Mpg Disappointing

[Molandme]

At the end of February I bought a 57-reg (early 2008) C4 VTr+ diesel automatic. In the technical data for my car in to the handbook (it appears to be the electronic gearbox system because it definitely isn't the other auto mentioned), the fuel consumption should be around 48.7 urban, 74.3 extra urban and 62.8 mixed.

 

I am well aware that this isn't set in stone and all hinges on the road conditions, journeys made, driving style etc. but I am very disappointed in what I've been getting.

 

I went to Essex and back twice, approximately 500 miles round trip, and only got around 55 mpg. I would have expected considerably higher than this for a journey made almost entirely on motorways and dual carriageways.

 

My mpg for the last couple of weeks has averaged out at 45. While I admit that quite a lot of that is just around locally, I have done some reasonable journeys on good roads.

 

I previously had a 2001 Peugeot 406 which returned around 57 mpg on the Essex run, cost me £140 a year to tax, as opposed to £30 for the C4, and was 13 years old. As I've recently retired, I thought I'd get a slightly smaller, newer, car with lower running costs.

 

Not taking into account what the C4 has cost me to buy, I'm very disappointed with the mpg as it really isn't much different to what I was getting from the Peugeot so I'm actually only saving £110 a year on the road tax. I was hoping to get much better mpg than I have been getting and am seriously considering changing the car again.

 

What mpg do other people get?

 

Nora

[seefive]

I get around 42 on a manual C5 2.0hdi, which has a claimed 57.

This is a fairly typical shortfall.

The car is now 1 year old , and my driving is a mix of urban and rural A roads.

 

Don' take any notice of "offical" MPG's - they are nonsense. Worst example I have seen is a Ford Focus ecoboost

which claims 58 and delivers 38 ( per What Car magazine)

 

Your mpg is 71% of claim, (45/63)  mine is 73%  (42/57). I see a pattern here... 

[Molandme]

My Peugeot returned a lot better mpg than the figures claimed, but I had a Peugeot 206 before that which did exactly what they claimed. Obviously, it was a much smaller engine but I did get 62 out of that.

 

I wouldn't mind only it was one of the main reasons I bought the car. :(

 

Nora

[john h]

Your figures are on a par with mine, manufacturers figures are to be taken with a pinch of salt, wish my road tax was as low as yours, £180 ish

[Johndouglas]

You didn't mention anything about the speed you were doing Nora. My C5 makes a world of difference between an average of 60ish and 70+.

[Molandme]

On motorways I do anything between 60 and 70 but generally I do try to stick to the speed limit - not because I'm a goody goody but I got caught a couple of years ago and can't afford to get caught again now I've retired!

 

I'm used to towing a caravan and, recently, driving a campervan so don't tend to go so mad and accelerate fast and brake hard these days.

 

My car has the long fuel gauge down the left hand side with the trip meter at the top and the miles remaining at the bottom. I do find that miles remaining figure very off-putting and do my best to ignore it and just look at the gauge. Unfortunately the part of the computer that tells you your mpg isn't working, although everything else seems to be, so I've been working out my mpg the old fashioned way.

 

Nora

[paul.h]

You have not given your engine size and bhp. Our 2008 C4 1.6 hdi 110 bhp 5 speed manual would give about 55 mpg on motorways doing up to 70 mph and round town dropped to about 48 mpg. This was replaced with a 2011 C4 with the same engine and 6 speed manual gearbox  and this gives about 60 mpg on motorways but depending on wind direction can be +/- 10 %.

[Grandc4]

I have a 2011 1.6 vtr and only had it a few weeks, I reset counter and done it for a week and I have done 120 miles all in city. So lots of traffic and traffic lights. My avg mph was 18 and my avg mpg is 43 to 44 mpg. That's not too bad is it?

[Johndouglas]

Yes - not bad for 120 miles around town. Over a week you've had 7 cold starts at least, and that's when fuel consumption is at its worst. Best method to calculate overall fuel consumption is to top the tank, drive for a few hundred miles, then top up again - then do the sums.

[Grandc4]

Ok thanks john I'll give that ago.

[qman3428]

My c5 2.0 hdi exclusive with an auto box gives me 42mpg on high speed motorway runs, this is well below the manufacturers figures but that is because the manufacturer doesn't use real world driving. Thier figures are achieved usinng a set criteria in a laboratory and are intended to give a comaprision from new car to new car. Nowhere do they actually claim you will get those figures. You only need to look at the Mitsubishi outlander 4x4 which is claiming 148 to the gallon, but it is a hybrid and they do not tell you what it costs to plug it in and charge it. Yes you do plug it in unlike the toyotas.

[Molandme]

So it seems my mpg is what I can expect. I'm seriously regretting changing the car now as all I'm saving (which was the object of the exercise) is £100 a year on road tax. Better than nothing, I suppose, but not what i was hoping for.

 

Hey ho, you live and learn. Thanks for all the responses.

 

Nora

[john h]

Try holding the max on the motorway at 65, it does make a difference to the consumption on my manual box, unsure regarding the automatic though

[paul.h]

Molandme,

 

we still do not know what engine the car has, is it a 1.6 or 2.0 hdi ?

 

The advice to drive a bit slower on motorways will reduce fuel consumption, dropping from 70 to 65 mph I used to find could give about an extra 10% mpg although on a 250 mile trip I can imagine time may be more important than fuel saving - is half an hour more important than £3 for each trip.

[seefive]

rule of thumb for mpg

• Take the official number
• Multiply by 0.7
• That's what you'll get

 

Do not build a budget based on official mpg - you'll be "miles" out!

[john h]

Topped up the tank of my 1.6hdi c4 pic yesterday £49 [36.89ltrs] for 520 miles mixed driving but mainly local, call it 9 gallon = 57.7 mpg, I'm happy

[Grandc4]

I just travelled 60 miles and got 60mpg out of my c4 grand Piccaso. Pretty impressed