We are looking to get small petrol driven car for my wife from new, thing is she is looking for
a low day today running cost and and as high MPG as she can get. She drives about 60 miles a day and stick to the speed limits like a vickar's aunt.
We dont want or need a diesel so what is the most efficient petrol out there?
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Probably a 1994 pre-cat 16-valve K-series Metro. Efficiency-wise, it was all downhill from there.
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Honda Jazz 1.2 - should do over 50 mpg.
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For low running costs you must include depreciation of course. So why not consider the new FIAT 500 1.2 Pop? 119 g/km CO2, predicted high-ish residuals - and a bit of style that even a vicar's wife would approve of!
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Honda Jazz? It's a horrble car. My wife has one, it's a 1.4 auto. It has a very choppy ride, I can never get a comfortable driving position, it has a few rattles that the dealership cannot get rid of, it has no go and looks dreaddfull and has a tiny boot. It is fairly economical though!!
It's due for replacement next year and she has already made up her mind to buy a Hyundai i30 instead. I had a go and it's a lovely car. Good ride nimble and very very quiet.
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We dont want or need a diesel so what is the most efficient petrol out there?
Aygo/107/C1? They get 60mpg on the combined cycle IIRC, and insurance is cheap too. There are many other cars with similar fuel consumption though.
You haven't mentioned whether you want a new one, or a budget etc. A Smart ForTwo also gets 60mpg, but you may want more than 2 seats.
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The official mpg figures are at www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/
AFAIK you can't get a listing of cars in mpg order directly; you have to choose a manufacturer and a range eg. Ford, 41-50mpg. But what you can do is go to the 'Downloads' page and download the latest data in spreadsheet form. Then assuming you have basic Excel (or I used OpenOffice calc) knowledge, you can sort by whatever criteria you like (the 3 types of mpg, CO2, noise...). If you are only interested in petrol engines, set fuel type as the first sort criteria.
Aygo/C1/!07 come top sorted by either combined (61.3/4) or urban (68.8/9) mpg.
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Aygo/C1/!07 come top sorted by either combined (61.3/4) or urban (68.8/9) mpg.
whoops- that's extra-urban; urban is 51.3/4
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The Zetec engined mkIV Fiestas are pretty good as well. We had a 1.4 which returned 40 mpg even when driven hard, and about 46 when treated more sympathetically. That was real world economy measured between refills rather than any manufacturers claims.
Lovely smooth, willing engine as well, even with nearly 100k on the clock. Not even a hint of top end noise or smoke.
Cheers
DP
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Our Aygo rarely gets less than 45 mpg and thats doing a 1.5 mile in a morning and about 15 miles in the evening, all in urban stop start motoring with aircon on most of the time.
The fuel gauge is a series of digital bars (IIRC 6). Last weekend we did over 70 miles of mixed driving including some steep 2nd gear high revs Pennine hills and no bars went out. Driven carefully over 60mpg is achievable.
We've had two smarts and never managed better than mid 40s.
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Daihatsu Charade 2003-2006. I get an easy 58-60 mpg in mixed driving and have had 68+ mpg on steady 60 mph runs. Never seen less than 54 mpg in 10,000 miles.
More spacious than the 107/C1/Aygo but handling not so sharp - if your misses drives as you say, she may like the Charade more. It rides quite well too and is dead simple to drive.
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60 miles a day is a fair mileage - 14k a year, so dependant on use I'd suggest something comfortable as well... from that point of view I'm not so sure about City Cars such as C1 or Smart and would lean towards a Supermini sized car...
I get the impression that you don't "want" a diesel rather than don't "need" one - with that sort of mileage and dependant on use it may just be the better choice...
How about a bit more detail on the proposed use of the car... sorts of roads used, whats the traffic like when used, how many days per week/year?
Friend of ours with similar sort of mileage got a new Kia Rio diesel and is very happy with it...
Edited by b308 on 19/11/2008 at 16:52
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Over 25 fillups, our petrol Aygo has at worst done 54 mpg and at best 65, with the average at present sitting at 58.
Mixed driving, but mostly commuting.
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the one in my Polo. Had a flat battery for five weeks so no fuel being used!
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According to the international engine of the year awards 2008, the best small petrol engine is the Toyota 1.0l
".....but the victor this year is Toyota?s Polish-made, 1-litre three-cylinder 67bhp gasoline unit as found in the Toyota Aygo, Yaris, Echo and Vitz, Citroën?s C1, Peugeot?s 107 and Subaru?s Justy. This victory marks a successful defence of the engine?s 2007 title."
Next size up is the 1.4 TSI from VW.
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Although personally i prefer the view from the drivers seat of the Aygo, i wonder if you could also consider the Yaris ?, (there aren't many cars that get 5 stars from Honest John, the Aygo gets 4)
My brother injured his knee some years ago (sufficiently to qualify him for a disabled badge) and finds his 40 mile commute and the fairly frequent 240 mile journey to Heathrow easily covered in his Smart Four-Two, though his latest one (his third) isn't as economical as the earlier two, and he also sticks rigidly to the speed limits.
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The car matters a lot too, what is the point on having some Kumsumwaksai from some far easter country that does 90mpg but drives like a 1971 Leyland Atlantian?
Oh and the biggest way to get good MPG drive carefully. I get 40mpg out of my 13 year old pushrod Fiesta, the engine is very eneficient but I drive it to save fuel. I currently have a little game trying to save as much fuel as possible as nothing else about the car is fun :D.
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new panda ECO
just over 5 K new, more space than a C1/Aygo
35 quid tax
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Mmmmm..... pushrods! :-)
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The little Toyota triple(Aygo/C1 etc) is a great little engine and has lots of character. Nearly 70 bhp in such a small car mkes it quite lively but you do have to rev it very hard. It rewards this with a lovely raspy engine note but can't do much for the economy. A friend has one he uses as an instructor car and drivensedately will do high 50s mpg. I'd have one but diappointed Peugeot have abandoned all attempts to make the car fun in the handling department, it is not a patch in terms of ride/handling on my old 106.
Previous Jazz engine easily returns 50 mpg but very disappointed with way it drives. Has none of the revviness and responsiveness that characterise Honda motors. Gets harsh when pushed and is not that lively. Yet to drive the new car but with iVETEC hopefully it will spin more sweetly and be a bit perkier. One guy I know who has a new 1,4 manual is a bit disappointed by the fact that the engine is very busy on motorway. nearly 4,000 revs at 70 accoding to him. Don't know how true that is.
Edited by Mattbod on 20/11/2008 at 02:04
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I have posted on here before that our 1.4 manual Jaz is an excellent all rounder and carries the 4 of us around (2 adults 2 teenagers) quite adequately.
But I don't think I'd want to do 60 miles a day every day in it. And yes its reving pretty highly on the motorway - but we only use it on the motorway once a month or so.
They say the new Fiesta is going for the downsizer market with a big car feel in a small car - would the 1.25 do the job.
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New 1.4 should do 3400 at 70. 5th is supposed to give 20.5 per 1000 rpm.
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I am looking forward to the Fiat two-cylinder turbo engine. That should be fairly efficient.
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