[Pooty_apple_water]

Hey guys I'm probably fussing over nothing but I bought an I30 last week, mainly based on its great reviews and superb fuel consumption.  I've been driving it for the past week, probably clocked up 150-160 miles, (not huge I know) but the tank was topped off on the day I got it and is now showing just over half full. 

With an advertised range of nearly 700 miles, I'm a little concerned I may have bought a lemon, my driving style is not excessive and the routes have been a mix of motorway and major roads.  the trip comp says an average of low forties, but the tank holds roughly 11 gallons right? With this trend I'd expect to see a range of around 300 miles, which if my sums are right is an average of 27mpg.

Am I missing something or relying on the trip comp too much? Its my first diesel so I fully expected a learning curve and I know its early days, but I'd rather get ahead of things if theres something I can check on.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

[Dazzler]

Hi Tim and

You are jumping the gun a bit!

When you say it was topped off, was it definitely brimmed and not just filled until it clicked off? That can make a big difference.  Anything up to another 10 litres can sometimes be squeezed in...

Neither the fuel gauge or trip computer are super accurate particularly with regards to distance until empty which is VERY conservative in most cases.

You need to do a couple of brim to brim calculations to get a better idea of where you are at.

[Phil №❶]

Wait to see the final results.

[Pooty_apple_water]

phew, thanks guys I appreciate the reassurance, going from a punto with about 3 miles per gallon to this, I was a bit concerned.

[Shambles]

My 2008 FD CRDi consistently obtained 60-62 mpg covering similar road conditions as yourself, although mine was black not red

As others have said, the fuel gauge and DTE aren't the most accurate on the planet, so just give it time

[Pooty_apple_water]

Quick update, whilst checking if the front brakes were binding I noticed that the from offside spring was broken, took it back to the dealer and they swapped it out free of charge as it was still under warrantee, (I bought it a month ago).  Recently went though I don't think it's been that way for long, on thursday there was a spoinging noise which was disconcerting to say the least.

By the way, the front brakes were binding, I've not had chance to check the near side as I hastily put it all back together and took it in when I found the spring, but the ofside front had one slider on the caliper so crudded up that I had to get  it in the bench vice and use a crowbar to get it out of the housing. the pads were distinctly wedge shaped.  Got it back together smooth as silk now but I did notice it was a different slider to the others, they had rubber o rings on the ends, this was just a straight shaft (albeit quite faceted now, looked almost as if someone had taken a grinder to it)  so I might treat myself to an overhaul kit as the whole lot is only £12 on ebay.

My new set of pads just arrived so I'll slap them on and hope the nearside doesn't give me as much trouble.

Hoping the economy improves too,  though the trip comp still says around 370 miles for a full brimmed tank    I've done over 250 on half a tank already, I think mine could have been a friday afternoon job.

[Dazzler]

Take absolutely no notice of the DTE until the light comes on and it shows about 50kms left (then head for a garage) 

[nzenigma]

wow, in 30 odd years I cant remember coming across a broken coil spring. Some a bit saggy but, gee that must had some punishment. 

[Asterix]

wow, in 30 odd years I cant remember coming across a broken coil spring. Some a bit saggy but, gee that must had some punishment. 

Then you haven't worked on many VW's. 

[mickd]

Fuel gauge ?, fuel guess more like it.
Our alarm comes up with 80km till Empty, still shows 1 bar on graph.
Fill up straight away and she takes 40l, the tank holds 50l.
At 7/100 as shown  on display,  that's another 150 km.

Anyway, years ago a mate had a car that showed 1/4 left - that was when it sputtered to a stop, in peak hour, he thought it really good on the juice.
Everyone else thought it was hilarious   

[nzenigma]

wow, in 30 odd years I cant remember coming across a broken coil spring. Some a bit saggy but, gee that must had some punishment. 

Then you haven't worked on many VW's. 

Interesting.
Played with some beetles in the early days,
then came across a VW 'Piss Hat' as they became known down here, and have avoided the brand ever since.

[nzenigma]

Anyway, years ago a mate had a car that showed 1/4 left - that was when it sputtered to a stop, in peak hour, he thought it really good on the juice.
Everyone else thought it was hilarious   

 

[nzenigma]

wow, in 30 odd years I cant remember coming across a broken coil spring. Some a bit saggy but, gee that must had some punishment. 

Then you haven't worked on many VW's. 

Is corrosion from winter salt on the road a factor?

[Asterix]

wow, in 30 odd years I cant remember coming across a broken coil spring. Some a bit saggy but, gee that must had some punishment. 

Then you haven't worked on many VW's. 

Is corrosion from winter salt on the road a factor?

I would say no. It snaps on places where the spring haven't reduced in diameter, most common is the last round/winding. I can only think it's because the steel isn't clean enough/poor quality and hence fatigue is the culprit.

[Phil №❶]

Remember the exhaust is extremely hot when driving so water will react with the metal at the point of drying out. This is a well known occurrence in commercial refrigeration water towers. You could have driven over some other corrosive material in liquid form too.

[Pooty_apple_water]

Couldn't say how much punishment its had I only got it in Feb. 

SO after another fill up, I've got 430 miles off a tank, which when the light came on, let me put 42 litres in give or take.

Which by my, albeit probably poor maths, gives me approx 46 miles per gallon. Which was better than my punto but disappointing compared to the advertised 62mpg which was a major attraction when buying.

Is there anything mechanical that can cause poor economy? I don't think its the driving style, I'm not exactly a lead foot boy racer.  Like I said, the front brake was binding slightly but even after fixing it didn't seem to make a great deal of difference.

I'm a little bit baffled.

[nzenigma]

My 2008 FD CRDi consistently obtained 60-62 mpg covering similar road conditions as yourself,

60 miles = 100 km

  therefore = 4.6L/100km 


Pooty_apple_water,

This is a bit confusing when you guys are living in the past and combining miles with litres and gallons.

Remember , Trump is not on HM's throne yet, so you still must use imperial, not US gallons.
 1 imp gal = 4.6 litres

As mandated, Hyundai supplies lab reports (as do other car makers) to give comparable data (make v make). This isn't real world/on road mileage.

The CRDi i30  fuel consumption, provided by dealers, is:

 Urban - 5.6l/100Km
•Combined - 4.5l/100Km
•Open Road - 3.7l/100Km

From your figures you have done 430 miles = 688 km
you used                                    9.1 gallons = 42 litres
therefore your consumption is      47.25 mpg = 16 km/L  or  6.25L/100km

This is close to the common figure , some members report over 7.0L/100km

[The Gonz]

The sooner we let go of imperial altogether the better off the whole world will be. Great point about confusing British and US measures but it just goes to show it's all fixed by graduating to a world standard!

[nzenigma]

If Elizabeth reigns you remain Elizabethan. 

[Phil №❶]

Diesels are more efficient over long runs. Have you been doing short trips and other fuel wasting exercises.

I did a long drive about 70kms after filling the fuel tank and reached home with 4.8 l/100k in an old design 4 sp auto. I was very pleased.

[Asterix]

I can understand you're not happy with around 6L/100km. The car can do better unless you do many short trips and/or city driving.

My 2008 is rated at 4,7/100 and I normally get around 5,0/100 but that's only because I drive like a Nanny (and ca 85% main roads with little traffic)

[Pooty_apple_water]

yeah imperial measures drive me crazy, why do we have to mix the buggers?   

Anywhoo, my daily trip to work is about 17 miles each way, not especially long but not trips into town either.  ITs about a quarter motorway then the rest major roads of 40 to 60 except through Adlington where it obviously slows to 30.

Now, a thought occurred to me the other day.  Is the trip comp accurate when it comes to distance?  I assume the odometer is, but I've been taking my mileage readings from resetting the trip comp when I fill up.  I'll have to take a note of the odo reading and compare it to the trip comp

[Dazzler]

I don't think the inaccuracy of the tc would be significant enough over shose sort of distances (a tankful) to make much difference to your economy calculations unfortunately.

[xiziz]

Try combining 3-4 tanks worth of fuel/miles. Mine go high/low every other now. Mine is rated 4.5l/100km, and my all time average 50k km, is 4.49. Latley ive been blessed with 4.2s.

I drive 150km with light traffic, barley any stops(usually none) at 70-90kph daily. Road is hilly though.

Odo and trp go within 0.1% difference(think odo rounds up, trp has 1 decimal). Trip computer shows within 10% it seems.

[OldLadyDriver]

Thanks for those figures.  Makes me feel a little better about getting 5.6L/100km (combined) out of my recently purchased 2009 CRDi.

[nzenigma]

Welcome to the club OldLadyDriver, Thanks for adding your figures to the discussion.