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Hi all, long time reader, first time poster from Scotland here. I drive a 2003 Ford Fiesta 1.4 Turbo Diesel and I bought it as it was the second most economical car on sale in the UK (my legs were too long to fit in the most economical!)

The offical mileage for the car is 61mpg and I currently get 65mpg and that is with the heavier 5dr bodyshell, 16" alloys and mudflaps all of which I know affect the mpg. I do keep the type pressures spot on - I find for each psi the tyres are short the mileage goes down 1 mpg but over inflating them makes no difference.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t219/sweetbaboo_photos/DSC00097.jpg

I'll keep using the site to improve my mileage - I'd love to get 70mpg!!

Nick

P.S. These bananas :Banane44: are a bit scary....

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster from Scotland here. I drive a 2003 Ford Fiesta 1.4 Turbo Diesel and I bought it as it was the second most economical car on sale in the UK (my legs were too long to fit in the most economical!)

The offical mileage for the car is 61mpg and I currently get 65mpg and that is with the heavier 5dr bodyshell, 16" alloys and mudflaps all of which I know affect the mpg. I do keep the type pressures spot on - I find for each psi the tyres are short the mileage goes down 1 mpg but over inflating them makes no difference.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t219/sweetbaboo_photos/DSC00097.jpg

I'll keep using the site to improve my mileage - I'd love to get 70mpg!!

Nick

P.S. These bananas :Banane44: are a bit scary....

Wow!!!!, that's good mileage. Welcome here from GaryG! Please tell us more about your driving techniques!

GaryG

Hi GaryG, My commute to work is half an hour at 50-60mph and generally I never go over 70mph. I generally keep the engine at 2000rpm in 5th gear which is 56mph and that is when the car is producing the most torque so it is no struggle even on the steepest hills (my drive to work is throught the countryside with lots of hills and bends)

I think if I drove on flat, straight roads at the same speed I would get 70mpg+.

I also use the AC a lot which doesn't help but it the reason I bought the car.

Hi Black Bullet:

___It sounds like you are doing all the right things right off the bat other then the attention mods ;) Anyone that can keep the speed down and receive the FE you are has my respect and your FE numbers definitely show you know what you are doing!

___I looked up the 07 Fiesta 1.4L TDCi specs and see it is rated at 44.4 mpg (US gallons) Urban/63.5 mpg (US gallons) Extra Urban/54.7 mpg (US gallons) combined on the Euro test cycles. That 63.5 highway number makes everybody here drool including the lean-burn capable HCH-I and Insight drivers :D There is nothing really available here in the US today with the equivalent numbers other then the Prius with the same 54.7 mpg (US gallons) combined on the Euro test cycles. Where the Prius really makes a name for itself however is the slower speed stuff and making a name for itself would be an understatement. The diesels that used to be available here in the US are all about highway and your numbers from across the pond certainly prove that to be a fact! What at least 50 members here would do to own your excellent looking Fiesta as equipped. WOW!

___I have some ideas as to how to improve upon your current 60 + numbers but you will probably be forced to look for alternate routes? Nobody I have read about in the US has really done much with their diesel TDI’s other then the 70 - 75 (US gallon) mpg tanks. I think there is a lot more available where that came from but let us here more about your drive and style given my inexperience with the mighty European Ford diesel you currently own.

___Good Luck and welcome to CleanMPG!

___Wayne

Welcome!

Yes the :Banane03: are scary.

So is the mpg in that wonderful little Ford. To have that thing in a 3 door would be nice. How clean does it burn? Wonder what the 0 to 60 times are on it. In the event you want to make it move. :) Air bag, abs and all that good stuff packed in it? How does it fas with a turbo?

Here in America. We can only get a few oil burners of the German type. I think folks are quitely hype'd about Hondas offering in a few years. Would be nice if I could go down to the local Ford dealer, get specs and order something like that.

Again
Welcome to cleanmpg,,, and thanks for bringing your slick little buggy along.

psy

Welcome to CleanMPG, Black Bullet!

It's good to have more of both a diesel and European perspective here!

Welcome to CleanMPG, Black Bullet!

It's good to have more of both a diesel and European perspective here!

Amen. Every now and then I ponder "X" and think "this would be a good idea for all cars sold", only to later realize that "X" is already being done across the pond............at which time I amend my statement yet again to "this would be a good idea for all cars sold in the US so that we get up to speed" :(

Please don't assume we know what is typical in a EU-purchased auto. I for one would love to know more.

Edit: And welcome!!!!!!!

Hi Psy:

___You won’t like the performance numbers of the European diesels from 0 - 60 but their 30 - 60 numbers are OK? They seem to tolerate what the real world drives vs. the dunces here that purchase 0 - 60 in 7 seconds and never use but 1/3 of that in the real world …

07 Fiesta 1.4 TDCi: 0 - 62 in 15.0 w/ a stick, 16.0 w/ Auto.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi all, thanks for the positive comments. The car is rated to have 68bhp but talking to other TDCi owners that seems to be a very pessimistic number. The car never feels slow and can fairly fly if you put your foot down. A lot of owners over here 'chip' their cars and that would bring the bhp nearer 100 but also improves the economy. My car can be a bit sluggish at lower speeds but over 50mph the old girl lifts up here petticoat and runs! :) Not that she has ever gone over 110mph (officer.....)

My car is the top-of-the-range model so it has AC, In-dash 6-CD Changer, Airbags, ABS, Brake Assist, Remote locking, alloys, electric windows and heated windscreen and mirrors (great in the winter) so it isn't lacking in features.

The downside is that it cost £12,000 ($24,000 approx) to buy new but that is the going rate over here. The savings I am making in insurance, road tax and fuel more than make up for it.


I was looking at buying a Prius but it is expensive to buy (nearly $40,000) and if you use any of the performance or AC the mileage plummets - I don't have that problem in my car. The AC only knocks 1-2 mpg if used everyday.

Hi Psy:

___You won’t like the performance numbers of the European diesels from 0 - 60 but their 30 - 60 numbers are OK? They seem to tolerate what the real world drives vs. the dunces here that purchase 0 - 60 in 7 seconds and never use but 1/3 of that in the real world …

07 Fiesta 1.4 TDCi: 0 - 62 in 15.0 w/ a stick, 16.0 w/ Auto.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Ack,,, 15 sec. with a stick. But thats not everything. Was hoping it would be a tad better than that.

I went to the ford.co.uk site yesterday. It was loading so slow it was awful. The Ha I think it was looked promising.

Still wondering how the turbo would handle fas'ing. Is there a electric oil pump to keep the turbo bearings wet. Or is that done from the engine oil pump? And what kinda of emissions does it produce? And does it have a cyclops dash like Yaris and PII?

Sorry for all the questions. Everytime I search on this car. Be it a Ford site or other info the site either fails to load or is so slow its useless. Like 9600 baud slow...:)

psy

Sorry about being late:o but, welcome! Great numbers!

Hi Psy:

___Let me try and help where I can and hopefully Black Bullet will add pertinent info where I may have mislead?

___About performance … They would be a handful in a few instances but think about running A/C with a 3 - 5 mpg hit all summer long and still exceeding 55 out on the highway! Not bad if I do say so myself ;)
Still wondering how the turbo would handle fas'ing. Is there a electric oil pump to keep the turbo bearings wet. Or is that done from the engine oil pump?___There is no electric oil pump to the sleeves but remember a Diesel is running somewhere around a 64:1 ratio at idle vs. our 15:1. You can do the calc’s at .2 Liters/hour during idle for one of these magnificent little 1.4L machines. A NICE-On with them is darn close to a FAS with ours. About FAS’ing a CI-ICE. When ever I have the opportunity to drive one of the 07 F-350 6.0L Powerstroke’s at work, I simply hold onto a NICE-On for about 10 seconds and then shut her down. The most I have ever seen boost wise was 2 Lb’s which means the thing is never spooled up and the temps generated have to be in the low 700’s vs. 900 + for someone on the pedal … A 10 second cool down should be more then adequate to FAS one of these beauties but taking her into a FAS from a well lit turbo is something I would avoid at all costs … Or for at least 15 seconds anyway :D
And what kind of emissions does it produce?___Here again, they are not what you would have hoped … The Euro diesels have not been allowed in the states in the past 10 years. The de-modded VW 1.9 TDI’s barely made it but as you know, they are no longer sellable here in the US either. The Tier II/Bin8 based 07 MB320 CDI (it is called Blutec but it has no Blutec emissions controls this year) is (only the 45 non-clean states) but that thing is a smoking pig by comparison to your Civic … The Euro IV specs that all the latest Euro diesels meet are still NOx and PM emitting SOB’s by comparison to our LEV-II’s, ULEV-II’s, and SULEV-2’s let alone the SULEV-2 based PZEV’s for the evaporative stuff. Diesel does not evaporate like gasoline so they have far less to worry about wrt that problem …
And does it have a Cyclops dash like Yaris and PII?___I think you are going to like the looks of the Euro Fiesta’s interior. I chose the ST version (cropped and resized of course) because if you were going to purchase one in the future, I am sure that would be the minimal level of appointments you would accept. Notice the pedals? Cool yes ;) Secondly, I wish everyone had access to the manufacturer media sites I currently have. The stuff they put out is absolutely fantastic in terms of spec sheets, overviews, and usually a ton of HQ photos!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/2007_Euro_Ford_Fiesta_ST_Interior.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thanks for the info xcel.

I feared the turbo was oiled off the system pump> :( That could be delt with I'm sure. Either by driving modes or tactics like you suggested.

I like the dash a whole lot better. I don't like the Ford Bold Moves dash registers. The pedals look nice. But would look much better with my feet covering them I'm sure. I much prefer the standard like type gauge cluster.

At $24K it should have a center console and at least a Navi in the dash.

A interesting car. As a daily driver. $24k is to much. With pump oil costing more than gas here in Oklahoma I don't think the car would sell. Unless fuel was bumping $10 per. gallon.

psy

The Fiesta sells well over here beacuse it doesn't have any gadgets or gizmos that add weight and could eventually break. It has everything I need (AC, CD Player etc) and nothing I don't (Climate, Power Seats, Nav, 14-Speaker system etc)

Cars over here get a lot more wear and tear so by the time they have done 100k they are usually scrap. I have done 60k so far and take car of my car so 100k should be no problem.

The engine is a joint venture between Ford and PSA (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_DLD_engine#DLD-414) and thankfully the french did most of the work and not Ford so it doesn't sound like it is powered by broken spanners and gravel! :)

I want to try an achieve good mpg without resorting to any modifications to the car as they might affect the reliablity, which so far has been perfect.

I want to try an achieve good mpg without resorting to any modifications to the car as they might affect the reliablity, which so far has been perfect.

Sounds like a good plan! One of the very few modifications you'll read about here is radiator or grill blocking during cold weather. How low do your winter temperatures get over there? If it stays above ~50F (10C) then I wouldn't expect it to be much of a benefit.

And does your Fiesta give you any kind of real-time fuel economy readout? If not, do European-spec cars have OBD-II capability for something like a ScanGauge?

Hi Brick. It never gets too cold where I stay so I don't think grille blocking would work. I don't know if I would want to do that either as it could harm the car.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t219/sweetbaboo_photos/DSC00032.jpg

My car doesn't have a trip computer - the facelift model does though :( I think the car does have some sort of mpg computer built in as the low fuel warning light comes on when you have 50 miles left to go but it will come on earlier if you are driving hard and later if driving carefully - so you know when you have 50 miles to go no matter how you are driving the car.

The car does has a port to attach to a computer from the dashboard but I don't know what kind it is.



68.5mpg this week! Woo-hoo!!

Welcome to CleanMPG from another Scottish member :)

The port on your car is, most likely, an OBD-II port. You can plug a ScanGauge into
that, and get instantaneous MPG from it!

Matt (owner of a 52MPG (UK) 43MPG (US) Bluebird Turbo!

P.S. I really need to update my gas-logs too!