Sneaky Edinburgh ulez! And some decent fuel economy once again…

[rrobson]

A tale of success for a change. The old rusty relic has been earning its keep recently with numerous trips up and down the country. A trip to Telford and back and Edinburgh back last weekend with a sprint across to Manchester and back this weekend meant it’s done just short of a thousand miles this last 7 days.
The surprise of the week however was Edinburgh. I hadn’t realised they’d introduced a ulez until we mapped it there. No daily emissions tax here though, just a £60 fine for non compliance!!
Thankfully we didn’t need to pass right through the centre and managed to avoid the zone, but I’m now fearful of other ulez zones in England as many Scottish initiatives are simply trials for the rest of the country…
I expect a good number of pre euro 6 diesel vehicles getting substantially cheaper in the coming years…

Which is a shame because since I’ve changed the thermostat housing on the rov (due to the o-ring on the upper pipe perishing and leaking) it’s been performing much better than it has been over the last 12 month, even though I hadn’t noticed any issues with running temps.
I’ve yet to do a brim to brim on the latest tank but it has been averaging low 50’s mpg for ages, which is certainly nothing to be upset about although it was much higher previously.
this last week, three up with luggage to Edinburgh and back, then two up with luggage to Manchester and back with local trips in between this week, it will have done at least 58mpg. 60’s seem to be back on the cards again! Not bad for a 20 year old rot box…

I dropped off the motorway at 620 miles and 200 miles of range with exactly 1/4 tank, but four miles on local roads used 20 miles of range and knocked the needle down that much. I’ve got a good bit of commuting coming up again next week so maybe it’ll crack 800 miles to a tank again.
Trip hasn’t been reset for at least 5000 miles and this was a steady 65-70 mph on the motorways. Previously I was at 650 miles at this point when it was doing low 60’s mpg. The short local journeys really kill the range…

[stevestrat]

The Edinburgh ULEZ has been advertised, I posted about it here and yes, it’s black and white, either the vehicle complies or doesn’t and if it doesn’t it’s a sixty quid fine, per instance.