Vauxhall Zafira B (2005 - ) - Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers?

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Sun 12 Oct 2008 18:50
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
Are all Vauxhall Zafira?s 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers?

A week ago I purchased a one year old Vauxhall Zafira 1.8 VVT petrol, Sri. According to Vauxhall the extra urban mpg is 47.1mpg, town 28.5mpg, combined 38.2mpg.

On my 32 mile commute, driving an gently as I can, I get 33mpg maximum, this is 1 mile urban, 24 miles dual carriageway at a speed of 60 ? 70mph, 1 mile urban. Air conditioning off, sports mode off, no luggage.

In 10 years, about 200 000 miles, and three different cars I have never got less than the combined mpg on this route, and usually got an mpg figure value well above the combined mpg.

The dealer says there is nothing wrong with the car and has refused a Network Q swap. Vauxhall customer service says it is ?within normal parameters? but are unable or unwilling to say what the normal parameters are. The Vauxhall web site says that the test values are representative of real driving conditions but are not guaranteed.

Am I expecting too much? Do they all do this? On this type of commute I would have been quite happy with 38 ? 42mpg, a little more than the combined cycle.

Should I take it for further investigation to try and get a better mpg value? Or is this as good as it going to get for a 1.8 petrol Zafira?

I have to say that I am very disappointed with the whole Vauxhall main dealer Network Q experience. This will be my first and last Vauxhall.

Thanks for any advice.


Mark

Edited by Pugugly on 12/10/2008 at 19:14

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Sun 12 Oct 2008 19:26
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Victorbox
It is possible that the SRi gearing will be lower than the less "sporty" trim levels so you may not get as good mpg with this spec or it could be tuned for umph rather than fuel consumption.
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 20:54
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
It is possible that the SRi gearing will be lower than the less "sporty" trim
levels so you may not get as good mpg with this spec or it could
be tuned for umph rather than fuel consumption.


I?m going by the Vauxhall web site mpg values for the SRI model, which should allow for any difference in gearing. There is a ?go faster? sports button which does increase fuel consumption (and umph), but it is definitively off. There is always the possibility that there is something weird, like the factory engine map was set to sports as the default, or they failed to load the normal fuel map.

Mark
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 21:00
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Pugugly
You should be able to get it re-mapped either at the dealer or an Indy quite easily.
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 20:46
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Dynamic Dave
How are you calculating the mpg? Relying on the fuel computer, or by brim to brim method and a calculator?
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 21:07
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
How are you calculating the mpg? Relying on the fuel computer or by brim to
brim method and a calculator?>>


At the moment the computer, next stage is to do the brim to brim test. There is always the possibility that the computer is not measuring things accurately.

I have used a GPS unit to check the speedo, reading about 3 - 4% fast (which would give a better fuel MPG by about 1mpg, so not significant).

The car is currently back at the main dealer at they were unable to successfully fit reversing sensors (despite three attempts). They have promised to fit a new bumper and interior boot trim, both of which were drilled to fit the sensors. Then I need to get a partial refund, as the deal was that the car would be supplied with reversing sensors. Instead of fitting GM sensors they fitted aftermarket items, which don?t work and continually bleep. If they refuse to make any refund I think I can go to the small claims court, should be a simple claim. I have wasted loads of time and petrol in the last week with trips to the dealer just to get the reversing sensors working.

After that I hope never to have to go near that dealer ever again.

Once I get the car back I?ll do a brim to brim test.

Mark
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 22:19
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Dynamic Dave
At the moment the computer


From my experience of Vauxhall fuel computers they'll be close or miles off being accurate. You won't know for sure until you do a few brim tests.

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Sun 12 Oct 2008 21:15
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - bazza
I think you might be asking a bit much. It's a heavy vehicle don't forget. I had a 1.6 Astra Ecotec estate, and averaged about 38 mpg under similar circumstances. A neighbour has the 1.9 diesel version of your car and struggles to beat 40 mpg, more like 36 mpg running around. The weight gain of recent models is the major culprit in my opinion. Your car weighs nearly 1500kg!! Only a very few years ago, a typical estate car would have weighed maybe 1100 or 1200 kg.
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 22:11
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
sq
You might well be right, I'm just amazed that Vauxhall can get test results that are just so much higher. As you say it is a big heavy car, with wide profile tyres.

I'd just like to find out what other 1.8 Zafira owners are getting.

Cheers

Mark

Edited by Pugugly on 12/10/2008 at 22:13

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Sat 9 Oct 2010 10:47
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Johnny Angel

My Zafira 1.8i 16v Ecotech Comfort does less than 30 mpg at a guess I'd say about 28.5 having only losely monitored the mpg. I have always wondered all the same things you guys are wondering.

Urban, combined and long distance mpg's vary very little.

My experience of Zafiras is that they are too low geared. I have had astras, astra estates, astravans and combo's. Having had ones with broken speedo cables, I learned to drive on the rev counter to avoid speeding tickets. All of them whether diesel or petrol have had gearbox speed to rev ratios at 2000 rpm as follows:

1st gear - doesn't matter

2nd gear - 20 mph

3rd gear - 30 mph

4th gear - 40 mph

5th gear - 50 mph

The Zafira at 2000 rpm only does 40 mph in 5th gear which means it's like having a 4 speed box ie no economy gear. This is going to result in a 20% loss in economy - I would expect about 33-36 mpg urban as that's what MPV's should be designed for.

Presumably this is due to the expected extra load. Maybe the '05 onward have 6 speed gearboxes - if not they should!!!

ANOTHER THING is; it's cheaper to tax a 2.5l normally aspirated diesel Transit than it is my Zafira - why is that?!!!

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Sat 9 Oct 2010 11:11
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Johnny Angel

One thing I forgot to mention about the gearing was: I can drive 12 miles with 11 roundabouts along the way (between 0.85 and and 1.1 miles between them. at between 50 and 60 mph I can drive the entire length in 5th gear kids or no kids. Presumably this is why the urban combined and long distance are about the same

Johnny

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Sun 12 Oct 2008 22:21
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Hector Brocklebank
In all fairness, 33mpg is pretty good for a large family car with 140bhp. It's really only 5mpg off the official combined figure which is about as good as it gets for ANY car.

The official figures are calculated by a standardised procedure on a rolling road and so do not represent real-world conditions. However, this is true for all manufacturers.

As a better guide to fuel consumption, you should look at the urban figure when choosing a car. In this case you are getting 5mpg better than should be reasonably expected!!
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Sun 12 Oct 2008 22:54
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - SpamCan61 {P}
Those official Vauxhall figures do seem very optimistic; SWMBO's Zafira A 1.8 125bhp ( pretty low geared) does just over 30 mpg on short runs; just about does 40 on a good run. Seemms reasonabe for a pretty heavy car which isn't geared for motorway work.
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Mon 13 Oct 2008 11:18
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - TheOilBurner
Mark,

That doesn't sound that good to me for a 1.8 Zafira. Our 2006 Zafira 2.2 with 4 speed Auto averages a very consistent 29mpg over the last 27k miles with a mix of 60 mile commutes on country lanes (up and down between 30 and 60mph) and family use.

On a long motorway run I can get around 35-38mpg out of it, even at 80mph on French autoroutes or fully loaded to go on holiday.

BTW, we have climate control in our Zafira and so we always like to leave the air-con on, given that and the bigger engine and auto box, I'd guess yours should be able to do about 38mpg+, depending on how you drive it.

OTOH, maybe you've just been unlucky enough to get one that is 10-15% off what most of them will do, which to be fair to Vauxhall and Network Q, doesn't sound that far off the norm to be unacceptable.

The one thing I would say is have you checked the tyre pressures? We run our Zafira about 5psi higher the norm (but lower than the "Eco" settings that Vauxhall advise) but every time we take it into a dealer they reset the pressures to _less_ than the normal advised pressure. It seems to make a noticable difference to the steering so might affect fuel economy quite a bit too.
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Tue 14 Oct 2008 21:30
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
>>On a long motorway run I can get around 35-38mpg out of it, even at 80mph on French autoroutes or fully loaded to go on holiday.

BTW, we have climate control in our Zafira and so we always like to leave the air-con on, given that and the bigger engine and auto box, I'd guess yours should be able to do about 38mpg+, depending on how you drive it.<<

I would be happy with 38mpg on long motorway runs, around town it seems to be giving 20mpg! Consistently about one third less than the offical test MPG. Your car mpg is exactly in line with my expectations.

I'm going to measure the mpg the old fashioned way in case the computer is not accurate. If that confirms the low mpg I'll have the ECU checked and possibly get it tested on a rolling road. After that I give up, if there is still a fault it is buried so deep I'll never find it.

And possibly buy shares in an oil company!

Mark
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Tue 14 Oct 2008 23:41
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Avant
This sounds like the classic big car, smallish engine syndrome - to make reasonable progress with the 1.8 you have to use lots of acceleration. The much better consumption for the 2.2 version quotes above doesn't surprise me.
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Wed 15 Oct 2008 00:33
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
>>This sounds like the classic big car, smallish engine syndrome - to make reasonable progress with the 1.8 you have to use lots of acceleration. The much better consumption for the 2.2 version quotes above doesn't surprise me<<

The thing is I'm driving it really gently, not so much accelerating as gathering momentum, keeping the speed down to 60 -70mpg and I still can't even get 33mpg, even on a long 25 mile dual carriageway run. Definitively not accelerating hard.

Driving it "normally" (motorway 75mph, reasonable acceleration) seems to give less than 30mpg. Around town on a short journey I?ve seen 20mpg. About a consistent 30% or so less than Vauxxhall claim.

Perhaps I am expecting too much. But I can't keep it long term at that level of economy. It also makes the published Vauxhall mpg values to be a complete joke.

Mark


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Wed 15 Oct 2008 00:54
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Rick Swipe
The much better consumption for the 2.2 version quotes above doesn't surprise me

The 2.2 consumption is worse.
Perhaps I am expecting too much. But I can't keep it long term at that
level of economy. It also makes the published Vauxhall mpg values to be a complete
joke.


All manufacturers use the same methods.

The Zafira is an MPV so the offset to the interior space is a high vehicle which has to move more air than a normal car. In my experience this makes a lot less difference at 50 - 60 than at 70-80.

The new engines are also VVTi's which kick in around 3,000 rpm. Try shifting before this if fuel economy is so important.
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Wed 15 Oct 2008 09:14
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - b308
I'd agree with the earlier comment - large brick-like car and relatively small petrol engine does not equal economy!

Worth looking at an LPG conversion, perhaps?
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Wed 15 Oct 2008 09:50
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Paul G1pdc
www.parkers.co.uk/cars/equipment/Detail.aspx?deriv...3 {link made non clickable}
PARKERS WEB SITE for the 1.8 sri says 34mpg.
so don't think your doing that bad for your van!
paul
.
used to have a 1.8 S40 and the parkers site was about right for that car...

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 15/10/2008 at 11:24

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Fri 17 Oct 2008 12:57
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - SpamCan61 {P}
Well SWMBO's aforementioned 1.8 Zafira gives pretty much identical economy to my 2 litre Vectra B saloon ( virtually the same bhp), apart from motorway cruising where the Vectra is better due to its much higher gearing. If the gearing on the 1.8 VVt Zafira B is similar to my equivalent Zafira A then I'm not surprised it's not thats tunning on a run.

I still reckon close to 40 mpg ( i.e. SWMBO's Zafira A) from a >1500Kg petrol vehicle is pretty good going anyway, irrespective of Vauxhall's figures.
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Wed 15 Oct 2008 12:03
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - John S
To me that sounds about what you can expect. I run a 1.8vvt Astra, and over the 13k miles from new it's averaged 34.7, which is 3 down on the official combined figure. On my normal commute (12 miles) I can achieve that with careful driving, albeit aircon on. It only gets to 38/39 on a really long run. So, your experience with the heavier, larger, Zafira seems broadly comparable.

In some ways I'm a little disappointed as it's marginally worse than the Astra G with the non-vvt 1.8 it replaced. The thing I find most odd is that whilst I've owned the Astra I've had many 1.8vvt Vectras on rent and without fail they've achieved 41 - 43 on long runs, despite being a heavier car than the Astra.

A key difference seems to be the gearing - 1.8 vvt Astras and Zafiras are significantly shorter geared than the Vectra with the same engine - and that's all of them; SRi's no longer have the shorter gearing than other models. I suspect the aerodynamics of the Vectra are better too.

JS
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Wed 15 Oct 2008 13:04
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - TheOilBurner
A key difference seems to be the gearing - 1.8 vvt Astras and Zafiras are
significantly shorter geared than the Vectra with the same engine - and that's all of
them; SRi's no longer have the shorter gearing than other models. I suspect the aerodynamics
of the Vectra are better too.


Spot on. Vectra aerodynamics are better than the Astra and significantly better than the Zafira. Not sure about the gearing, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the motorway hogging Vectra would be equipped with very long gears, especially in 5th.
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Sat 9 Oct 2010 11:34
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Johnny Angel

Gearing IS the issue. Personally I believe it's in the differential (why produce another ratio'd gearbox) and that GM dropped a proverbial in the design - expecting it only to be used for urban use, kids or as a load-lugger.

My experience of Zafiras is that they are too low geared. I have had astras, astra estates, astravans and combo's. Having had ones with broken speedo cables, I learned to drive on the rev counter to avoid speeding tickets. All of them whether diesel or petrol have had gearbox speed to rev ratios at 2000 rpm as follows:

1st gear - doesn't matter

2nd gear - 20 mph

3rd ggnear - 30 mph

4th gear - 40 mph

5th gear - 50 mph

The Zafira at 2000 rpm only does 40 mph in 5th gear which means it's like having a 4 speed box ie no economy gear. This is going to result in a 20% loss in economy - I would expect about 33-36 mpg urban as that's what MPV's should be designed for.

Presumably this is due to the expected extra load. Maybe the '05 onward have 6 speed gearboxes - if not they should!!!

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Thu 16 Oct 2008 14:51
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Neilyboy
Mark - You should have got a diesel Zafira, my old Honda Accord 1.8 manual hatch did 25 and not more than 28 MPG even on steady runs. My Vaux Astra estate 1.7DTI does 50-60 MPG. It makes hell of a difference. Get a diesel mate, I will never have another petrol again!!.
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Sat 18 Oct 2008 17:23
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Dynamic Dave
According to Vauxhall the extra urban mpg is 47.1mpg, town 28.5mpg, combined 38.2mpg.


Hmmm! According to a 2006 Zafira Brochure on www.who-sells-it.com

www.who-sells-it.com/images/catalogs/1375/pdf_5196...f

The official fuel figures for the 1.8i 16v VVT are:-

Urban = 27.4, Extra-urban = 44.1, Combined = 36.2

According to www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/faq/ your journey would be classed as being "combined" so for your Zafira to only achieve 33 mpg isn't actually that far off the official fuel figure.

There is also a disclaimer in the brochure that says:

"Variations in trim level and equipment may result in slightly higher fuel consumption and CO2 emission levels than those quoted. Driving style, road and traffic conditions, vehicle mileage and standard of maintenance may also affect fuel consumption; therefore the results do not express or imply any guarantee of fuel consumption attainable."

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 18/10/2008 at 17:24

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Sat 18 Oct 2008 21:56
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
www.who-sells-it.com/images/catalogs/1375/pdf_5196...f The official fuel figures for the 1.8i 16v VVT are:-

Urban = 27.4 Extra-urban = 44.1 Combined = 36.2 <<


I have the 2008 brochure in front of me and it says 28.4 (urban), extra-urban, 47.1, combined 38.2 mpg. They may have tweaked the engine in the last 12 or 18 months to improve the test values and keep the road tax down.

On a run on a flat road at 60 miles per hour tonight, over 20 miles, no significant breaking or accelerating, fully warmed up engine, I got 34mpg. Which is miles from the extra urban and not even equal to the combined.

Vauxhall also say that the values provided in the manual are "a realistic indication of fuel consumption". I'm not surprised they don?t guarantee them as the car doesn't come anywhere near the quoted values.

I would expect with steady, easy, economical, 60mph flat extra urban driving to be getting around 40mpg.

It may be the computer; I'm doing a brim to brim test this week and will manually work out the mpg.

In the end run it will cost me £200 - £400 extra in fuel per year compared to the 40mpg I expected, not the end of the world. Disappointing though, nice car otherwise.

Mark

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Sun 19 Oct 2008 15:38
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - John S
Yes Vx, like most manufacturers, have 'tweaked' the engines in the last few months to reduce the CO2 levels slightly. The current figures for both our cars are now lower than they were, and one's only 9months old.

JS

Edited by John S on 19/10/2008 at 15:39

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Mon 27 Oct 2008 19:30
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
The saga continues...

A manual fuel consumption check confirmed the computer value, about 31-32mpg, ex urban driving was correct.

I thought the front brakes might be binding so I took it to another Vauxhall dealer for a check. They confirmed that the brakes weren't binding, no engine management fault codes, and they couldn't get more than about 32mpg.

More importantly they told me that the tracking rod on the kerb side was severely bent (very obvious when I looked at it on the ramp, noticeable banana shape). So I will have to take it back to the original garage (another 40 mile trip) to see if they will repair it. They may claim that I caused the damage after the car was sold (I didn't). Yet again it is not a Network Q fault (which they guarantee to fix) as it is accident damage. The garage I took it to estimate that repairs would cost about £350.

Anybody know what my rights are with regard to getting a repair if the garage proves to be difficult? My main worry is that they could stonewall and say that the damage must have occurred in the three weeks that I have owned the car. The car is still in warranty, about 15 months old.

Whether the tracking damage is related to the mpg issue is anybody's guess. We shall see.

Mark
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Wed 29 Oct 2008 20:36
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mark2008
Update

Dealer was excellent and repaired the damage. Last time I did the 20 mile trip back from the dealer I got about 32mpg, this time fuel consumption decreased to 38.2mpg, just about the combined mpg and a 20% improvement in fuel consumption. So it looks like the steering damage was causing extra drag. I've never managed to exceed 34mpg under any circumstances before.

So it looks like we have moved from 32-34mpg to about 35 - 38mpg, lower than Vauxhall claim but in the acceptable range for me.

Problem solved?

Mark
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Wed 29 Oct 2008 20:45
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - TheOilBurner
Excellent news, pleased to hear you've got to the bottom of the problem.
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Mon 29 Dec 2008 19:33
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - joe9109
My wifes zafira on a short school run and shopping gets late twenties 35 to 38 on long runs and thats with the tyres set to the eco press as per the manual its a big heavy busthat handles quite well so Iguess there is a price to pay for the 140 bhp. I am going to run it for a couple of months so I expect up to 40 as she gets my panda down from 60 to 50mpg or less. I can confer that I havent found a decent vauxhall main dealer yet once out of warranty it will be off to national much better & cheaper.
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Fri 17 Jul 2009 10:49
Are all Zafiras 1.8 petrol gas guzzlers? - Mappy
Mark,

I bought a Zafira 1.8vvt manual in December.Are you or anyone else having a hesitation problem at low speeds.i.e. slow to pick up and throttle pedal feels like a sponge?
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