Thread: MPH ??

Hi everyone i was just wondering on peoples opinion ive got a long drive tomorrow about 200mile round trip and was wondering what would you say is the best speed to stick at on a motor way to save fuel ? 65? 70? or some people 80? i have a 2.0l tdi. Im not being a super saver just wondering what sort of speed you would go?

Thanks jonny

75 mph in 6th ends up with 59mpg average for mine.

ok i know not quite the same car, but in mine on a not too longish trip like that id stick to 60, will add like 10-12 min to your trip each way rather then going at 70-75 oh and don't use cruse control, its eats your ave MPG!

Originally Posted by jungleman

ok i know not quite the same car, but in mine on a not too longish trip like that id stick to 60, will add like 10-12 min to your trip each way rather then going at 70-75 oh and don't use cruse control, its eats your ave MPG!

Obviously different characteristics 2.0 tdi compared to mapped S3 !!!!

My figure is with cruise control on.

Going at 55 for an hours journey the other day I got 72 mpg on my 03 tdi.. But 60 - 65mph is ideal.. I heard there was some test done and the average for all cars was 68mph..?

200 mile ?? nipping down the shops are we I did 400 yesterday and 300 today :-) Cruise set to 85mph and overall ave 31.6 over two days

Thanks fellas think i will prob go 65 to 70 but i get bored on long trips and i might end up putting my foot down lol

Originally Posted by jungleman

ok i know not quite the same car, but in mine on a not too longish trip like that id stick to 60, will add like 10-12 min to your trip each way rather then going at 70-75 oh and don't use cruse control, its eats your ave MPG!

200 miles at 60 MPH = 200 mins, 200 miles at say 90 MPH = 133 mins, 67 mins saving, ofc you prob cannot do 90 all the way, but times when more , still slight difference to 10-12 mins, especially when you driving out of hours like I try to

Lol yep just nipping down to the shop got some MY11 back lights for £80 he did want £100 but i said knock abit off n ill come and pick them up instead of messing around with postage plus this way i can have them on my car tomorrow

Originally Posted by jungleman

ok i know not quite the same car, but in mine on a not too longish trip like that id stick to 60, will add like 10-12 min to your trip each way rather then going at 70-75 oh and don't use cruse control, its eats your ave MPG!

Cruise will decrease mpg compared to a very well trained right foot but will save fuel compared to an on/off enthusiastic driver.

There are forums dedicated to hypermiling - getting the most mpg possible. They will advise not to use cruise as it kills the throttle on descends and opens it on ascends to maintain speed. Hypermilers will accelerate downhill to build momentum then lift off uphill and sacrifice speed if required. This method is more efficient and can lead to same average speed compared to with cruise on. However, another reason cruise tends to use more fuel is you tend to average a higher speed over your trip vs. not using it whilst trying to be economical - mainly because you tend to drive a bit slower.

Keeping it smooth, gentle acceleration especially when cold, appropriate gear changes and not coasting in neutral all help.

Generally, I use it as I can afford to sacrifice the fuel for the convenience.

Having experience of a 170PD and 140CR engines I would say 60mph is most economical but I tend to travel at 70-75mph on motorways - increases consumption by 10-15% but saves a bit of time, plus 60mph on the slow lane of the motorway is mind numbing!

Paddy are you sure your car says S3 on the back!!! I've owned an S3 for 5 years and never got over 340 miles from a tank!

Just under 60 seems to deliver best results for me, cruise off.

cruise control is as smooth as an having a fit! Far easier to drive smooth & economically without it. Its only useful for speed cameras lol

Originally Posted by Brett Butler

200 miles at 60 MPH = 200 mins, 200 miles at say 90 MPH = 133 mins, 67 mins saving, ofc you prob cannot do 90 all the way, but times when more , still slight difference to 10-12 mins, especially when you driving out of hours like I try to

ok at no point did i mention 90 mph, i was taking about different between 60 and 70-75 also known as keeping it legal, but anyway as rosco11 said its all about keeping it smooth and not having to brake/accelerate all the time, which doing 60 you won't have to, at 70-80 mph you'll always be accelerating and braking due to the cars around you. trust me, when you can average between 36-40 mpg in a car like mine on a shortish motorway run with town driving as well your doing very well

ok 75mph difference is 30 mins, depends when you are driving, as to how much traffic, just winds me up people who make statements driving so slow only costs you a few minutes driving time.

Driving 60-65 mph tbh you will still be slowing down all the time and speeding up if there is a reasonable amount of traffic, and in my view more dangerous. Slow driving is boring, and you are more likely to lose concentration because you are so bored.

so about what i said then...
i agree it does depend when and where your driving, if your on the M25 at rush hour you won't be doing 60, you'll be lucky to be doing 40, in which case you won't be doing 90 either. 65 isn't driving slow, its a perfectly reasonable speed to be cursing on the motorway and is far from dangerous, whereas doing 90+ is far more dangerous

There was an article recently saying approx 40mph is the most economical speed, but it's not practical to drive at that. I think 65-70 would be best, and that's the speed I and every single car do on the motorway during my daily commute.

Why I try my hardest to never drive in the Rush hour

i would say 75mph! or under 2000rpm! in 6th! for maximum mpg!"s!
use v power derv too! it really does work on long trips!

I have a lot of respect for you guys sticking the cruise on or sticking to 65-70mph. I can't do it. I'll hold my hands up, on a long journey I sit at about 80-85 on the motorway and always have done. I think I'd start to nod off at 65mph for a prolonged period

I obviously love cars and driving as you would expect but I hate motorway driving! I've never worked out the average mpg in my S3 and I don't want to know to be truthful!

Thanks for all the input i think i will try to stick to 65-70 but i will prob get bored and put my foot down at some ponit.

Originally Posted by GNJ_Motorsport

I have a lot of respect for you guys sticking the cruise on or sticking to 65-70mph. I can't do it. I'll hold my hands up, on a long journey I sit at about 80-85 on the motorway and always have done. I think I'd start to nod off at 65mph for a prolonged period

I obviously love cars and driving as you would expect but I hate motorway driving! I've never worked out the average mpg in my S3 and I don't want to know to be truthful!

I`m not alone then cruse set about 85 n creep to a ton at times cars are so hard to hold back it just wants to eat the road

Originally Posted by warren_S3

Paddy are you sure your car says S3 on the back!!! I've owned an S3 for 5 years and never got over 340 miles from a tank!

Just under 60 seems to deliver best results for me, cruise off.

i know what you mean in day to day driving but i went Surrey, M25, down M4 Swindon, north to Gloucester down to Salisbury and back to mid Surrey and i dont think i stopped in traffic once. Its stop start that kills the mpg. I never run the tank past the warning light but i think i could get 360-380 easy on one of my all day drives. Maybe my dis is optimistic

330 is best Ive ever got out of a full tank of Vpower! Normally 310!

I often get 340 on the dis as Paddy Says if you drive it right you could get 340 + off a tank, mind you a dam lot of miles to drive to achieve it . there is a major difference in consumption from say 70 ish, to 90-95 mph guessing 25 mpg to 34 mpg.

I drove home from Leicester the other week late at night, was hammering a long doing great , but it soon dawned on me if i carried on I would have to stop for fuel, but did not want to so ended up cruising between 70-80 mph, made it home with like 25 miles left on the dis for fuel, difference was huge how much I added to the amount of fuel I burned.

Originally Posted by paddy

200 mile ?? nipping down the shops are we I did 400 yesterday and 300 today :-) Cruise set to 85mph and overall ave 31.6 over two days

how did you manage that? I cant get more than 26-27 out of mine:D.

Think the best I got out of mine was 400 on a full tank, though that was at stage 1 not stage 2 lol

So did the trip today and was quite happy really got there and back on less than half a tank. and now have the new lights on.


over all very happy.

Nice one Johnny but you haven't told us what your mpg was !

Lol im not sure tbh i just put £30 in it on friday at £1.40 i didnt go over 70mph which was boring but when i checked on the dash it was around 50/55 mpg or thats what it said....

I noticed today i have never reset my Mode 2 on the Dis so its reading 7800 miles ave 32mph, 254 hours and 30.7 mpg :-) since new.

Originally Posted by paddy

I noticed today i have never reset my Mode 2 on the Dis so its reading 7800 miles ave 32mph, 254 hours and 30.7 mpg :-) since new.

are you sure how to use right foot then paddy or you maybe got right leg cut off completley?

lol Red Believe me i am as fast as the next guy

Originally Posted by paddy

I noticed today i have never reset my Mode 2 on the Dis so its reading 7800 miles ave 32mph, 254 hours and 30.7 mpg :-) since new.

That's about right isn't it ? In fact it's quite good provided you use the M25 all the time !!!! lol

The M25 is a car park. Like all car parks it doesn't actually go anywhere

Originally Posted by paddy

The M25 is a car park. Like all car parks it doesn't actually go anywhere