This in my 2/98 BA Astina hatchback, bought in late 2011.
It was bought for my daughter, who then changed her mind, so it became my daily driver.
I've treated reducing my fuel consumption as a hobby/game for some time now, using whatever car I had at the time, so I was curious what I could squeeze out of a 1.8 litre engine with a 5 speed.
It was reasonably economical on fuel from the start, about 6.9 l/100km, but I wanted more (or is that less?).
The first thing I sorted out was, what fuel does the car respond to best?
My car likes straight ULP, 91 RON, no ethanol.
95 RON works nearly as well, but costs more.
E10 is good for a 5% drop in fuel economy, with only a 3.5% saving in cost over ULP.
The most effective changes I've made, however, have been driving style changes. That's what has really brought my average down.
My daily commute is 52km each way, which takes about 40 minutes (including traffic lights, etc.), for an average speed of 78 kph. I mention this to show that driving with fuel economy in mind doesn't necessarily mean "driving like a grandma".
To help in this, over 2012, I:
1. Added a vacuum gauge (poor man's economy gauge).
2. Removed the spoiler and the mud flap thingies front and rear to slightly reduce aero drag. As a bonus, I think it looks good that way and I can see out the back window easier.
3. Ran the tyres pumped up harder than the tyre placard recommends to reduce rolling resistance.
By mid October 2012, fuel consumption was down to around 5.8 l/100km.
In late October, I changed from the 195/50R15's that the car came with (odometer was right, speedo was fast when compared to my GPS), to second hand 195/60R15's (odometer is now 5.7% slow, speedo is about 1% slow).
This was as a trial to see if dropping engine revs would help. Something helped (by about 5%), but it may have been the change of tyre model (Kumho KU25 to Pirelli P6) as much as the change in tyre circumference.
By the end of 2012, I'm averaging just under 5.5 l/100km … and still hungry.