poor fuel economy??

[geometro]

Hi all -

Unfortunately, I'm not a Beat owner - yet. But I can dream and scheme: Canadian laws permit importing vehicles that are 15 yrs or older, which means I could bring a Beat into the country next year...

Anyway, my question is about fuel economy. I will admit up front I'm a fuel economy nerd. My driving style typically aims to eke the most out of every tank.

But I'm also a fan of good handling. Now and then I like to eke the most speed and g-forces out of a twisty road as well.

Add to this that I'm already a Honda fan, and the Beat would appear to be the ideal car for my Jeckyl and Hyde driving style: mid-engined fun and/or 660cc's of efficiency.

But I did a search here and have read several posts that suggest the car isn't as efficient as I would expect. The highest mileage mentioned was 40-50 mpg (didn't say whether it was town or highway driving). I can easily get 40-50 mpg from my 2.0 litre Accord that likely weighs 50% more than a Beat. (Highway mileage, Imperial units.)

What gives? Is this simply because the Beat is too much fun to drive "gently"? Is the car geared low to keep the motor revving way up the power band? (Can anyone say what the RPM at 100 Km/h is?)

Curious to read any of your thoughts.

[Paul w]

I reckon it would do 60mpg+ but its like saying a bar of chocolate or a pint of good beer could last you all year if you drank or ate it slowly!

Just to tempting to floor it!

PW

[Wh1teLeopard]

Originally posted by Paul w
Just to tempting to floor it!

I'll second that.... I find my mpg to be similar to my 1.4 12yr old fiesta... mainly because i spend too much time chasing rx7's, subaru's and hatchbacks to show they shouldn't underestimate the little guy!!!

But i do aggree with paul... all depends on if you think you can control yourself and drive it like a 650cc... and not wait til 6,000rpm to change gear to keep up with people who laugh at your car... (they aren't laughing afterwards, i'll tell you that much hee hee)

It's all about disipline I think...

[tinytim]

I think if you want to eke out all the miles that are in the tank then 60+mpg wouldn't be too much to aim for. I'm currently driving the same route 100 miles a day. I don't thrash the car but I'm not plodding either and I'm getting 54mpg with a project A chip.
Personally I think if you were to keep the revs below 4500 rpm you would get a substantial increase in mpg, but that wouldn't be much fun:(

[geometro]

OK then, I suppose the title of "poor fuel economy" for this thread is a bit off, then. 54 mpg with a modded chip is nothing to sneeze at. Seems like it's all about how you drive it (which is good to hear).

About keeping the rev's low... that must be hard to do. I found the attached graph at http://www.members.lycos.co.uk/ozsamurai/ and it seems to suggest the motor is spinning above 5,500 rpm in 5th gear at 100km/h.

Wow. Is that right?

D

[adrianp]

Yep, mine sits at 6000rpm when doing 70mph (112kph)

Bit noisy with the exhaust I've got fitted but it's worth it...:D

[Jason]

My little Beat loves high rev's. I drove all the way from Melbourne to Adelaide sitting on 100/110km/h at 5500 rpm. :)

[tinytim]

Likewise when doing the motorway thing she's quite happy at 6000. The normal chip will rev to 8500 but you won't get there in 5th cos of the speed limiter. With the Project A chip there's no rev limit or speed limiter. I've had what I estimate to be 110-115mph from mine. There's more in the car but not in my bottle, the front end is very light and at that speed it's touch and go as to whether the wheels are on or off the ground. On a race track with a good surface it may be safer but not on the road.

[geometro]

High revs must take a toll on engine life, though don't they? Relatively speaking, I mean.

Can anyone say how many kms a Beat motor could typically expect to get before it wears out?

(I realize this depends on driving style & maintenance, etc. But if you had to guess at an average... e.g. I'd say that on average, the 2.0 in my style of Accord will go 250,000 - 300,000 kms)

I suppose that's why the Beat was built for the city.

We don't have "city cars" here. Excepting the Smart, which just went on sale in Canada (but not the U.S.). It's really the first micro car in our market. And apparently selling like hotcakes.

[tinytim]

mine has 123 000 on the clock, I'm having to change the gearbox main shaft bearings but the engine is going fine. The timing belt can be a problem there have been a few snapped. It's a 50 000km change.

I wouldn't recommend the Beat for the Trans Can but it would be a whole lot of fun up in the rockies.

[Wh1teLeopard]

Mine doesn't seem to have a rev limiter and as far as I know the engine hasn't been touched....

example:

Was following the BF in his rx7 onto the M6, when he floored it off the lights obviously forgetting I was following him...
Raced to keep up (which I managed hee hee) but missed 5th gear and the rev limiter went all the way around to 10,000rpm before it dropped suddenly as I found 5th...

Fair to say my exhaust tail pipe fell off as a result of this, but was in the honda garage for the last 3 days having the cambelt done and a good service...

Why doesn't mine have a rev limiter????

[tinytim]

There are a couple of options that I know of. Someone has fitted a delimiter or someone has re-chipped your ECU. Do you still have a speed limiter? No more than 120kph.

I'm not too sure where the de-limiter is fitted but no doubt someone will be along who can tell you what to look for and where.

[Wh1teLeopard]

Originally posted by tinytim
There are a couple of options that I know of. Someone has fitted a delimiter or someone has re-chipped your ECU. Do you still have a speed limiter? No more than 120kph.

I'm not too sure where the de-limiter is fitted but no doubt someone will be along who can tell you what to look for and where.

Yea I still have the 140kmh speed limiter