Fabia 1.6 CR TDI 90bhp appalling fuel consumption

[threadbear]

Driving home yesterday morning at 6am when the roads were really quiet with the temperature at 2c over a distance of 16 miles at an average of 32 mph, on A roads I achieved 67 mpg!!

Admittedly, I didnt use a great deal of revs and the road were really quiet, so there wasnt alot of stop/startimng involved but still I was pleased to get to that fuel comsumption after so much concern and critisicm over the 1.6 CR TDi engine.

The car has now done 3300 miles.

So Skodas fuel claims are achievable. Eventually.

Regards

Grahame

[FABTPM]

I did find this while browsing for DPF info : Rising oil level

Its going to kick off the supermarket fuel debate again

As previously mentioned, mine does a regen every 120 or so miles. This means it regens every other day on my work commute. Its possible that an engine not fully run in would leak some regen fuel past the rings, but what is described here seems a bit excessive even taking that in to account. After my cars next service (in about 2000 miles) I will more accurately establish the oil level for future reference. Right now its about 5mm off max after 7500 miles since first service.

If anyone checks out that link I posted, I use Esso exclusively Mostly because it happens to be on the way to work and the cheapest around.

raisbeck, good link and very interesting. I have usually used either Total or Esso fuel in my car with the odd fill up with supermarket fuel. The MPG I have been getting on full tank to full tank have been 59.9, 59.7, 55.9, 55.9, 59.0, 49.2, 58.7, 56.7, 53.9, 50.0, 46.9, and 54.6. The second to last figure being Total Excellium, thought I would give the car a treat but it obviously didn't like it, although this did coincide with heavy snow!

The higher figures have tended to be on easy A roads where I could maintain a steady speed. What really seems to harm the MPG are speeds over 60, day to day the car often seems to be more economical in an urban environment if you take notice of the MFD.

Not sure what Skoda customer service would think to regens every 120 miles, they told me 250 miles was far to often the first time I spoke to them!

[Guest]

Driving home yesterday morning at 6am when the roads were really quiet with the temperature at 2c over a distance of 16 miles at an average of 32 mph, on A roads I achieved 67 mpg!!

Admittedly, I didnt use a great deal of revs and the road were really quiet, so there wasnt alot of stop/startimng involved but still I was pleased to get to that fuel comsumption after so much concern and critisicm over the 1.6 CR TDi engine.

The car has now done 3300 miles.

So Skodas fuel claims are achievable. Eventually.

Regards

Grahame

Hello Threadbear...and don't forget you are running on winter diesel so you are losing around 5-7 mpg on the 1.6cr. So based upon your above post, in summer that figure would be in the region of 72-75 mpg. Pretty darn good. Well done.

[raisbeck]

Not sure what Skoda customer service would think to regens every 120 miles, they told me 250 miles was far to often the first time I spoke to them!

I have no idea what is considered the normal interval. I can say that since new my car has always done this regen every 120 or so miles. I expect if I were to note exact mileages it would be the same every time. You can pretty much set your watch by it. Driving style has no affect over the interval. The regen is very mild and doesnt really affect the handling at all. Many people wouldnt even realise it was doing it. Idle is not affected in any way and there is no vibration at all.

I do know of other makes, Jaguar being one of them that carries out a regen every 200 miles regardless of use just to ensure its kept clear. If it bungs up sooner through short journeys then it regens sooner. I do long runs every day so I expect mine is just regenerating on a mileage basis. Effectively I get 5 regens per tankful of fuel. It doesnt smell or get hot (that I notice) and runs sweet as a nut.

Maybe my DPF is smaller with less capacity. The whole maintenance and monitoring could be different to yours. I am not really concerned about my regens. it works, the economy is excellent, my oil level is stable and it pulls like a train. If my DPF ever spits out its dummy and has a tantrum I will be sure to post on here !!

Edited 4 January, 2011 by raisbeck

[delta925]

Hello Threadbear...and don't forget you are running on winter diesel so you are losing around 5-7 mpg on the 1.6cr. So based upon your above post, in summer that figure would be in the region of 72-75 mpg. Pretty darn good. Well done.

I have a 1.6TDI CR 105 on order.

Currently have Audi A4 with 1.9TDi 115PS.

My average 50mpg only drops slightly in winter, unless very cold like last month, and that mainly because journeys are just local 2-3 mile trips and my 11 mile each way commute with very few longer runs.

My mpg has certainly not dropped 5-7mpg since winter formulation came in.

I currently buy most of my fuel at Tesco, occasionally ASDA.

I am hoping once 5000miles on the clock with less weight and newer engine design the Fabia's average mpg will be at least high 50's.

I am thinking of using a forecourt brand in my new car at least for a while at least if only 1-2p / litre dearer.

There is BP near where I work and a couple of Shell and a JET by taking a detour of a mile or so.

Edited 5 January, 2011 by delta925

[MikeHart]

Several interesting posts on here.

Oil level rising is an interesting one. I checked my oil to see what was happening. I was pretty close to the minimum mark, so no oil rise for me!! I went into the dealership to get some more oil and was told by them that in general, VW diesels burn oil and was actually told I would use about 1.5 litres in the first 10,000 miles. I don't know what my oil level was to start with, but the difference between the full and minimum mark is about 1 litre I'm told, so 1.5 litres seems quite possible. I asked about the issue of rising oil and they said it had been seen, but wasn't that common. They agreed with the reason. I guess I'm not getting it as my regens are generally done at speed, so the effect should be less and my oil regularly gets to temperature.

My mpg is still around the 52 mark, although the latest tank looks like it could raise the bar a bit. Be interesting to see if it starts going up now. I've done just shy of 5,000 miles. Whilst it does appear to be getting a bit better, I'm still not very happy with it. I don't see why I should have to wait 5-10k miles at least to see decent fuel economy, especially when people are reporting good economy on this forum, pretty much from the start.

My DPF regen is terrible. It's been checked by the dealership and they say everything is OK, but I'm not so sure. I often get either a very hot, burning charcoal type smell in the car when it's occuring and on several occasions, have had a really strong burning rubber smell. Indeed, on one occasion, my car was reported as being alight to security at work. It is also really rough if the regen is still going at tickover. Stays at about 1000rpm, but can be anything from a minor shudder to shaking the whole car. It's really bad. Skoda don't seem interested in this, but at least one other person on here is reporting the same. Can't find any particular reason for it, although the rpm does vary a little, seeming to dip as it shudders, although the difference is minimal. I assume it's getting close to stalling and the management system is having to prevent it. Don't know why though, as it ticks over quite nicely at 750rpm when not regening.

[MikeHart]

Sorry, just another comment.

Everyone talks about VW engines being a cut above the rest and machined to better tolerances etc.etc. However, from the comments on here, it would seem they're somewhat variable. I do wonder if they're really all people say they are. Maybe the majority are good, but they seem to have some 'dodgy' ones and I have a feeling I have one of them. For a while I thought my engine might be particularly tight and would just take longer to loosen. However, looking at it's behaviour, it seems to change day by day. If I accelerate the car on a flat road to a given speed and then take my foot off the accelerator, the rate of decrease in speed is highly variable. Sometimes it drops really quickly and sometimes really slowly. As far as I can tell, all the conditions are the same. I can't understand why the speed dropoff should be so different for what appears to be the same conditions. It's almost like the engine is really tight sometimes and looser others. Confusing.

[dibujo]

I've been reading these posts with interest and have come to the conclusion that it's ridiculous to have to drive a certain way or wait 5 to 10,000 miles before getting the advertised fuel consumption and having to put up with the regen and erratic running along the way. I would expect to buy a new car and get the mpg and performance thats in the brochure without getting involved in how the thing should be driven. It may be that other manufacturers are producing cars with these problems. If so they need to go back to the drawing board or make people aware of the facts.

[Guest]

this posted in error...cannot remove

Edited 7 January, 2011 by Estate Man

[Guest]

Unfortunately, it isn't possible to produce an 'all ready run in' engine. Although, at great expense Porche and some others do some initial running in of their car engines before they leave the factory. The cars used to be driven on a run-in cycle by robots, still are I guess. On that point however, engines from all manufacturers are better now than they have ever been. As for telling us about not getting full mpg and even full power when new and until run in...if you look in your owners handbook it does tell you that fact already but many people don't see it or read the book. I agree with you and others that this should be made clearer in the handbooks and some extra information on running in would be a good idea judging by the confusion on the site about that.

[dibujo]

I do realise that some of these "problems" are the result of the current rules on emissions, but don't start me off on climate change. lol

[Guest]

We should start a separate thread on that!!! lol...

[bond007]

quite a good read this, i work for skoda and speak to many garages,technicians and the concensus is you should hardly ever really notice the car doing a regen, yes it should idle slightly lumpy and maybe a bit of a smell but not to the degree of shaking the car and smelling like its on fire. mike maybe you've got a bad egg unfortunately it happens if you make a million cars the chances are theres going to be a couple out there that are, or maybe your early experience of the car has soured it and now everything looks like an issue. what mileage/type of runs do you do, talking to a couple of salesman about the issues and how they explain this to customers ie who the car is aimed at and they said they rarely explain how the dpf works and the drawbacks of doing lower mileage. they arent interested if theres a sale on the table

[MikeHart]

quite a good read this, i work for skoda and speak to many garages,technicians and the concensus is you should hardly ever really notice the car doing a regen, yes it should idle slightly lumpy and maybe a bit of a smell but not to the degree of shaking the car and smelling like its on fire. mike maybe you've got a bad egg unfortunately it happens if you make a million cars the chances are theres going to be a couple out there that are, or maybe your early experience of the car has soured it and now everything looks like an issue. what mileage/type of runs do you do, talking to a couple of salesman about the issues and how they explain this to customers ie who the car is aimed at and they said they rarely explain how the dpf works and the drawbacks of doing lower mileage. they arent interested if theres a sale on the table

Hello,

Nice to speak to someone from Skoda!! The car has been fully tested by the dealership and remotely tested/monitored by Skoda at the dealership. I don't think they've ever seen the shaking during regen, but I have told them about it and about the smells. I do runs of approximately 32 miles each way. First 22 odd miles is mostly dual carriageway at speed, followed by a bit of town bypass, followed by another 10 off miles at dual carriageway speeds. Reverse in the evening obviously. It does do a few short trips around town, but 95% at least is the above. I fully appreciate odd bad cars happen, but all the testing is supposedly normal. The smell during regen is mostly if I have to slowdown. At minimum I get a very hot, slightly burning wood type smell and at worst, it absolutely stinks of rubber. This comes into the cabin via the ventilation system. However, even when it's not regening, I often get a smell if the heater is on. Not sure exactly what it is, but I have been wondering about a leak in the exhaust system. The regen is definately not slightly lumpy. Funny thing is, the degree of shaking varies. Sometimes, it is very little and could even be described as slightly lumpy. Feels like the car is about to stall and then the ECU stops it. However, some other times, it really shakes the car quite badly and I've had passengers quite concerned about it. If the regen occurs at speed, you don't notice it. With the town bypass sitting in the middle of the journey, I sometimes am still regening when I end my journey. It was on one of these occasions that it smelt so badly in the car park that it was reported to security as a car fire. It stank, and I mean, really stank of burning rubber. If you could arrange for additional investigations, that would be great. I can't believe the regen should smell like it does and I can't believe it should smell like that. But, it has been checked and judged as fine. I've done about 5000 miles now and the best I've achieved mpg wise is 54 on the last tank. Not sure what you think about that, but given the combined figure of 67, I find that pretty poor. Given the regen issues, it makes me think there's a problem, but the dealership seems unable to do anything but plug in the computer and see what it says.

many thanks for your time,

Mike

[Guest]

Hello Mike, only me. Hope you don't mind me jumping in, yet again but I'm very interested in your plight. I'm monitoring 2 of my friends that have your car for mpg and regens. And, I'm intent on buying the 1.6cr soon myself although I'm going to keep my trusty 1.4TDI. Noticed in your post above that you mentioned you achieved 54mpg from the last tank. That actually sounds pretty good and about where I would expect it to be, for the whole tank average. I'm basing this on my friends experiences and my own.

If it helps you to know, my 2 ex-colleagues with the same motor as yours were getting an overall average each tankful of 53mpg and 54.5mpg respectively when we last spoke about this 3 weeks ago. they both have to claim mileage so this figure is accurate. Both, in the main, driving similar roads to you by the sound of it, but one of them going on extremely long runs periodically and doing 200miles per day quite often. Both of them can achieve much better figs for individual journeys and on some runs average anywhere between 55-65mpg if they don't go mad on the gas. Both managed 70mpg on summer diesel they tell me on one particular run to Leeds from Colchester at what speed/s I don't know. Mine, a 1.4TDI which offers similar mpg figs to yours (but a bit less performance!!) is doing the same (54mpg) as yours from the last two tanks on similar motoring. That's my average for the whole tankful. But for an individual journey, if I reset the OBC it tells me I'm doing much more. Such as today I went to Chelmsford and had to snake across Essex on 'B' roads, mostly dry weather but wet roads, and fairly warm temps. I got 59mpg for an 80mile drive covering dual carriageway, and 'B' roads with some town driving too. On winter diesel I'm pleased with that. In summer I know I would get another 5-6mpg...yes honestly! Summer diesel would push up my whole tank average by some bit too as it would yours now it is mostly run in.

If I don't reset my OBC the 59mpg for my journey today will fall even if I continue to do the same trip each day, as all the variables creep in, all the cold starts, etc etc. It would then inevitably end up at around 54mpg for the tank again. I know you prolly know that but it can be useful to make comparisons don't you think?

Oh...and on the stinky poo smell of the regens, they have said this is pretty normal but gets better and better as the miles go on. Other on the site might like to comment further on this point. Only slight shaking too compared to when it was new. But these guys have now got 12,000 and 18,000 miles respectively on their cars. I don't have experience of the regens myself as my car does not have the DPF.

Hope that info is useful in some way.

Cheers Mike, please keep posting...your thread has turned out to be one of the most informative for all of us. Yourself and loads of others have had some really good points to make.

[MikeHart]

Hello Mike, only me. Hope you don't mind me jumping in, yet again but I'm very interested in your plight. I'm monitoring 2 of my friends that have your car for mpg and regens. And, I'm intent on buying the 1.6cr soon myself although I'm going to keep my trusty 1.4TDI. Noticed in your post above that you mentioned you achieved 54mpg from the last tank. That actually sounds pretty good and about where I would expect it to be, for the whole tank average. I'm basing this on my friends experiences and my own.

If it helps you to know, my 2 ex-colleagues with the same motor as yours were getting an overall average each tankful of 53mpg and 54.5mpg respectively when we last spoke about this 3 weeks ago. they both have to claim mileage so this figure is accurate. Both, in the main, driving similar roads to you by the sound of it, but one of them going on extremely long runs periodically and doing 200miles per day quite often. Both of them can achieve much better figs for individual journeys and on some runs average anywhere between 55-65mpg if they don't go mad on the gas. Both managed 70mpg on summer diesel they tell me on one particular run to Leeds from Colchester at what speed/s I don't know. Mine, a 1.4TDI which offers similar mpg figs to yours (but a bit less performance!!) is doing the same (54mpg) as yours from the last two tanks on similar motoring. That's my average for the whole tankful. But for an individual journey, if I reset the OBC it tells me I'm doing much more. Such as today I went to Chelmsford and had to snake across Essex on 'B' roads, mostly dry weather but wet roads, and fairly warm temps. I got 59mpg for an 80mile drive covering dual carriageway, and 'B' roads with some town driving too. On winter diesel I'm pleased with that. In summer I know I would get another 5-6mpg...yes honestly! Summer diesel would push up my whole tank average by some bit too as it would yours now it is mostly run in.

If I don't reset my OBC the 59mpg for my journey today will fall even if I continue to do the same trip each day, as all the variables creep in, all the cold starts, etc etc. It would then inevitably end up at around 54mpg for the tank again. I know you prolly know that but it can be useful to make comparisons don't you think?

Oh...and on the stinky poo smell of the regens, they have said this is pretty normal but gets better and better as the miles go on. Other on the site might like to comment further on this point. Only slight shaking too compared to when it was new. But these guys have now got 12,000 and 18,000 miles respectively on their cars. I don't have experience of the regens myself as my car does not have the DPF.

Hope that info is useful in some way.

Cheers Mike, please keep posting...your thread has turned out to be one of the most informative for all of us. Yourself and loads of others have had some really good points to make.

Hello Estate Man,

I find the mpg a bit disappointing given the quoted figures, but if that was it, I'd continue without too much issue. I noticed that the mpg on a tank didn't really drop over the winter fuel change and the very cold weather. It stayed around 52mpg, so I guessed the first tank in more reasonable winter weather would see a bit of a rise. Effectively, the slightly better mpg was being masked by conditions, so when they changed, voila............... It's interesting the regen smell was commented on by your friends as well. The shaking at low revs is really offputting, but I can't say it's ever caused a problem. I've wondered if the engine loosening up might reduce it as friction etc. would be less and maybe this is a factor. In some ways I'm more concerned about the smell. For the first few regens, I figured there might be something left from manufacture and it was burning off. Not unreasonabe. But, it keeps happening. The smell is very on and off. It's a really strong rubber smell sometimes, but other times more of a hot smell. As I use the same fuel all the time, I don't really see why the smell should change. Also, it comes into the cabin through the ventilation system, but only when at low speed. Now, obviously this could be due to the exhaust being blown back under the car and being sucked in at the front, but I wouldn't have thought this likely at 30mph. Also, if you stop and smell around the car, it seems to be coming from under the bonnet more than from the exhaust. So, it appears to be an engine bay issue rather than something burning inside the exhaust system. That's unless the exhaust system has a leak somewhere........... When not performing a regen, I often get a very hot smell from the heater, but there's also almost an aftertaste. It's not just hot, but the sort of taste in your mouth you get from solvents etc. being in the air, or maybe being in a garage when an engine is running. Not strong, but just about noticable. I've also felt something almost catching the back of my throat as well. So, I'm just wondering if there's a small leak somewhere. I'll keep an eye on the mpg over the next 5000 miles and see what happens, but it does seem to be inching up.

[R22JGB]

Estate Man Do NOT go for a car with a 1.6 CR TDi engine, the economy is poor and the engine has to do numerous regens.

As you know I have the Ibiza (because it was taking too long for the fabia to be delivered), the car has now covered 9k and the overall economy from a brimmed tank at 565 miles to a brimmed tank at 8627 miles is 52.16mpg this is 26% lower than the quoted combined figure of 65.7 mpg for the Ibiza. I am well aware of how differing driving styles and journey can affect economy, but I have documentary evidence over the last 8 years and 200K miles that i can achieve and sometimes better quoted combined economy figures!! I have to claim back my company mileage so use a spreadsheet that i input all the data so know what the economy is. Currently the Ibiza is only 1.56 mpg better tah I was getting out of a Passat 2.0 TDi

The DPF light has never been illuminated but the car has done 24 active regens upto 8.5k, I have not counted passive regens..

Today was aperfect example, I was driving along a single carriage way 60 mph road A697, on cruise at 60mph when the car accelerated & decellerated as if I was lifting the throttle up and down. i suspected a regen was underway, i selected neutral, the engine was ticking over at 1000 rpm..

My car has been with the SEAT dealers for 5 days trying to resolve the problem, they maintain the car is fine. SEAT Customer Service is 5hite, the head of the Customer Service dept did not even respond to my letter!! I'm currently awaiting a respones to my letter to the SEAT CEO, I don't beleive I'll get anywhere as everyone at SEAT denies there is a problem with this engine. Read the SEAT & VW forums, you'll see there are issues with this engine!!

The car is fine, the economy and the DPF issues are CRAP!!!

[seboni121]

Well my little new fabia elegance 1.6crtdi 105bhp arrived yesterday and went for a drive roughly about 20 miles,ride was firm but comfy seats are very good standard better than the superb I think,build quality excellent for what we pay for these better than a BMW 1 series I tested,power excellent much more responsive than the 75bhp I originally tested hits 70 in a flash much more powerful than the superb 1.9tdi,now for the important one FUEL CONSUMPTION averaged 59.8mph now this engine was cold new to me and because its new engine tight as a nut!,so these people who say they get awful no ,terrible fuel consumption they must be driving like audi drivers or they are driving with their handbrake on,seriously though when this engine loosens up a bit I reckon the fuel consumption will be easy to reach and better and the engine will go like a rocket

Edited 14 January, 2011 by seboni121

[MikeHart]

Well my little new fabia elegance 1.6crtdi 105bhp arrived yesterday and went for a drive roughly about 20 miles,ride was firm but comfy seats are very good standard better than the superb I think,build quality excellent for what we pay for these better than a BMW 1 series I tested,power excellent much more responsive than the 75bhp I originally tested hits 70 in a flash much more powerful than the superb 1.9tdi,now for the important one FUEL CONSUMPTION averaged 59.8mph now this engine was cold new to me and because its new engine tight as a nut!,so these people who say they get awful no ,terrible fuel consumption they must be driving like audi drivers or they are driving with their handbrake on,seriously though when this engine loosens up a bit I reckon the fuel consumption will be easy to reach and better and the engine will go like a rocket

Hello,

Makes you wonder what's going on then. Several people with poor consumption on here are experienced diesel drivers and still can't get the consumption up. I'm glad yours is reporting good fuel consumption for you and I hope the computer is correct when you do the brim to brim figures. This all seems to suggest to me that either a certain percentage of engines come through bad, or there is really variable build quality. Anyway; please post your mpg for everyone to be envious over when you do a brim to brim.

Thanks,

Mike

[Tony Wares]

In my opinion, If you want a deisel car to produce anywhere NEAR the quoted figures of the manufactuer, you need to be very carefull on breaking, power and speed.

Other then that, if you want a car to produce it's best MPG froom the day you get it, you need to buy a usec car with at least 30k on it. Then you can be rest assured that the engine's well bedded in, taken a good run almost evey trrip.

All my deisels have been at least 5 years old and have always produced more then 60 MPG even when running at 70-75 MPH.

I also make sure thet engine oil is checked on a weekly basis (as deisels use slightly more oil), and that I use deisel system cleaners as this gives the system the lubricity it needs when using low sufphur deisel fuels, as we tend to be getting at the moment.

I've used vans on red deisel before now, as the MPG improves incredibly!!! So, my sugestion is to use a deisel system cleaner such as redex deisel treatment as this WILL give the system a good ole lubricating, something that the car may require.

Let me (and the others reading this) know how you get on.

Tony Wares,

Currently running 53 plate Octavia Laurin & Klement, TDI 110PS. Getting a calculated 59MPG avarage for last 10000 miles, now on 107k miles and going strong!!

[raisbeck]

In my opinion, If you want a deisel car to produce anywhere NEAR the quoted figures of the manufactuer, you need to be very carefull on breaking, power and speed.

Other then that, if you want a car to produce it's best MPG froom the day you get it, you need to buy a usec car with at least 30k on it. Then you can be rest assured that the engine's well bedded in, taken a good run almost evey trrip.

All my deisels have been at least 5 years old and have always produced more then 60 MPG even when running at 70-75 MPH.

I also make sure thet engine oil is checked on a weekly basis (as deisels use slightly more oil), and that I use deisel system cleaners as this gives the system the lubricity it needs when using low sufphur deisel fuels, as we tend to be getting at the moment.

I've used vans on red deisel before now, as the MPG improves incredibly!!! So, my sugestion is to use a deisel system cleaner such as redex deisel treatment as this WILL give the system a good ole lubricating, something that the car may require.

Let me (and the others reading this) know how you get on.

Tony Wares,

Currently running 53 plate Octavia Laurin & Klement, TDI 110PS. Getting a calculated 59MPG avarage for last 10000 miles, now on 107k miles and going strong!!

On the subject of fuel lubricity. The process of removing the sulphur from the fuel also removes the lubricating components of the fuel. Its not the actual sulphur that does the lubricating merely the process or sulphur removal. Biodiesel restores the lubricity to HFRR spec the same as if it was earlier sulphur laden fuel.

Engine oil: All these new 1.6 CR engines have a DPF. Generally speaking people with these cars will see a slight rise in oil level due to regen dilution. My 1.4 PD DPF engine hasnt used a drop of oil......ever. If anything my oil level is marginally higher than when it was serviced. I do loads of miles so its not so much of an issue on mine. Some Fiats and Mazdas have to have earlier oil changes due to the excessively high oil level caused by DPF regen. Its not a major issue unless you pootle about and shouldn't therefore own a diesel. Biodiesel doesnt help much in this regard as its more stable than regular diesel so remains in dilution and is harder to burn off.

Red diesel ? Red diesel is regular diesel with dye indicator in it and chemical markers. Of course your not advocating red diesel for road use.....

Diesel additives: Not recommended by Skoda. That said the manual only really states not to use flow improvers. Many swear by Millers of Forte. Others swear by Jaso FC spec 2 stroke oil. I will use some treatment but only when out of warranty period.

Totally agree with you on the careful driving. Its also surprising how much fuel is wasted just idling in traffic. Pootling in low revs isnt good for my car nor I suspect is it good for the 1.6 CR. If you keep it on boost when out of town (for me thats over about 1800 rpm) the mpg is better than pootling at low revs in a high gear. I get 70 mpg in summer but you do have to drive with your brain and not your right foot. The published mpg figures are not realistic, best imho you will ever get is the combined unless you drive like a snail and upset other road users.

Forgot to add. My trip computer for mpg is NOT accurate. It overreads by 7 mpg. All my mpg figures are based on brim method. Unless someone calculates it this way I take it with a pinch of salt. If I posted my computer mpg figures I would be closer to 80!!

No disrespect to Seboni for his mpg post but that appears to be a computer figure. Mike always posts a calculated figure based on brim method.

I will get off my box now and shut up

Edited 15 January, 2011 by raisbeck

[MikeHart]

A quick question for people who know about DPFs. There has been some talk about active and therefore, I assume, passive regens on here. What's the difference? Is a passive one where the exhaust temperature alone is enough to do it and active where they need to inject the fuel late to help heat the DPF? Just wondering as people have spoken about their car doing x number of active regens on earlier posts.

Thanks,

Mike

[seboni121]

Well comrades,just done 100 miles today and amazing 60mph 1.700rpm and getting on average 61.2mpg?,now most of this was on a dual and on A&B roads initially,switched on the cruise control on 60mph and away she went absolutely glorious drive,the drive was smooth not bouncy the A55 is quite lumpy but fabia crtdi 105bhp was possible tranquil,effortless performance if this car was doing 60-70mph under 2.000 rpm this wagons got Ed Balls,now as far as the economy WHAT if I am getting on a 100 mile round trip 61.2mpg with a engine with 100miles on it what can I expect to get when the engine runs in?,mind you the Black may have been the wrong colour as its filthy again,never mind excuse to clean it again,no regen well not as if I noticed.

[raisbeck]

A quick question for people who know about DPFs. There has been some talk about active and therefore, I assume, passive regens on here. What's the difference? Is a passive one where the exhaust temperature alone is enough to do it and active where they need to inject the fuel late to help heat the DPF? Just wondering as people have spoken about their car doing x number of active regens on earlier posts.

Thanks,

Mike

Passive : Occurs all the time when the car is warm. Some of the soot gets burnt off but not enough to keep the DPF completely clear. It still builds up just not as quick as it would without passive regen. Passive will be more effective at higher rpm on fast longer journeys. Depending on the car this may reduce the number of active regens.

Active: Extra fuel is thrown in to heat the DPF up to something like 600 degrees which causes all the accumulated soot to combust thus clearing the DPF completely.

You notice active because sometimes it smells and affects how the car runs while its regenerating the DPF. Passive you have no awareness of anymore than you would notice a petrol car catalytic converter working.

[delta925]

Well comrades,just done 100 miles today and amazing 60mph 1.700rpm and getting on average 61.2mpg?,now most of this was on a dual and on A&B roads initially,switched on the cruise control on 60mph and away she went absolutely glorious drive,the drive was smooth not bouncy the A55 is quite lumpy but fabia crtdi 105bhp was possible tranquil,effortless performance if this car was doing 60-70mph under 2.000 rpm this wagons got Ed Balls,now as far as the economy WHAT if I am getting on a 100 mile round trip 61.2mpg with a engine with 100miles on it what can I expect to get when the engine runs in?,mind you the Black may have been the wrong colour as its filthy again,never mind excuse to clean it again,no regen well not as if I noticed.

Good to hear even new the car is a good drive and the ride is smooth, I did wonder if the 45 profile tyres would make the ride firm.

My Audi 1.9tdi is doing about 2200rpm at 70mph so lower geared than the 1.6TDI CR.

It will be interesting when you have done say 2000 miles if you actually work out the average mpg to compare with computer.

My Audi's average by the computer is 51-52mpg but I calculate around 48.

I will be very happy if after 5000miles the Fabia is averaging over 55mpg for the same journeys.