[elmerthud]

I bought a dark flint special edition TDi cabriolet in March this year. I have had issues regarding the fuel economy (or lack of) since the beginning. I highest mpg I achieve is 42mpg for motorway driving - some way below the 60mpg stated in the literature.

The Beetle has now been in the garage 4 times, each time VW report that this is acceptable. I am now seeking legal advise as this is not acceptable to me. I have now driven 18,000 miles in 6 months (and have a higher fuel bill due to missing mpg).

I was given a Golf TDi last time the Beetle went in for testing, the Golf gave me 57mpg from the same 1.9 engine.

I get 410 miles to a tank.

How about you?

 

[DR.billZ]

Other choices might be good. I'd bet most get about 46-48 on the highway. They aren't going to choose 40 or 50 in that case.
I get about 47 highway or about 750 miles on a tank. Around town and every-day driving I get about 42.

I bought a dark flint special edition TDi cabriolet in March this year. I have had issues regarding the fuel economy (or lack of) since the beginning. I highest mpg I achieve is 42mpg for motorway driving - some way below the 60mpg stated in the literature.

The Beetle has now been in the garage 4 times, each time VW report that this is acceptable. I am now seeking legal advise as this is not acceptable to me. I have now driven 18,000 miles in 6 months (and have a higher fuel bill due to missing mpg).

I was given a Golf TDi last time the Beetle went in for testing, the Golf gave me 57mpg from the same 1.9 engine.

I get 410 miles to a tank.

How about you?

 

[Growler]

Other choices might be good. I'd bet most get about 46-48 on the highway. They aren't going to choose 40 or 50 in that case.
I get about 47 highway or about 750 miles on a tank. Around town and every-day driving I get about 42.

my response exactly. I also get 43 or so on my normal commute. and 45-48 on the freeway drive.

you are lucky to get the TDI convertible over there in England.

you also need to learn how to vent your fuel tank. you can easily get 100+ more miles out of a fill with a fully vented tank.

 

[jdesigns]

(I own a 1.8t, but I occasionally read the TDi forum)


Doesn't the MPG get better once the motor is broken in? At like 5000 miles or something?

 

[marvins_dad]

You don't have 35-38mpg on the poll...

Not as far as I have heard others can go...I really wonder some peoples claims.

Furthest tank was Roswell, NM to Dallas (GrandPrairie), TX...approx 480 miles.

 

[The Cheat]

Hmmm...in response to the original poster, how fast are you driving? Many fuel mileage estimates are done at 50mph, accessories off, and top up. That being said, I've never seen a PD claiming to get anything higher than 46MPG (US) from the factory. You also didn't mention if you're rocking the DSG or the conventional manual. Many factors play a role in your mileage...with that being said, low 40s is plenty good for a TDI vert which I'm sure has been running with the top down at times. Wait until 25k to really judge your economy...it spikes around there.

I pull about the same as Eeyore...43 mixed, 45-48 highway. I have pulled a 50mpg tank however. My car is a 2005 TDI 5speed with 16k on it.

 

[jpdeuce]

My regular driving is mixed highway and in town, probably 30% of the time I'm cruising at 60 or so. I get 45mpg on this commute.

If I take a trip and I am only on the highway (I set the cruise at 65 mph) then I get 50mpg.

Did you say whether you had a manual or automatic? Or how you drive? Or how you broke the car in?

Additionally, if you only have 18K on the dial...you've got about 32K more miles until the engine is really broken in. The TDIs don't show full compression until about 50K miles. So you will most likely see that number increase as time goes on.

Anyway...let us know about some of the questions I asked and we can see if you really have a problem or if it's somewhat normal. 42 is pretty decent compared to the alternative...but there are definitely people getting better.

 

[blockphi]

I am down to about 38.5 MPG now. I have put over 40K miles on my TDI in a year and I need to clean my intake manifold. I have noticed that I have lost power as well as MPG. I was getting right around 46 when I first bought the car. Have to get it back up there!

P

 

[marvins_dad]

I'm right there with you blockphi - except I have a little over 60k now and haven't cleaned.

 

[jpdeuce]

While cleaning the intake in theory sounds like it's robbing you of a ton of mpgs...I wouldn't expect to jump very much from it. One of the diesel mechanics on tdiclub told me that the people he has cleaned haven't noticed that much improvement, if any, from cleaning the EGR or intake.

Don't get me wrong...it's nice to have a clean intake...and that stuff looks pretty bad when you take the parts off. But unless you have something wrong with the car you probably won't notice an improvement in efficiency.

The guys who get crazy mileage are for the most part driving solely on the freeway. They are also setting their cruise at 60 or 65. They also have 5-speeds not automatics. Some of them have upgraded their injectors and chips as well for the focus of improving efficiency. They are also mostly not Beetles (the Beetle has the worst drag coefficient compared to the Golf and Jetta). They also have good tires with hard tread and have them filled up to 40+ psi.

For the most part, these are the things that are going to get you the best mileage. If you were lucky enough to drive every mile on your car...then following a proven break-in procedure would help as well.

Keeping the engine clean is just good practice with your car...but will rarely help with fuel efficiency.

 

[boblamb58]

Roughly 50 on the highway, near 40 around town. I split pretty evenly between highway and town driving... I rarely do city-type driving where I'd idle for long periods of time.

The photo is a screen capture of my beetle stats file. I keep track of every drop of diesel I put in the car as well as how much$ and how far it takes me. Totals and averages are for just under 49000 miles in 4 years 9 months of ownership:

 

[hannaco]

One item that I think most have over looked. In the UK, they use Imperial gallons, and not US gallons as a unit of measure. The Imperial gallon is about 1.2 US gallons. So, your mileage would be 1.2 times higher using Imperial gallons.
So, my 46 US mpg is 55 Imperial mpg! His 42 Imperial mpg works out to only 35 US mpg. Not the greatest for just going down the motorway.

I assume that they have checked all the easy stuff like wheel alignment, tyre pressure, injection timing, and brake drag?

 

[The Cheat]

It's a vert too...figure in drag loss with the top down, and also, the fact that verts are heavier as well.

I totally forgot about the inperial spectrum...you have good eyes hannaco.

 

[mk2subzero]

I got Spunky brand new and for the most part followed the break-in procedures. I had to fudge a little when I went on a l-o-n-g road trip from Tucson to Memphis to Jacksonville and back. In the middle of all that I did the 5000 mile servicing. His mpg increased as the engine broke in. I went from around 37mpg highway when he was brand new and now with over 15,000 miles on him we consistently average 40mpg in the city and 48-50 on the highway. The only mod under the hood is a K&N air filter that I put on him right after I got him. For an automatic (6spd DSG) I am really impressed with the mileage that he gets. On the highway, I run whatever the speed limit is and set the cruise control. Around town, I don't do "jackrabbit" starts and try to avoid idling for any extended period of time. Unfortunately, being in Tucson, running the A/C during the day is almost mandatory, unless you want to dehydrate yourself. Luckily, I go to work when it is still dark, so I only end up running it on the drive home. My commute is roughly 12 miles one way.

 

[mgwerks]

I bought a dark flint special edition TDi cabriolet in March this year. I have had issues regarding the fuel economy (or lack of) since the beginning. I highest mpg I achieve is 42mpg for motorway driving - some way below the 60mpg stated in the literature.

Can we aassume that those are Imperial gallons and not the smaller US gallons? They've never been advertized at 60 MPG here.

(I own a 1.8t, but I occasionally read the TDi forum)
Doesn't the MPG get better once the motor is broken in? At like 5000 miles or something?

Or 50,000, or 100,000. Combined mileage on OSO has remained about 46-48 MPG, and he is approaching like 140Kmiles. Slap the roof rack and some cargo on top, and that number plummets. Longest tank so far has been 768 miles, until I lost the game of chicken with the fuel gauge...

 

[Growler]

my last tank was the longest I have ever driven on one fillup. 675.2 miles put in 14.3 gallons vented for a total of 47.22 mpg, my 2nd best tank ever.

I figure with a (supposed) 16.7 gallon max fill, I could have went 788 miles.

my average since I have started the b20 useage is 42.93MPG over the 9536 miles of useage. I am well pleased.

and Growler only has 69k on the clock.

 

[The Cheat]

my last tank was the longest I have ever driven on one fillup. 675.2 miles put in 14.3 gallons vented for a total of 47.22 mpg, my 2nd best tank ever.

I figure with a (supposed) 16.7 gallon max fill, I could have went 788 miles.

my average since I have started the b20 useage is 42.93MPG over the 9536 miles of useage. I am well pleased.

and Growler only has 69k on the clock.

Growler only has 36k on the motor though. It's only gonna keep getting better for you E.

 

[Pelican18TQA4]

Me and my lead foot average but a paltry 34 mpg

 

[jpdeuce]

I'm really glad I'll be able to stop using A/C here shortly. Looking forward to that extra 1mpg or so.

 

[Blue_Stinkbug]

I avg right at 40 in town, going to Dallas I avg the best at close to 55 which is running about 60 mph