With petrol prices causing regular pain to every UK motorist (£82 at my last fill-up) there is a growing demand and market for ultra-fuel-efficient cars, and almost every manufacturer is producing models tuned to offer the maximum mileage from the minimum amount of fuel.
Their published fuel economy figures are laughably inaccurate when compared to real results on the road, but at least they are compiled in a statistically-sound way which allows us to compare one model with another. Not so long ago 50mpg was quite an achievement, now we are knocking on the door of 90mpg and who knows in a few years 100mpg may be achieved without batteries, solar panels or witchcraft.
Avoiding the complications of hybrid and electric cars, and the even less believable mpg figures being quoted for them, the top 8 fuel-thrifty models available in the UK at the moment are:
- Peugeot 308 Blue HDi – 91.1mpg
- Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion – 88.3mpg
- Hyundai i20 1.1 CRDi – 88.3mpg
- Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi – 88.3mpg
- Renault Clio 1.5 dCi – 88.3mpg
- Skoda Octavia Greenline – 88.3mpg
- Ford Fiesta Econetic – 85.6mpg
- Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTi – 85.6mpg
The Hyundai i20 is powered by a very modest 74bhp 1.1-litre three-cylinder turbo diesel engine, which sounds radical, but actually Smart have been putting even smaller (700cc) 3-cylinder turbo petrol engines into their cars since the early 2000s. My 2003 Smart Roadster probably does around 50mpg – not many 2-seater convertibles (especially 11 year old ones) can boast economy like that!
Obviously you have to weigh up the savings on fuel over the life of the car with all the other considerations attached to buying the car, and fuel savings are unlikely to be the biggest saving you can make.
For example: Over 3 years at 12,000 miles per year, a car which does 60mpg would save you around £700 over one which does 50mpg. If you did huge mileage the savings would start to be very significant, but would they outweigh the difference in price between a new car and a 2-3 year old model? Unlikely; in fact not buying a new car in the first place would probably be your best bet!
Also remember that all of these models are small diesels, which are unsuited to short journeys, usually more expensive than petrol models in the first place, and more costly to fill up per litre than petrol equivalents.
So beware they hype and weigh up all costs when considering your next car, a warm fuzzy feeling when you fill up won’t always outweigh the stealth costs you might be paying.