W202 poor mpg around town

[mk3-ralf]

Would just like to say hello. i recently acquired a w202, so am new to the forum. I am a VW enthusiast at heart...but who knows maybe the merc will change me.

I have been experiencing a massive difference in mpg between motorway and town driving.

My regular motorway drive £15 of petrol (around 12 litres i think) gets me 100 miles. which i am impressed with.

£15 of petrol around town will barely get me 50miles. Even with super economical diriving

has anyone every experienced this? The car has recently had a full service which is making me think more along the lines of thermostat rather than spark plugs.

please could someone point me in the right direction. Or tell me to increase my petrol budget if this is normal

 

[JasM]

What engine does your W202 have?

 

[Aletank]

I regularly get 23 mpg around town including my 4 mile trip to work.
Thats from a 2 litre petrol auto

 

[mk3-ralf]

What engine does your W202 have?

I have the 2 litre petrol Auto...should have really mentioned that.

I do hope 23mpg isnt normal...im a broke student!!

 

[JasM]

Yep that sounds about normal. I only get about 25 mpg around town and mine's a manual.

 

[Adam230K]

i'm tempted to say that there's something wrong with all 3 of your w202's!!

My distinctly remember getting nothing less than 30mpg in town on my old c200. And I got 25mpg in town (flooring the crap out of it) in the C230K, and that was very consistent!

 

[JasM]

i'm tempted to say that there's something wrong with all 3 of your w202's!!

My distinctly remember getting nothing less than 30mpg in town on my old c200. And I got 25mpg in town (flooring the crap out of it) in the C230K, and that was very consistent!

To be fair, i hardly do any long distance journeys. My daily commute just consists of a few miles of town driving, which means the car doesn't get a proper warm up.

 

[Aletank]

i'm tempted to say that there's something wrong with all 3 of your w202's!!

My distinctly remember getting nothing less than 30mpg in town on my old c200. And I got 25mpg in town (flooring the crap out of it) in the C230K, and that was very consistent!

If I go on a long run I get 35+ MPG
Have a look at this Autotrader Advert and click on the "Performance & Economy" tab 1999 MERCEDES-BENZ C200 Sport
I think them MPG figures are pretty much what you can expect.
I use to have a Rover 414 1.4 Petrol Manual and was getting 31MPG aound town so 23 MPG from a 2 Litre Auto sounds about right to me.

 

[Gridlock]

Mine never really goes below 20mpg, with plenty of town driving, so I'd be surprised if 23-25 is normal for a 2 litre..

Also, welcome to the forum, and don't worry there's more than one dubber hiding out around here

 

[mk3-ralf]

Mine never really goes below 20mpg, with plenty of town driving, so I'd be surprised if 23-25 is normal for a 2 litre..

Also, welcome to the forum, and don't worry there's more than one dubber hiding out around here

it's good to know im not the only one...mine seems to use a lot of petrol just turning the engine over..or it seems that way anyway

 

[Aletank]

A Brand new C180 CGI Blue Efficiency Mercedes-Benz UK - C-Class Saloon - Technical data Urban MPG figure is only 28.5 MPG.

 

[mykulmerc]

My 1999 W202 220 gave mid thirties on a good run, so short journies around town you would expect mid 20's, might improve a bit as weather improves. Your figure sounds a little low, but not that far wide of the mark.

 

[JasM]

My 1999 W202 220 gave mid thirties on a good run, so short journies around town you would expect mid 20's, might improve a bit as weather improves. Your figure sounds a little low, but not that far wide of the mark.

Yours is a diesel and the OP's car is a petrol.

 

[Honey Bear]

Running a pre facelift, 2.0 petrol, manual. These figures are similar to what I get.

I avoid using air con unless I'm traveling about 45/50 mph. Same applies to most electronics. I don't charge my phone, use the radio, heat the seats, or use interior lights on short journeys. Maintaining optimum tyre puressure, oil levels, ect is also another way to get good mpg.

Or if you're uber **** consider washing the car regularly. There are types of wax that you can get to make the car super slik, reducing drag.

Additionally I use premium fuel. I didn't notice any results at first. After a while however, I noticed increased mpg's on long distance journeys. Further more significant figures on cross country journeys too. After doing some simple maths after a trip to wales, last summer the best I ever got was 37/38 mpg. But I was driving with my mum. Meaning I was also pretty slow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rothbury]

Would just like to say hello. i recently acquired a w202, so am new to the forum. I am a VW enthusiast at heart...but who knows maybe the merc will change me.

I have been experiencing a massive difference in mpg between motorway and town driving.

My regular motorway drive £15 of petrol (around 12 litres i think) gets me 100 miles. which i am impressed with.

£15 of petrol around town will barely get me 50miles. Even with super economical diriving

has anyone every experienced this? The car has recently had a full service which is making me think more along the lines of thermostat rather than spark plugs.

please could someone point me in the right direction. Or tell me to increase my petrol budget if this is normal

That makes 37.9 extra urban and only 18.5 urban!

 

[mk3-ralf]

That makes 37.9 extra urban and only 18.5 urban!

which to me is too big a difference to sound right.

 

[wemorgan]

How long (time and distance) is your urban journey?
How much time are you stationary for? Even my diesel gives 0mpg at the traffic lights

 

[mk3-ralf]

How long (time and distance) is your urban journey?
How much time are you stationary for? Even my diesel gives 0mpg at the traffic lights

wouldnt every car show 0mpg if you are stationary. My golf used to just show a - when i was stationary.

This is an example of what i got out of £10 of petrol, 8.5 litres. that is right down to when the petrol light came on again.

10miles - 20mins
10miles - 20mins
5miles - 25mins
5miles - 15mins

if i am stationary it is just at the traffic lights which is no longer than 2 minutes at a time i would say. In those journeys i probably was sat stationary at about 15/20 traffic lights

 

[wemorgan]

wouldnt every car show 0mpg if you are stationary. My golf used to just show a - when i was stationary.

This is an example of what i got out of £10 of petrol, 8.5 litres. that is right down to when the petrol light came on again.

10miles - 20mins
10miles - 20mins
5miles - 25mins
5miles - 15mins

if i am stationary it is just at the traffic lights which is no longer than 2 minutes at a time i would say. In those journeys i probably was sat stationary at about 15/20 traffic lights

Yes you're correct, all cars would show 0 when stationary. I was just being rather flippant, my apologies. I was just trying to highlight that almost any poor fuel efficiency is achievable with enough stationary and slow traffic.

I notice you're journey of 5 miles in 25 minutes. Have you considered cycling, with some fitness it would be quicker.

Also, maybe turn your engine off if you know you'll be stationary for 2 minutes.

Just a few ideas.

 

[krimat2005]

also think how accurate are your calculation?? if only topping up for 10-15 pounds at the time into the empty tank it will not be accurate!! you should fill tank to the top, write down your mileage then drive 200-400 miles (the more you drive the more accurate MPG figure you get), fill your tank to the top again and divide distance you have travelled by gallons of fuel= MPG