Very Bad Economy, Any Advice?

hypojam · Post by **hypojam** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 7:43 pm

200 Miles to a full tank... mostly driving with a heavy right foot...

Is this about normal? Seems very bad too me?

Polo Paul · Post by **Polo Paul** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 7:49 pm

Sounds about right for a heavy right foot, got to bear in mind its an old motor and unless its been religously serviced wont be anywhere near what it should of been all those years ago.

hypojam · Post by **hypojam** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:08 pm

The ride quality is really poor with this stupid pierburg carb.. Its like Ive constantly got kangaroo petrol

I heard people fit weber carbs to these 1272cc Engines....what type do i need and how much do they cost?

Polo Paul · Post by **Polo Paul** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:14 pm

Had no experience with them on a Polo but fitted one to my mums Golf 1.8 Syncro. Made a hell of a difference, much smoother, but was a little worse on fuel too. A local place supplied and fitted it.

They dont seem to have a website from a quick google so i dont actually know where you would source one from these days.

The pieburg carbs are bad, but could just be dirty, give it some carb cleaner, might save you a few pennies on petrol here and there, also make sure plugs, and filters are all good as these make a difference in economy.

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:33 am

If that's a genuine full tank then it's pretty poor.. if it's just full to the top of the reserve then it's not awful for a heavy right foot. Have you worked out what mpg it's doing? If not, reset the trip counter when you next fill up, and then record the amount of miles you do before the next fill up and the amount of petrol you put in, then do mileage divided by litres of petrol divided by 4.45, this will give you your MPG. Remember to fill right up to the top of the tank both times.
I can't remember which weber carb you need for a 1.3, but I'm sure someone will tell you the model. They'll probably be all over ebay as it's the same engine as the 1.3 golf and it's a common conversion. I did it to my 1.05 and it improved reliability, responsiveness and economy, worth every penny.

Mk2Adam · Post by **Mk2Adam** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:00 am

i personally get about 90 miles for Â£10 but that's all town driving and with a reasonably heavy right foot

Gareth_GT_Hatch · Post by **Gareth_GT_Hatch** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:10 pm

the golf ones come up on ebay fairly often, they can be fitted to a polo too, they just need re-jetting (which is dead easy on the weber carb you need) Weber 32/34 DMTR is the one (DMTL works too)

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:30 am

<pedant> *ahem* 4.54 litres </pedant>

I don't think the Formels were meant to be driven hard

their carbs were made specially to put in small amounts of fuel, and being pierburg to boot are probably throwing fits at the throttle being propped open a lot

mind you, definately work out how many gallons you're putting in for your 200 miles - you may be surprised that it's fairly good. it might just be your fuel guage is wonky and going into the red when you've still got a good 3 gallons left (instead of about 1), etc

NornIron · Post by **NornIron** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 2:11 pm

Tahrey1043 wrote:<pedant> *ahem* 4.54 litres </pedant>

4.54609...

hypojam · Post by **hypojam** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 2:34 pm

Ok..

Ive done 180miles and used 28 litres.. My brain isnt as fresh as it used to be so could someone work out the MPG

Polo Paul · Post by **Polo Paul** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:25 pm

29.5mpg

hypojam · Post by **hypojam** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:23 pm

I'm selling my polo, as Ive now bought a 'new' car...

I will make a topic, with pics in the for sale section soon...

Polo Paul · Post by **Polo Paul** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:24 pm

dude what've ya got?

hypojam · Post by **hypojam** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 3:12 pm

1996 1.2 Fiesta... Sorry

Polo Paul · Post by **Polo Paul** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 3:35 pm

Not such a bad car though it pains me to say it, I was always in the VAG camp and my mate has always been in the fiesta club. Nothing much between em really, although the spec on the Fiesta seems to be very basic and they drink the juice!!