A 180 CDI economy.

[Splatt]

From Honest Johns pages in the Daily Telegraph Today. The reply at the end intrigued me , anything known re this ?

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Economical…

I bought an ex-demonstrator Mercedes A180 CDI auto with 9,500 miles in late June from a main dealer and have added a further 6,000 miles. The fuel economy has always been disappointing, averaging 41.2mpg, despite living in a rural area, the car being garaged and a variety of journey types. Any short journeys into town, never less than 12 miles, are out of peak period, and I never accelerate hard. In an effort to achieve close to Mercedes’ EU Combined figure of 52.3mpg, I have rigorously avoided speeding. A recent 240-mile return trip on empty motorways and dual carriageways returned 44.3mpg. My main dealer cannot explain this, but says no fault-codes have been found, has downloaded an official engine management upgrade, and has suggested I use the Sport gearbox mode – which I did, to no effect. The main dealer insisted, and has been proved correct by continuing poor economy, that binding brakes are not the cause.


Reply.
Mercedes-Benz has successfully been sued in a regional court in Germany for economy figures that were impossible for a normal driver to obtain.

 

[mastereng]

I don't have any info on the Court case but as an owner of an A180 CDI manual I find the economy in line with my expectations which is 60 mpg on a long journey (not exceeding 60 mph to achieve that figure) and c. 40 mpg on short city trips.
The car manufacturers engineer their products to do well in the Government fuel consumption tests, often I would guess to the detriment of what is achievable in "normal" driving. If you read the Which? car magazine which is available to purchase in Sainsbury's you will find that in their tests virtually every vehicle achieves 5 mpg or so less than the Government figure, so Mercedes are not alone in that respect.
So far as the individual in Honest John's article, one is tempted to ask all the obvious basics on fuel economy like correct tyre pressures, no junk in the boot, no roof rack etc I would guess the reply would be all of these points are OK.
My only other observation is his "ex demonstrator" is almost certainly a former loan car as well, so would have been driven by numerous customers while their cars were being serviced. Not sure how carefully it may have been driven!

I appeared to have strayed from the legal issue in Germany - maybe someone else has some info?

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Not strictly A Class

A general comment on the "Government" fuel consumption figures. I have always regarded these as theoretical. I live in a rural area, and make use of motorways on longer journeys.

I have always been able to beat the overall consumption for the cars I have had (currently S Class 320 CDI, and R 129 SL500).

I have never been able to match, far less improve on the "constant speed" or "rural" figures offered. The nearest I ever got was in a Peugeot 205 diesel in 1986 (69.7 mpg against a target of 70 mpg), when I travelled the length of the country and back at exactly 56 mph.

So the numbers may or may not be achievable. At best, they seem to serve to illustrate what the car might be able to achieve (but how often?) under ideal circumstances.

They are certainly used to levy taxes for alleged CO2 production, but I find no merit in the way in which theoretical CO2 consumption is varied for the same model of vehicle depending on manual v auto gearbox (my autos have used less fuel than manuals, and can not have produced more CO2 from that), or as the result of optional wheels and tyres. Driving style and car maintenance/tyre pressures are far more important in the real world, and eclipse these theoretical considerations.

So producing any case, such as in the German article cited, would be a minor miracle - there are just too many confusing variables outside the laboratory setting.

 

[mercglas]

From Honest Johns pages in the Daily Telegraph Today. The reply at the end intrigued me , anything known re this ?

.
Economical…

Mercedes-Benz has successfully been sued in a regional court in Germany for economy figures that were impossible for a normal driver to obtain.

Sounds like one of these things that is quoted with full authority and absolute conviction - but is impossible to verify!

Possibly also overturned on appeal, or not quite accurate?

 

[J400uk]

I'm sure I heard that somewhere before about MB getting sued for poor fuel consumption. Doubt it would apply to the A though, his response is very unhelpful.