I continued to be impressed by the hardiness and apparent efficiency of the 1.3 engine in my 454. It did a 7+ hour run on the Motorways today with the only stoppages being for the meat sack in the driver seat and once for filling up so add another 38 miles to the distance covered. Driven through persistent 50-70-50 roadworks, variable speed lanes with a minimum of 40mph and pretty much in full auto for most of the way.
Although I am a little concerned about a throbbing/vibration that made itself apparent when very warm, it didn't seem to have any effect on the car as a whole. The engine + gearbox combination was relaxed below ~3000rpm, damned exciting above it and kickdown is
very addictive.
With that being said, I did mention apparent efficiency. Ignoring the trip computer for a moment and using a colloquial "I used half of my tank from the fill up", 393.4 miles over 25 litres is approximately 71mpg on average which I frankly find hard to believe for a petrol engine in a car of this variety. If I work backwards, 393.4 miles / 57.6mpg is approximately 31 litres so the fuel sensor/gauge needs checking I think... May have to dip the tank to see what is going on...
Still impressed with the engine and the car as a whole.
