Increasing MPG?

1. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

   #1 20th April 2006, 03:59

   besides the obvious dont put your foot down...
   
   are there any reasonably effective ways to increase mpg?
   i want a bmc but have heard this could decrease mpg?!
   
   my last car was a 106 diesel which would give me 500 miles to a tank every
   time!
   
   the vtr usually get about 300, and i never drive fast...and im feeling the pain
   in my wallet!
   
   anyone got any tips or mods that could help...?
2. Barry123 Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Oct 2005 Aycliffe Posts: 32205 Saxo VTS

   #2 20th April 2006, 04:24

   hey man,
   
   as you say less heavy foot might be a start, none drastics mods could be a high quality air filter as opposed to an induction kit. better flow means better burning of fuel thus more power and provided you dont go mental with the accelerator pedal this will correlate into better consumption.
   
   check your tire pressures make sure they're correct for your car and wheels.
   
   occassionally put a tank of optimax in or put some fuel additives into a normal tank (this will clean the fuel system out and injectors).
   
   Replace engine oil with fully synthetic.
   
   If you want to be in pursuit of small gains then...
   remove any unnecessary weight
   Dont use anything electrical unless necessary
   keep the engines revs as close to peak torque as possible.
   
   when i think of more i'll post up
   
3. patrick2403 Established Member Joined: Oct 2005 Preston Posts: 1498 106 GTi

   #3 20th April 2006, 04:27

   i bought some of that fuel tanky engine cleaner jobbo stuff from halfrauds that u stick in with a full tank and i noticed the difference got 370miles from 30 squids. honk honk
4. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

   #4 20th April 2006, 04:30

   thanks for all that ad....
   
   ive done all that stuff already! the optimax, tyres,, additives..
   
   anyone know if the bmc will decrease economy if driven sensibly?
5. patrick2403 Established Member Joined: Oct 2005 Preston Posts: 1498 106 GTi

   #5 20th April 2006, 04:31

   ive got green enclosed mate and it doesnt seem to make any difference.
6. Barry123 Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Oct 2005 Aycliffe Posts: 32205 Saxo VTS

   #6 20th April 2006, 04:32

   i dont know enough about 'bmc' is that an induction kit?
7. Barry123 Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Oct 2005 Aycliffe Posts: 32205 Saxo VTS

   #7 20th April 2006, 04:34

   also dont take this literally but when slowing down keep the car in gear and try to use the engine braking force only. Depending on year of manufacture the engine will put in near enough bot all fuel (less than leaving the car out of gear on idle)
8. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

   #8 20th April 2006, 04:39

   yeah the bmc is the carbon airbox jobby....
   
   so your saying when im slowing down keeping it in gear so that the engine
   revolutions are higher than they are at idle,, will use less fuel than it does at
   idle?
   
   
   i dont get it?!
9. Scottp Administrator Joined: Dec 2002 Glasgow United Kingdom (Scotland) Posts: 26097 Chelski Traktor

   #9 20th April 2006, 04:42

   service service service
   
   i got 4oo miles to a tank in my vtr no matter what driving and if i drove it very granny like i would do 450 miles to a tank no problem, record was 472 miles
10. Barry123 Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Oct 2005 Aycliffe Posts: 32205 Saxo VTS

    #10 20th April 2006, 04:49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by paul1087 yeah the bmc is the carbon airbox jobby.... so your saying when im slowing down keeping it in gear so that the engine revolutions are higher than they are at idle,, will use less fuel than it does at idle? i dont get it?!

    yup exactly that.
    I know this happens on engines up to 5 years old (but not sure if the saxo generation engines have the same ability as they are 10year old design)
    
    but when the engine is at idle fuel has to be burned in order to rotate the crank (stop it stalling). when you have the car in gear WITHOUT foot on the loud pedal the engine does not need to put the same amount of fuel in to keep the engine rotating, in fact it needs nothing really as the momentum of the car will keep the engine rotating but does require some electronic managment to do so properly which is why older engines dont quite do this to the same ability.
    
    You'll notice if you go in 1st or 2nd and then let the car slow down naturally that you get a judder as you hit the idle speed. this is because the car begins to start squirting in sufficient fuel to avoid stalling.
    
    
11. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

    #11 20th April 2006, 05:48

    ah rite... nicely explained..
12. l1ukeRS Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Oct 2005 Telford United Kingdom (England) Posts: 3962 Focus RS Saxo Vtr

    #12 20th April 2006, 14:58

    wind it up to 60 mph then roll in neutral then again and agian lol, me mate did it in his 306 hdi when we were lost in wales and he did 79 miles on the red light lol
13. vtrchris64 Established Member Joined: Feb 2006 Bridgend United Kingdom (Wales) Posts: 1611 Clio 182 Cup

    #13 20th April 2006, 15:21

    I managed to get 220 miles to £20 thats driving like a granny trying to avoid revving above 3k
14. Barry123 Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Oct 2005 Aycliffe Posts: 32205 Saxo VTS

    #14 20th April 2006, 19:34

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by L1UKEVTR wind it up to 60 mph then roll in neutral then again and agian lol, me mate did it in his 306 hdi when we were lost in wales and he did 79 miles on the red light lol

    not being funny dude , but that is probably worse... as you need the extra force to accelerate the car back up to 60 again, whereas maintaining 60 (with the HDI that should be bong on peak torque) you would have not required the extra force and thus would have got better mileage.
15. grantsp51 Regular Poster Joined: Feb 2006 United Kingdom (Scotland) Posts: 468 51plate vtr

    #15 21st April 2006, 18:26

    somebody tell me where am going wrong because am getting shit mpg. am getting 280ish miles to a full tank, a changed ma pipercross to a bmc which helped put in the redx and a change gear just over 2000 revs what the fucks wrong
16. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

    #16 22nd April 2006, 01:23

    do you drive predominantly in town??
    
    urban driving should return about 36mpg...
    
    so 280 miles is probably about right if you only drive around town
17. BruceybabyVTR Frequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Edinburgh Posts: 858 Saxo VTR MK2

    #17 22nd April 2006, 01:35

    Last week i got about 20 miles out of a tenner of optimax i was right foot happy though. If im gettin about 70 miles out of a tenner is that good?
18. vtrchris64 Established Member Joined: Feb 2006 Bridgend United Kingdom (Wales) Posts: 1611 Clio 182 Cup

    #18 22nd April 2006, 01:52

    wtf 20 miles to £10 of optimax what are you doing driving around in first?
    
    70 miles to a tenner sounds about right though tis what i am getting.
19. Subtle Established Member Joined: Jun 2005 Cramlington, Northumberland Posts: 1420 Saxo VTR

    #19 22nd April 2006, 04:33

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Scott service service service i got 4oo miles to a tank in my vtr no matter what driving and if i drove it very granny like i would do 450 miles to a tank no problem, record was 472 miles

    as the car coughed and spluttered into the garage?? ...I get very bad economy on mine, was pretty decent until the decat and manifold were put on
20. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

    #20 22nd April 2006, 04:59

    20 miles to £10 of optimax??!!!
    
    
    thats roughly 8.5 miles per gallon!
    
    what did u do put a brick on the accelerator?
21. DarylVTR Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Mar 2006 United Kingdom (England) Posts: 6802

    #21 22nd April 2006, 05:30

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BruceybabyVTR Last week i got about 20 miles out of a tenner of optimax i was right foot happy though. If im gettin about 70 miles out of a tenner is that good?

    
    Not in the slightest.... i get about 100 - 120 miles on £10 in my mk2 vtr.
22. BruceybabyVTR Frequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Edinburgh Posts: 858 Saxo VTR MK2

    #22 22nd April 2006, 06:40

    Mines is mk2, 45k on clock.
    
    Mind u, the way i measured that tenner may not have been accurate, not sure how much of the reserve i used, but i do remember caning it very badly that weekend cos i had only had it a week and in comparison to a 1.2 corsa its pretty mean lol
    
    They banned me from driving GTi's and R32's at work, im so deprieved
23. marv Frequent Poster Joined: Oct 2005 United Kingdom (Wales) Posts: 698

    #23 22nd April 2006, 16:57

    150ish to £20 here, tha roughly right?
24. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

    #24 22nd April 2006, 16:57

    whats your job brucey??
    
    
25. Banger_VTR Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Feb 2006 Co. Durham Posts: 2670 voiture tres rapide, deux ton

    #25 22nd April 2006, 20:39

    yeah i get bout 300 - 320 from a tank in my vtr, ima try n put sum redex in like to see if i can get more.
26. DarylVTR Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Mar 2006 United Kingdom (England) Posts: 6802

    #26 23rd April 2006, 16:38

    i put some red-x in yesterday might be pure coincidence but i just got 230 miles out of half a tank on my vtr
27. addictedtosax Established Member Joined: Jun 2005 Dalkeith (Edinburgh) United Kingdom (Scotland) Posts: 1162 MKII Saxo 1.1i

    #27 24th April 2006, 00:17

    redex definately helps, i like to treat my baby to some every 3000 miles.
    
    just curious, in general at what revs does the saxo reach its peak torque?
28. paul1087 Infrequent Poster Joined: Mar 2006 Bristol United Kingdom (England) Posts: 126 2001 Saxo Vtr 2003 Fiesta Zetec-s

    #28 24th April 2006, 01:00

    vtr's peak torque comes in at a relatively low 3500 rpm i believe..
    
    
29. sjsbale Regular Poster Joined: Feb 2006 London Posts: 417 Golf GTi

    #29 29th April 2006, 08:57

    Im getting about 180 miles from a full tank at the moment..... Not sure why though its pretty shocking if you ask me!
30. boz Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Jan 2005 somewhere on this planet, doing something..... around northumberland or in the middle of the sea Posts: 8774 Mk2 VTS track mk1 turbo vts scooby engined 2CV

    #30 29th April 2006, 11:20

    mine used to be great before all the mods, but its pritty bad now when you put your foot down, im always doing that!
    
    you will probably notice a slight difference if you had the car remapped to the new mods etc.
    
    im sure i only get 230ish to a full tank
31. spencer_cammedvts Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Nov 2005 MEASHAM United Kingdom (England) Posts: 3445 257bhp Ibiza Cupra Turbo

    #31 29th April 2006, 15:47

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by paul1087 vtr's peak torque comes in at a relatively low 3500 rpm i believe..

    i got a mk1 vtr and mine comes in peak at about 4800, especially noticable in third!
32. Barry123 Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Oct 2005 Aycliffe Posts: 32205 Saxo VTS

    #32 30th April 2006, 00:11

    anyway back on thread.
    
    forgot about my master weapon in the fight for MPG...
    
    Slipstreaming
    
    I noticed that those national express buses and the like travel at roughly 70mph so i got myself tucked in nicely behind and chilled, laid back in the seat, shades on, phat cigar in teeth.
    
    Not sure about MPg yet as i havent even used half the tank (bareing in mind i travelled up from birmingham and went to boro today on this tank alone )
    
    regards
    MPG god
33. ne_jam Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Dec 2005 stockton-on-tees United Kingdom (England) Posts: 3018 Astra Mk4

    #33 30th April 2006, 06:26

    does decat affect it badly
34. boz Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Jan 2005 somewhere on this planet, doing something..... around northumberland or in the middle of the sea Posts: 8774 Mk2 VTS track mk1 turbo vts scooby engined 2CV

    #34 30th April 2006, 18:13

    im not sure as most of my mods went on in one go. but i defo noticed the difference in mpg after they were fitted. But i drive like a loon, if the road ahead is empty, im away LOL
    
    but i can still get a decent mpg if i take my time, but thats few and far between
35. SteVTR Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Jun 2005 carlisle United Kingdom (England) Posts: 2934 106 GTi

    #35 30th April 2006, 21:25

    god my vts uses less petrol than most of you guys vtrs
    
    you've also got to remember that petrol is going up all the time at the moment so you arent getting as much for a tenner so that will affect it aswell
    
    as for as this get the most mpg crack i dont really bother in the vts and i've got a 1.4 derv 106 for work and that does 66 mpg
36. ne_jam Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Dec 2005 stockton-on-tees United Kingdom (England) Posts: 3018 Astra Mk4

    #36 2nd May 2006, 03:32

    ive toook my induction kit off and seems to be using a lil less, also can hear my self think in car now