheat, it actually takes a long time to get warm, which is bad for fuel economy. Getting to operating temps quick is best for fuel economy. A petrol car would typically get to a water temp of 80C-90C within 5 to 10 minutes. Diesel maybe 10-20 minutes (they generate so much less heat).
Does the car have a stop/start feature for when you come to traffic lights and the like?
Irrespective of these things, if it's a normal non-hybrid petrol car in urban traffic, 35mpg is really not bad. What does it do on a motorway run of >1hr at 70mph?
If you really need something to do mega mpg in a city centre, you're really looking at something like a prius or a battery EV.
Does the car have a stop/start feature for when you come to traffic lights and the like?
Irrespective of these things, if it's a normal non-hybrid petrol car in urban traffic, 35mpg is really not bad. What does it do on a motorway run of >1hr at 70mph?
If you really need something to do mega mpg in a city centre, you're really looking at something like a prius or a battery EV.
CraigyMc said:
If you really need something to do mega mpg in a city centre, you're really looking at something like a prius or a battery EV.
Even the Toyota Hybrids don't manage much over 40mpg on a 2-3 mile urban journey after a cold start in winter. The simple physics of the energy needed to warming the engine and car interior up means that this uses a certain amount of fuel pretty much regardless of whether the car is a hybrid or not. The battery also doesn't perform as well when cold.What the Toyota Hybrids are great for is driving around all day in stop-start traffic (i.e. pretty much the typical use for a taxi). Once fully warm where they can get anything up to 80mpg if driven carefully round town and over 60 even if you're not bothered about driving for economy.
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