MPG Query

[Maud]

T5.1 180 DSG just over 11000miles from new (December 2014).
I check fill-to-fill each time (caught the habit from my dad!)

Lowest mpg thus far (sub 1000 miles on the clock) - 33.25mpg
Highest (journey back from Yorkshire Dales to Suffolk) - 38.9mpg
Average is around 35.5mpg for the daily commute, 45 miles (round trip) of mixed lanes and dual carriageway with lots of stop/start and in all weathers. It consistently tops 36+ whilst on holiday and tending to do longer, steadier journeys outside rush hour. I would say that I am a fairly relaxed driver for the most part - not a snail but I have no desire to race people at traffic lights or to test my brakes at the last minute

Overall, I am really pleased with this MPG, not that it really matters for leisure purposes, but out of interest and especially for the commute to work.

 

[briwy]

I agree with Jen. All a bit academic really but out of interest I do keep a rough check. It varies greatly. Last month 2600 miles Pyrenees, northern Spain and Portsmouth to Peak Distict and back. Long runs on motorways at 80ish and over the Pyrenees twice. Average shown 29mpg which on a manual 180 4Motion on winter tyres and using winter diesel I think is excellent.
In comparison, May last year Le Mans to the Pyreness pottering along on non motorways, indicated 41mpg which amazed me. It's a 3t mobile house with the aerodynamics of a brick.
All depends on weather, loading, speed, time of year and importantly terrain.

 

[WelshGas]

I agree with Jen. All a bit academic really but out of interest I do keep a rough check. It varies greatly. Last month 2600 miles Pyrenees, northern Spain and Portsmouth to Peak Distict and back. Long runs on motorways at 80ish and over the Pyrenees twice. Average shown 29mpg which on a manual 180 4Motion on winter tyres and using winter diesel I think is excellent.
In comparison, May last year Le Mans to the Pyreness pottering along on non motorways, indicated 41mpg which amazed me. It's a 3t mobile house with the aerodynamics of a brick.
All depends on weather, loading, speed, time of year and importantly terrain.

And tyres.

 

[GrannyJen]

And tyres.

Oh I agree!

Driving without tyres can ruin fuel consumption

 

[AlisonF]

I need to do a search on 4Motion and winter tyres. Lived 10 years in Norway and had a landcover with 4WD - never bothered changing the tyres. Without winter tyres, your insurance is invalid in winter months if you have an accident and weather conditions were deemed to be a factor. But this was not applicable for 4WD (so I was told). Am intrigued about the pluses / minuses of changing tyres with 4Motion. But will seek the correct thread as it's a digression from this one. Sorry

 

[Batmobile]

Winter tyres make a massive difference on snow, slush and road ice, whether 2wd or 4wd. Four powered wheels that don't grip are also less useful than two that do grip, with tyres being the key factor. Naturally four powered wheels with winter tyres is best of all.

There are some superb all weather tyres now, which are not quite as good as summer tyres in warm weather but very much better than summer tyres in winter conditions, especially in snow, slush etc. They have the added advantage of normally being much better in mud (campsites?) than summer tyres as well, which is handy whatever the time of year.

I need to do a search on 4Motion and winter tyres. Lived 10 years in Norway and had a landcover with 4WD - never bothered changing the tyres. Without winter tyres, your insurance is invalid in winter months if you have an accident and weather conditions were deemed to be a factor. But this was not applicable for 4WD (so I was told). Am intrigued about the pluses / minuses of changing tyres with 4Motion. But will seek the correct thread as it's a digression from this one. Sorry

 

[gshughes]

My onboard computer reads from high 20s to mid 30s. I recently did a brim to brim calculation for a mainly 200 mile odd motorway trip. The result was 27 MPG, which I must say I am a little disappointed by considering that in the same circumstances my previous 1995 T4 800 Special 1.9 non turbo did 42 MPG! Albeit that in the T4 I cruised at around 65 MPH as opposed to 75 MPH for the California. Is this progress?!

 

[Sp0_0k]

Anybody has real figures of consumption for T6 204hp 4 motion DSG?

 

[WelshGas]

My onboard computer reads from high 20s to mid 30s. I recently did a brim to brim calculation for a mainly 200 mile odd motorway trip. The result was 27 MPG, which I must say I am a little disappointed by considering that in the same circumstances my previous 1995 T4 800 Special 1.9 non turbo did 42 MPG! Albeit that in the T4 I cruised at around 65 MPH as opposed to 75 MPH for the California. Is this progress?!

But there is a, not insignificant, weight difference between the two vehicles, and there can be a significant difference in air resistance at 65 compared to 75 mph as air resistance is related to the square of the speed.

 

[deccauk]

I have to confess that I'm in the anal camp. I log all my fill-ups via an iPhone app. I've been doing that for many years. I also do my wife's car and my son's car. As a retired computer analyst, I love data!

Having done 3,574 miles in my 180 DSG, my average is 39.67 mpg. This includes a trip to Spain last summer. I am very light footed, and rarely exceed 65mph.

My previous vehicle was a BMW 320D Touring, which averaged 53.72 mpg over 36,190 miles! I guess adding an extra ton and a half makes a big difference!

 

[pjm-84]

That's impressive for the 180DSG.

 

[Sp0_0k]

While onboard computer can give wrong figures I won't rely on manual fill up tracking as well. Due to they don't always fill up an exact number as a pump says

 

[WelshGas]

While onboard computer can give wrong figures I won't rely on manual fill up tracking as well. Due to they don't always fill up an exact number as a pump says

And if you use the Parking Heater or the Engine Coolant heater kicks in then none of this fuel consumption will be taken into account. So basically, none of the methods available to the average motorist will give you reasonably accurate consumption figures - so why bother!

 

[Batmobile]

FWIW my T6 Beach 150 DSG just averaged 32.6 MPG over the first 400 miles, with quite a lot of town driving and very little motorway. I expect it will be in the high 30s once run in similar conditions. It seems to return 45-55 cruising on faster roads, so longer journeys are likely to be fairly light on fuel. Overall, it is already matching my Volvo V70 D5 auto, which is impressive considering its weight and brick like shape.

 

[DM]

If I was overly worried about fuel consumption I'd use my Citroen C4 which will deliver over 65mpg. That said, I'm reasonably impressed with the Cali - 204 DSG. It delivered 39mpg on a 15 mile run up the A6 from a cold start earlier this week. However that was at a nice steady 50mph. Much faster or stop/start traffic and it falls off rapidly.

 

[Sp0_0k]

Not getting anywhere near those figures so far with 4 motion 204 DSG Beach. So far 32mpg average, But I did just 300 miles
Hope to test it well with our trip to Holland.
Noticed it eats a lot on cold engine. And I knew it before but didn't expect it to warm up sooo long. That's why petrols are better for short trips so we use CRV for that.

 

[sidepod]

Give it another 30k on the clock and it'll be about right.

 

[2into1]

Anyone else got an accurate fuel consumption report on their MFD? The calculations over the last three tank fulls (brim to brim) have been within 0.1mpg of the computer readout.
This seems at odds with the '10% optimistic rule' that seems to have been established.

 

[hirsty]

I don’t keep a close eye on it but my MFD 34-ish mpg seems pretty accurate when I remember to do an occasional brim-to-brim trip reset, definitely within 10% over each 500 miles.

 

[Cameron1960]

140 BHP DSG, 29.5 mpg average over 2,500 miles (mostly urban driving).

 

[Herman]

Going back to Cameron1960's original query: my 180 DSG 4 motion Se has averaged 35.5 mpg since new, calculated by dividing my total mileage (27000) by the number of gallons that I have put in. The MFD resets itself periodically but is usually reading something between 37 and 38. The majority of the mileage is on long journeys and I don't buy supermarket fuel. High speed does not reduce the mpg nearly as much as stop-start driving - it is a heavy vehicle and needs a lot of energy to get it going, however once it is moving it does not use so much to maintain it's speed. Sorry Granny Jen, it is less of a brick than you think VW put a lot of effort into reducing drag and it is surprisingly slippery.
As a final thought, my home-built Caterham look-alike gives me about. 18mpg when I drive it enthusiastically so, by comparison, the Cali is very frugal in my opinion.

 

[EddieEagle]

What was the original question?
In a previous incarnation as an LGV driver for a well known supermarket, for my sins, I am well anal with my fuel figures. I spent many a wasted/productive day being taught how to drive esp. for max economy. With average of 9-10 mpg then every little helped! Keep rolling as much as possible, anticipate having to stop or slow and no harsh acceleration or braking. Treat every pound as your own, another mantra for saving my company money.........they now provide a modest pension for my efforts!!
So, I still watch my fuel figures and have achieved 36 mpg average since April when I got the van. Slips to less than 30 if pushing hard but got up to 48 on one journey by sitting in the left lane on motorway at 56mph. (busman's holiday.)
It varies with weight, weather and tyre pressures etc. I use the coasting function a lot plus all my well learned techniques (hah) for getting every last foot out of each gallon, or last metre from each litre.
Almost considered taking off awning and cycle carrier but then it would no longer be what I signed up to!!
I have tried the super dooper extra expense premium derv. and found no benefit whatsoever. Fill with B.P. every so often but can honestly say Tesco fuel has always given the best economy. (Not my ex-employers....true!)
I agree it is better to just drive the thing and enjoy etc. which I do do, yet watching my fuel figures gives my journeys an added dimension! If I need to get a wriggle on and bury the peddle or when the red mist appears then bugger the fuel, bugger the planet. Meanwhile try not to get stuck behind me when in trucking mode.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Mine's a T6, 150ps, FWD, 6-speed manual, 7-seater Beach.....

I've been religiously tracking my fuel consumption from day one, mile zero - Using an app called "Road Trip"

Here's the stats:

22,490 miles driven, 3,121 litres consumption - That's an average of 33.25 MPG. The MFD states a few MPG higher, normally between 35-36mpg.

I'll admit to having quite a heavy foot.... Motorway speed is mostly 75-80mph (I never bumble along at 60.....)

I do try to stick to 30, in the 30s and 40, in the 40's..... And 60'ish on Nationals tho.

I also have the factory diesel Eberspächer parking/overnight heater..... And use it.... So, some goes there also which is hard to quantify.

 

[GrannyJen]

An interesting thing about heavy feet ....

I have noticed that Albert records better MPG at around 75mph than he does at around 65mph ....

As for being slippery, at long last I now know why I have to put oil in it Goodness, all this new fangled technology ....

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I have noticed that Albert records better MPG at around 75mph than he does at around 65mph ....
.

Now I think about it, I was getting excellent MPG when hoofing down the German Autobahns earlier in the year..... 90mph+. So, will agree.... It's the urban stop/start driving around town, which is the main reducer.... I do try to keep City driving to a minimum, as walking/cycling/motorbiking in the City is much more convenient anyway, especially as I can use the bus lanes on the bike/motorbike, and parking is free/possible.