Why are the 2003 and 2009 Avensis fuel economy rates so similar?
Your real mpg lists at www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg make very interesting reading. I note that the real mpg values for the 2003 Avensis and the 2009 Avensis are almost the same (1.8 engine), yet the later model with its Valvematic engine, having variable valve lift, is claimed to be more efficient and has the higher official mpg. Why, in real life, is the Valvematic not more efficient?
Asked on 14 September 2013 by BJ, via email
Answered by
Honest John
Could be all sorts of reasons and one is that current 2009 Avenses are more likely to be company cars and are driven harder. The other is that as manufacturers increasingly optimise engines to meet ever lower CO2 in the EC lab tests they sacrifice the engine's efficiency in real life situations.
Real MPG enables you to register the fuel economy you are actually getting against your make and model of car, its engine and type of transmission.
Every time you enter an average consumption figure against your car, the overall average automatically adjusts to reflect it.
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