Man88 said:
Wow Daniel, 72 mpg is amazing! WhatCar magazine did a series of 'real world MPG' tests recently and worked out that the Up! only managed 47 MPG (!) You should write in and show them your picture.
I have problems accepting their figures. I have always been able to get the official value without trying too hard. The Up is more of a challenge, as I am not yet there, I think it is a little optimistic. But I do get 60mpg which I think is fantastic. The WhatCar people must have heavy feet, or drive in unusually congested areas.
There are some tricks to saving fuel, most are obvious, but I'll post them anyway:
>> Keep your distance from the car in front. This reduces the need to suddenly brake in response to the car in front braking. It is also safer.
>> Keeping your distance from the car in front also makes it easier to see ahead, and plan manoeuvres, so as to make more rapid progress.
>> Look far ahead, to match your speed to the conditions and avoid unnecessary braking. So if there is congestion 100m ahead, you may as well gradually slow down to match your speed to the vehicles ahead.
>> Don't coast out of gear more than is necessary. It uses fuel as the engine idles. It is much better to remain in gear without depressing the accelerator pedal, as that uses little or no fuel. That said, do not use engine braking to slow down quickly as it strains the gears. Use the brakes, which is also good for the disks, as it removes rust, and prolongs life.
>> Don't accelerate rapidly, as that burns a lot of fuel. I believe gradual acceleration to cruising speed uses less fuel than rapid acceleration to cruising speed, but I have no proof.
>> Get into a low gear on approach to a roundabout or a junction. It makes it easier to safely accelerate into a gap between cars.
>> At lights with a long change time, turn off the engine. Apparently once it is off 7 seconds, you start saving, as restarting does use a little more fuel than normal.
>> Keep the revs low.
>> Turn off the air con. Apparently the radio and lights also use fuel, but who cares.
>> Makes friends with and marry thin people. Less baggage means more mpg.They are also cheaper to keep due to lower food consumption, although thin vegetarians may have increased susceptibility to flatulence. Having to keep the windows open will impact fuel economy. So avoid vegetarians.
I am sure others have more suggestions.
By the way, what is this mpg on the maps and more? Is it a time average, if so how long?
