Some real world economy figures. Renault Clio 172.

Drove SH1 from Blenheim to Christchurch today. Filled up just before I left. Then topped up again when I got to Christchurch. I reset the trip meters before I left.

From my calculations I used 7.0litres/100km (40.35mpg). Averaged 80km/h according to the trip meter (bloody road works everywhere). Realised when I arrived in Christchurch that I had the aircon on the whole trip LOL

Dang thats nice, I did Chch Picton return on a tank in my 3 ton landcruiser once - fuel light on all the way from Amberley was a bit of a concern

My 205gti does about 10L per hundy - about 20L per hundy on fast fishing trips to Ashburton lakes at dawn mind you.

Sounds completely unremarkable to me.I'm not sure why you people put up with such poor economy out of these cramped puddlejumpers.Just last weekend my 4L Falcon wagon with two adults, three kids and about 60kg of luggage managed 8.3L/100km, with cruise on at 100kph driving admittedly on mostly flat and straight roads.Remember this is 1600kg car unladen with an engine three times the size.I would expect a smallish modern 4cyl car to be not using more than 4-5 under any conditions before I'd buy one.

Last time I came down from chch to invers I averaged 6.4L/100km cruising along at 110 on the speedo whenever I could, which was most of the time. Thats in the GA16DE, 5spd manual nissan sentra.

I put the good results I always get on the open road down to not using brakes, keeping following distances and passing when necessary to avoid unnecessary slowing when following others. The best result Ive had was 4.8L/100km on the same trip, chch to invers, and that was in a 1992 pug 405 turbo diesel. I always calculate using fill to fill method so my results are accurate.

Jeremy Clarkson said (after the m5 beat a prius in economy) that it's not what you drive, its how you drive and that couldnt be closer to the truth. In australia we had a rental 1.4L manual hyundai getz. We didn't drive fast but it wasn't in a manner that made good milage. The 'only allowed to use first and fifth' rule was probably what made us get a miserable 7.5L/100km. That car was meant to get 5.1L/100km or something like that on the open road!

My list of fuel saving techniques is:
~ Extend following distance if the car in front cannot keep a constant speed
~ Use a lower gear going up hills if necessary, do not accelerate up hills if you don't need to - maintain a constant speed.
~ Pump up tyres to 35-40psi on a normal size tyre, higher for low profiles.
~ Don't use your brakes (unless you have to of course) because every time you touch that pedal you are taking energy you have used lots of fuel to build up and turning it into heat. Coast to slow down before a corner if you aren't going to take it at your original speed.
~ If someone is holding you up, pass them! You will drive in an uneconomical fashion when you are agitated by a delay. It will use bugger all extra fuel to chop down and get past them. If you don't use your brakes once back in your lane then you probably haven't used any extra fuel!
~ Drive at a normal pace, dawdling around like a nana wont save you anything.

Shit, man. Driving a 172 is no fun if you have to nana it. Next time I suggest you forget about the economy figures and floor it.

Take corners at the highest speed (under 100km/h) that you can without squeeling the tyres.

i average about 5.5-6.2L/100km driving from wellington to foxton in a 2003 Peugeot 206 wagon

Holden Vectra 2.0 did Ashburton to Wanaka to Queenstown to Invercargill then thru to Dunedin 944km and used 58 litres.I thought it was quite good considering its done 210,000km and had 3 adults with a boot load of gear.Old school about 45 mpg. Maybe 6.1L/100km. No nanna driving.Usually average 800km a tank to and from work, Ashburton to Rolleston

You see I averaged 80km/h while the car was running. That average also includes sitting at three lots of traffic works stationary for reasonable periods of time.

However the simple calculator average tells me I was averaging 96km/h. 313km in 3 hrs 15mins. Not really mucking about.

Does tyre squeal hinder fuel economy!
I get 6L/100km from my CB400 on my commute.Not too brilliant for a bike I purchased to save gas with.

I dont think hes talking from an economy point of view (unless he is including tyre and fuel consumption figures!) but more from a safety point of view. You will know that by the time your tyres start squeaking there is bugger all margin of error for when things aren't what you expected them to be

My tyres squeal WAY before the car is starting to lose traction, just saying. Depends on the car, new tyres with tall blocky tread squeal easy.