I fear that if you do, ou'll be referred toi a taxidermist. As Skidpan says above, the dealer can only quote the official figures, and there will be some small print somewhere saying so.

It was made illegal to "advertise" fuel consumption figures back in the 1970's because of exaggerated claims - there was/is however an obligation to publish the official economy figures which is what we all see.

Some great points being made here.

Lorries are just the same, we get new lorries regularly, they have a 5 year life with us then go back, each and every new model has more gadgetry and electronics and driving aids supposed to make them so much more economical than the last one that didn't have quite so much (to go wrong), ''this ones the business'', ''they've sorted the engine out on the new model, this ones superb'' we hear it all, these new ones will do 11 mpg on our work, as if, no they jolly well won't, and we just smile and wait till we've done a few regular trips with them on the long uphill drags that feature on much of our work.

Result being exactly as said above, for all the new technology the simple fact is that fuel has to be burned to shift 44 tons of lorry up hill and around hundreds of junctions, and when after a few weeks we find, lo and behold, the new one is doing if not worse (given euro 6 strangulation) then about the same as the old one was and the one before that..which went better too cos it wasn't stranged with emission stuff so kept in top gear longer...and the one before that, and before you know it you're back in the 90's and the vehicles were still giving around the same fuel economy as today because despite not being as technically efficient they breathed easier, plus other reasons i won't bore you further with.

Cars are much more economical today but only if everything is perfect as on a fuel economy test bed, but when variables come into it you're still back to burning fuel to get up to and maintian speed, and on ever heavier cars with ever fatter tyres, you have to ask yourself is this feasable.

Note well designed hybrids are the ones able to reap better economy when the variables such as traffic and stop start combine, and they always sit on sensible tyres, they take advantage of the conditions that penalise heavily the cars that can be ultimately more economical at a steady cruise if carefully driven.

I think you have to use some common sense when reading these economy figures, if you're standing beside a massive car half filling a showroom and weighing in at near on two tons sat on tyres and wheels that wouldn't look out of place on a lorry, then you have to ask yourself seriously is this car really capable of 60mpg in normal driving.

Should be an interesting conversation at the Audi showroom, i'd like to be a fly on the wall.

Keep that Carina going as long as you can, zero depreciation and a very good car to boot, 90's again, the finest car design era by miles.

You will never have cheaper nor more simple motoring than you have now, as for style you're in the welcoming ranks of us lovable (well maybe) eccentrics who simply do not want what is made now and refuse to buy what they tell us we should have.

Lets be honest, whilst no car I have ever owned has come anywhere near matching the combined average (except on a long holiday trip) cars have got much better over the years.

A few examples:

1974 1800 cc Vauxhall Magnum. Had about 75 bhp and was not exactly a ball of fire yet only managed to average about 25 mpg. Short runs in winter resulted in mid teens but on a run it would just break 30 mpg.

In 1980 I bought my first new car, a Mk 2 Escort 1600. 82 bhp and in normal use it averaged in the low 30's and on a runs the high 30's. Considering it was much quicker than the Magnum I saw that as progress.

Move on 9 years and I bought a Mk2 Golf GTi 1.8 8V. 112 bhp and my first quick car with 0-60 in the low 8's and decent drivability. Would average mid 30's and on a run just creep into the low 40's. Compared to the Escort more progress.

Move on 25 years. Got a Seat Leon 1.4 TSi 140 bhp. Quickest normal car I have owned, in gear acceleration is simply stunning. It averages 45 mpg in normal use and will just creep into the mid 50's on a coast trip. It also weighs far more than any of the above cars, at least 300kg more and has much wider tyres both of which drag the economy down. Now that's what I call progress.

So whilst modern cars don't achieve the EU figures they are actually far more economical than similar cars of the past.

We have never had it so good.

But some of us still believe everything we read or are told.