Love affair over - or just faultering - MPG?

[mikey9]

Ok - 350 miles in - and two things have appeared that cause me concern. 1.6i petrol

My feet are too big size 12s - or the pedals are too tight together - so I can hit the Accelerator when braking!! - Also my toe touches the arm of the brake pedal before I get pressure on the pedal.

And I filled up for the second time yesterday - after brimming it a few weeks ago - and exactly 300 miles - and 46litres went in!
= just UNDER 30 MPG

We drive a good mixed (typical trips 10 -15 miles each way - A road - 50-60 driving - I would have thought pretty economical - we both drive moderatley - no revving away from the lights etc.)

The car has done 2000 miles in it's first three years - do things loosen up and improve??

We made our decision to go back to petrol based upon a diff of expected 37-8 mpg compared with 46-8 for a Hdi - but a cost diff or £1000 - £1500 fro a comparable vehicle - if very low 30s are what we can expect - then the sums are quite different.......

Comment appreciated.:S

[Chris]

Hi Mikey

Your fuel figures are not that different to mine

I find that the mpg is very sensitive to how you drive (not a big surprise really). I have had mpg in the mid 20's when doing short, quick town driving and the best has been nudging 40mpg on a gentle motorway run. My average seems to be somewhere between 32-35 overall. I would agree that this is perhaps disappointing given that it is a relatively small engine, but it does have to work fairly hard.

There are the usual things that can be done to ensure you are getting the best mileage possible (correct tyre pressures, properly serviced etc.) but at the end of the day it is a reasonably heavy car with the aerodynamics of a house brick. Has your car been serviced recently? Given that it has had very little use, it might well benefit from an "Italian tune-up" to blow a few of the cobwebs out to loosen it up a bit.

What I console myself with, and the reason that I wont be swapping for a diesel any time soon, comes down to; higher purchase price, servicing and running costs and long-term reliability. Just be glad when you read the "Faults and problems" threads written by unfortunate diesel drivers about their glow plugs, turbos, EGR valves, DP filters, etc. etc. There are very few mechanical maladies being reported from petrol drivers.

I really think that over time, a petrol Berlingo could still end up being the cheaper to run, all things considered.

[steve valentine]

I'm having a rocky relationship with my Jag at the minute, driving like miss daisy it's doing 16/18mpg around town and 27 on a motorway run, 100 miles on half a tank!!!

Started using the van more.

Ok, back on topic, a few years ago I had an Astra 1.6 16v, fuel consumption was around 32/35mpg, but I didn't hang about, prior to that I had a peugeot 406 2.0 16v and that averaged 28mpg and 35 on a run, petrol cars unless you really keep the top speed down will never return good economy (in my experience)

A few occasions I have chosen petrol cars over diesel, simply because the fuel savings never outweighed the extra purchase cost of the diesel. As Chris says, you'll have less problems in the long run anyway.

With the Jag I didn't want economy, I wanted POWER and it's the same on the Jag forum, more people have expensive problems with the diesels than the petrol variants.

The berlingo isn't actually a very heavy car, it comes in at around 1250 kilo (dynamics of a shed though!)even though it has around 110hp it has only 108lbs/ft of torque, and as most of you know, it's the torquesters that do the work. The urban consumption for the 1.6i is quoted at 29.1mpg so if you are driving on A roads I would expect 35, depending on your driving style.

Check tyre pressures, they can make a LOT of difference, an italian tune up and check the air filter is clean, if it's done such a low mileage for the last two years it may benefit from a service (new spark plugs?)



That's a lot of waffling isn't it? :whistle:

[Northman]

Interesting comments, Mikey.

1) Regarding fuel economy, my first Berlingo was a Mk 1 with the 1.6 petrol engine. I initially averaged about 39 mpg, but then went on an economy drive, and over the last four years averaged about 43 mpg.

I (of course) have no idea whether the difference between my experience and yours is due to your vehicle or your driving style (or both), but for fuel economy tips, (some of which are a bit over the top) look here: http://ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermilin...riving.php

2) Regarding the pedals and shoe-size, I find your comments very, very interesting. My feet are not small either, and in the 10 weeks that we've had our Mk 2 Berlingo, I have noticed the very same thing.

The basic problem, I think, is that arm of the brake pedal is very high (see attached picture), so that when I slip my right foot over from the accelerator, the arm of the brake pedal prevents my foot from going as far to the left as I would choose, and hence (because the pedals are close together), when I brake hard, my foot hits the accelerator as well as the brake. I'm beginning to get used to it, and adjusting the way that I brake accordingly, but it does seem to me to be a very unfortunate design fault. I might add that it wasn't a problem on the Mk 1 Berlingo.

[shedpete]

I'm a size 12 feeter too and have found it (Mk2 2003 1.6 petrol) just about OK for pedal clearance - in contrast to my girlfriend's Fiat Punto which was an absolute nightmare - I had to wear special narrow 'driving' shoes to use it safely. Didn't help that the seat on the Punto didn't go back far enough either, so my knees would be hitting the steering wheel - not a problem on the Berlingo unless the back seats are folded down - in which case they limit the front seat movement. Still just about OK (for me at 6' 2") but can get more comfortable with the back seats up.

Still gathering data on the mpg but I don't think it'll be far off what Chris said.

[Coco]

Mk 2 - 2.0HDi so fuel economy comparisons are not relevant. I have found that if you take the official combined figure and take away 10% that's not a bad comparitor.

Regards pedal positions, yes! Only (!) a size 9, but when wearing boots for work it's easy to hit both pedals. You get used to it over time, but not the best bit of design ever.

[3rensho]

With the pedals I've noticed the same thing. I wear size 11 in UK terms and have the same problem. Sometimes hit brake and gas together. It has gotten better with time as I learn how to position my feet but in the beginning it was a bother. Can't help on the mileage figures as I have an HDi.

[steve valentine]

The peddle issue must be a MK2 thing, on my MK1 I drive with size 10 work boots and never catch the peddles.

[mikey9]

Thanks for the replies guys,

The shock for us is that we are coming from over 15 yrs of Diesel ownership (Escort 1.8 Est - 50mpg pretty much whatever you did with it over 110000 miles - Xantia 1.9TD 43mpg consistently, pug 307Sw 2.0HDi - 45mpg - and the last 6 years ina Skoda octavia Estate - 1.9Tdi - 52mpg - with 60 possible using economy driving.

We did not all the comments on Particulate Filters etc - and these did contribute to our avoidance of both the Hdi 1.6 and the Doblo diesel too.

I have always bought cars for the long run - and expected 200k miles from diesels (and happily nearly acheived this with both the Escort and the Xantia - but this was in the days of 15-20k miles per year.

Now looking at only 5k per year so the fuel costs are not such an issue - and getting such a low mileage petrol has hopefully given us the longevity we want.

So - Plan

Give good thrashing (am soooo out of practice revving an engine - as haven't needed to for years)
It hasn't been serviced for a year (and has done a whole 1200 miles since the last one!)
Get aquainted with under the bonnet - Check for small mammals in Air filter - change sparks.
Give it a couple more tanks then re-evaluate.

...oh and wear smaller shoes.

[Chris]

I like the pedals being close together, it makes for nice heel and toe gear changes [Image: smiley_driving.gif]