S40 (New) Engine 2.0D : 35mpg is it worrying?!!

[rowdy]

Originally Posted by Si81

Bingo.. Doing short distances like that is just asking for problems imo.. Anything under say 15k a year and a petrol car will be no doubt cheaper to run and maintain..

Can't you bike to work? lol

Yes, and if a lot of the journey is up hills then 35mpg is probably quite good imo.
Try using the trip computer on constant mpg for a while, and you will see that hills absolutely kill the mpg figures, they will be in single figures for a fair bit of it.

As for short journeys, not good for any car be it petrol or diesel. My brothers missus uses their car for short journey across town on a daily basis and he phoned me up worried that he had head gasket failure (06 Octavia Vrs petrol).
I told him to get a coolant pressure test but that I thought it wouldn't be head gasket (he was complaining about mayo build up under oil cap) and more likely just condensation that wasn't getting burnt off as the car wasn't getting up to temp. This proved to be the case.

[nbuuifx]

Originally Posted by Si81

Bingo.. Doing short distances like that is just asking for problems imo.. Anything under say 15k a year and a petrol car will be no doubt cheaper to run and maintain..

Can't you bike to work? lol

I'm a keen cyclist and often do more miles per week on my bike than I do in the car, I'll be off for a quick 50 miles in the morning tomorrow - I do occasionally bike to work but most of the time I have too much stuff with me.

[Thom12]

I think if you are driving around town and on short journeys then 35 is ok. I get about 40 around the town with the 1.6D.

[ASGV40]

Totally agree, and exactly what happened to me.

I have bought a D5 a few months back but my comute to work is only 5 minutes. Driving really slow I was getting 35 mpg. After my first long trip (300 motorway miles) it went up to 40 mpg and has stayed there even after starting the short comutes again (although I am seeing it creeping down slightly). Long drive definitely cleans it up.
I have come to the conclusion that diesels take longer to heat up and are only fuel efficient after fully warmed up. At least 10 miles I would say.
For short journeys petrol is better.

Originally Posted by 961

Yes I'm afraid it's all down to the distance of your daily commute, which is not suited to a diesel at all. It will hardly get beyond the warm stage and at 5 miles each way you are probably doing well to get 35mpg

It would be worthwhile brimming the tank one weekend and going for 100/150 miles on fast A roads/motorways

This would do the engine a world of good and clean it out and on return brim the tank again and see the difference in mpg when on a long run with the engine at proper temperatures

[Wooders]

I get around 35MPG ish on the short journey commute,sounding a similar route to yours.
I get around 50 ish on a long journey,but the girlfriend manages to eek a bit more when she drives it,but we arrive a tad later.

A well serviced engine will always be better,performance and economy wise.I fitted a K&N element filter which helped and change the oil and filter every 10k miles.

Tyre pressures also play a big part.Just purchased a set of "Tyre pressure monitors" off fleebay,which just replace your dust caps and show green when good pressure and change to yellow then red if the tyre pressure drops.At only £5 i am hoping they will pay for themselves.

Link:-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TYRE-PRESS...item20c5127518