Fuelly? ?WTF? mpg readings are so low.

[MMUK]

@BDC:

I've found another page which also describes it.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510

... In the early 1980s, an EPA study found that drivers were typically achieving lower fuel economy than predicted by EPA laboratory tests. As a result, EPA required the laboratory-derived city and highway MPG estimates posted on the labels of new vehicles to be adjusted downward by 10% for city estimates and by 22% for highway estimates to better reflect the MPG real-world drivers could expect from 1985 through 2007. For 2008 looking forward, the 3 additional tests cycles will again help bring the estimates closer to real world for most if not all owners and their vehicles.

So the percentage modifier was used from 1985 to 2007, and the new tests were introduced from 2008 forward.

[Draigflag]

To be honest, ive had eco cars in the past and the main flaw is that they usualy have very small underpowered engines. As a result, you feel you need to rev the nuts off them to get anywhere, and change down whenever a hill approaches. I have quite a small, yet quick car, it still has a small 1.4 litre engine and yet it has 170 bhp. It's the perfect balance, if I want to, it will do 0-60 in 6.8 seconds, or if I want to I can also get over 50 MPG.

The best thing is that its turbocharged, so even on steep hill theres no need to change gear, even at 30 mph in 5th it will still fly up. In an eco car, you would be in 3rd gear, foot on the floor! Swings and roundabouts as they say.

[electronumpty]

Most of the journeys taken in the car were school runs of about 5-6 miles through town and a country road with 6 traffic lights on route.

I would drive the car the 200 miles every so often to my wife's parents so the econ would be mine to play with. The journey would take a little longer but we still had lots of stops, traffic, bathroom breaks, food. So it couldn't be classed as a straight run at a steady speed.

I would love to buy an Audi A2 1.2tdi but they don't sell them in the UK. Humph.

But for the moment I'll stick with my plan and hope for the best. I'll upload some more historical data later on today if I can.

[MMUK]

>I would love to buy an Audi A2 1.2tdi but they don't sell

>them in the UK

You can import them from Germany (mobile.de is the best website to find ones for sale). I was talking to a couple of A2 1.2 owners a few weeks ago at Audis-in-the-park. Talk to RAB on the a2oc forum for advice about the importation process.

80mpg around town, and 120mpg on a long run... amazing. And much cheaper than buying a new car.

[MMUK]

These two are both UK-based 1.2 owners:

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/rab3l

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/andyfisher

[Draigflag]

Isn't the VW/Audi 1.2 diesel the same engine though? VW/Audi use thier engines in most of thier other brands too, it's also avalaible in the Skoda Fabia and no doubt we will see it in some Seat's in the near future too.

[MMUK]

Nope, the particular engine we are talking about was only used in the VW Lupo 1.2 3L and Audi A2 1.2 3L between 2001 and 2005.

These two models were ultra-high efficiency versions (aluminium engine block, magnesium wheels, 0.25CD, alu drum brakes, extra-long gearbox, auto-freewheeling, etc), 95mpg (=3L/100km) combined cycle on the tests.

The bluemotion cars which followed them have several of the same adaptions but do not get the same mpg in practice (due partly to things like the DPF).

[lumoruk]

there are a lot of people in cities driving cars in stop go traffic, you can't filter results by city or rural driving. My best mpg I ever got was doing 50mph in Europe for 8 hours. can't remember what it was but was far higher than the manufacturers claim at the time.

I find others on my bike have far higher mpg than me, but I'm literally full throttle most of the time and it's only 5 miles to work so the engine isn't at optimum for long if at all in the 10 minutes.

[Draigflag]

I remember a few years ago, a couple in the UK got an average of 126 MPG over 3000 miles around the uk. Extreme, but acheivable. It was a Peugeot diesel from what I remember!

[conn]

Hi, sorry if this is just too obvious for words...have you converted imperial to U.S. gallons? American figures are way lower than ours as their gallons are so much smaller.

Cheers