[Morias]

I have a manual CRDI SLX I30 and as I mostly do city driving I am not achieving the fantastic fuel economy figures others are posting here. 

I thought as a matter of comparison, I could post my fuel economy figures and average speed, and use that as a base of comparison with other low speed drivers.

My last tank which was almost all stop start driving in morning peak hour and evening traffic in Brisbane was:

* fuel economy - 7.3 l / 100 km;
* average speed - 25km / hr.

I am still pretty impressed with that, given the type of driving.

[Dazzler]

Hi Morias,

That's about the highest average I've seen for a manual CRDi. But your average speed is very low 

As a comparison my figures at the moment are

* fuel economy - 5.7 l / 100km;
* average speed - 48km / hr 

I have done over 36,500 Kms and reset my readouts about 700kms ago

Mine's up from my usual 5.4 due to carting lots of heavy stuff and driving around on my steep building block 

[middy]

Hi Morias,

Here are my figures which have been pretty consistent for the last few tanks:

consumption:  6.0 L/100Km
avg speed:    35 Km/h

Your figure of 7.3 L/100Km doesn't sound that way out to me given that you are mostly in stop/go traffic.

[~ Angel ~]

I do not ever expect fuel economy in continous start and stop traffic, especially when my average speed is 23km/h.
Heavy city traffice is not a criteria for fuel economy in my view. It is negative for everything: fuel consumption, reduction in engine oil life, exhaustion for both the engine and driver plus many other things ı cannot count.
Cheers...

[Morias]

My last tank was:

* fuel economy - 7.9 l / 100 km;
* average speed - 26km / hr.

For most of the tank my average economy was over 8 litres per 100km doing the city crawl.  It was only a couple of highway runs at the end which managed to pull it down.

[accim]

For almost past 6 months I've had the same "results" - whenever I reset it, in one week it was almost always the same..I've been driving the same route for long time.

- Fuel economy: 5,8 lit /100 km
- Average speed: 68 km/h

But now - for the past two months, I've been driving less and shorter trips and I'm honestly afraid to reset my board computer.. I think it's around 8 lit /100 km... That's the "proof", how short and slow trips effect our fuel economy. Before, I've been driving on highways a lot, due to my obligations on work.. I've been driving often with speed above 140 km/h or 150 km/h and still got great results..but now, when I have to spend more time in office...disaster   Can't wait to get back to my normal way of driving 

[Dazzler]

Yeah I can relate to that accim.. If I average around 50km or more I get about 5.4 but if it drops to 40 or less then she goes up to as high as 5.6 or even 5.8 .. 

Been a tank or so since I reset.

Currently says:
Average - 65
l/100k    - 4.7

[Lakes]

Hi Morias, with city driving not much you can do, but i notice some people drive harder in heavy traffic, they try to excellerate into different lanes to hopefully get there faster. also do you use air or climate control?
the last few times i got stuck in Brisbane traffic was bad, but might have just been the area i was in , & not being used to how traffic flows. but comuting to work 20K each way and takes around 20 to 25minutes i still get 1,000k or more before i fill up. was same when new. could be driving style.

[sparki30]

Hi Morias this is the same in the UK for town driving so don't worry. I get 7.06l/100km at 25km p/h ave.

[Morias]

The purpose of starting this thread is to give people who regularly do small/slow trips a forum to compare their economy.  I rarely get a chance to do long drives so my economy will always be worse than what most people are achieving.

I've nearly had the car for a year and haven't had a chance to do a long drive.  We had a baby shortly before I got it so I have been home bound.  I expect I would get 4.9 l / 100km if I could do a long trip.  Maybe next week as I may be driving up to Rainbow Beach.

Lakes, I use climate control 100% of the time.  I figure I might as well be comfortable when driving, regardless of the small additional fuel consumption.  I also drive enthusiastically, however I am always conscience of economy and try to drive smoothly and to avoid braking.

My current tank is also sitting on 7.9 l / 100km even though I am on holidays and no longer driving at peak hour.  I will put some BP Ultimate in it next time and see if that makes a difference.  My last 2 tanks have been from Shell.

[Lakes]

Hi Morias, that's a good point you have there.
as i have said b4 i do not have the trip pc, so i can't compare directly with you. but the traffic you comute in must be heavier than my comuting , as i travel about 20k to work and takes less than half an hour. every second weekend i seem to be away for a 800+ return trip.
i would not expect you to see a gain in city traffic useing premium diesel, i would expect that to show up more on a trip, but you can try it, will be interesting to hear your findings.
i think with trip pc if you don't turn off and re set for a trip, it is showing average fuel useage from new, if you reset it will show the average for the trip, but they can take time to give an acurate average, the distance to empty is also never that acurate on any car, as u can confuse it, like driving moderately on a country road for most of the tank, then the last of the tank driving in heavy city traffic, you would have a false distance to empty and could run the risk of runing out if you were cutting it too fine b4 refilling.
Regards

[marvy]

I would have to say that I am getting on average 8-9LPH at the moment with the CRDi. I was initially a little disappointed as this is double what the advertised figures were. I believe the problem is that I live in a hilly suburban area where lifting the car up hills and then burning all that energy off in breaking is the norm. I also do a lot of short trips and nearly always have the A/C on.

Last night I was going out on what I would call a "combined cycle drive". It was about a 15 min journey of mixed, 80 and 50kmph sections. Coolish night so I drove with the window down and A/C off and as fuel economically as possible. I used the onboard trip computer to measure how well I was doing (reset at start of journey).

I managed to get an average of 4.0LPH for the whole trip which I though was good. Half way through the trip it was as low as 3.8LPH, went back up as I went through all of the traffic lights and slow speed driving near my destination. Fuel in the tank was from an independent garage probably using Neumann diesel. Fairly happy with all of that.

[whaleshark]

I filled up wif shell diesel the other day and found the engine has a low grunt...i don't like it although my mates like the sound and akin it to a V8.

i like Vortex diesel as it's smooth..... but found the economy a little question. I tend to get better economy outof normal caltex diesel. the greenish colour looks similar to vortex diesel and beginning to question if they are the same. normal caltex diesel makes lesser noise than shell imo.

anyway, in the city , i dont reallyget much fuel economy as i liketo step on it.

on highway, melbourne to sydney 878km, i still have quarter tank to spare. the tank was topped to the brim .....

[Dazzler]

on highway, melbourne to sydney 878km, i still have quarter tank to spare. the tank was topped to the brim .....

 

Gotta love that 

Have you tried standard BP diesel.. My Diesel loves it...

[Mike SX]

Next month What Car should publish their fuel useage figures, based on very recent tests.

[EymaTeapot]

Have you tried the taste test?

[accim]

Hello,

Today I went on a 400 km trip. I drove mostly around 140-160 km/h (370 kms of the trip) and my fuel consumption was great. I had it around 5,6-5,8 lit when I last checked it. Don't know exactly how much it was when I got home and parked the car, but I'm really not into going out and checking it now, because I'm too sleepy (even though it's only 9 p.m.)

What I wanted to say was, how even driving with speed above 140 km/h uses less diesel, than driving short and slow trips. I had above 7,5 lit for two weeks now, because I was driving the i30 only on short trips. I soo miss driving a lot, especially longer trips, as I used to Can't wait to start again  

[~ Angel ~]

The bottom line is:
Lower Average Speed = Higher Average Consumption
(especially when you constantly drive below, 30 km/h)

You'are not alone Morias....

[andrejs]

city driving ... 8.6 or 7.6 depends how i'm in the mood for driving...

7.6 when i'm let's say... little easier on gas pedal

average speed 21kmh ... for 6 km that i have to work

but when i'm on open road.. it can get as low as 4 l for easy driving

[~ Angel ~]

Sorry for asking but is yours auto or manul gear Andrejs?

[Eiki]

I am driving a cdri 1,6 Manual 5 speed. And have recently added a chiphtun, that made an amaizing change to the economy and the engine is even more pleasant, not that I was unhappy before.
On the flat motorway here in Denmark i went for a 300 km trip this weekend, 4 persons in the car . avarege speed was 120 km.h.  consum. 3,6 ltr. pr. 100 km thats equal with 27,7 km pr.ltr.
Avarage use in town / short trips ca. 4.5 to 4.8 ltr.pr 100 km.
Regards....a happy Icelandic diesel driver in Danmark
 

[andrejs]

Sorry for asking but is yours auto or manul gear Andrejs?

manual ... never liked and never will drive auto .. well except when we get to electric cars... there you have only one speed

[~ Angel ~]

Hi Morias, with city driving not much you can do, but i notice some people drive harder in heavy traffic, they try to excellerate into different lanes to hopefully get there faster. also do you use air or climate control?
the last few times i got stuck in Brisbane traffic was bad, but might have just been the area i was in , & not being used to how traffic flows. but comuting to work 20K each way and takes around 20 to 25minutes i still get 1,000k or more before i fill up. was same when new. could be driving style.

This means that your speed is between 48km/h (for 25 minutes' trip) and 60km/h (for 20 minutes' trip), all of which are still good.

[Pol1on1]

Hello i30 fans
What kills the economy is stop go. i worked out a way to this SLOOOOWWW starts and dose and matter wat speed (eg not above 75km/h) im in the city n i got 4.6ltr/100km   try to keep RPM low eg 1750+ thats nice and bubbly anything lower (low gear 4th 5th) rapes the motor it not a slow diesel (trucks) so i keep it bubbly and motor will reward your pocket with coines left ova 

[whaleshark]

Heya..... just found tt fuel economy improves a lot more after 25000km... check my pic... 200km for the needle to drop below Full tank. this is sydney metro driving. average about 60km/h

[whaleshark]

i have been using Vortex.... Dazz i will try BP the nx time. too many woolies voucher LOL.... 

[whaleshark]

i forget to mention that the pic represent driving during peak hour... harbour bridge...north sydney...lane cove...macquerie pk.. 16km each way.

[Dazzler]

i have been using Vortex.... Dazz i will try BP the nx time. too many woolies voucher LOL.... 

Woolies Caltex down here finally put in a Premium Diesel pump... (Typical I traded my diesel last week!) 

[~ Angel ~]

Heya..... just found tt fuel economy improves a lot more after 25000km... check my pic... 200km for the needle to drop below Full tank. this is sydney metro driving. average about 60km/h

60km/h is still a good speed in urban conditions.