Mk 7 1.6 Tdci (95Bhp) Mpg Issues, Anyone Else?

[happyarthur1979]

Hey Guys,

I have a 60 plate 1.6 tdci Fiesta (new 95bhp engine) and am dissapointed with the mpg im getting so far.

The car has done just over 2000 miles and in struggling to achieve 50mpg with a mix of motorway and A&B roads.

Ford state 67mpg average - so im getting nowhere near. I dont expect to achieve the quoted figure but I did expect to see 55-60mpg.

Obviously the reason I paid more for the Diesel was to benefit from the extra fuel economy over the 1.4 petrol, although 1.4 petrol owners seem to be getting 47mpg average so im fairing no better!

If anyone else has the same engine I would be interested to hear what mpg figures you are achieving so I have some ammunition when I go back to Ford with this issue.

Many Thanks,

Graham.

[johnH]

i know some manufacturers claim to get that milage once the engine has worn in, be that 2000 - 5000 miles. also the tires have to be up to pressure, which i assume they are. then it all depends on how you drive, the terrain and even weather.

There was a massive thing on watchdog where merc/smart got into trouble for saying they can acheive 87mpg in a smart car but no-one, even the pros, cant do it. That is after engine wear in. wonder if ford have made the same boo boo lol

[iNath]

I have that engine, mine has done 5,500 and you can see my mileage below. Currently averaging 53mpg with mixture of A & country roads.

[aph1101]

We have the old 90bhp, which is quoted as 64.6mpg, and after 17k miles, it is getting 53-55mpg pretty consistently. This is pretty good, considering that is always driven pretty hard.

[Fast Parrot]

I also have the 90bhp engine and that is also quoted as 67mpg according to all literature before and after purchasing the car, manual included. I don't get that though, I average about 55mpg (with a heavy right foot), however, after the engine has warmed up, if I reset the mpg calculator and drive VERY carefully, I have achieved 80mpg but this would not be possible under normal circumstances, especially when you take into account the increased fuel consumption after a cold start.

[Early-1800]

My old 90bhp has settled down at @54mpg. Wifes 2.0 110hp Golf does slightly better even though its (slightly) bigger and more power but does have a ultra high 5th gear with about a 33mph/1000rpm ratio.

The fester needs a higher cruising gear or even better a 6 speed box.

[mikester]

Drive at 55 and you'll see 70mpg easy.

I had my ecu reflashed at ford as I wasn't getting over 50mpg

[fordpartsman]

the 95ps engine is only supposed to get aroung 54-55mpg combined, so you figure is normal, i have the 95ps engine and get 53 avg

[ozzrahog]

I have a 60 plate 1.6tdi it gives mega mpg at 50ish above that it drops off.

However today i did 230 miles on the motorway at about 70 and got an average 53mpg so cant complain

[TroodoN]

hello,

you guys are saying "new", "old" engine. Can someone quickly explain where is the difference? Which year did they start putting new engines? Did they do the same thing for petrol engines? Cheers

[fordpartsman]

The new Engine is the 95ps model and the old engine is the 90ps model. The new engine was started to be fitted in april this year as it conforms to stage v emissions

[antman99]

Troodon, they changed the engines a few months ago i have tghe "new" engine the main difference is 95ps instead of 90 and 107g of carbon instead of 110, its to meet the new euro 5 standards, the new engine caused me a 2 month delay but i think it is a bit better,

For MPG i have done 1800 miles and average out between 58-63 mpg on the majority a road but about 1/6 is a nice motorway trip at 56mph. It really isn't the engine it is how you drive it, i am impressed with my MPG but i still always try to do one better below are what i do if anyone wants to try it feel free.

Fuel Type, Forget the premium diesel crap it does nothing, BUT do not use supermarket fuel, it is often many different suppliers mixed, i use ESSO all the time and occasionally i treat her to a Shell or BP fill up if i am closer.

Its not speed that burns fuel, as someone above has pointed out you could do 65-70 on a motorway and still average 65-70mpg, its about how you get to that speed and how you maintain it, no don't creep down a slip road at 40 but use the inclines of a motorway to gain speed within wasting fuel.

Read the road ahead, I love my cruise control but it cannot see a massive hill coming so if you see one just speed up from the 60mph to 70 and then you don't have to labour the engine up the hill and once you reach the top steady back to cruising speed.

Route carefully, on my daily commute i can take 3 routes, 1 is 28 miles one is 33 miles and one is 36 miles, HOWEVER most people think the 28 is quicker it is not it involves Bristol city centre and that isnt fun, so instead i use the A roads and motorways i usually can maintain 55 on the A roads and have only once or twice been held up on the motorway, but by sticking to 56 on the motorway the 36 mile trip is the quickest.

Be aware of other cars, if a car is slowing to turn 2 cars in front just try lifting off you may not need to then slam on your breaks and then waste fuel speeding all the way up again.

As iv said people can call me sad but im just trying to help and the above things is what i have been doing since i passed 4 years ago and even in my 1.4 petrol i was getting 45mpg (mk 6.5) and as i said my 1.6tdci (new 95ps) is only on 2000 miles so i have high hopes.

Anthony.

[mikester]

Ant, driving at higher speeds will 100% have a detrimental effect on mpg, everything else you've said I agree with. if I drove at the speed limit for my 23 mile daily commute which is all motorway, I would get nowhere as good results as if I drove at 55mph.

At 70 the revs sit at between 2.5k and 3k hence keeping the turbo spooling. This is bad for economy but great for performance.

Sainsburys fuel is good, I'm sure I read that they get it from bp... besides the nectar points you get and the cheaper price of the fuel would equate to greater economy in the bigger picture ie spending less on fuel and spending the points on items you'd have had to use cash for otherwise.

Anyway, it's not sad to be a fan of economy, I'm always setting myself targets to beat. Currently I'm at 68mpg average on this current tank with an overal average of 66mpg since I've had the car, spreadsheet with formulas and extensive fuel records... Now that's sad!!!

[iNath]

Anyway, it's not sad to be a fan of economy, I'm always setting myself targets to beat. Currently I'm at 68mpg average on this current tank with an overal average of 66mpg since I've had the car, spreadsheet with formulas and extensive fuel records... Now that's sad!!!

I bet my spreadsheet beats yours :P

[TroodoN]

cheers for guys for your explonations

[SteveTDCI]

I have the 110 version in my Focus and I too was disappointed with the fuel economy getting in the mid 40s with normal driving around town.

In the end I invested in a Synergy 1 tuning box from RoverRon which is basically exactly the same as all those £300+ tuning box's only better made and half the price.

The difference it has made to my vehicle is staggering....its increased to torque and power so much that I don't have to use as much throttle to gain the speed I want.

My local commute route, about 4 miles of busy roundabouts and dual carriageway normally gave me 43 to 47 mpg with the box set to no.9(highest setting) I achieved 57mpg. I never expected it to make so much difference...

Of course fitting a tuning box to these engines is a real pain in the backside and if you don't drive to compensate the extra power it will use more fuel.

Personally I couldn't recommend RoverRon's box enough :P

[mikester]

I bet my spreadsheet beats yours :P

nath screenshot me and i'll do you one back :)

[iNath]

nath screenshot me and i'll do you one back :)

Oh so we're doing the whole 'show me yours and I'll show you mine' thing now? :P I'll PM you later ;)

[happyarthur1979]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the replys, interesting to see what everyone is achieving!

I do not have a heavy right foot, most of the time I have my 2 year old son in the car with me so speed is always kept to a minimum.... although 55mph on the motorway to me is not realistic (if a little dangerous!)

On the current tank of fuel I I have not looked at mpg (until now) as I wanted to see what I get without monitoring it constantly and the result.... 44mpg

For me that is way below what I expected, good mpg should be achievable while keeping up with traffic i.e 70mph on motorway, 50-60mph on A roads etc so I may have a problem as this is a lot less than most of you are achieving.

When my car went in for its 1500 mile courtesy check I mentioned it to them, they hooked it up to diagnostics machine but found nothing. They told me that if I continue to be unhappy with fuel economy the car will have to go back to them so this will be my next step.

Again, many thanks for the replys,

Graham.

[iNath]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the replys, interesting to see what everyone is achieving!

I do not have a heavy right foot, most of the time I have my 2 year old son in the car with me so speed is always kept to a minimum.... although 55mph on the motorway to me is not realistic (if a little dangerous!)

On the current tank of fuel I I have not looked at mpg (until now) as I wanted to see what I get without monitoring it constantly and the result.... 44mpg

For me that is way below what I expected, good mpg should be achievable while keeping up with traffic i.e 70mph on motorway, 50-60mph on A roads etc so I may have a problem as this is a lot less than most of you are achieving.

When my car went in for its 1500 mile courtesy check I mentioned it to them, they hooked it up to diagnostics machine but found nothing. They told me that if I continue to be unhappy with fuel economy the car will have to go back to them so this will be my next step.

Again, many thanks for the replys,

Graham.

Maybe book it in for an Econo Check? £30 and they can analyse your driving style for a week. (You get £15 rebate off BP Ultimate fuel & £15 off next service so doesn't really cost you anything) Atl east that way if it comes back with no obvious things (like you're reving the hell out of it!) you would have some evidence and it would point to the fault being the car and not yourself.

[antman99]

Yeh sorry i didn't mean that driving at 70 is as efficient as 56 what i meant is alot more fuel is lost if you rant to get to the 56/70 than driving at 70 for 10 miles would do. I cant comment on specifics but i know my local sainsburys both mine and my girlfriends car hates the fuel i do around 450 miles on a tank rather than the 550-600 normally.

Also 56 is more safe than 70 imo as in the majority of accidents on motorways are either excess speed or accidents with larger vehicles, all UK lorries SHOULD be limited to 56mph and therefore tuck in between some lorries and watch the fuel save even more as air flow is reduced, BUT DONT TAIL GATE STUPIDLY just keep the 2 seconds and then you will have no need to be braking.

Tuning boxes, i was tempted but decided against it until i have a feel for the engine as in i know all is well with it and i know what is its normal operating measurements such as revs etc, also be warned they could potentially void your warranty but i don't think the OBD logs them specifically unless you are silly and leave it in when you take it for a service.

Anthony

[happyarthur1979]

Thanks, worth thinking about.

Although I know it's not my driving style as I also have a 2 WD Kuga 2.0 tdci and am averaging 43mpg in that... Quoted figure is 47mpg so I'm right up there!

Thanks again.

[mikester]

Yeh sorry i didn't mean that driving at 70 is as efficient as 56 what i meant is alot more fuel is lost if you rant to get to the 56/70 than driving at 70 for 10 miles would do. I cant comment on specifics but i know my local sainsburys both mine and my girlfriends car hates the fuel i do around 450 miles on a tank rather than the 550-600 normally.

Also 56 is more safe than 70 imo as in the majority of accidents on motorways are either excess speed or accidents with larger vehicles, all UK lorries SHOULD be limited to 56mph and therefore tuck in between some lorries and watch the fuel save even more as air flow is reduced, BUT DONT TAIL GATE STUPIDLY just keep the 2 seconds and then you will have no need to be braking.

Tuning boxes, i was tempted but decided against it until i have a feel for the engine as in i know all is well with it and i know what is its normal operating measurements such as revs etc, also be warned they could potentially void your warranty but i don't think the OBD logs them specifically unless you are silly and leave it in when you take it for a service.

Anthony

the lorry draft technique is awesome!! however i've noticed that more lorries seem to be travelling faster than 60mph, i was under the impression that they were limited to 56mph as the vehicles in our fleet at work (LWB transits) are deffo limited to this. as you say, there isn't a danger driving between 50 and 60 mph as mentioned in another post as there are 2 sometimes 3 other lanes free to overtake in as after all lanes 2, 3 and 4 should only be used to pass other vehicles so in theory passing me shouldn't pose a problem, but as we all know there are many idiots who don't merge back into lane 1 once they've finished their overtake.

i was tempted by a remap but i don't think the initial outlay would benefit myself in my circumstances as i wouldn't be interested in the performance gains and the economy gains would be marginal onsidering the great results i'm currently getting.

it is hard driving eco when there are many other road users too focused on breaking speed limits to get places quicker.

of course driving at 30mph on an NSL single carriageway is dangerous and this is the only time i'd say driving slower than the speed limit is not advisable.

it is also worth bearing in mind that many people will swear by the old chessnut of breaking a derv engine in, stating that it will take 20k or more miles before you really start seeing great mpg returns... but i'm not entirely sure how true that is on modern engines.

[antman99]

Mikester, good to see a Red ZS i have the titanium with the dress up kit but i seen one in red the other day it looks smart, although i must say i love my Wilma (black) yeh i notice with lorries they should legally be 56mph but my dad a driver himself says they can be overridden with the right know how but if they get clocked doing 60 the fines are massive. I find the larger companies are usually better, there seems to be no shortage of Sainsbury's and tesco lorries.

Did you get such high mpg of the line so to speak (from new) as like i said im getting 60mpg ish and am hoping it will improve.

[mikester]

Mikester, good to see a Red ZS i have the titanium with the dress up kit but i seen one in red the other day it looks smart, although i must say i love my Wilma (black) yeh i notice with lorries they should legally be 56mph but my dad a driver himself says they can be overridden with the right know how but if they get clocked doing 60 the fines are massive. I find the larger companies are usually better, there seems to be no shortage of Sainsbury's and tesco lorries.

Did you get such high mpg of the line so to speak (from new) as like i said im getting 60mpg ish and am hoping it will improve.

nope, had to have it reflashed at ford when i kicked up a stink. they updated it to the latest firmware. which i'm assuming is what you'll be running.

my mpg is so good as i only use mine to commute the daily 50 mile round trip which is 95% motorway, i've got the other halfs car for the menial shopping/social trips :) saying that though i'm at a standstill stop start joining the M5 and M6 daily so i think the 55mph speed on the straights balances out the poor economy stop starting areas.

i've lost count the times i've been main beemed and cut up by hgv drivers. i just wave at them :D