One Week And 1,000 Miles In!

[needmorecharge]

Well,

First week with the F-Sport has gone well. I have had to adjust my driving style but it's been interesting. I bought the car as I moved jobs and lost my fuel card and so far it's proving a great move. Averaging 55mpg. I'm looking at every journey as a challenge to squeeze another mpg out of it.

My conclusion is that the Eco mode is a bit of a waste of time, the normal mode is where I'm having my mpg game which is good and sport mode for a little burst of madness. My plan tomorrow is to drive it in sport mode all day tomorrow to compare mpg.

Overall I'm one very happy owner!

:-)

[zippyone]

welcome to the club, glad that you are happy with your CT.

I think that you will need to run your motor for at least two tank fulls in each mode to get a good mpg read out, the motor also has to settle in. I believe many people put better mpg down more to driving style and that the 'driving modes' just add that little tweek.

I had my CT last December, drive mainly on urban roads max 70kmh, I have tried the above system and personally found that there is little difference between the modes, even when on the motorway. I cosider the weight of my foot the real deciding factor and the ability to read the road, I had a long learning curve.

My longest run was Italy to England and I was more than pleased with the mpg, as a pensioner I too keep a close eye on the mpg. I use 'fuelly', and if you look me up there you can see just how 'Mr Jingles' performs. At the moment 'Mr. Jingles' indicates 4.3l/100km (66mpg) and fuelly tells me 4.8l/100Km ( 59mpg). My own mathematics go along with fuelly.

Now just of to the big city and to fill up.

Best wishes.

Michael.

[Rich2508]

And I thought I was covering a big mileage every week! For the first time this week I have ran completely on Eco and managed to keep the mpg above 60 for the past 500 miles for the first time, normally its around 56 mpg. What I have found strange is it seems to be running less in pure EV mode but spends more time with rhe Battery assisting the engine at gentle cruising.

[zippyone]

Hi Rich,

that's not strange, it is what is supposed to happen surely, the more that you can do with the Battery assisting the engine, the less petrol you use. The trick is to keep the Battery charged as well, to enable this composition, hence the light foot and reading the road ahead. I cruise a lot charging the Battery coming up to lights, roundabouts, inclines... I go down a few mph , but, with a gentle touch Battery and engine get me back to speed with little fuel use, when the Battery gets lowish again, I hypermile again. Well, that's my thinking anyway.

Today I filled up, 37 litres, my last fill up gave me 61mpg and a range of 499 miles I'm happy with that, I expect this to tail of now as it is getting colder, 16°c today, probably warmer in Hampshire. I am now in shoes and socks, not sandles or old house slippers. More changes to foot pressure.

Changes to the car also, I must get some winter tyres (obligatory here) when I can find some that have good rolling ability, A or B. I shall also make a lower grill cover like the one Geof (WASS) made. I think that winter tyres will bring my mpg down a little also, have to see. On my Subaru I use any old winter tyres, but the CT is new and hybrid, so I want good RR tyres, the Bridgestone factory fits are only E rated for RR, not too good, but with 61mpg can't be that bad!

Best wishes.

Michael.

[Rich2508]

It will be interesting to hear your experiences with Winter tyres. Here in the UK they are just starting to take off. I would very much like to fit a set to mine, but the lease company won't let me do it, despite me accepting to pick up all the costs. I have a set of Snow socks for when conditions get really bad, and after last winter they were really useful, but a real fiddle to take on and off.

[Steverally]

It will be interesting to hear your experiences with Winter tyres. Here in the UK they are just starting to take off. I would very much like to fit a set to mine, but the lease company won't let me do it, despite me accepting to pick up all the costs. I have a set of Snow socks for when conditions get really bad, and after last winter they were really useful, but a real fiddle to take on and off.

Richard, I was sceptical about the benefits of winter tyres, whilst I'd had my Prius I'd toyed with the idea for three winters but always resisted the urge to buy. I bought my CT a year ago and then in December saw a set of 15" wheels fitted with Hankook tyres for a CT advertised on eBay, better still they were being sold only 40 miles away. I bit the bullet and bid and won them.

Once fitted they seemed to give the car a more positive feel in the cold weather, frosty conditions not just the snow. In snow they were fantastic I even went out specially to try them on a couple of bad days. They seem to have less tyre noise than the LRR tyres fitted as standard, and I noticed no drop in fuel consumption whist they were fitted.

I informed my insurance company of the proposed change and was told I'd get a refund for fitting them - better still

At the beginning of November I'll be in the garage swapping the wheels over, the winter wheels will stay on until the temp gets above 7 degrees, they work better when the temp is below that.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Rich2508]

Steve, I think I am going to bite the bullet and by a set for my wife's car and I can use that if the weather gets really bad. It's infuriating that the lease company won't let us fit winter tyres, a colleague who goes skiing several times a year has to fit snow chains as they would not let him fit winter wheels and tyres (again at his own cost). Daft thing is that if I had chosen a BMW 1 series instead, they have a factory option for a set of winter wheels and tyres - that would have been okay with them!

[zippyone]

Hi all,

I can remember about 5 years ago when I was in Gosport and needed a tyre change for some reason, the tyre man said, 'do you know that this is a winter tyre', he was quite surprised. I confirmed what he said and told him that I was in Switzerland the day before. I went on to tell him, that there the police stop drivers just to check the tyres, wrong ones = big fine and a long walk, the car has to remain where it is until the tyre is change, or, if they are in a good mood chains are fitted. I do not like chains, not really good for road or tyre. Oh! so called, 'all weather tyres', are not accepteable either.

I agree with what Steve said entirely, winters are a boon, your lease company want a little education Richard, try speaking to them again, telling them the errors of their ways, there is a much higher risk of an accident when using Summers in the Winter, proven fact. Maybe that is their idea, so that they can screw the insurance company for an extra few quid, more profit. I would believe anything these days. I think that the proverbial ' honest John ' at the market, would be a saint in these modern times.

I have eight tyres/wheels for my impresa, four on the car and four on the garage wall, each season I go to my trusted tyre man, to change them over and align them/ renew them as required. I now have a very good, new/expensive car and naturally want good tyres for it. Tyre technology improves all the time, but they still generally have poor RR, I think that the new EU method of marking is a good benchmark and the manufactures should remove their preverbial and provide the punter with a better product, not just better advertising.

In my hunt so far I've come up with : Dunlop 205/55R16 Winter sport 4D, ( E-C-68db), Bridgestone Blizzag LM32, (C-B-69db), not quite the RR I am expecting. There was a LOC member who had found a Dunlop with an A, RR but I cannot find him now. Now I will look at Hankook to see their ratings.

Oh for the days of old when knights were bold........ Fill up with straw/grass, use the waste on my allotment, just a steel band for the tyre. Used to get a sore bum and wet when it rained, but by gum, I had some wonderfull rhubarb!! The joys of my first car come rushing back.

Get winter tyres, you know it makes sense.

All the best.

Michael.