Ecodrive vs Normal Drive

[Arragonis]

Arragonis Jnr is a cub scout and this weekend was his weekend to be away on camp. We had the opportunity to join him today (Saturday) so me and the Mrs split the driving between us, she drove there and I drove back.

Specs - the car is a Skoda Octavia Estate (aka Station Wagon) - basically it is a Jetta Station Wagon in the US. The engine is the 140hp 2.0 TDI 16v unit. There are no aero mods and it has roof rails. Passengers were me, Mrs A, M's mum and M's brother, so 3 adults and one child.

At the camp A Jnr is enjoying himself but like all boys away he has kind of partied - even for a 9 year old. Apparently they were up until 1 am and then awake at 4 (it doesn't go completely dark there and it's tents). Even given that he and his friends gave the activities a go all day but I suspect he will sleep on the bus home tomorrow.

On the trip there the Mrs drove. She usually likes to make progress so the first half which was 4 lane motorway was OK, the second half which was 2 lane country roads was less good. I kind of cringed at being so close to the car in front, the extra braking + speeding up and so on.

Result - 50.9 MPG. This car is dead good for MPG, I would get so much less in my smaller Fabia driving the same - the 16v TDI rules.

I drove back and used EO(n)C where I could and just kept pace with cars in front but leaving a gap. I was so gentle that everyone else except me fell asleep.

At the end of the 2 lane run I have 72.9 on the built in average MPG computer. Then when we got to the motorway Mrs A awoke and I was told we needed to get home quick so I cruised a little faster than I normally like and with no hypermiling, but we still got home with 63.5 showing.

During the 2 lane bit I didn't hold anyone up and there is no way to overtake, it was just a fluke. I think I could have made 75 all the way home apart from the motorway run.

So there you have it, a maybe unscientific comparison but at least we saved some dosh.

[gone-ot]

...just goes to show that individual driving techniques do count, and often alot!

[Piwoslaw]

Nice going
Yesterday we drove a friend home after a party at our place. It was 1-2am and the Wife drove. She got 4.2 l/100km. When I drove that friend home a few times in the last few months (also middle of night, similar temperature, weather, etc.) I would get between 3.4 and 3.8 l/100km. Usually, there be would 1 person less in the car and I'd be going a little slower, but mostly it's b/c of coasting, engine braking, timing lights, etc. The Wife only recently got her license, so she still has to work on the basics before she becomes an FE Jedi

Both your account and mine show that driving style alone will effect FE by 15%-20%.

[bgd73]

50.9 TDI



in america that is a world record.
No mods at all...

I wonder what they do to TDI for euro. I learned of subarus haveing a smaller version of valves...same engine displacement. In america, they did something bigger, same engines. I ran a rare one for usa, called a DL.
167k miles, 60mpg on the highway... I finally deciphered it. the cams and exhaust valves were smaller...and subaru never mentioned it. there is even a subaru group that has suby experts who did not know about it. Europe could spread some good stuff around.. I would run a diesel. 2.0 euro is plenty.
I am trying for 40 strong (40 everywhere, as average) and that is over double the average for usa.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Both your account and mine show that driving style alone will effect FE by 15%-20%.

I think it should be taught as part of driving school, it would reduce fuel consumption quite a bit as well as wear and tear. It would have also made my journey in the passenger seat a lot more comfortable. I could tell the return leg was because everyone except me fell asleep.

Originally Posted by bgd73

50.9 TDI



in america that is a world record.
No mods at all...

I wonder what they do to TDI for euro. I learned of subarus haveing a smaller version of valves...same engine displacement. In america, they did something bigger, same engines. I ran a rare one for usa, called a DL.
167k miles, 60mpg on the highway... I finally deciphered it. the cams and exhaust valves were smaller...and subaru never mentioned it. there is even a subaru group that has suby experts who did not know about it. Europe could spread some good stuff around.. I would run a diesel. 2.0 euro is plenty.
I am trying for 40 strong (40 everywhere, as average) and that is over double the average for usa.

TDG - the US spec Jetta TDI is exactly the same spec as our car, same engine (16v TDI) and everything. This has the 6 speed manual gearbox. Only difference is that this has a different badge on the nose and cost us quite a bit less than the people's car equivalent.

The main difference between Europe and US cars is engine size. Take and current Aveo for example - sold here and the US. Here its a 1.2 petrol engine, in the US a 1.6. The Jetta TDI base engine is the one in our car, but there is a smaller economy centred one available here, a 105 hp 1.9. My dad has one of those and averages 55-60 everywhere.

The usual reason for this is that Americans demand more performance, but having driven there a few times I didn't notice traffic going any faster on freeways and on country roads I was being held up more than holding up others. Maybe if everyone asked Chevvy for the 1.2 Aveo they would notice. At the moment it looks like the Metro / Swift was an all too brief episode in the US car market.

[Arragonis]

PS - TDG - Double the average is pretty impressive.

[comptiger5000]

Around here, an underpowered car can be a real PITA. A lot of the highway ramps are short, and on the Merritt Parkway, some of the older ramps still have stop signs at the top. Trying to merge into 60mph traffic from a dead stop with decent traffic volume requires a car with guts. In my old 2000 Hyundai Elantra (2.0, auto), the 0-60 was over 10 seconds. Merging on these ramps was only possible at WOT, and even then, it required a huge gap in traffic. Doing it in the Jeep is MUCH easier (0-60 in 6.8s).

This is why more vehicles should have diesels, at least as an option. You can have the extra power without killing mpg like you do with most gas engines.

[dcb]

It seems most of those ramps have been fixed. I suppose one could wait till it is safe to merge or find another ramp too. HP isn't the only answer, there is always room for technique and managing with what you have.

[ChrstphrR]

Originally Posted by bgd73

50.9 TDI



in america that is a world record.
No mods at all...

MPG in the UK is usually denoted in Imperial gallons, which are 20% larger than US gallons. Since the statute mile is a statute mile in both realms, that means...
UK Ecomodders will report mileage 20% higher than their US counterparts.


1 Imperial gallon = 4.54609188 liters

1 US gallon = 3.78541178 liters

Further reading on the madness of the imperial system of measure:
Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by ChrstphrR

MPG in the UK is usually denoted in Imperial gallons

See my sig

The main point was a comparison between different driving styles but yes, that is a valid point for readers.

Originally Posted by ChrstphrR

Further reading on the madness of the imperial system of measure:
Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Madness ?

Well yes.

Personally I would prefer we went metric and we have for most things except for speed and capacity. We measure length, depthness, width in metres or mm. We tend to measure height in feet and inches. We measure capacity in both pints (beer and milk) and ml (pop (aka soda) cans, water, fruit juice, petrol and diesel etc.). We buy wine in the standard 750ml bottles that Gallo send them from the US in, and Stowells import them from Spain in.

I don't like Gallo much but thats my choice.

The madness starts when our laws say that someone selling food in UK pounds and ounces is breaking the law even when customers are OK with it, or when our government tries to approximate EU standard economy figures by choosing an MPG equivalent which is just close to a metric KMH figure - e.g. MPG at 56 came about because it is 90 kmh. Lets just do the kmh thing.

50+ MPG (imp) is still good in the UK for a mid-sized (compact US size) car carrying 3 adults and one child and driven pretty much like its rented. Even a compact petrol hatchback would struggle to match it and be capable of 120 mph + if needed (or desired).