Has downsizing your car changed how you drive?

Having driven a number of VW Passat estates for the last twenty years, I recently changed to a Toyota Auris 1.4D.
The immediate difference is the mpg – nearly 60 on average. I am using gears much more, particularly in urban areas. However, I recently drove from Central Scotland to Derry in NW Ireland and found the journey quite pleasant. Jeremy Clarkson had condemned the Toyota a s utterly bland and so this was a strong motivating factor in the purchase.
Parking is a lot easier and at this stage , I have no regrets whatsoever

The response by akr surprises me. I do not recall any volume produced model of 20 years ago, loaded with the technological features and the surprising 1.4 diesel drive train of the little Auris. Diesel engines in 1991 were noisy, smoky beasts, popular only on the Continent.
His company BMW was probably an excellent machine but it comes with a price tag, not just for purchase but for service and parts.
Over the years, in common with most people, I assume, my driving style has changed; it has been affected not merely by my recent downsizing but by factors such as age, traffic volume, speed cameras and legislative change.

We sold a Subaru Forester (11 years old) on retirement to buy a Toyota yaris 1.3 as we thought it would save us money. It does if you drive everywhere at less than 50mph when we have managed 53mpg on the car’s computer. Travelling across France at 130kph or 85mph with 2 people, holiday luggage and 2 bikes on a rack and we dropped to 27.4mpg on the same computer. The forester did the same trip with the same luggage and bikes at nearly 38mpg.
Build quality does matter, the forester at 11 only ever needed service parts and reached 130,000 miles when we sold it. The yaris from 15,000 to 32,000 miles has had ABS failure (in the snow!) Air-con failure and the rear washer only works with clear water. Its a noisy engine espectially at 70-75mph! Big cars make sense if you drive a lot too as the longer wheelbase gives a smoother ride especially over the pot-holes. Looking for a nice used diesel forester wouldn’t you?

We purchased a new Yaris 1.3 for my wife to use and although she loved driving it, it never returned more than 42 mpg and that was on runs over 25 miles. Around town it was even worse. We sold it privately after a year. Surprisingly, it needed new front tyres at 11,000 miles before we sold it!

We vowed never to buy a petrol-engined super mini again. We now have a Fiesta diesel and it is another really lovely car to drive and returns 50 mpg on short runs and 60 mpg on long journeys.

As you found with the Yaris, small petrol engines are not economical if they have to work hard. The latest Fiat 500 with its silly little two cylinder engine is a prime example. Driven at a snail’s pace, it really is economical and has ultra-low emissions, but if you want to get anywhere fast, the engine has to be rev’ed to the limit with the fuel consumption dropping to the high 20s and emissions sky rocketing.

I agree entirely with the remarks above that annual distance driven is critical in vehicle choice. When I drove diesel Passats, I supplied my own transport and the mileage returned plus reliability were positive features of my driving experience. In retirement, I am doing less than a quarter of my previous journeys, obviating the need for a large motor. The little Auris is economical and so far seems ultra reliable. ‘Which’ surveys in the past have placed Toyota near, or at the top of the pole. Last summer’s glych made headline news; other manufacturers have recalls on a monthly basis and they rarely rate three lines on page 11. The rarity of the Toyota catastrophe made it ‘man bites dog’ copy

My favourite car was a Saab turbo but I am very happy with a 1 litre yaris at the moment. The roads and times I travel mean that the yaris is fine for 99 percent of journeys alone. In mid December 2010 I went to Surry in the middle of the day and this trip was acheived with an average speed of <33 mph- very frustrating, due to congestion (the Yaris happily does 70-80 mph. I was harried witless particularly by commercial vehicles on the M25 tailgating at seriously dangerous distances and this is why I support electronic control of speed and instant fines for dangerous driving.

Does this explain why on every journey there is always some idiot in a company Audi up my rear and then dangerously weaving in and out of traffic to overtake?
Followed closely by a BMW driver.

Jeremy Clarkson said it best – the ***** are now leaving BMW and buying Audis.

I’ve recently swapped my BMW 120 for a Toyota Prius. I find I drive much more gently in the Prius.

I’ve always driven pretty-much within the speed limit, but the character of the BMW meant that I always used its full power to get up to speed as quickly as possible and stay there. The Prius, with its Eco credentials is the exact opposite; hard acceleration just ‘feels’ wrong.

And I estimate I’m saving near-to £1,000 a year (about 40%) in fuel!