Long time lurker First posting
 

Hi all,

Have been a lurker for a long time but only just made an account.
am the owner of a 2006 Fiat Grande Punto. Bought second hand 4 years ago with 50k miles on now sitting at just under 130k milles. Safe to say the old girl has had a rough life due to commuting.

Any how I have started documenting the Tank fill ups on here so feel free to ask any questions.

Photos to follow shortly.

Tom

What's the engine of your Punto?

Its a 1.242l 8v 4 cylinder. Sturdy old design.

Tom

I remember when the 16-valve version of that engine was introduced in Brazil in late-'99, while a 16-valve 1.0L version was favored over the 8-valve 1.2L (marketed here as 1.3L) until 2003 due to the lower tax for 1.0L engines. The first flexfuel engine made by Fiat in Brazil was a version of this very same 8-valve 1.2L one.

Fiat were onto a good thing with the FIRE series of engines. The 1.2 in my punto is quite low powered for the age of the car but so unstressed. In my first year of ownership I put nearly 27K on the clock with no issues.

Nice little car. Welcome.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1465991964

Welcome to the site. It looks like you're getting pretty decent mileage in the Punto already.

Time goes by, but it still seems to figure among the most cost-effective engines of its class.

Well second logged tank just in. Not as good as I had hoped but I had a load of camping stuff in the car for the first 200 miles.

They've been bolting that engine into things since the mid-80s, so by the time yours got screwed together it had undergone over 20 years' development and refinement. If you're looking for an "it's broken and can't be fixed" reason to replace it, you may be out of luck.

I love engines like that.

Around here 42+ mpg is a great day, but when you're paying Brit petrol prices, more is definitely better. Welcome to the party.

Third tank logged now. Long term my goal is to get 60mpg(uk) at 60mph. investing in a scangauge soon then the grill block will come.

A belated welcome!

Can't argue with getting instrumentation. (I know I sound like a broken record about that sometimes.)

Make a smarter driver by giving them more information to drive with.

Your metro milage is my inspiration in reaching better economy.

That's good to hear!

What's your typical drive like?

For context, the numbers I get with the Firefly/Metro are in ideal conditions (often on deserted rural roads), and at a pretty low average speed.

Hi Metro

Typical drive to work is about 24 miles. Mixture of 30mph and 50mph roads. Starting 12hr shifts soon so traffic will drop down. I focus on coasting down to traffic lights along the route. Roundabouts are the biggest problem for me. You can never get a clear run or smooth driving

Tom

Because they're full of traffic? The few I encounter around here are more "fun" than "problematic", but only because they're usually empty when I go through.

At least the speed zones you travel in are certainly MPG friendly.

Both traffic filled and traffic light controlled.
Here in the UK we punish our drivers with stupid traffic lights that require you to stop on a sensor before they will change!

That's terrible! I thought the whole reason for a roundabout is to eliminate traffic lights and keep people moving.

Not round here unfortunately. They aim at making things as difficult as possible.

Had a small success today. Car had its yearly MOT test (similar to state inspections and the such like). Onboard and wildly inacurate fuel display said 57.3 before I left the car. Picked up with 53.1 on the display after 2 miles being put on the clock. After todays journey to and from work I am now on an indicated 54.8! Hoping this tank gets better.

Welcome to a great community!