Hello,

I have just purchased a 2002 1.2 E 5 dr Polo after trading in my thirsty 1.6 Focus in the hope of saving on fuel. Well, so far I am very disappointed with the Polo's fuel consumption which is a shame because the car is really nice and I like everything else about it. It's in excellent condition and drives like a dream. It's been serviced and MOT'd just before we bought it with a full history.

As soon as we drove the car out of the forecourt it bleeped into the fuel light. I filled it to exactly half way which cost £20 at £1.32 a litre. I noticed while driving that the fuel gauge started to drop for every journey I made. I drive carefully keeping the revs under 3 and all the other driving habits that make your fuel go further. I did long straight journeys and a few about town so roughly 50/50.

I got to 130 miles and it bleeped with the petrol gauge lit up. So to me it is costing more to run a 1.2 smaller car to a 1.6 larger Focus. Does anyone else find this with their Polo ? It's costing me around £1 for every 6 miles which is terrible. I feel as I am stuck with it now and pretty much in the same boat as I was with the Focus

small engine pushing a relatively heavy car (for its size) means economy will never be great also you will find superb economy on motorway drives as I get about the same as you day to day but on the motorway I can get 54 miles per gallon which is amazing and mine is a 1.4 16v. so in essence short journeys will reduce your economy.

I've got a 1.4 8v 6n and regularly get 48mpg. I've never had less than 400 miles to a tank.

I noticed fuel going down quicker doing a motorway journey. So the reviews on various car websites are misleading saying it's an economical car when really it isn't. It says it performs the best fuel economy in urban conditions. Clearly not. I will have to try out different brands of fuel and do more long runs.

suffering similar problem, getting about 280-300 miles per tank, noticed it after i put redex into my 1.2 12v =/ 3dr

Yeah my 1.2 12V isn't brilliant, it never was compared to my 1.4 16V 100PS Lupo.

Gradually getting worse, can get good MPG whilst driving like a Sunday driver but I wouldn't get anywhere if I done that all the time and time is money!

Also I have a beefy Alternator so that's probably not helping either.

Not sure on your issue with Redex, when I use it...it seems to work for a tank or two and then back to normal.

Anyone tried cleaning out their throttle bodies? I don't mean gushing carb cleaner down it (I do that all the time with the risk of it becoming clogged up) and it helps.

But I mean completely stripping it out and cleaning it!? That's next on my to-do list and hey...2002 is 9 years old...one can only imagine the amount of gunk in there!!

I've got a 1.4 8v 6n and regularly get 48mpg. I've never had less than 400 miles to a tank.

Quite honestly I find that quite impossible. Are you sure ? Your car is even more powerful which would use more fuel. At best (with careful driving on straight runs) I can get about 158 miles on half a tank. There is no way on earth it would get anywhere near 400 miles. No way.

I've got a 1.4 8v 6n and regularly get 48mpg. I've never had less than 400 miles to a tank.

Quite honestly I find that quite impossible. Are you sure ? Your car is even more powerful which would use more fuel. At best (with careful driving on straight runs) I can get about 158 miles on half a tank. There is no way on earth it would get anywhere near 400 miles. No way.

Why does having more power mean it will use more fuel, for a start, more power means your not having to work the engine as hard so it's quite possible that he is right

there is a thing called power to weight ratio and modern "eco" cars dont have it.

If I've got the right detail the 1.2 12v is a 65bhp engine, trying to move 1250kg.

Doesnt look good when put like that.

I drove my car less like a Knob recently on a full tank. currently down to half a tank after 220 miles coulda gotten more but i have had to floor it the last 2-3 days. and I've got a lot of mods on it.

Mines a 1.2 12v 75bhp 1050kg + induction

in the 80's vw ran some prototype supercharged diesel mk2 polo's that could hit over 150mpg.

ahh yes the G40 twin cylinder diesel or better known as the Öko-Polo, a car with so much engine sound proofing that it weighed oven an extra 150Kg

An extremely fuel-efficient 2-cylinder diesel was prototyped in the mid-1980s with a G40 supercharger to overcome its small capacity, although this did not make production

http://www.rossvw.com/polo/index.html

I've got a 1.4 8v 6n and regularly get 48mpg. I've never had less than 400 miles to a tank.

Quite honestly I find that quite impossible. Are you sure ? Your car is even more powerful which would use more fuel. At best (with careful driving on straight runs) I can get about 158 miles on half a tank. There is no way on earth it would get anywhere near 400 miles. No way.

Why does having more power mean it will use more fuel, for a start, more power means your not having to work the engine as hard so it's quite possible that he is right

As said, more powerful engine not being worked as hard will be better on fuel. These modern 'economy' engines are crap on fuel, it's just how it is. Tiny engine with no power and big heavy car just doesn't work. You'd be better off with a more powerful engine like the 1.4. My mk2 Golf GTI averages around 45 to the gallon.

Also, you can't compare the economy of different cars by saying how many miles you get to a tank as it's likely the fuel tanks are different sizes.

Edited 17 October, 201114 yr by Polo Will

ye standard mk3 = 42l tank, mine 27-30l baffled tank.

so i only get 230-250 miles from a tank stil comes in at around 35-40MPG

Well the spec of my Polo is rated at 47 mpg.

Ye but thats a test track figure, in real world applications its pretty hard to match.

It also depends on condition of engine, fuel quality etc.

So I got rid of my Focus 1.6 for nothing then

If you work it out (which I'd say you haven't)

Your 130 miles to £20 at £1.32 a litre works out at about 39MPG.

Which to be honest I'd find completely acceptable for the car and the combined journies you claim you did.

If you work it out (which I'd say you haven't)

Your 130 miles to £20 at £1.32 a litre works out at about 39MPG.

Which to be honest I'd find completely acceptable for the car and the combined journies you claim you did.

39 mpg is ridiculously low. The spec of this car is extra urban 55.4 mpg, Combined 47.1 mpg. Where you get 39 mpg from I don't know.

As I said those are track/dyno figures, they dont take into account changes in fuel quality, driving style, head wind, hills etc.

there are too many variables to recreate the exact quoted conditions.

For my polo Normal fuel = 35-40MPG, Morrisons finest horse piss = 15-20MPG (seen as low as 10).

Dont know what my 1.8 20v NA passat is supposed to be stock but I can hit 40-45MPG on a long run according to the MAF screen, around town its about 25-30.

As I said those are track/dyno figures, they dont take into account changes in fuel quality, driving style, head wind, hills etc.

there are too many variables to recreate the exact quoted conditions.

For my polo Normal fuel = 35-40MPG, Morrisons finest horse piss = 15-20MPG (seen as low as 10).

Dont know what my 1.8 20v NA passat is supposed to be stock but I can hit 40-45MPG on a long run according to the MAF screen, around town its about 25-30.

10 mpg, now it's getting silly. Sorry, can't believe that.

Most of the owners reviews on Parkers, What Car etc mention good fuel economy. I agree that some petrol would be poor like Morrisons.

Hey there!

I have a 9n3 1.2 6v.. getting about 240 per tank.. HELP!

Ran through vag com and all is good after replacing the coil pack on cylinder 2..

Back to the oko-polo, anyone with more info. Ages ago I found a load of info, pictures and all. But that was on the old computer, and I can't find the same sites anywhere. Anyone?

Edited 10 October, 201213 yr by prankstar2003

averaged 47.2 mpg over a week (800 miles) in a 2012 polo 1.2 70.

i drove normally not trying to get the best fuel economy but not being wasteful, driving on a wide verity of roads from city to motorway so i consider it to be accurate to what you would get in the real world.

expect a bit less being an older polo with less sophisticated engine management but you should see mid 40s without trying too hard.

Edited 10 October, 201213 yr by polo45

I get 300 miles to £50 in my 1.0L 6N, it's common knowledge tiny engine for a big car.. I'm not going to get 500 miles per tank because the engine size is reduced.