MPG Comparison/Observations

Hmm. I could get GoodYear efficient grip in 215/40/17, or 205/45/17 and keep my existing wheels, wonder if that would give me much of an economy gain vs the Nangkang rubber? Anybody have any thoughts on that?
 
Dan, TBH, if you were to get the EfficientGrip, you should look for the skinniest width to maximise the effect. I wanted the 16 Ultraleggeras too, but two things holding me back, price and exposing the rear drums (looks silly with drums inside expensive OZs). I suggest you get the SE 16" which are quite light, with 185 or 195 EfficientGrip.
 
Ha, of course the car was originally on 16s but I got rid of those as I wanted 17s when I had the pothole issue last year! Oh dear!

That's why I thought perhaps I could at least drop from 215 to 205 section and stay on 17s as I don't think I can afford to get another new set of alloys, so I'd be reducing the (probably wider than necessary) contact patch a bit?

I've been reading up about low rolling resistance tyres; this test saw at best at 4% improvement in economy so I do take the point that reducing tyre width (and wheel weight) is also going to play a big factor

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2009-Tirerack-Ultra-low-rolling-resistance.htm
 
Posted my best economy yet on the Warwick Social weekend - averaged 62.8mpg over the course of the entire weekend, which ain't bad!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Yes, the 16" tyres are only 10mm narrower than the 17" that I used to use, but the Hankook tyres are very good it seems.

This, the aero mods and probably most importantly the new 5th gear have helped massively - my economy has probably increased by around 20%, which isn't to be sniffed at.

Cheers

Mike
 
20% is really rather good indeed!
Did you ever get round to investigating custom panels for under the rear bumper?
 
Ha ha, I think that's also on my to do list, along with the rear arch winglets I was thinking about and fitting some more sound proofing!
 
Wheey, got 59mpg out of my last tank of diesel. Filled up with Sainsbury's best, got 503 miles before I decided to bottle it on the warning light roulette! That's my best economy so far, seems like the aero mods and the longer 5th have played their part.
 
Yes, the longer 5th really does help if you learn to drive sympathetically with it and you do mid-to-long journeys where it really comes into its own.

60+mpg has become the norm now and I'm disappointed when I fall into the high 50's.

Cheers,

Mike
 
I'm now consistently getting between 66-68 mpg out of the whole tank brim to brim. I just can't seem to hit the 70mpg figure :p

Are there any other mods we/I can do (already have the 5th gear and aero)? Is anyone going to fabricate the rear spoiler under the boot floor? Is there an option to blank any front grills? reduce weight? What else can be done?
 
Take the rear seats out and leave them out - that'll save around 50kg.

In the current weather, I'd not recommend blanking any of the grilles off though. I do want to get round to completing the underbody floor at some point and this will probably help too.

It looks like your skinny tyres are helping a lot too.

Cheers,

Mike
 
definately a good call on those hankooks , squall type weather down here tonight, very warm and muggy with slippery damp roads - and again no issues doing rapid speeds though winding roads and no traction lights coming on either, i just hope they grip as well once they wear down ... thats probably when i'll truely know if they are good!
 
i still cannnot crack the 60mpg target.:( However my driving/commmuting is much different at the moment so comparisons are difficult. Hoping to fit the front winglets and perhaps underbody spoiler today, weather permitting. Also wheel spacers (not that they will help economy) and find somehere to fit exhaust (doubt will make any difference). The Hankook Ventus Prime and G/Y Efficient grip both come out very well in tyre tests. The only reason I fitted G/Y is becuase at teh time couldn't find any hankook and the G/Y were on offer at Kwik Fit. However i can say the difference between best and worst tyres for economy is more than 4% Myself and other a2 owners have had significant drops in economy when cahnging tyres. I previuosly went from Pirelli to falken and lost @ 8% in economy. However you cannot beat the 5th gear upgrade and everytime I drive on the m/way it is so much more relaxing and with the added benefit of less fuel, less wear and tear etc:D
 
58mpg on my latest tank. Looking forward to putting my 195/16s on next week, hopefully that'll tip me over the 60mpg line.
Adrian, incidentally, when I tried to buy the 195/50/16 size I couldn't find a single supplier for the GoodYear Efficient Grip in that size, that's what you've got isn't it? Where did you get them from? I got the Hankook Ventus Prime K105s in the end as the AutoExpress review ranked them very good for rolling resistance and noise (and not too shabby for wet grip either).
 
Mine are 15" wheels.... The Hankook's were my other choice....

I too simply cannot get over the 60 mark with the type of use i now have with the car. The local commute is simply not an economy freindly journey with hardly any 5th gear use and whilst not a big mileage is pulling the average down. Drove over Home Moss to Manchester and down to wolverhampton and back to today with stationary traffic on M6 at times and torrential rain alternating with bright sunshine. Thought i had cracked the 60 barrier but a crawl over Home moss on return through low cloud scuppered it. Not sure what the 'aero' upgrades have acheived however the car does seem quieter, or is that just me?! When the oil is changed will look carefully at the options and see if that helps. Last change I used Millers XFE Diesl full synthetic.
 
I have just returned home from a trip from Essex to Castle Bromwich where I averaged 69.2mpg on the way up (and at one point had the dis showing an average of 70.4 for a while), and then after the weekend moved to Coventry where I spent 3 days driving a short distance from training venue to hotel and then returned home (all on the same tank of diesel) where even with sitting in a considerable amount of stop start and slow traffic on the M25 I still managed to maintain 62.8mpg. I was very pleased with both of these figures. My normal 150 mile daily round trip from Maldon to Chiswick usually returns around 57 mpg (on the dis) with a great deal of slow moving on the north circular, confirmed by checking using two different iphone apps as being accurate to around -1.5mpg
 
Had my A2 75 tdi for 8 months now and just topped 10k miles.
Have kept a record of every fill-up and am averaging 57.64 mpg.
Best has been 63.17 mpg and the worst 45.98 mpg (but that included a seven hour journey covering 10 miles! don't ask!!!).

Must say I am very pleased overall with a saving of over £700 on what I would have spent on my pervious car.
 
Adrian888 said:
However i can say the difference between best and worst tyres for economy is more than 4% Myself and other a2 owners have had significant drops in economy when cahnging tyres. I previuosly went from Pirelli to falken and lost @ 8% in economy. However you cannot beat the 5th gear upgrade
Click to expand...

That must be me (and others) you are talking about ;)

I too lost mpg when changing tyres but whilst it was irritating to not hit the 60 mpg any more, I consoled myself with the fact that the new tyres were _much_quieter. I think the old ones must have had a harder compound (=less rolling resistance but harder ride). Though I think some (Skipton?) didn't agree with my analysis.

In the end I went for the 5th gear and got back to over 60mpg. Adrian, I hope you can get back over 60 mpg as well.

See sig. for link to google s/s. Tyre change was Nov 2007
 
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