After worrying my self silly about fuel consumption with the above car after many years of, towing with a diesel ,my fears were put to rest yesterday a long trans Pennine haul of 170 miles and the car to my amazement returned 29.5 mpg .well pleased and no problems on the hills either ,
Try a diesel. I managed 39mpg in mine. Minlands to the coast in Cumbria. Slightly less on the way back, Friday afternoon on the M6. Chose the wrong day to come back i think.
And they tow even better. Although i didnt want a diesel at the time. It did impress me.
Depends which way over the Pennines you went Black Fox. If you came over from Wales, then you would have had a strong following wind, and you will find a significant difference going back, especially if there is the same strength headwind.
You did well to get 29.5mpg towing, I get about 28mpg from my 12 plate Tdci but I am towing 1450 kg which is significanly more than your Wisp will be. With the older mk3 tdci the minimum was about 33 and up to 38 or 39 was possible in the right conditions.
If you are happy with the car it obviously does the job and is quite gentile with fuel, I would not change it unless it either goes wrong or you just fancy a change. I swapped my Mk3 because I fancied a change and the Mk is soooooo much more refined.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
When I put it in 5th the fuel consumption increases.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
But every car will be slightly different. Different power output, Wheel/tyre sizes also affect the gearing.
It works for me. Although 6th gear pulls well it uses more fuel.
On a long downhill stretch even a tiny bit downhill or a decent following wind may affect the figures, But 6th gear may work out better.
You need to play and see what works for your outfit. But you should be able to do much better than that.
Quote: Originally posted by Grampian91 on 12/5/2014
If your stikcing to 60mph it shouldnt.
But every car will be slightly different. Different power output, Wheel/tyre sizes also affect the gearing.
It works for me. Although 6th gear pulls well it uses more fuel.
On a long downhill stretch even a tiny bit downhill or a decent following wind may affect the figures, But 6th gear may work out better.
You need to play and see what works for your outfit. But you should be able to do much better than that.
You need to tell my car that. :-) There is no way whatsoever that my car is more economical in 5th gear than it is in 6th. On a long stretch of motorway with variable terrain and no wind, towing the caravan for a long distance and establishing the fuel consumption ( a surprisingly accurate computer figure checked full to full ) if I then change down to 5th and do another 30 miles then the increase in fuel consumption is dramatic. My towing speed is low to mid 50's and is consistent, I am never tempted by speed.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
You would probably go past me then. My wife has menieres and soon starts to feel problems with movement so I have said for years that I have a speed limiter sitting in the passenger seat. The speedo says about 56/57 but the sat nav says 51/52.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Rev counter reads out at 1500. It pulls well but needs changing down for some hills.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Max tororque isroduced fro 1600rpm so the flywheel must be designed to take that. I had my last Mondeo 8 years and drove it in exactly the same way with no problems. This engine speed and gear are exactly what the engine management system indicate is correct and I am perceptive enough to listen to when the system begins to labour at which point a gear change is required. My research before I bought the car said that flywheel problems on the Mk4 were much less of a problem than on the mk3.
When you say you travel at 56mph is that a speedo figure or a satnav figure. If it is a speedo figure then you are probably travelling at exactly the same speed as I am.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
My car was an ex police car and had a calibrated speedo.
But i obviously killed that by fitting different tyres.
But speed wise yeah. Usually an indicated 55 - 60. So actual speed maybe less. I wouldnt trust a sat nav for the speed.
They are nowhere near the standards of the equipment they use for testing speed accurately.
For speedtraps and camera's though its close enough.
More accurate than the speedo would depend on the conditions. Ive have them put me off the road i am on and in the middle of a field or even on a road running parallel to the one i was on.
I was on the M6 in the outside lane doing 70 (not towing). As i approached J10 it said take the 3rd exit.
EH... Looked at teh screen and it had me on the roundabout.