Deisel tow car/ everyday mpg
Turbo Mini Forums

Without boaring you all with whats spinning around in my head im just wandering what people are getting out of there everyday cars.

I dont no weather to get a cheap van to get to work etc and tow the mini or buy somthing like bmw 330d /a4 tdi /mondeo st tdci etc to use as everything.

Im just thinking do you only get decent mpg in the deisels if you drive sensible,ive been told the 330d is just as thirsty going quick as the petrol is, but steady and motorrway crusing is were its good.???

Thanks Rick

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I guess it depends on how you drive above all.

My 2004 A4 1.9 TDI did 32mpg towing my 205 to the Nurbirgring on a big Brian James, this was not fecking about on the way either so no doubt more would be possible.
Driving normally 40mpg is quite easy, on a run going gently 50 mpg.

HOWEVER I know a couple of people with 330d and although they do go well, you will struggle to get much above 35mpg.

Edited by Tom Fenton on 30th Dec, 2010.

Is that towing or genaral driving tom.?

I just liked the look of the 330 to have the extra poke aswell so it wasnt completely boaring.
Am not sure if im ready for a normal car lol, i just carnt afford filling the evo up every week just to do 200mile.

I have a 2009 Skoda octavia 2.0tdi 140bhp (mapped to 200bhp) that I use all day every day, I average 45mpg overall (about 50/50 city/motorway) and a lowly 26mpg towing with cruise on at a steady 60 mph. I tow approx 1300kg.

Previously i had a 2005 T5 transporter with tiptronic, it was the 2.5tdi 130 bhp mapped to 170bhp. That averaged 35mpg overall but when I towed with the cruise on I averaged 38mpg! Only thing I can put it down to is better towing aerodynamics. Or better weight to weight ratio.

my older a4 90bhp a4 is very very good on fuel, i do a bit of town and dual carrigeway driving every day and am getting around 45-50mpg combined

My Vauxhall Insignia gets up to 52mpg on long motorway journeys at (cough) >70mph without even trying. I average 45mph without trying. Not yet towed with the car, and not yet tried to see what MPH I could get if I drove it sensibly.

That is with a full boot of toolsand gear.

One thing I will say is that the tyres do infact play a huge part. The Insignia uses Michelin energy saver tyres. The tyre pressure is normally quite high, but when we went on holiday glamping I adjusted the tyre pressures lower for a full load. I never set the pressures back and I was struggling to get the average MPG above 40. That is how much the tyre pressures have an effect.

when i towed my car with my passat 130 tdi it got about 35 -40 mpg.

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I had a mondeo ztec s 130bhp tdci can't remember the exact mpg but remember it was quite good with the 6speed box but after haveing my impreza type ra I found cars very boring lol I had a bmw 530 not diesel but very very thirsty & from what I've heard there's not much diff between the diesel & petrol versions of them not sure how true that is as I've never had the diesel but bmw seem a thirsty car in general

got an mgzt great comfit car approx 40/45 but does dip when towing around 30's
however sometimes uphill at roundabouts ect i often wish it was a rwd

I tun a 330D touring, Manual 5 speed, superchipped (Not my choice) and get about 41-42 MPG. I do mostly motorway miles and live in a village so its 60 MPH all the way to the motorway.

I would guess a 6 speed is slightly better. I went from a 3.0 Jag I dont see any loss in perforance however I couldn't get the jag past 31mpg.

I used to own a Skoda Fabia VRS chipped and could give it a good hiding and still return 51mpg. I would say it was just as quick as the 330D but it handled like a pig in a passage, the turn in was not so good and the brakes were shite. Non of which is true on the BM.

I went for the BM as it was Cheap, I knew the previous onwer and he was anal about looking after the car (Non of which has stopped me having to spend £££ on maintenance) and it was quick. I didnt want to get out of the jag and drive a car that felt I had left my man hood at home.

The 330Dis a good car to drive but....

The suspension is a pain. There is so many rubber bushes that either go soft, or break up and as soon as the do the car is shite to drive.
They are over sensative to tyres and pressures.
The 18" wheels or above are a waste of time, the ride can be harsh, and the low profile stiff tyre side walls can casue the car to tramline.
The Suspension Geo has to be bang on and the car will drive great a small devation and the car feels off. I have found Wheels in Motion have a good name for sorting handling issues on the 3 series. If you cant get to them its best to run slighlty less front (-.35) and rear (-1.45) camber which helps tyre wear abut also the tramlining with the bigger wheels esp if the car has been lowered.

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
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My A4 tdi 130 mirrors what Tom sees in his. Although it did do a little better before it had it's belts swapped, but with nearly 140k on the clock it's still bullet proof. I find low tyre pressures knock a couple of MPG of the average.

I run up and down to north Leeds every day and generally get about 50mpg on the way there and 52 on the way back (more down hill).

The 130 is quite surprising to drive compared to other diesels I've driven. It makes boat loads of boost low down so has bags of torque where you can use it. Quite easily to drive it quickly, good at traffic light grand prixs. I much prefer it to the 2.0 that replaced it

Edited by apbellamy on 31st Dec, 2010.

mate of mine has a remapped 330d (fuel map rather than power) he gets well over 40 ave and on a run well over 50 being sensible.

So he detuned it, interesting, but why bother?

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Thanks gents, i gives me some thinking to do.

Graham thats nice to no about the bm's, if i go that route il do some more investigation.

Sprock, tyres are a thing i never scrimp on, i allways have matching good quality tyres and do keep an eye on the pressures.
When i had the porsche though i had to sacrifice mpg allthough i didnt do enough of the correct presure to see if it made a difference. Porsche recomended 32 in the front but as it had zero weight over them it was horrible to drive and i droped them to 24 to get a good feel for the front of the car.

Rick

I'm not getting into this again as it has been covered on another thread. You can't map more efficiency into a diesel engine. I'm leaving it there though.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

My dad has had an E60 530D and 535D which I have used quite regularly in the past when I didn't have a working car. The 530 is impressive, it has so much more torque than I was expecting, very little lag and just seems to pull forever. Although the ultimate acceleration isn't quite so fierce as the initial surge of torque leads you to expect. The 535 is just incredible, it has all of the above but the WOT acceleration is even more relentless. It really does give you a slightly false sense that almost nothing on the road could be quicker, and that's despite owning cars where the figures suggest they are significantly quicker.

The only criticism I would have of the E60 is how light the steering is, it has no feel. It is very quick to react to even a slight input but just manages to feel numb. I don't know if the 3 series would be the same though.

Both seemed to only manage around 34MPG and that is with a lot of motorway driving as well. I don't have any experience of towing so I really can't help you there.

Based on my experience I would strongly suggest the E90 335D as that engine in a lighter car must be staggering with plenty of low down torque to tow effortlessly, I would think the fuel economy would be slightly improved over the E60 as well.

I run an A4 2.5TDi quattro with a remap to circa 210-220bhp. this is up from the original 180bhp.

I do a fair mix of town and motorway miles and overal avarage 33mpg. single journeys can get up to 39mpg and towing i usually get about 27mpg.

I love the car even with its increasing age and mileage related issues. One issue i would raise is the quattro wears a full set of tyres every 20k or so. The 2wd models are aparently much better on fuel.

I used to drive my dads e90 330 272hp one and that averaged about 28mpg city driving and motorway 30-35 quite thursty, we had a 330d for two weeka and it was alot less thursty when driving aroumd town and on mway but drive it hard and bye bye fuel, the e90d engines are alot better than the older e46 much more fuel efficent, his current 335 is better on fuel than the older e90(foot flat down i had it at a meer 10mpg) pet new one is brilliant with direct injection.

Newer the engine the more economical, the pug 2.0 136d is good on fuel but quite sluggish at times

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Chears gents. I dont think my budjet will stretch to the 335d im only going to spent 8k ish.

Id like to combine obviously my tow car with everyday car.
I could get two cars or a car and van , insurance isnt a problem its through work anyway so would just have to tax both.

Keith Timpson may do you a good deal on a T5 130bhp transporter with all the sportline kit if your looking for a tow van.......