brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,315
Club RR Member Number: 72
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18 months ago we relocated to southern Scotland but knew we would have to make pretty regular trips to the Midlands for family stuff. Anyway as you can imagine, fuel costs to do these trips have become a significant issue so yours truly thought about a nice little petrol retro to do the job. Today a neat little 1997 base model 2 door Toyota Starlet has come available at a good sub grand price which I thought should do the trick until I started doing some MPG research against the current useable fleet (Chevy truck excluded ) According to Fuelly.com, the little Yota should get a UK average of 36.9 MPG which is only a fraction better than my 2006 Tranny 85 bhp which gets a UK average of 35mpg. Then there's the 2006 XC70! The car shows an average of 40.4MPG, Honest Joe say it's 34.8MPG and Fuelly state 26.8MPG! All of a sudden the Toyota doesn't seem so attractive although the current petrol vs diesel price gap is still in it's favour. The Toyota is basic but rather cool, the Volvo is pretty nice way to travel in comfort and the Tranny is downright bleedin useful. Am I confused & befuddled or what?!!
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Last Edit: Apr 9, 2022 19:15:48 GMT by brachunky: Picture added
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,837
Club RR Member Number: 174
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I get 34-36mpg average in my 2003 1.4 16v Clio. Sounds low but I drive it fast. If I drive something more performance related in the manner I do I usually average high single digits/low teens mpg.
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Those little Starlets are great, my mum had one as a company car (3dr Solida!) and as it was insured for any driver I drove it on L plates & then kept borrowing it when I passed my test. They will hit 110mph & sit all day banging off the rev limiter without issue. They can take limiter clutch dumps & do a decent J turn. I put 250 miles on my mums the day I passed my test and most of those facts were achieved in those 250 miles (on a private test track) & I didnt manage to use a full tank
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Last Edit: Apr 9, 2022 17:54:40 GMT by joem83
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Anything that starts with a 3 when your talkin mpg sounds great to me. It’s when it starts with a 1 or a very low 2 you need to think. Surely anything doing mid 30’s plus has got to be ok ain’t it?
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I towed my caravan from Thurso to Blackpool this week with my XC60 D5, near broke my heart
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,315
Club RR Member Number: 72
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I towed my caravan from Thurso to Blackpool this week with my XC60 D5, near broke my heart Dare I ask? Fuel price or MPG? !!!
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Anything that starts with a 3 when your talkin mpg sounds great to me. It’s when it starts with a 1 or a very low 2 you need to think. Surely anything doing mid 30’s plus has got to be ok ain’t it? Also consider repair costs! Pretty sure you can repair most things on a starlet with a hammer and zip ties. Think you can swap a corrola intake and ecu into a starlet and you get an instant 10bhp extra. Anything above 11mpg is good in my books, my v6 Jeep would only do 11mpg regardless of how you drove it lol. Also had my Mk5 GTi average 39mpg a few times, they were very boring journeys though.
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Last Edit: Apr 9, 2022 22:35:15 GMT by joem83
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I towed my caravan from Thurso to Blackpool this week with my XC60 D5, near broke my heart Dare I ask? Fuel price or MPG? !!! Both £40 in Thurso to get me to Inverness 174.9ppl, then another £70 (164.9ppl) to get me to Perth, then £60 (170.2ppl) to get me to Blackpool and £92 in Blackpool (171.9) Away up the road on Monday for a similar outlay. Took my average mpg from 36.2 down to 29.6 I think it was.
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If it's that one (or any) fit some different wheels with less sidewall & a bit wider as the steering on them is "light"
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Once over I didn't care about MPGs. 30s out of my W123s and 124s, 20s out of my T25 and bay window. And 20s on a run, 15 ish round the doors and single figures booting my 500 SEC. Didn't bat an eye lid. Now less than 45 and I'm wounded.
😁
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Thing to consider on Fuelly and whatnot is how people actually use their cars. Something like the Starlet will likely mostly be used on short-haul, round-the-houses trips, which will skew the numbers unfavourably against the bigger stuff which could have more long-haul open road stuff in the mix.
My old A6 is currently showing a trip average of 52.3mpg on the computer. That is over the last 3 fill-ups, so maybe 1200 miles, and will be optimistic, but only by a couple of mpg. There’s a good amount of open A-road and M-way in that (plus I’ve been doing a bit slower than usual), but also 2 x 12 car rallies and quite a bit of bumbling around Cornish lanes (like the 12 cars but slower and in daylight). Very little in-town work. Driven sensibly on long haul only it’ll crack 60mpg. I reckon it’s lifetime average over 26 years/340k is in the upper 40s. But again, very little in-town work.
The only times I’ve ever seen the tank average under 40 is when towing something big, or with bikes on the roof. The latter was a surprise just how big an effect there was!
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend) 1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing) 1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Bikes in the roof destroy mpg
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,315
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Thing to consider on Fuelly and whatnot is how people actually use their cars. Something like the Starlet will likely mostly be used on short-haul, round-the-houses trips, which will skew the numbers unfavourably against the bigger stuff which could have more long-haul open road stuff in the mix. That's a good point you have! In my case, it's all A roads from leaving my place so will hardly ever see a city environment. I appreciate the Starlet is no exactly the best car for distance driving but It will get the job done even if it's at 65mph
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,338
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So you have a comfy cruiser that'll do that journey at the same mpg as a tinny '90s J-box, albeit on diesel, and in much more comfort, and you're looking to make that journey worse to maybe save a few pennies over what, two or three years? Be honest with yourself. You want it because you want it, and that's fine. But regularly doing motorway journeys in that? No. All the nos.
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Also check if you are willing or able to put the new E10 fuel in it because if not E5 and diesel are about the same price.
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,315
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Apr 10, 2022 10:02:05 GMT
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So you have a comfy cruiser that'll do that journey at the same mpg as a tinny '90s J-box, albeit on diesel, and in much more comfort, and you're looking to make that journey worse to maybe save a few pennies over what, two or three years? Be honest with yourself. You want it because you want it, and that's fine. But regularly doing motorway journeys in that? No. All the nos. Good & fair observations although factor in repair costs vs the XC70 and the point raised that recorded mpg figures for small cars are most likely set against city driving, there is still something to be said for the wee car! I would keep the Volvo anyway so if the Starlet didn't meet up with my expectations, it could be moved on.
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,315
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Apr 10, 2022 10:05:13 GMT
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Also check if you are willing or able to put the new E10 fuel in it because if not E5 and diesel are about the same price. Good point indeed and something I didn't think of. Will need to do more digging!
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,315
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Apr 10, 2022 10:25:42 GMT
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Well thanks for all the input on this chaps but after contacting the owner, it's been sold already. Damn!!
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Apr 10, 2022 17:38:18 GMT
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Also check if you are willing or able to put the new E10 fuel in it because if not E5 and diesel are about the same price. On my CG, Honda state it's best if the carb is calibrated to run E10 so that it's richer, so it doesn't always work out well. On E5, that's now getting silly MPG if the fuel gauge is to be believed. Around 100+.
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Apr 10, 2022 20:01:34 GMT
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Well thanks for all the input on this chaps but after contacting the owner, it's been sold already. Damn!! How many hours of our lives have we all wasted making plans for cars we don't even own yet, only to find they've gone by the time we actually get round to trying to buy the thing! Side note: Best mpg for a sub £1000 car I've had has been my Saab 9-3 1.9 TiD, it does 40mpg, 44 if you drive like an old man.
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