When Tony did the driving he used to get in fifth gear as often as possible - sometimes when only doing 30 mph. I only use fifth where the speed limit is 60 and above.
I freewheel down hills - but other than that, would love some tips on economical driving?
This may give you some further ideas Carol.
https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/fuels-environment/drive-economically
Hope that helps 
I’m with StartRescue - with regard to coasting, they say:
What the Highway Code says about coasting when driving:
Further reading on the dangers of coasting is available in the Highway Code (Rule 122):
I’ve never bothered, what does it save? a few cents here and there.
Perhaps there are a couple of things I don’t do. I don’t spin my wheels (except occasionally when on dirt), I don’t accelerate like I’m on the grid at Bathurst (let’s face it it’s a diesel anyway). When I am towing I tend to limit my speed to 100kph. That’s about it.
My current car gets much better fuel economy than my 1963 Morris 1000 despite having a turbocharged engine three times as big and weighing twice as much.
Yes putting the car in neutral and coasting saves nothing in todays modern cars, it’s actually more economical to just lift off the accelerator
Using the car in fifth at low speeds can damage the cars differential as the engine is under more strain…
Hi
Forget freelining down hills etc,
the simplest thing is the times you drive.
We are retired, no need to go anywhere in the rush hours and get stuck in slow moving panic.
Drive in the quite hours.
How is that possible? The speed and power transfer of the differential is the same at any given speed no matter which gear surely?
@carol Tony was doing the right thing, but as I don’t know your engine’s set up, I cant comment on the 30MPH for 5th gear. Every model of car is different but I would have expected you to be in 5th by the time you have hit 40 in 4th on a reasonably level road.
When you say ‘freewheel’ down hills, do mean not in any gear? If so that is dangerous!
I remember a post by Bruce when he said 30 mph in third gear, 40 mph in 4th, 50 mph in 5th and over 50 mph up into 6th if you have one. It is roughly speaking of course, but it’s something I have always done as well. Observing speed limits and assessing the road ahead should be the main priority when driving and not how to save money.
I don’t think that was me.
I agree. My wife’s little Suzuki has a dashboard indicator displaying when to change either up or down for the most economical motoring. I drive my Pathfinder by ear as I’ve always done and being diesel, early changing up is usually around the 1200 to 1500 rpm mark. It’s the only car I’ve owned that will happily drive in 3rd with no applied right foot at all.
Yep…it was Bruce. God only knows where the post is now though, it was before we had a ‘New look’ Forum.
I always get into 5th as soon as possible if above 40mph ,6th after that at about 45/50 .
Oh, it’s just that mph doesn’t sound like me, I think in kph.
My car is a Ford Fiesta. It’s only 1,000cc engine but seems nippier than that because it has ‘eco boost’
It should be ‘nippy’ as it has an intercooled turbocharger 
That little 3 pot engine gives you 125 bhp under your right foot 
I thought that can’t be right so I looked it up and it is. My engine is only 187bhp (had to convert to this medieval system from Kw) but the real difference is 200Nm torque compared to my 450Nm. not to mention the Fiesta is almost exactly half the weight.
It was quite an education the Fiesta can tow, 900kg, my Dmax 3.5tonne (3500kg), Carry capacity Fiesta 450kg, Dmax 1400kg
Fuel consumption - Fiesta 65mpg, Dmax 33mpg (I keep a record) its actually slightly less than 10L per 100km
I wondered at the mishmash of measurements for the fiesta eg fuel consumption in mpg, fuel tank capacity in litres?? Torque in Nm, power in horsepower??
Well I thought it interesting anyway.
That 3 pot Fiesta is petrol and we all know for sheer grunt and excellent torque in today’s technology, diesel far exceeds the gas burner. My Pathfinder in standard mode gave 450Mn until I had the engine remapped with new chip and now she can pull a truck with better MPG
I don’t care what various governments decide, I’m sticking with diesel for sheer grunt!
@LongDriver , Do you mean you can pull away in third gear without
touching the accelerator LD ?
Or that you pull away normally and then stick to 30 in third ?
Donkeyman!
I can shift straight from 1st to 3rd without touching the pedal and the engine’s management system ensures it keeps going without stalling.
