fuel consumption

[BayBoy1]

I have a new car with a renault 1.5 dci engine diesel.the hand book says i should get an average 55 miles per gallon , but i am getting just 40 per gallon.I live up in the hills and have to drive 5 miles along a bumpy dirt track very slowly until i reach a tarmac road. The engine has done 1,000 miles.willl the fuel consumption improve with time.

[ChuckFickens]

It will improve as the engine runs in... but I wouldn't expect to the the manufacturers claimed figures, especially as you're not exactly doing normal driving (although you don't say what percentage this 5 mile track is of your daily driving)

[tonyav]

Well you are driving in low gears along the bumpy track you sound like you also have to go up some hills as well, none of this will help with your fuel consumption. It may improve with a few more thousand miles on the clock but not very much.

[BayBoy1]

thank you chuck and tony ,I drive about twenty five miles a day , so i guess 10 of those are up and down the track, at a slow speed in low gear thanks for the info.

[Toureman]

Find out here.......

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/

[stocksman]

The other answers are spot on. Don't take too much notice of manufacturer's ''expected'' figures. They do their testing on an indoor rolling road, at a steady(most economical) speed, in other words under no strain whatsoever. There is no way you will achieve those figures under normal circumstances.