Peugeot Citroen first 'REAL WORLD' Fuel Consumption figures - poorer by 36%

The Peugeot 308 (pictured) has economy 36% poorer in the real world

PSA Peugeot Citroen has revealed the first results of its ‘Real World’ fuel economy test, with figures showing economy up to 36% poorer.

When the world was waking up late last year every day to new Dieselgate revelations – and the public was quickly losing faith in the honesty of car manufacturers – PSA Peugeot Citroen declared they were embarking on a project to declare the ‘Real World’ economy of their cars so buyers had a clearer, and more transparent, set of figures to judge a car’s economy.

Now, PSA has developed a protocol in conjunction with non-government organisations Transport & Environment (T&A) and France Nature Environment (F NE) to come up with the right numbers, with results verified by Bureau Veritas.

The test were done on public roads near Paris in real world conditions, including with passengers and luggage, as well as on different road gradients and use of HVAC systems.

The first results are for the Peugeot 308, Citroien Grand C4 Picasso and DS 3, all fitted with the 1.6 BlueHDI 120 engine with stop-start, and PSA has not only delivered their test figures, but also economy figures from owner reviews. They are remarkably similar – but a long way off the ‘Official’ economy test results.

PSA Peugeot Citroen Real World Economy Results

Peugeot 308 Allure

PSA Real World: 56.5mpg
Owner Survey: 55.4-56.4mpg
Official: 88.3mpg

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso

PSA Real World: 50.4mpg
Owner Survey: 49.6-51.4mpg
Official: 70.6mpg

DS 3

PSA Real World: 57.6mpg
Owner Survey: 53.3-55.4mpg
Official: 78.5mpg

Unsurprisingly, the real world results are significantly poorer – by up to 36 per cent on the Peugeot 308 – but are pretty much what we’d expect to see with a review car used in the real world.

It’s a big step in the right direction to restore car buyers’ faith in the claims of car makers, but we’re disappointed to see PSA hasn’t included CO2 data (although you can extrapolate CO2 emissions from the MPG), and nor have they given NOx and Particulate figures.

But it’s a step in the right direction.