[Bm93]

Questions first.

1. If I'm after the best cost/return on a car, being the least I have to pay with the most savings afterwards, what type of car should I look for and what else should I look out for when choosing?

2. Is doubling my mileage from around 32/33MPG to around 60+MPG a reasonable expectation by getting a more economical car and implementing more techniques? (I put more info about how I came to the conclusion of the numbers below)

3. Am I better off sticking with my current car instead of switching?

4. Should I get an automatic or manual (if both seem relatively equal)? I much prefer to drive a manual 100%, but I've heard that automatics are closing the gap.

(5. Unrelated question. If I have the option to drive 4 miles, but it'll take ~17 minutes because of very slow traffic on a stretch of road, or drive 4.5 miles, but it'll take 13/14 minutes because of better traffic, which is the more economical option?)

I've got a Ford Mondeo 2.0 2008. It's a 5 gear petrol. But I had been tossing up the idea of getting a hybrid before, but it was never worth it because I didn't drive much. Now that I have a job that is a 30 mile commute, I think it will end up being worth it.

My MPG reader on my car seems to be optimistic, but the range left seems more accurate. I reset my MPG when I hit the motorway this morning to start testing changes on FE and at 55mph, I hit an average of 50.4 MPG (according to the car) when I came off, after 17 miles. The other 13 miles is urban driving, and especially when I finish work there's a lot of traffic which drags it down. I already leave early in the morning to miss traffic and have smoother slower driving, and miss some after work by going Gym on way home and miss half of the traffic as it's later when I finish at gym. 50MPG should get me 770 miles out of the tank if it was correct, but the range said 670 at the end of the motorway which I believe to be more accurate, especially when my average MPG on the car used to be 29.1, which should net me 448 miles, but I'd end up getting closer to 400/420 I think.

I haven't done a full week of driving with a full tank then refuelling the next week to figure out roughly how much I'm using per week to get a more accurate number yet though now that I've started the new job, but I currently (on the readout) averaged 35/36MPG, which if I consider the ~10% increased reading on the readout is probably more like 32/33MPG. I think if I practiced more techniques better I could raise the true reading at least around 35+ but I have no way of knowing yet.

If I managed to double my normal mileage, I'd save at least £100 a month on fuel, and probably around £20 a month on car tax, although the insurance apparently tends to be more expensive, but I don't think this will be more than a few pound a month difference overall. My wife said if I wanted to get one she'd also chip in for the cost, and I could essentially be driving a newer car for no extra cost on my monthly budget, theoretically.

I had been tossing up the idea of investing in an instant MPG reader, but I had heard some newer cars and a lot of hybrids have it, so if I was to get a different car and it comes with it, there's no point buying one, but if not I may as well.