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[richgilb]

Aaaaagh! Parkers figures are different to all the others but it is the second source to claim the 1.5 passion auto is the most efficient: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/smart/forfour/hatchback-2004/running-costs/

[Unknown]

Parkers is bollox, I wrote to them to complain about the forfour and very never updated the figures.

I drove my 1.3 on the London to Edinburgh run to prove the 451 mpg figures. we gathered together a cross section of smarts - my gal got me 60mpg with the air con on and handled perfectly well. She took me all over England and parts of Scotland. Before I retired her she had clocked 100k miles, done plenty of motorway journeys.

Couple of stats for you the 1.3 is 1332cc with 95bhp in a car weighing 0.9 tonnes - so its no slouch when it comes m-way and day-to-day driving. And a bit of perspective, my Corsa is 1.4 Auto so thats 1398cc, 100bhp and weighs in at a hefty 1.2 tonnes. Thats 100bhp/tonne for the forfour and 83bhp/tonne for the Corsa - hows that for a difference in performance?

And I can see where you're coming from on fuel costs, if your company pays out 40p/mile but you're fuel costs are at 13p/mile and as a general figure with everything included you could be paying out 20p/mile (fuel, tax, insurance, wear n tear) then you've netted 20p/mile profit. Makes sense to me. (Please note is this a guesstimate)

[Alex]

The 1.3 is a four cylinder, and my 1.3 manual sits very comfortably at 70-80mph at 3000-3500revs/min, wind noise is much greater than engine noise, the latter only comes in the cabin at over 4000 revs and you only really notice it above 5000 revs and I'm sure nobody cruises at that RPM.

[richgilb]

Parkers is bollox, I wrote to them to complain about the forfour and very never updated the figures.

I drove my 1.3 on the London to Edinburgh run to prove the 451 mpg figures. we gathered together a cross section of smarts - my gal got me 60mpg with the air con on and handled perfectly well. She took me all over England and parts of Scotland. Before I retired her she had clocked 100k miles, done plenty of motorway journeys.

Couple of stats for you the 1.3 is 1332cc with 95bhp in a car weighing 0.9 tonnes - so its no slouch when it comes m-way and day-to-day driving. And a bit of perspective, my Corsa is 1.4 Auto so thats 1398cc, 100bhp and weighs in at a hefty 1.2 tonnes. Thats 100bhp/tonne for the forfour and 83bhp/tonne for the Corsa - hows that for a difference in performance?

And I can see where you're coming from on fuel costs, if your company pays out 40p/mile but you're fuel costs are at 13p/mile and as a general figure with everything included you could be paying out 20p/mile (fuel, tax, insurance, wear n tear) then you've netted 20p/mile profit. Makes sense to me. (Please note is this a guesstimate)

Ok sounds like it will be fine....comparable, so my search could include both. We had a 1.4 sri corsa once. That was fine at speed too.

[richgilb]

The 1.3 is a four cylinder, and my 1.3 manual sits very comfortably at 70-80mph at 3000-3500revs/min, wind noise is much greater than engine noise, the latter only comes in the cabin at over 4000 revs and you only really notice it above 5000 revs and I'm sure nobody cruises at that RPM.

3500rpm is enough for me too.

[Alex]

And that's on the 5 speed manual, the 6 speed AMT will sit lower than that. So the 1.3 AMT is more than good enough for motorway speeds (it even has good acceleration, no need for downshifting to overtake at that speed) but the power reserve of the 1.5 is good to have on an LPG conversion because you stress the engine less in day to day driving.

[Unknown]

Ok sounds like it will be fine....comparable, so my search could include both. We had a 1.4 sri corsa once. That was fine at speed too.

Did you do a conversion on the Corsa?

As Alex stated, wind and road noise are the biggest factors of the forfour at speed. At 70mph, IIRC, the 1.3 AMT will sit happily at 3000rpm. And the AMT will pull in 6th quite happily.

[richgilb]

Ok sounds like it will be fine....comparable, so my search could include both. We had a 1.4 sri corsa once. That was fine at speed too.

Did you do a conversion on the Corsa?

As Alex stated, wind and road noise are the biggest factors of the forfour at speed. At 70mph, IIRC, the 1.3 AMT will sit happily at 3000rpm. And the AMT will pull in 6th quite happily.

No it was worlasses motor. She only does 3000 miles a year. Fond memories of that car. Seemed to have the spirit of the 80s in it. No flab, quick steering.

[basilbrush]

And that's on the 5 speed manual, the 6 speed AMT will sit lower than that. So the 1.3 AMT is more than good enough for motorway speeds (it even has good acceleration, no need for downshifting to overtake at that speed) but the power reserve of the 1.5 is good to have on an LPG conversion because you stress the engine less in day to day driving.

The 1.3 AMT will downshift in automatic mode on motorways with the slightest acceleration to overtake especially if on a slight incline. Better to stick it in 6th manual mode and do downshifts yourself if really necessary. Apart from that a nice motorway cruiser.

[Problemchild]

get the cdi - its VERY tuneable

JJ

[Scoobysook]

get the cdi - its VERY tuneable

JJ

Not too much more expensive, nil loss of boot space, no upfront LPG costs- eg if you had an accident. Up to 60mpg plus

[richgilb]

get the cdi - its VERY tuneable

JJ

Not too much more expensive, nil loss of boot space, no upfront LPG costs- eg if you had an accident. Up to 60mpg plus

Cheers but you need to be quoting 85+mpg for the diesel to appeal vs an lpg conversion.

[Problemchild]

if the LPG install is at zero cost and no additional maintenance

once you factor in that then you are closer to the mpg of the cdi

JJ

[richgilb]

if the LPG install is at zero cost and no additional maintenance

once you factor in that then you are closer to the mpg of the cdi

JJ

Sigh.....please factor in my circumstances then. My employer will pay me 6000 a year car allowance and will pay me 21p per mile for petrol or lpg cars up to 1.6. Or 14p for diesel up to 1.6. I do up to 25000 work miles a year and about 8000 private in the lpg car.

I'd love it if I could get this thread back onto finding out the truth about the official mpg figures of petrol cars

[mozilla]

Sigh.....please factor in my circumstances then. My employer will pay me 6000 a year car allowance and will pay me 21p per mile for petrol or lpg cars up to 1.6. Or 14p for diesel up to 1.6

Haha 

Everyone else apart from the OP seems to know better on online forums! 

I think the brabus falls under the 1.6 rule, hhhmm turbocharged LPG but then again the mpg will be bad as you need a 6th gear for M-ways