Poor Mpg On My 06 1.6 Tdci (Climate) Focus?

[Tempest501]

Hi guys,

I recently changed to a more sensible car as starting a family soon and wife need to learn to drive etc. Now at the garage when I bought the car they said the book mpgs figures were as follows:

Urban 45

Extra Urban 70

Combined 58.9

My normal work journeys have been returning about 40-43 mpgs, this is a fairly short journey so allthough I was hoping this would be better i think its normal. I recently drove down south from Leeds. its is 300 mile journey each way and only managed 55 mpg.

I guess what I am asking is, is this good or bad performance ( icertainly never got anywhere near 70 lol)

Thank you in advance for your advice/answers.

P.S Whereever possible I try keep the revs around 1500-1600.

[SeaGrey]

Most people I've spoken to reckon the manufacturers figures are totally unreachable. However, I did a 'super efficient' test drive once in a Toyota and was able to match all figures.

So you could do a test drive with just you in the car, on a flat dual carriageway, at about 55mph constantly for a good few miles, perfect conditions etc..

If you can get near 70mpg then you can be very pleased.

I've just bought a similar car to yours, and plan to do such a test myself.

If you do this type of test well, and it's something you can easily repeat under the same conditions, you can use it as a benchmark in future, if you're suspicious of a problem with the car.

[johnH]

i have a 1.8tdci 2006 climate pack...anyways on motorways at 70mph i get 57mpg, highest was 62mpg. so if i go slower i could probably acheive numbers like that.

[Tempest501]

i have a 1.8tdci 2006 climate pack...anyways on motorways at 70mph i get 57mpg, highest was 62mpg. so if i go slower i could probably acheive numbers like that.

Ye i was going 70 most of the way on motorway and got up to 55mpg. I am not sure if I can get anymore out of it unless I go at lik 55-60 as I acheved th 55 after 300 miles driving. The car has been serviced as well, I was expecting about 60-65 but maybe I was being over optimistic?

[johnH]

well i take the same stance as everyone else that those figures quoted in brochures are a bit exagerated especially after that episode on watchdog where smart cars where the biggest culprit, but mercedes claimed that figures are given by euro standards and that is a wind tunnel. 55mpg is still pretty good as i say, my old 1.6 307 was only averaging 32-35mpg. only thing to do really is keep the vehicle serviced and well oiled with a good brand and tires balanced aligned and correctly pressured.

[Sara Fiesta]

Are you working out the mpg manually or are you using the cars trip mpg computer?

[Tempest501]

Are you working out the mpg manually or are you using the cars trip mpg computer?

Those figures I gave are from the trip computer, I am not too sure how to do it manually. Not great with maths I have to be honest lol.

[catch]

I did a little experiment on the M65 on Saturday, 6 mile trip motorway only, with only me in car, went like this: when on motorway reset trips, whilst in fifth gear [which I stayed in] with no braking, at an average cruise speed of 54mpg [i think] I achieved 59.50 mpg on dash comp.

I say I think, because I reset the trip a few times that day, next test three on board, A road trip reset where Colne meets the outskirts of Foulridge, through to Skipton 11 miles away in traffic no overtaking, again driving like a granny. Computer trip average 33mpg but where no speed limits, averaged low 50's but think on speedo's over read about 3% It returned 57.30 mpg on dash comp

Extended the above test by then going from Skipton to Otley and back to Skipton, 44.5 miles in total 3 up going 2 up coming back. Again trip ave 33, where no speed restrictions 50 mph average, returning on the dash comp 49.10 mpg

Now that was in a 1.6 petrol that on average returned 32.84 mpg last year. Last full tank I popped in a tin of BG44K fuel injector cleaner. No cleaner in my current tank of supermarket fuel when those short tests were carried out, though I do think that system cleaner has improved the mpg. But I cannot make a considered judgement until I "brim" the tank again [due in about 9 days time]

What I will say this though, you get good fuel returns if you drive like a granny, cruise around the 50 to 60 mark, keep off the brakes, and get it into the highest gear as soon as possible.

If your interested in injector cleaner for a diesel from same company it's called BG244K , Member mross swears by it, see his comments on this thread Bg 244 Diesel Fuel System Cleaner You can get cheaper cleaners, but it only needs to increase your mpg by 1% and it will have paid for it's self, so its a no cost clean when you think about it.

[Sara Fiesta]

Those figures I gave are from the trip computer, I am not too sure how to do it manually. Not great with maths I have to be honest lol.

I'm no good at maths too lol, it's straight forward here goes,

Fill the car up till the pump stops, reset the trip to 0 miles driver around as normal when you get to near empty fill up again try and use the same station and pump and again stop as soon as the pump stops. Take a note of the trip miles you covered and litres you put in the tank and here’s how you work it out.

Example

Trip 450 mile

Fuel 45 litres

45 litres divide by 4,545 = 9.90 gallons

9.90 gallons divided by 450 = 45.45 mpg :)

[catch]

45 litres divide by 4,545 = 9.90 gallons

9.90 gallons divided by 450 = 45.45 mpg :)

nearly right

9.90 gallons divided by 450 = 0.022

now 450 miles divided by 9.90 gallons = 45.45 mpg

Girls what are they like............... ;)

[jeebowhite]

lol :P

By the way, for anyone who wants to waste a few minutes take a look at the following links - talks about how they work out MPG :) useful to see just why they are so "realistic" lol

http://www.carkeys.co.uk/features/technical/fuel_economy_testing_part_one.aspx

http://www.carkeys.co.uk/features/technical/fuel_economy_testing_part_two.aspx

[bottletree]

I have the 1.6TDCI engine also. I worked my mpg manually. On a long motorway run to wales with car fully loaded and air con on doing on average 75mph i was getting 50 mpg. Here in the city i do a 9 mile round trip daily to work and I'm getting 38.5 mpg with just me in the car mostly.

[jeebowhite]

Best I ever saw was 80 MPG. Sat doing 54 mph behind a truck, no wind resistance, just coasting along. that was over a 60 mile stretch, as I topped up the car just as I hit the motorway, and topped it up again at the other end...

Only ever got close once again that was 73MPG in similar circumstances, but there was a sidewind...

[Sara Fiesta]

nearly right

9.90 gallons divided by 450 = 0.022

now 450 miles divided by 9.90 gallons = 45.45 mpg

Girls what are they like............... ;)

lol :P

[Sara Fiesta]

Best I ever saw was 80 MPG. Sat doing 54 mph behind a truck, no wind resistance, just coasting along. that was over a 60 mile stretch, as I topped up the car just as I hit the motorway, and topped it up again at the other end...

Only ever got close once again that was 73MPG in similar circumstances, but there was a sidewind...

WOW 80mpg i only get near that if i was being towed! :D

[jeebowhite]

Trust me I suffered terribly for it. Bored to hell, and I was literally tittering on the edge of acceleration, but it was a wind free day and the lack of air resistance, on brand new anti resistance tyres... It was hard, but like I said, its one of those things I will never see again...

...Driving petrol now, I would be lucky to see that with the car on the back of a truck, let along with the wheels on the ground on tow! :P

[Tempest501]

Thanks for the info guys, I will keep monitoring it and look into the injector cleaner.

Sounds like from what some of you have said it may be normal, I guess i was just being over optimistic thinking it would be much more mpg than my Skoda Vrs I gave up. Ill let you guys know how I get on.

[Tempest501]

One quick question how often should I use this Injector Cleaner?

[jeebowhite]

Technically can use it as often as you need to, it really depends on the quality of the fuel. I would say once every 3000 miles for poor quality fuel, or anywhere up to 6000 miles for good quality. You dont necessarily need to use it, some people go a lifetime without using it.

[catch]

Well the company [mind you they exist to sell the stuff] reckon every 11k. Which for me at present annual mileage is circa every two years, so I'm fine with that. Pointless cleaning the injectors if it's not needed. Going by the independent report it does a good job, but it's not cheap as cleaners go. So cleaning injectors that don't need it wont improve overall performance, nor will it give you that mgp increase that pays for the product.

Put it this way my motor was 5.5 years old having covered 40k miles, it was displaying no running problems, but I decided to give the fuelling system a clean with the product anyway. As the blurb said it restores the fuelling side of your engine to the condition it was when it rolled off the production line. Now it does seem more responsive [but that may be a subconscious desire on my part to substantiate me buying the product] But like I say, if giving the injectors a clean after 40k, improves my mpg by 1.5 mpg the product will have paid for it's self twice over, even on my low annual mileage [5.6k]

The six months of brimming my tank prior to adding the cleaner returned 30.56mpg [last annual mileage returns prior to then was 32.84 but that includes a couple of touring holidays in among] The tank full with the cleaner in returned 33.36 mpg compared to the 30.56mpg average for the previous six months. But I really need to see what the current tank with no cleaner in returns before I can make an informed judgement. [i know all these figures because I keep spreadsheets on every thing] You could say I'm a data junkie :D

Sorry if I always seem to be contradicting you jeeb, I don't mean to, I just quote the blurb companies put on the web regarding their motors or products.

[jeebowhite]

Lol, its fine. It really also depends on the product you use, for example the one Catch recommended, I agree is more of a every now and then jobby, my reference was more to popping a dose of redex, or something smaller and less "industrial strength" (for lack of a better choice of words) just to give it a once over! I have no need to use it on the Cee'd yet, but I gave my Focus a dose of Diesel RedEx every 3-6 months, and it helped to give a boost in MPG till the next dose. It only cost on average £0.50 a month, and I tended to get little over 2 MPG average on a tank. so even if that averaged an extra saving of £3.00 per tank, which is a saving of £2.50 per tank, so up to £10 a month - Not much but its a saving none the less!

Had I kept the focus, I would have given it a dose of the stuff Catch used, as it was starting to deteriorate.

[Sara Fiesta]

Injecter cleaner I was told not to use it in mine, shame as Ive got a full bottle of millers diesel additive. I did try and put some in but it ended up on floor poxy silly ford filler cap can't get it open! Two times I tried 2 times all on the floor 

Worked well in my old 1.6 TDci fiesta  I miss that car! 

[jeebowhite]

They all say "dont use additives" mainly becuase that means you cant maintain the car a little more, and you can go in with a clogged injector to your dealer and pay a fortune to have it cleaned out!

If dealers say "dont do it" then go ahead and do it anyway - your only going to save yourself money in the long run!

[Sara Fiesta]

If only I could get it in the filler cap I would like to try it, my filler cap is the type only the pump seems to allow it to open?

[jeebowhite]

Thats how most of them are getting nowadays, you need a specific funnel to put down, and open the flap. Problem is the additive, doesnt get added into the fuel tank directly, its a seperate tank offside the main one.

I dont know where the actual bit is!