41 mpg BMW
In this week's episode of "What the Heck is Martin Driving Now?", we find our hero tooling around Southeast Michigan in a European spec BMW 120d. It's a 5 door hatch with a 2.0L turbo-diesel engine.
So why is that relevant to a newsgroup that's focused on hybrid technology? Simply because this one is equipped with BMW's Driving Dynamics package of fuel economy improvement technologies, including Start / Stop. I've gotten 41.2 mpg over my time driving it. Considering that I've been driving it like I stole it, I think there's 45 mpg potential there. Pravus Prime would cringe if he saw my launch techniques with this little rocket. Definitely the most fun I've ever had in a high fuel economy vehicle. It took me a couple hours to get used to the Start / Stop operation, but after that it was a piece of cake. The way it works is when you come to a stop, you depress the clutch, shift to neutral, and release the clutch. When you depress the clutch again to shift to 1st, the engine restarts. I'm used to sitting at lights with the clutch depressed, so I had to get used to this procedure. Eventually I recognized that you can shift into neutral and coast to a stop and get a shut-off that way. So far BMW has only made this package available in manual transmission equipped vehicles. They have a similar setup in the Mini Cooper Diesel with a 1.6L that gets about 65 mpg. The one I drove looks like the picture below, but with a couple extra doors. http://www.bmwauto.lv/images/BMW120d_2007.jpg It's very likely that similar small diesels with Start / Stop will begin to proliferate in Europe. US Emissions standards will likely limit or totally block the availability of this type of vehicle in the US. They can pass 48 state emissions today, but by 2011 they'll have a tough time meeting the tighter specs. Peace, Martin |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Hi Martin,
You sure get a lot of nice toys to play with:
Originally Posted by martinjlm
(Post 185455)
In this week's episode of "What the Heck is Martin Driving Now?", we find our hero tooling around Southeast Michigan in a European spec BMW 120d. It's a 5 door hatch with a 2.0L turbo-diesel engine.
So why is that relevant to a newsgroup that's focused on hybrid technology? Simply because this one is equipped with BMW's Driving Dynamics package of fuel economy improvement technologies, including Start / Stop. I've gotten 41.2 mpg over my time driving it. Considering that I've been driving it like I stole it, I think there's 45 mpg potential there. . . . http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/...s-120d/224963/ http://www.autocarmag.com/CarReviews...rid-T3/204492/ BMW 120d / Prius (NHW20) / item 20,160 / 17,932 / price in pounds 7.9 / 10.9 / 0-62 mph seconds 137 / 106 / maximum speed 1415 / 1300 / weight kg 49.6 / 65.7 / combined mpg (1 imperial gallon = 1.2 US gallons) 152 / 104 / CO(2) g/km 1,995 / 1,497 / engine cc 161 / 76 / Max power bhp 251 / 85 / Max torque lb-ft They don't have similar numbers for the Camry hybrid but we might scale the EPA mileage numbers: Prius / TCH / item 46 / 34 / USA EPA combined mileage test So if we take their 65.7 * ( 34/46) = 48 mpg (imperial) scaled Prius->Camry hybrid Off hand, the Camry hybrid and the BMW 120d look to be fairly close in mileage. However, the Camry hybrid has what drives like a fully automatic transmission. The Camry also uses relatively cheaper gasoline versus what has become more expensive diesel. Still, it is a good effort. One thing that has me scratchin' my head is to what extent the mileage improvements in the BMW 120d come from:
Thanks, Bob Wilson ps. 49 mpg (imperial) -> 40.8 mpg (USA) Martin reported 41.2 mpg. |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
"The way it works is when you come to a stop, you depress the clutch, shift to neutral, and release the clutch. When you depress the clutch again to shift to 1st, the engine restarts"
That sounds REALLY easy compared to a Prius :-) Serious : Does it work with the climate control on? |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
(Post 185462)
Hi Martin,
You sure get a lot of nice toys to play with: ....
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
(Post 185462)
Off hand, the Camry hybrid and the BMW 120d look to be fairly close in mileage. However, the Camry hybrid has what drives like a fully automatic transmission. The Camry also uses relatively cheaper gasoline versus what has become more expensive diesel. Still, it is a good effort.
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
(Post 185462)
One thing that has me scratchin' my head is to what extent the mileage improvements in the BMW 120d come from:
Comparing the two Bimmers, it appears most of the f/e is inherent in the design of the diesel 2.0 and the fact that diesels can handle higher loads with minimal f/e drop off relative to similar sized or powered gasoline engines.
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
(Post 185462)
You mentioned having to learn a new way to come to a stop. If you drive so as to defeat the auto-stop, could you estimate the mpg impact?
Peace, Martin |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Originally Posted by LarsBoelen
(Post 185472)
"The way it works is when you come to a stop, you depress the clutch, shift to neutral, and release the clutch. When you depress the clutch again to shift to 1st, the engine restarts"
That sounds REALLY easy compared to a Prius :-) Serious : Does it work with the climate control on? Peace, Martin |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
This sounds about right for the auto-stop feature:
Originally Posted by martinjlm
(Post 185479)
...
Typically we use a 2 - 3% improvement factor when considering Start / Stop manual transmission applications. I'd guess you could back that out from the 41.2 I averaged. But I'd still expect to get better than what I got in the 520d which was done with no S/S and with auto-air always on. We were touching 90 degrees the whole time I was driving that one. . . . Just curious, are there any "open" sales figures on the GM two-modes you might point me at? I'm hoping you' all have a team using the 'lessons learned' to design your next version and hopefully for more 'down scale' vehicles. To replace our vehicle fleet, we need to see larger numbers. Bob Wilson |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Originally Posted by LarsBoelen
(Post 185472)
"The way it works is when you come to a stop, you depress the clutch, shift to neutral, and release the clutch. When you depress the clutch again to shift to 1st, the engine restarts"
That sounds REALLY easy compared to a Prius :-) I was taught to release the clutch rather than holding it in at a light, so from the standpoint of operating ease it's no additional work since you're driving a manual trans and have to shift to neutral anyway, which in effect makes it JUST as easy as the Prius (or my TCH). |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
(Post 185462)
http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/...s-120d/224963/
http://www.autocarmag.com/CarReviews...rid-T3/204492/ BMW 120d / Prius (NHW20) / item 20,160 / 17,932 / price in pounds 7.9 / 10.9 / 0-62 mph seconds 137 / 106 / maximum speed 1415 / 1300 / weight kg 49.6 / 65.7 / combined mpg (1 imperial gallon = 1.2 US gallons) 152 / 104 / CO(2) g/km 1,995 / 1,497 / engine cc 161 / 76 / Max power bhp 251 / 85 / Max torque lb-ft http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/sea...s.asp?id=19958 BMW 120d / Prius (NHW20) / item 20,415 / 17,777 / price in pounds 7.6 / 10.9 / 0-62 mph seconds 142 / 106 / maximum speed 1450 / 1300 / weight kg 58.9 / 65.7 / combined mpg (1 imperial gallon = 1.2 US gallons) 128 / 104 / CO(2) g/km 0.186 / 0.010 / NOx g/km << ADDED THIS 1,995 / 1,497 / engine cc 177 / 76 / Max power bhp 258 / 85 / Max torque lb-ft There is some reasonable detail about what BMW did to reach these numbers on their site. Quoting another article: BMW have introduced a good few technical improvements for the new 1-Series. These come under the banner of the EfficientDynamics programme and have improved emissions by up to 21 per cent, fuel economy by up to 24 per cent, at the same time, increasing the various engine outputs by up to 20hp. Now if we can only get Europe to focus on NOx emissions as we do in the US. :( |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Originally Posted by doasc
(Post 185519)
Bob - those are the old numbers for the 120D. The current numbers bumps the price, weight, HP, and fuel economy up. Now the 120D is within 10% of the Prius FE and even faster.
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/sea...s.asp?id=19958 . . . Bob Wilson |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
(Post 185527)
...I wonder if there is an easy way Martin could tell if he has one from the 'old' or the 'new' 120d series? Not a biggie but I was impressed how his number matched the old 'combined' numbers ... ..
I KNOW it's the new spec because it has the Efficient Dynamics package. We had to wait for one to come available. As for my numbers being close to the old spec? Let's just say less than 10 miles hwy driving out of about 250 miles driven(wanted to get a lot of S/S events) and consistently driving waaay over the speed limit with windows down and sunroof open. Jack rabbit starts....your typical anti-social teenager with first cool car kinda driving. I significantly UNDER performed the MAX f/e that this car could deliver. And enjoyed every minute of it. As I said earlier, I'm sure this car can achieve 45 mpg. Peace, Martin |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Excellent! Sounds like fun!
Bob Wilson |
Re: 41 mpg BMW
well its sounds like a good step in the right direction. I told my BMW dealer that I could not consider their cars because none had good enough FE. He said that would change in the next 3 years and if it does then I will reconsider. I really like the quality of their cars.
|
Re: 41 mpg BMW
Stateside keep your eyes out for the 335d. This thing is going to get middle-30s mpg and have a ton of torque, I think 425 lb/ft of torque.
For those wanting a muscle car with decent FE this would fit the bill. I can't wait for this gem. Not that I can afford one but gawking is free. ;) |
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