Were you watching the news just now? Had a new VW on, can't remember the model name. Point of report was to show how economical it was compared to hybrid cars.
Meaningless figures given were that the reporter had driven it from Wolfsburg to the BBC in London. I think he said 450 miles, but it may have been 500. He also said the fuel cost £37 and was impressed by the fantastic economy.
Now, a quick calculation suggests that he did (say) 500 miles for £37 - about 52 euros. That diesel in Europe costs about 1 euro a litre so he did about 500 miles at (optimistically) 10 miles a litre. That is 45.54 mpg isn't it? My old BX did more than that, my Berlingo does a lot more than that - and I bet ther are many people on here who would be very disappointed with that mpg from their cars.
Now, I might well have got it wrong in what he said exactly, and my maths ain't too hot either!- so can someone tell me what was so great about this new VW that made it worth putting on the 6 o'clock news???
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Phil
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My 330d could easily squeeze 45 miles out of every gallon.
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Exactly, my daughter's Clio diesel does nearly 70 mpg on her motorway trips from London to us, my son's C2 does well over 50 mpg (and he thinks his middle name is Schumacher) and my wife's old Xantia HDi regularly does over 50 mpg (she thinks her middle name is Nuvolari - yes she is that old ----- but younger than me!!)
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Phil
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Exactly, my daughter's Clio diesel does nearly 70 mpg on her motorway trips from London to us, my son's C2 does well over 50 mpg (and he thinks his middle name is Schumacher) and my wife's old Xantia HDi regularly does over 50 mpg (she thinks her middle name is Nuvolari - yes she is that old ----- but younger than me!!) -- Phil
blimey your averaging 4 cars to one family now that is economical...not!
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"blimey your averaging 4 cars to one family now that is economical...not!"
Except that son and daughter are grown up and live in different parts of the country from us- and have done for ten years.
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Phil
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I didn't see the news item but it sounds as if this was badly reported.
I assume this was the Polo Bluemotion (using the Bluetech technology to reduce emissions?) which has a 1.4 turbo diesel unit. I think VW is claiming it can do around 72mpg and emits only 102g/km of CO2 which is lower than a Prius.
Bet they didn't say it will cost around £12k though... and to help reduce weight they have ditched air-con, electric door mirrors and central locking. And due to skinny tyres is not so good at handling. So if you can live with only 63mpg you'd go for the better spec Polo 1.4 TDI SE for the same money surely? But they do claim it should be capable of 700 miles on the 45 litre tank.
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"Polo Bluemotion "
That's the one rtj"
"Bet they didn't say it will cost around £12k though"
They did say it was expensive!
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Phil
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I did not see the program, but I think diesel is much more than 1 euro per litre. I think that could make a difference to your maths.
On my last trip to France, in my diesel Passat, I averaged 46.5 mpg, if I had driven slower I could have easily done more than 50 mpg. These are real world figures, not on a test pad. I reckon that diesels are more economic than these battery hybrid types, and less polluting over the whole life of the car.
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Well, I suppose, they didn't cut the roof off or try and make it into a strech limo which I suppose is progress !
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According to AA, diesel in Germany is 1.10 euros a litre
www.aaroadwatch.ie/eupetrolprices/
so that increases mpg by 10% - about 50mpg - still not much to write home about. He should have filled up in Luxembourg!
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Phil
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tinyurl.com/2umoo2
A more subjective and probably objective write up on the car.
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Slightly odd that the same car magazine (Autoexpress) had some different views on their first drive section... mpg and CO2 figures are even different and it was this where I picked up lack of air-con. Seems they have had a first drive in Aug 2006 and another first drive Feb 2007! And so the magazine not quite so accurate in that they have different info.
tinyurl.com/2gu6sm
Note the link above is for Feb 2007 and PU's is August 2006.
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That's better
"our Polo managed an amazing 76.4mpg ? a full 15mpg more than offered by the standard car, and 4mpg up on VW?s claims."
"The BlueMotion?s other trump card is its CO2 emissions. Producing 103g/km ? 16g/km less than the standard car ? it is one of the least polluting models money can buy."
Thanks PU
But it shows how rubbish the report on BBC was ----- and how dumb I am since I'm an Autoexpress subscriber!!
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Phil
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The reporter said:-
"I've now done 450 miles" whilst looking at the dashboard.
In a LHD VW that's not yet available in this country?
He also implied it was over 100 miles from the channel to central London.
Perhaps someone ought to tell him jonny foreigner deals in kilometres.
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"kilometres."
If that's the case he did 450 km on about 50 litres - that ain't too good!
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Phil
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The reporter concerned stated he had done, IIRC, 566 miles and that there was still about a quarter of a tank full of fuel remaining.
As no one stated the tank's capacity the rest is pure conjecture.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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So, we don't know the model, we don't know the price of fuel, we don't know the speed, nor the distance. Hmmm. Bit much to slate only the Beeb for sloppyiness, isn't it?
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It was stated quite clearly that it was the new VW Bluemotion using a diesel rather than a hybrid power unit.
This was one of three in a series of short reports this week about new cars to come - in a prime time key news programme you really can't expect it to be more than a brief resume of this particular VW.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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So the vehicle is the Polo Bluemotion, it has a 1.4l TDI diesel 3-cylinder diesel engine, has a 45 litre fuel tank (as all Polos do?) and according to Autoroute from VW Nordstrasse, Wolfsburg to BBC TV Centre (W12 7RJ) it is around 530 miles.
I think they should have had some facts though... not say it's only cost me £37 quid.
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So its a less luxurious and therefore cheaper version of the (never available in the UK) A2 1.2 TDi then?
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PS
The car was driven from Wolfsburg to the BBC Centre and was the first example of the model to enter the UK.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Daihatsu's new Charade has a CO rating of 99g/km and that uses the same engine as in the Aygo/107/C1. I imagine it will atleast equal the none too shabby mpg figure of the current model.
It will cost from around £7000. Makes the Polo look rather pricey.
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Surely buying cars like this to save a few pennies is like travelling in the guards van on the train or using a 1 star hotel when on holiday?
Cheaper, but... hardly worth the bother is it when a decent used 330d will do 45mpg+ on the Motorway.
Unless you do high mileage the savings offered by these silly little cars are nothing compared to the £12,000+ they cost to buy. And if you DO do high mileage do you really wish to spend it cramped up in a little citycar?
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I saw it.
It made Top Gearlook scientific.:-(
The producer should be fired... it was an expensive and 100% meaningless lot of twaddle - so typical BBC then.
madf
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"I saw it.
It made Top Gearlook scientific.:-("
Thanks madf, was beginning to think I had imagined it!
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Phil
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The Polo is the same size as the original Golf, which is hardly a small car internally, unless the driver is portly. How is that silly? Are you American? How much they cost overall depends to a great extent on depreciation. Quite a big difference in running cost between 60-70mpg overall for the Polo, with its low insurance rating and the 35mpg etc the BMW 330D might get if you are frugal. Not to mention the range between fueling stops.
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Daihatsu's new Charade has a CO rating of 99g/km and that uses the same engine as in the Aygo/107/C1. I imagine it will atleast equal the none too shabby mpg figure of the current model. It will cost from around £7000. Makes the Polo look rather pricey.
Hasn't got a VW logo on the front though - priorities, Stu. ;o)
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Hasn't got a VW logo on the front though - priorities, Stu. ;o)
VW badge is a negative for me :-) Daihatsu's are very underrated in many respects and my experience of the cars has always been very good. As reliable, cheap to run tools, they are excellent.
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I haven't watched it, but suspect this is the BBC report: news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/video/81000/bb/8154...x
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I think the point about this sort of car is that it will return 40mpg plus around town and slip under Ken Livingstone's net... of course myself I prefer the 1400cc Golf that looks as if butter wouldn't melt in its mouth but has two forced induction devices and does 300mph or something... my idea of a city runabout that.
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Indeed Lud, the reporter (Hugh Pym, a member of the Clarks shoe family as it 'appens) and VW emphasise the high mpg and low CO2, the point being that the car is a response to the call for lower carbon emissions as well as being more fuel efficient. And possibly you won't get charged the congestion charge, which affects London at the moment but is possibly coming elsewhere.
Yes it's a rubbish piece of motoring journalism, but does it set out to be motoring journalism? It seems to be a piece about car makers' efforts to produce greener cars.
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I saw this on the BBC website. VW say it can do 70mpg, but I don't see what's so special about that! The Aygo/107/C1 could probably do that with the petrol engine! The BBC got 566 miles from a tank, which I make to be about 57mpg. VW said it was because they were doing 70mph which is not fuel-efficient. Even my car (7 years old and petrol) can easily get 57mpg at 70mph. Not many people drive along motorways at <70mph. I really can't see what the fuss is about.
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I can't believe they're making such a big fuss about this polo too. Anyone remember the Lupo 3L? 90+mpg?
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