Fuel consumption unimportant?

[Grimble]

Add people driving 'economically' on the inside lane of motorways, causing trucks to occupy the middle lane overtaking them and causing tailbacks, to my list of pet hates.
Unlike middle lane hoggers, there's not much you can do but sit and fume.

Now that the M6 from J11 to 13 is four lanes, you now even get double middle lane hogging. Its surprising how often the inside lane is completely empty, and yet you need to use lane 4 to get past.

[gjd]

Hello

Originally Posted by The Thong

I applaud your Tea dedication.... After working for Kenco for 7yrs, if I never see another cup of coffee it won't be too soon. Coffee is only consumed when either no tea or rubbish tea is available. Yorkshire tea is nice but I'm partial to Cardamom tea too.... Nice

Special Tippy Assam for me - brew properly in a pot, and add a splash of milk. For coffee, I use an Aeropress and use Sainsbury's Double Dark, but for special occasions I go to a coffee roaster in the City and get a quarter of their special espresso roast, ground specifically for the Aeropress.

Re MPG, my 50 isn't great on fuel to be honest but if I keep it to 65 I can maintain 51mpg. If I refit my EGR blanking plate I can get 56mpg, wished I knew where I'd put it though. My 50 gives 43mpg overall which is respectable for the cars age, I've no issue with it

Drove back from the North East today, in no particular hurry. I kept the van at 60, making pace with the trucks in the inside lane. Filled up again as I arrived back home, and used Fuelly to see how I'd done. The van averages around 34mpg, but this trip averages out at 47! A motorway journey at 70 would top out at around 39 (again, according to fuelly), so dropping to 60 appears to have saved me aroudn £15

[Clan]

Originally Posted by gjd

Hello Special Tippy Assam for me - brew properly in a pot, and add a splash of milk. For coffee, I use an Aeropress and use Sainsbury's Double Dark, but for special occasions I go to a coffee roaster in the City and get a quarter of their special espresso roast, ground specifically for the Aeropress.

Drove back from the North East today, in no particular hurry. I kept the van at 60, making pace with the trucks in the inside lane. Filled up again as I arrived back home, and used Fuelly to see how I'd done. The van averages around 34mpg, but this trip averages out at 47! A motorway journey at 70 would top out at around 39 (again, according to fuelly), so dropping to 60 appears to have saved me aroudn £15

yep thats how it works , wind resistance quadruples with a doubling of speed and starts becoming a real problem at 60 mph .. our engines have so much torque that you do not notice any difference in ease of running between 50 or 80 mph , it feels just as economical .

[NigelDay]

As an aside to this discussion, I read the brief report on the Autocar fleet LR Disco Sport (AWD automatic) this week. Reads well except for the fuel consumption and range. They reckon around 32 mpg and a tank range of 350 miles. With a rather pathetic 54 litre tank capacity this is not surprising.
I would find this VERY tedious as I rarely fill up mine before 700 miles.

[StatusRed]

I try to drive smoothly with as little braking as I can get away with, mainly by driving to judge traffic slowly down and simply taking my foot off the accelerator to slow down rather than brake. I do this for the fuel consumption reasons and also because it feels kinder on the car!

[apersson850]

Exactly what I mean. It's not much slower on average, but it's nicer to ride with such a driver.
But I saw very few such drivers during the trip, hence the question.

I find it not too surprising that a thread, in a UK forum, about driving habits would take a detour to the morning tea discussion. ;-)

[Ninja59]

Some interesting views in this piece alongside some stereotyping.

Overall it really comes down to how hard you push that throttle down as every time you do it is burning more money, letting it off early and progressively slowing seems to be something that has died out. Many people accelerate heavily unnecessarily or speed up very slowly and just then ignore the speed limit. Both sets seem to also have the trait of not slowing progressively and just do it heavily.

In relation to MPG my 640D over a tank is around 36 MPG (not bad for a car that uses A roads most of the journey to work with 313 bhp and little under 2000 kg) and thanks to lowering speed limits makes it more difficult to have a "constant" rate of speed that motorway would. Motorway work taking it easy it will settle at 47 MPG. Last run in decent conditions the BMW made it up to Chester on £26, the MX5 was nearer £40, ahh gearing for you.

In regards to middle lane hogging that is a thread alone by itself.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Ninja59

Some interesting views in this piece alongside some stereotyping.

Overall it really comes down to how hard you push that throttle down as every time you do it is burning more money, letting it off early and progressively slowing seems to be something that has died out. Many people accelerate heavily unnecessarily or speed up very slowly and just then ignore the speed limit. Both sets seem to also have the trait of not slowing progressively and just do it heavily.

In relation to MPG my 640D over a tank is around 36 MPG (not bad for a car that uses A roads most of the journey to work with 313 bhp and little under 2000 kg) and thanks to lowering speed limits makes it more difficult to have a "constant" rate of speed that motorway would. Motorway work taking it easy it will settle at 47 MPG. Last run in decent conditions the BMW made it up to Chester on £26, the MX5 was nearer £40, ahh gearing for you.

In regards to middle lane hogging that is a thread alone by itself.

Burns fuel and also brakes , that is why i have seen front pads AND discs worn to the metal on a few V60/XC60's recently in 25000 miles .

[Ninja59]

My pads on the BMW will only do about 15-18,000 but I doubt discs will be needed that soon!

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by apersson850

Exactly what I mean. It's not much slower on average, but it's nicer to ride with such a driver.

Quite. With the added bonus of improved fuel consumption, which is where you came in!

But I saw very few such drivers during the trip, hence the question.

Probably on account of the much more congested roads, a sense of urgency prevails in the UK, that we have not seen in Sweden outside perhaps Stockholm and Gothenburg, and which greatly influences the driving style over here.


I find it not too surprising that a thread, in a UK forum, about driving habits would take a detour to the morning tea discussion. ;-)

Ah, the quintessential English! On the other hand, I really love your coffee - served strong and black - just as it should be!

You live in a beautiful country. It is a pleasure to drive on your roads. Sometimes, in the remoter parts, I have not seen another car for 1 - 2 hours - Bliss! Our fuel consumption is usually 25 - 33% better when in Sweden than at home, with no conscious effort or altered driving style - it is so easy to maintain smooth progress and good average speeds.

I think that is the main reason for the difference between us. In Sweden, when asked how far from 'A' to 'B', you often answer in terms of time, and not distance, and you are right! Due to the not infrequent accidents, hold-ups, congestion and poor state of many of our roads, that is just not feasible over here.

Kind regards och manga vanliga halsningar,

John.