I did a sum the other day (cant remember what it was) and calculated that my car did 26mpg.

But i did the same today and got the answer my car did 18mpg on the fuel i put in. :S

Basically ,the fuel light always comes on on the Friday night just as i get back from work (bout a mile away), last saturday, i put £35 of fuel in in the morning @ £1.28 a litre (normal unleaded) and got 170 miles out of it.

But this saturday i put in £20, also @ £1.28 a litre, and got 76 miles out of it?

Both weekends consisted of 60 - 70mph on dual carriageway A road driving, sat at around 2500 - 3000 rpm for around 40 miles, about 25 -30 miles of town driving, the weekend before when i did more miles was just more A road at similar speeds.

Car is 2000 reg, Mondeo 2.0 16v Zetec blacktop, standard other than drilled airbox.

Just seems this morning, (the light had come on on the way home from work last night as usual) i put in £20 @ like i said £1.28 a litre. got to my mums (20 mile on A roads) drove around town visited a couple of friend, then drove the 20 miles back tonight on A roads, 76 miles later, i got back home,and light came on halfway home from my mums aswell.

Does this sound right?seems to be costin me a feckin fortune in fuel, putting a fiver in it seems pointless aswell, the light can come on, be on for literally a couple of miles, ill stick a fiver in, drive the 3 mile home, drive 4 mile to work, 4 mile back, and the lights on again :S

 

mate im lucky if i can do 110 miles to a tank of v power in my cossie! be gratefull damn you lol!!

 

Ive just re read what i posted, 76x2= 152 which would be £40 seeing as £20 got me 76 miles, but then last week £35 got me 180 miles, so for a fiver less, i got 28 extra miles.. dont make feckin sense, doesnt matter how much fuel i put in or how i drive it, it doesnt seem to go far, wouldnt moan if it was a ST/RS/Cossie but its just an old runabout for me !

 

Remember are you constantly using heaters, heated screens leaving it tickover for a bit ?? etc etc those make a big difference week in week out on consumption

 

dont really have the blowers or anything on. one thing i have noticed with my car is when its cold, sometimes, it will do it probably one in four times of using the car, ill start it, and itl conk out, ill start it again, and itl conk out, start it again and redline the bastard, and then it wont cut out ? it doesnt do it when its warm only when its cold, didnt do it all week but did it earlier when i left my mums after it had been sat for about 4 hours. also when the music is up a bit the headlights dim/brighten with the beat of the music, and its only a 500watt amplfier and small sub, im sure it shouldnt do that either? :S

 

if your getting 76 miles to £20, thats about the same as my V6 got the other week, but 50 of those miles were on a duel carrageway. if i just do short journeys around the town, i get 50-60 miles, and thats driving very steady, without opening the secondaries

 

Dunno whats up with the fecking thing.once the fuel light comes on sometimes i just rag the bollocks out of it, minds aswell get some fun for my money.. but when i do drive it sensibly it drinks it anyway.going to put standard airbox on see if its any better.

 

I dont think waiting until the light comes on is a very accurate way of measuring it. A few couriers I know fill the car or van to the top of the filler neck then do 150,fill up again with the same price fuel and work out mpg.

 

Its only usually 2 or 3 mile i drive it for with the light on before re-fuelling. I used to be able to get to my mums and home (around 40 mile total) on a tenner and get home and the light still hadnt come on , on my old 1800 zetec mk2 mondeo..

 

Sell it and get a diesel.

 

Sounds thirsty for the type of car, the gf's astra 1.4 auto does around 110 miles on £20, driving steady but short trips.
tabetha