Buying a small 4 cyl buzzbox to save fuel?

[LeadFoot81]

Here we go again...all the horsepower heroes bagging out people who buy fuel efficient cars.

Can't we all just agree that:

Fun doesn't necessarily equal thirsty
Efficient doesn't necessarily equal poxy

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by LeadFoot81

Here we go again...all the horsepower heroes bagging out people who buy fuel efficient cars.

Where?

[Rev28K]

My 1.8 litre buzz box was getting 30l/100km. Phillip Island, semi-respectable lap times revving to 8600ish rpm. I'd say that it was part way to matching a V8's economy!

[xisled]

Why do people call 4 cylinder car buzz boxes. Whyyyy??

[2011G6E]

Our G6E uses way less fuel on the highway than our 1982 Toyota Celica with a 2 liter four and five speed manual.

You have to remember though that way back then, the "magic number" to aim for was 10ltr/100km from a car...if you bettered that, you were really onto something. My Celica gets around that on the highway. The G6E, tootling along on cruise at 100 to 110 gets down under 8ltr/100 regularly.

Nowadays four cylinder cars have grown in size and, more importantly, weight over the years. A Corolla is huge, "small" hatchbacks have heaps of room inside. But the weight...we used to imagine that in "the future" cars would inevitably get lighter and lighter with modern materials...instead they've got heavier and heavier.

When we had a VS Berlina, we decided that we might look at brand new four cylinder cars. It would have to be an auto as the missus only has an auto licence. We were shocked at the fuel figures, especially seeing as how popular autos are now and the increasing number of ratios they have. We decided to stick with the Berlina, as it got better economy on the highway than most of the fours we looked at...

I think in Queensland at least registration is a big factor in peoples choices...even we are starting to feel the pinch because we have a couple of vehicles. It costs us about $820 for the G6E, $657 for the four cylinder Celica, and a staggering and ludicrous $420 for my GSX1400 motorcycle! The old WB ute, when we eventually register it, will cost well over a grand here in the Sunshine State...

Believe me...when you have bills like that coming in, you do look for fuel economy as a prime point when buying a car...forget 0-100, forget quarter mile times...what's it going to cost me a week to run?

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by xisled

Why do people call 4 cylinder car buzz boxes. Whyyyy??

This I never understand either... I think the only car I would call a buzzbox is an RX3 with a catback exhaust on it... Those things sound like a mosquito on steroids inside a tin can


I think the highest I've ever seen my fuel economy go on the fairmont was planting my foot I hit about 45L/100km... That was absolutely flat foot & hitting redline...

[302 XC]

Yawn,yawn,yawn
You people in your wee little buzz boxes getting so called great economy,in cars that weight just over a tonne,with all ya mates,fully loaded,make me sick
Drive a petrol 3 tonne 4x4,that gets on average between 20-25 L per 100Ks, yeah 5 Ks or less to the litre .............

We all buy different cars to do different things,to me i dont care how safe a car is proclaimed,or how cheap it should be to run, i buy what suits my needs, regardless of economy its there to do a job
My daily is a 4 L AU tray back, cheap enuf to run even as a daily commute
Gets good economy , has great power when needed and something alot of wizz bang 4s cant do, has enuf power when needed to get up hills today,not tomorrow
To me its the overall package, no point sitting on the speed limit being "Mr Honest Citizen" and taking all day about it to save a whoppin $10 a week

[WPR1]

Love my V8 don't care how much it costs. In the end it only costs a few extra dollars a week to drive a car i enjoy driving.

[dieseltrain79]

Bought a 91 Daihatsu Applause to run round in while I do some work on my Soarer ..

So far it's averaging 6.6l / 100 km mixed driving with the AC cranking !

Cost effective whilst I do some refreshing of my " other daily " which has seen over 350 1/4 mile runs !

Oh it cost $1250 needed injectors serviced & a clutch . Owes me $1700 and I'm certain I won't lose much on it being 1owner when it comes time to offload

[LeadFoot81]

Originally Posted by xisled

Why do people call 4 cylinder car buzz boxes. Whyyyy??

Generally the NVH is worse in small cars, couple that with low capacity engines that are (generally) mated to transmissions with short gearing and you have a car that buzzes.

I love my Fiesta, but it does buzz (I use the term buzz box affectionately however)

[Ford_The_Win]

I bought a 4 cylinder Japanese 'buzz box' because it's smaller and takes up less space in my garage and in car parks, has comparable performance to the old Falcon it replaced, and I find it much easier car to get around in and live with everyday. It has 5 star ANCAP, countless airbags and bluetooth (ticked all the boxes) and I trust Mitsubishi to provide me with a reliable, no-nonsense product. The fact that it uses half the fuel of my old car is a bonus! I was originally planning to upgrade to an FG Falcon, but a decent second hand one was gonna cost nearly 20k (that's a lot of money when a brand new Hyundai is what, 12 grand??) the 'problems with your FG' thread put me off, plus I have no need for a full size sedan, so I jumped aboard the import bandwagon and probably won't look back (that is, unless a nice Fairlane comes my way). I could have bought a big 6 cylinder car but unless you want some flogged out ex-fleet XR6, they cost too much money compared to a smaller car that will tick all the same boxes and is more trouble-free.

[Stagg]

Yeah actually the reason I first bought my CBR250 wasn't because I wanted to get into motorbikes, it was because I hated what my Fairmont was costing to run. Also, I got sick of parking fines and paying silly amounts for parking in Melbourne city & inner suburbs.

My bike costs me $20 for 500km riding, in Vic it's legal to park your bike on the footpath which is completely free (as long as it's not in the way of foot traffic which is subjective in itself but still). I mean, seriously, super cheap, takes up a tiny amount of space, $50 for a service, free parking in Melbourne, sure safety is an issue but other than the safety side of things, a motorbike is the ultimate buzz box!

[In Focus]

Fuel use varying between 5 on the highway to 9L/100km in town; 0-100 in 6.7 (according to Motor Magazine).

I'm happy with that.

[vanman_75]

I bought a blackbird to drive to work 3-4 litres a hundred but needs a new back tyre every 5 thou ..my maths says it don't matter , but 5 Regos and a heavy foot costs me ..its a good idea to have a cheapy so you can drive your v8 on weekends , if I lived in a city I would drive a little car for sure , but if you want to travel more than 50 ks outta town then big it is .
The prado is meant to get 8 litres a hundred ...I average 14 , I averaged 10 in my old swift ..I don't think it matters what I drive ..

[Halfmo Rocks]

i downsized from a BF XR6 nearly 12 months ago, to mu '03 renault clio, with a 1.6L.
i did it both to save fuel, and to get a bit of cash to pay some bills.
the gearing is obviously city biased...so a falcon, even with the boring 4 speed auto, will get much better economy on the highway...but this little frog will almost catch a hybrid for economy in the city/suburbs...and can obviously out perform one
when i behave myself i have seen 5.7L/100kms...but normally sits around 6.6-7L
on the same roads, same traffic...only 1 tank of fuel did i ever get below 11L/100kms in a falcon...and that was only down to 10.7L.
so massive fuel savings...but more expensive servicing/parts/repairs on a frog in this country, pretty much undoes all that money saved

falcon is obviously more comfortable...i'm not the biggest fella around, but at just under 6 foot & a bit over 100kgs...i was not in the design template for that car
much easier to park than a big aussie tank though...so that's something...lol

[mik]

i`d rather pay a few extra dollars a week for my big falcon than put up with a higher stressed, short life, unsafe in a rear crash ..........buzz box, are little buzz boxes really that cheap to run? probably a little bit, but you wear out two of them to a big locally made car over the long term,
you can pry my cold dead hands from my big car before i would trade for a littleun !

[flappist]

Originally Posted by mik

i`d rather pay a few extra dollars a week for my big falcon than put up with a higher stressed, short life, unsafe in a rear crash ..........buzz box, are little buzz boxes really that cheap to run? probably a little bit, but you wear out two of them to a big locally made car over the long term,
you can pry my cold dead hands from my big car before i would trade for a littleun !

Hang on.....don't you drive an AU with a bottle of gas in the boot?

[mik]

Originally Posted by flappist

Hang on.....don't you drive an AU with a bottle of gas in the boot?

yes i drive the glorius Au, but alas no gas ......unless i have macca`s

[flooded one]

depends what you want really. I buy cars I like. that way i'll look after them. so long as you like the car who cares. I find it funny how people used too say that my missus old TN magna would have a better fuel economy the my AU sedan and ute. they actually where very shocked too find out the AUs flogged it with fuel economy. the N16 pulsar she has now is the best car we have with fuel economy. but in saying that both my ute and sedan have a better kilometre range owing too the bigger tanks. I think a lot of people think that a smaller tank to fill means better fuel economy as well personally.

[Vincenzo]

2001 AU 3 XR6 hp motor manual.

Worst figures around town - last tank 14L / 100km.
Usual figures around town - 11L / 100km.
Best figures around town - 10L / 100km.

Worst figures for highway usage - 10.5L / 100km
Usual figures for highway usage - 08.5L / 100km
Best figures for highway usage - 07.1L / 100km

How could you not be happy with that

In the last solar car challenge from Darwin to Adelaide wasn't there a story about an FG XR6 support vehicle that averaged 6.1L / 100km?

Cheers Vincenzo

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Yawn,yawn,yawn
You people in your wee little buzz boxes getting so called great economy,in cars that weight just over a tonne,with all ya mates,fully loaded,make me sick
Drive a petrol 3 tonne 4x4,that gets on average between 20-25 L per 100Ks, yeah 5 Ks or less to the litre .............

We all buy different cars to do different things,to me i dont care how safe a car is proclaimed,or how cheap it should be to run, i buy what suits my needs, regardless of economy its there to do a job
My daily is a 4 L AU tray back, cheap enuf to run even as a daily commute
Gets good economy , has great power when needed and something alot of wizz bang 4s cant do, has enuf power when needed to get up hills today,not tomorrow
To me its the overall package, no point sitting on the speed limit being "Mr Honest Citizen" and taking all day about it to save a whoppin $10 a week

Ha ha ha, I've seen some buzz boxes whip the asses of big cars....where have you been!!!

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by jpblue1000

I don't disagree, Id prefer to be in the BA too, hence the word statistically used in my post. As you know there are many varying factors involved in a comparing incidents leading to fatalities, from driver demographic to dynamic abilities. But 'statistically', when all factors have been weighted and balanced 'statistically' there is little benefit to car size as proven in the study. Therefore in my mind the argumant of placing a cost of a life in the argument about fuel economy is flawed. 'Statistically' you are equally likely to die in a falcon as a getz, however with a getz you saved a shed load of cash along the way. (I will ignore the social issues pertaining to driving a Hyundai for now)

JP

You live in a "statistical" world, I'll live in the real one!!

[strobe]

I think my BA XR8 might have turned into a 4 cyl buzzbox. Usually I run at 20l/100km, sydney traffic commuting. Did a couple of hundred k's on the freeway about a month a go, and now I'm stuck on 17.4. Had a call from BP the other day asking if I was ok.

[XWGT]

It really just comes down to klm per year times fuel savings + servicing costs + capital costs = x does x = enough insentive to down size.

I commute around 900 klm to work a week plus weekends so do around 45,000 klm per year. Commmute is 99% at 100 kph with single occupant.

I recently bought a new Yaris YRS sedan- on road for around $19,000, fixed price servicing of $130 per 10,000klm Has streaming bluetooth, plenty of airbags, has to be physically held to 100kph as it wants to cruise at 115 to 120 in 5th gear. Great for 2 adults and one child in the back. Not great for 4 adults....too cramped in the rear. Has a pretty big boot. Fairly noisy, by no means a luxury vehicle but 1.5 manual is perky and does the job easily.

Lets assume a fuel price of $1.40

Lets also assume the car will basically be thrown away after 5 years as it will be at around 200,000 klm by then.

Avarage fuel consumption after 22,000 klm = 5.9 / 100. Or around 8.2 cents per klm or $3,717 per annum. Service costs of $520 per annum.

If I was to use a medium sized car and get lets say 8/100 thats 11.2 cpk or $5,040 per annum plus medium car service costs of around $800. Capital cost of around $30,000.

If I use a large car and get 10/100 thats 14cpk or 14 cpk $6,300 per year plus large car servicing costs of say $1,000. Capital cost of around $40,000.

Yaris therefore becomes

$8,015 cheaper to run than a medium car plus $10,000 cheaper in capital or $18,000 cheaper over 5 years

or $15,315 cheaper to run than a large car plus $20,000 cheaper in capital or $35,315 cheaper over 5 years.

Thats a fair bit of coin left over for a nice weekend toy in the shed.

As the example shows, you really need to be doing the klm to justify it. If the cars were doing low klms the running costs would not be much different and the capital losses would not be as large as the cars would have better residual value as they would have done low klms at the end of their life. But if your doing big klms, small cars can make sense.

[2011G6E]

Not all four cylinder cars are "boring"...some will really get your eyes watering...

A little bit of all-paw lunacy these things are...
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...5&sort=default

[ShootsWithFilm]

I'll probably get cained for admitting this, but then again, I don't have a problem with any of my personal appendages.

My daily driver is a Mazda 2.

This in part comes about because we are a 2 car household. We have 1 larger car, that does less k's(currently an AU, but in 3 days a Terri). This is typically driven by the wife when she is not at work and used for any distant travelling. We then have a smaller car, that is pretty much intended for communting. Five days a week, I am in the car. For 3 of those days, so is my wife.

I know which I would rather have sitting there idling away in heavy traffic...

(That being said, I actually find the Mazda 2 fun through the twisties. I am personal fan of the saying 'its much more fun to drive a slow car fast then a fast car slow'.)

[Dash_XR]

I bought a 99 corolla for a run around while the XR's off the road (luckly cause it's taking allot longer then I expected) and it's a great little car to get from A to B.

Fuel costs were cut clean in half nearly, plus you get the added piece of mind not having to worry that someone is going to ding it in a carpark or at work etc.

A cheap daily is definitely the way to go IMO.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Meh... My Focus diesel got mid 4's per 100 on a recent trip to Qld.

Around 1.4 tons in weight, decent space, torque galore for effortless freeway cruising and towing and 5 star safety.

Happy with my 'buzz box'.....

[RAPID_BA]

There is a fuel saving driving a small car obviously.

But at what cost? Safety!!

Would you want your wife and child in a Hyundai Getz whilst some clown collects them. More likely they will be alive to tell the tale in a falcon/Commodore or other big car. Thats my reason, forget the few $$ fuel savings. Im buying a safer environment for my family.

[ShootsWithFilm]

Originally Posted by RAPID_BA

There is a fuel saving driving a small car obviously.

But at what cost? Safety!!

Would you want your wife and child in a Hyundai Getz whilst some clown collects them. More likely they will be alive to tell the tale in a falcon/Commodore or other big car. Thats my reason, forget the few $$ fuel savings. Im buying a safer environment for my family.

Who said that a small car is unsafe? Using this logic, we should all be driving Volvo’s, while wearing cotton wool suits.