2.0 TDI 170 Fuel Consumption

[mcmahonleon]

Hi

I took delivery of an A4 Avant 2.0TDI 170 S-Line last month - I've done 5K miles in it already & so far extremely impressed with the car, apart from the fuel consumption. I drive mainly on the motorway (below 90mph) & typically only achieve an average 37mpg. This is quite disappointing vs. the diesel BMW I've just stepped out of.

I don't expect to achieve the quoted combined but was hoping to get nearer than this! Can I expect this to improve once the engine is properly run in?

Cheers in advance for your replies.

[Dave Avant]

To be honest the TDi 170 and low mpg seems to be quite common as I keep reading that either the power doesn't seem to be 170bhp or the fuel consumption is up over other models. The 170 seems to be an 'odd ball' engine where power has been extracted at the cost of mpg. I think Audi/VW need to move in a different direction with the diesel engine as I think it has peak with the technology used. After all its a a fairly old design with modifications.

BMW and Fiat seem to be leading the way with diesels, with some Japanese models following, but they don't seem as high profile.

I've got a 1.9TDI 130 and my Wife's BMW 120d. Obviously the BM is faster with 163bhp, and it revs more petrol like, but the Audi has better pick up response low in the revs, but after 3,000rpm it runs out of pull, bit like a refined old Peugeot 1.9 turbo diesel if you've ever driven one.
The BMW does give better mpg. I've runs down to London from Manchester in both and the Audi averaged early 40s whereas the BM was high 40s.

And yes it usually takes modern engine to over 10,000 miles to properly run in and give the best performance and mpg.

[a8 tech]

answer new 2.0 tdi engines comming very very soon.

[s20a4avant]

Hi, same as me ! I got mine in march after opting out of the company car scheme and drive about 65k a year but with 44k on the clock now it only ever does 40 mpg ! a bit dissapointing but other than this the car is fantastic. it also uses oil all the time which i thought might have stopped by now. mark.

[barryburbs]

Make sure you are using the expensive 'long life' oil and it should last for thousands of miles.

[barryburbs]

Keeping your tyres PSI right with weekly checks is another good tip as is not having air con on. You can also radically improve your mpg by knocking it into neutral on downhill stretches, not in the advance drivers guide, granted. I appreciate you're all talking about what the engines can 'do' but some of these suggs may help get yours up (so to speak) ;-)

[marcus]

Hi, I bought a new 170 last October and have done just over 13K in her and must say i am very pleased. Fule consumption is not brilliant but better than the petrol Merc that i had prviously. Most of my milage is local stuff where i average around mid 30s but i do sometimes have to travel to Belgium so when i get her out on the Motorway i seldom travel much below 100mph but can still get very high 30s. Must also add that i did have her remapped a few months back so still enjoying being a bit of a boy racers which is not good for consumption. I have also noticed that i have used more oil than expected probably 3 ltrs in total since new, and yes it is the proper stuff at £50 for 5 ltrs!!

[RickT]

These engines seem to settle down on the MPG around 10k.. and average around 40mpg..

Rick

[mcmahonleon]

Thanks all for your replies.

No worries on PSI front; I work for Continental & the tyres are checked religiously!

Since posting, I've driven circa 500-miles on the motorway & tried keeping at or below 80mph, kept below 3,500 rpm & siwtched the aircon off - achieved 42mpg, but so boring!

Hopefully clicking over 10k miles will mean I can start enjoying the engine again without worrying about my wallet.

[MarkBS]

Hi, just read teh posts here...although I own a 140TDi I have found that teh economy has increased over time. When i got mine in kad under 3k on the clock and wouldn't do more that about 42-44 on a long run. Just completed a 500+mile round trip and worked out that I am at just over 50mpg. car now has 16k on the clock. Couple of things to mention though (apart from tyre pressures) is that the climate control can eat up mpg as does a heavy right foot!
Mark

[JohnH]

I have a 170 TDi SE Avant, new in March '07 and it has averaged 41.5mpg over 11K miles, I have to admit to being pretty disappointed as my company thinks sub-2.0l diesels can average 45mpg and cites UK tax rules for this expectation....

It also seems to use 1L of very expensive and hard to obtain VW 507 oil every 8K miles.

Upon reflection fuel economy is probably improving but it still falls way behind my wife's Honda 2.2 CDTi which regularly gives 45+ mpg and does more urban motoring - averaging 50+ mpg in the kind of motoring I do.

As for aircon, it seems to make little difference, cruise control seems to have a negative impact though - surprising for 'drive by wire'.

Also, I don't find the engine very 'driveable', it's easy to get caught without enough power - say when approaching a roundabout and a gap appears, if you've less than 2K rpm it is gutless, then it all arrives in one big 'wallop' at 2K RPM, go drive the Honda to experience something a little more 'linear'. in fairness from 2K to 4.5K RPM the power delivery and 'sound' are good, but then the economy is poor.

I like my Audi, but I too feel that they've squeezed too much out of this engine, perhaps the 140 is 'sweeter' ? The cynic in me wonders whether the gutless low end might have something to do with the excellent emissions results.

I hope that the new common rail version in the forthcoming A4 is better as I'll probably opt for one of these next, although the TSi petrol engines appear to be offering good torque and power too.
:(

[prolfe]

Keeping your tyres PSI right with weekly checks is another good tip as is not having air con on. You can also radically improve your mpg by knocking it into neutral on downhill stretches, not in the advance drivers guide, granted. I appreciate you're all talking about what the engines can 'do' but some of these suggs may help get yours up (so to speak) ;-)

knocking the car into neutral will make the car tickover - at tickover it will be around 200mpg.

Keeping it in gear and just backing off the accelerator will cut fuel altogether and the MPG is unrecordable. ie. a lot higher than 200mpg.

as it is in gear it uses no fuel and power to keep the engine ticking over - it lets the momentum of the car do that. Like bump starting it i guess.

I've averaged 41mpg in my car and the oil consumption has been better after it's first service.

Also, now that I know it can be remapped to around 210bhp i'm wondering if this could also improve the mpg.

Superchips say that they have yet to rolling road a 170 TDI that does not put out less than 180bhp as standard. So maybe that would explain the lower than quoted mpg.

[mcmahonleon]

Now done 11.5K miles in the A4 & no real improvement on the fuel consumption, however I suspect there has been something fundamentally wrong with the engine since new. On Christmas Eve, I was out on a short journey & the oil & coolant warning lights flashed-up - pulled over & to my horror found oil pouring out of the engine & the radiator expansion tank full of oil!

The car is now with my local Audi dealer & I suspect the news will be scary. In the meantime, I'm driving around in a Vectra supplied by Audi Recovery (who rejected my request for a replacement Audi whilst mine is in for repair). All in all, not entirely impressed with my Audi experience thus far - seriously regretting jumping the BMW-ship.

If you're interested, I'll let you know the outcome.

[Mark Hunt]

Hi All

I've logged up 20K in my Audi A4 Avant Quattro 2.0TDI, it's averaging 36mpg and already has had a turbo replaced after a month-long saga with my local Audi dealer claiming there was nothing wrong with the car. In what can only be the Audi equivalent to an I.T depts " Have you tried turning it off and on again", they normally try to fix it by "Downloading the latest software map", which achieves nothing. Not impressed with the car economy or back up, this is my 6th Audi Avant and my last..I think they have pushed the engine too far and lost their way on emissions (vs. BMW), torque (it appears higher up the rev range) and economy.

[ptflooring]

Hi all, just joined this forum for a similar problem, which I have started a new post.
i have a 3 month old A4 140 tdi avant with multitronic, and around town I have just worked out getting around 25 mpg and do not drive hard. My previous car was the same but a manual and that was in the forties, I know they quote a less mpg for a multi but I think I have something very wrong, hope my audi dealer will be as helpful as they have been in the past. My last long run was 550 miles, and did this on one tank, all motorway.

[seventh-heaven]

You can also radically improve your mpg by knocking it into neutral on downhill stretches, not in the advance drivers guide, granted.

Not sure that this is true. Most modern engines petrol and diesel don't feed the engine with any fuel on overrun above a certain rev range and therefore you will use more fuel by letting it idle.

[prolfe]

Not sure that this is true. Most modern engines petrol and diesel don't feed the engine with any fuel on overrun above a certain rev range and therefore you will use more fuel by letting it idle.

Absolutely true.

200mpg at tick over
999999mpg when coasting in gear. Fuel is cut off altogether

try it when you flick the trip computer to real time mpg.

[bogey888]

Hi, am new to this site but glad to have found it, has been very informative!

Bought a brand new A4TDI 170 S-Line Special edition in October. Have been really happy with it apart from the MPG you guys are moaning about.
I was just wondering if this will improve to what the tech Spec says in the brochure or have we been sold a dummy!? Also is there anything else to worry about with this particular car/engine as I've read they have stretched this engine to the limit!?


Cheers:beerchug:

[prolfe]

Hi, am new to this site but glad to have found it, has been very informative!

Bought a brand new A4TDI 170 S-Line Special edition in October. Have been really happy with it apart from the MPG you guys are moaning about.
I was just wondering if this will improve to what the tech Spec says in the brochure or have we been sold a dummy!? Also is there anything else to worry about with this particular car/engine as I've read they have stretched this engine to the limit!?


Cheers:beerchug:


Welcome to our little site.

I have averaged 41mpg since new and I rarely hang about.

Driving economically i can expect this to be in the low 50's

[John140]

Keeping your tyres PSI right with weekly checks is another good tip as is not having air con on. You can also radically improve your mpg by knocking it into neutral on downhill stretches, not in the advance drivers guide, granted. I appreciate you're all talking about what the engines can 'do' but some of these suggs may help get yours up (so to speak) ;-)
Surely knocking it out of gear on downhill stetches will increase fuel consumption, as the engine is using a small amount of fuel to idle, whereas on the overun these engines completely cut off fuel injection.

[John140]

I went from the B6 TDI 130 to the B7 TDI 140, and I am still dissapointed by the 2.0TDI fuel consumption. Ive done 12K so far and on a good day I can just about get 44mpg on a run, where my old TDI 130 would have done 50, and round town I am down to 35-36 where my old car would have done 40 ish. I would like someone to tell me why the 2.0TDI is so much more thirsty in the real world, whereas on paper it should be about the same.
Also, it seems that these engines vary from car to car, speaking to some people they have no issues at all with fuel consumption. MY car is fitted with the 'BRE' version of this engine, and the Audi dealer say that everything is normal as far as they can see.
Have they done something different with the EGR setup on these engines to meet Euro 4, which has screwed the fuel consumption ?

[bogey888]

I love my B7 A4 2.0TDI 170 S-Line Special Edition but the mileage sucks, wished I got the petrol version now! Around town I get around 30-33 MPG which is not great, today I got the best mileage on the motorway, 48 MPG and that was driving it like grandad!!! Have Audi tweaked this diesel engine that much that it drinks as much as a petrol engine!!???? :confused:

[prolfe]

It must be an abnormality with the both of your engines. As in mine it is so easy to hit high forties, low fifties.

As for the petrol, you really do have to drive like a grandad, just to hit 35mpg let alone give it some stick.

[JohnH]

I drove my '07 A4 TDi 170 SE Avant like a 'grandad' today and it managed all of 41mpg, admittedly it was into a headwind at times but I even had the aircon off (never run a previous car without the climate/aircon on auto all the time and always beat manufacturers claimed figures).

Daren't use the cruise either as this makes matters worse..... Got 44mpg out of it on a 200 mile run last week but had to stick to 65-70mph without cruise or aircon - not happy since HMRC reckon sub-2.0l diesels can do a 47mpg average.

I'm kicking myself because when Audi lent me a car for a 2-day test drive last year, that only managed 40mpg and had averaged 41mpg in 6K miles according to its trip computer (spookily what mine has averaged in 13K miles). I naively accepted the dealer's 'there's something funny about that car' explanation.:Blush2:

I keep telling myself it's getting better but I'm glad I only leased it for 2 years, very disappointed - I used to get 38mpg out of my 1999 A4 1.8SE 6 years ago whilst running the climate /aircon constantly.

I guess I'll ask a dealer but had been hoping to merely visit them for servicing since nothing has gone wrong (except steering noise). Expect they'll no-doubt suggest it's down to 'driving style' ?:aargh4:

Oh well, rant over....

[John140]

My beef is, how have VW/Audi managed to go from having the most efficient diesels, to diesels which barely have any MPG advantage over petrols considering the additional cost. To get even 45 mpg out of my car I have to drive it so gently and never use the CC, its just unreal, in my old 1.9 TDI 130 I could get high 40's average MPG using the CC most of the time !

[EPrice]

Hi. I read this with interest as I have been very dissapointed with my A4. I previously had a BMW325i Sport and got an average of 29mpg through the time I owned the car (70k miles hard driving). I moved to the Audi to reduce tax and to get more consumption. I have now done 28k miles in the A4 170 and the mpg is very bad. I get anywhere between 32 - 36 even on long runs. 33mpg is fairly normal.

I have had it back to the Audi dealer and, as expected, they did nothing but say it was due to the cold weather etc (anything to get rid of me!). I have driven the 140 version and got 45mpg, giving around 600+ miles per tank compared with the 170 version at around 430.

In the BMW on a long run I got 380+. Definately not worth moving from the fun of the petrol straight 6 to this tractor for 50 miles a tank. I would like to know how Audi got their mpg figures (took the 140 numbers, thought it would be a bit worse and took a couple of didgits off).

The handling is also nothing like the BMW with the front wheels being set to far back and the engine hung over the front. Hurry up car lease and end so I can give this car up! I would strongly recommend anyone thinking of buying one not to. Tax, mpg and performance are better on the BMW 320D MSport.

Only positives:- well built and practical.

[John140]

I just wish someone out there could answer the question "why are some VaG 2.0 TDI engines thirsty and some economical" ? as no one seems to know.

I have a friend who has a 2.0 tdi 170 Avant and he seems to get high 40's most of the time out of his car with 14K on the clock,. which is better than my car.

[gtrevor]

I have a friend who has a 2.0 tdi 170 Avant and he seems to get high 40's most of the time out of his car with 14K on the clock,. which is better than my car.


As people have said you should really be getting high 40's ... I've got the 233bhp 3.0 TDI Quattro and I'm averaging 42.5mpg with 15,000 miles on the clock....

[John140]

I can only get high 40's if I am feather light on the throttle and dont do more than 65-70 on the motorway.
My old A4 1.9 TDI 130 would give me high 40's cruising at nearly 85 (on the continent of course).

[EPrice]

You still to way better than me. 460miles out of a tank is good going giving 35mpg. Never manged more than 500 miles giving 38mpg even if all motorway driving and on clear roads late at night.

[John140]

Surely the dealer must be able to say why this is ??

[turbo steve]

As people have said you should really be getting high 40's ... I've got the 233bhp 3.0 TDI Quattro and I'm averaging 42.5mpg with 15,000 miles on the clock....



Is this manual or tiptronic?

[gtrevor]

Is this manual or tiptronic?

6 speed manual

Not sure what the gearing is like on the 2.0TDI but on mine I can sit at 80mph with about 2,100RPM in 6th

[causewayer]

Have owned Golf 90, Golf 110, Golf 115, A4 130, A4 140 & now A4 170 TDIs. Very disappointed with fuel consumption (weighed against performance) of the A4 170 compared to others. Still own a Golf GT TDI 115 and can hit 60mpg on a long trip. Only have done 5k in the A4 170, and was hoping that things would improve, but reading this thread, it doesnt look like it. Might it be worth re-tuning if Audi say that there is no issue?

[John140]

I dont think its just the 170 BHP engine, I think it is the 2.0 engine in general. I had a TDI 130 before and this was very frugal driven the same way.

[VAG 1]

I have an a3 20.tdi 140 (18k miles)and i am also very dissapointed with my economy. I had a 130 tdi golf before and that would reguarly give well over 50 mpg on a long run sticking below 80. the a3 struggles to give mid to low 40's at these speeds. I think the golf trip over read but even taking this into account it was still well above the audi.

Two people at work also have a3 tdi 140's, one which is the same age as mine gives even worse economy but the other is about a year older and this gives economy similar to the golf. I believe that they revised the engines to reduce the emissions so maybe this is the cause??

Another colleague has a 170 tdi a4 and he gets mid 30's for his economy.

[John140]

There are many variants of the 2.0 TDI engine, mine is a BRE prefix engine. Someone a while ago told me that it was the EGR setup on these engines that was to blame.

[marcus]

I have an A4 170 TDI 56 plate with an engine re-map and was also disappointed with fule consumption returning only 38ish on a long run with speeds around 80mph. However she had her first service last week with 19K on the clock (few other problems invited an early service) and earlier this week took the family upto LegoLand!! which is about an hour and a half motorway run from my place and was very pleased to see a journey avarage of 46mph. I must say we cruised at between 75 and 80 nearly all the way so stoping and starting but still a vast improvement. I have also noticed a marked improvement on shorter journeys say from home to work which for me is only 5 miles.
So suggest you look forward to cars first service and then would be interested to here if like wise you see major improvement!!!

[VAG 1]

funnily enough it's got its first service on tuesday.

It's been in twice now for a knackered heating fan and haven't mentioned economy before cos i assumed they'd just put it down to my driving style or the weather, but i think i will now. - thanks for that.

[VAG 1]

by the way john, excuse my naivety but whats EGR setup?

[marcus]

I wouldnt mind betting the DPF filter has something to do with bad fuel consumption. When i had the car from new fuel consumption was pretty good and over the last 18 months has gradualy got worse. The reason for the early service was a blocked DPF filter which made the car undrivable, and now on top of the service not only does she run better but fuel consumption has increased far more than one might expect from just a service.
Has any one else got any thoughts on the DPF filter and is it really necessary!!!!

[John140]

I think they meant the design of the EGR valve, which is the valve that opens and closed to allow hot exhaust gases into the air intake (helps cut NOX emissions).

[John140]

I understand that there are 2 engineering approaches to the fittment of a DPF filter. Option 1 is to use the injection of a small amount of special chemical (known to Peugeot Citroen people as Eolys fluid) to keep the DPF clean. The second option which VaG adopted, is to go for an ECU controlled cleaning cycle for the DPF by altering the fuelling to periodically raise the EGT to the point where it burns the DPF clean. I think this is why people experience sporadic poor consumption, because they may be driving on a day that the ECU decides to do the 'clean cycle'.

[JohnH]

I was looking for this thread as I posted regarding my disappointment in the fuel consumption of my 170 TDi before.

Since its service it has been transformed, it's much more tractable - pulling smoothly from a little over 1000rpm - which makes joining roundabouts a lot less tiresome.

The biggest surprise is the fuel economy, from struggling to better 40mpg (however I drove) - I now regularly see 50mpg on a motorway run at the legal limit and actually managed an indicated 60mpg on a 150mile run at 60mph (traffic was very heavy so I just tucked in to the slow lane with the lorries and set the cruise control).

So overall I'm pleased.... they've also replaced the steering rack and clutch and so the car doesn't 'moo' or judder any more - drastic but effective I guess !

[RicardoA4Sline]

I have owned my 170 avant since July 07 and some 23K miles. Mine has improved to 42mpg, but my usage has gone to more motorways (now up to 4K per month!) and these journeys are about 47mpg cruising at normal speeds. However town driving is barely above 35mpg.

I do find this is bad considering how good my old Golf 130 was with over 50mpg. Fortunately for me its a company lease car and fuel card supplied, I can understand posters comments about BMW320d models as a collegue has one and it does about 600+ miles on a tank....which I can but dream of.

Also mine is very laggy compared to my previous diesels Golf and Volvo S40 (about 130bhp each) and needs revving to make it shift, it has had a software upgrade at 1st service a month ago but doesnt seem any different ( confirmed by the dealer)

Would love to see what difference a tuning programme would do but my company wouldnt be best impressed.

Still love the car though, apart from the wooden steering feel and noisy climate control

[bogey888]

Just dropped car off to Audi cos of 'lumpy' engine, poor fuel economy, no power etc, spoke to service department and there is a 'recall' on the engine, update on ecu, so wish me luck on the outcome......

[mcmahonleon]

Update on the fuel consumption issue I raised at the end of last year - after constant moaning to my local dealer, they finally relented & reluctantly took the car in for a thorough inspection. It transpired that the ECU had been incorrectly programmed at the factory - they reprogrammed & the fuel consumption rocketed to mid-late 40's. Problem solved but unfortunately no compensation for all the cash I'd spanked on wasted fuel.

Outside of the fuel consumption issue, I've always been very disappointed by the huge turbo lag when pulling away - nothing, nothing then everything! This is sometimes dangerous at roundabouts etc & has shredded through several sets of tyres. Again, I moaned to the dealer & was told this was a characteristic of the engine & to deal with it. Last month, I experienced jerky throttle response at motorway speeds & took the car to the dealer. They investigated & found that my injectors were blocked & replaced under warranty. This cured the throttle response problem, but more importantly has almost completely removed the excessive turbo lag at pull away speeds! I suspect the injectors have been a problem from word go.

All in all a much better car, but it has taken me 45K miles into ownership to get satisfaction. I have however learned two very important lessons in the process though - keep moaning & never buy another Audi (back to BMW for me).

Hope this helps as I'm sure I'm not the only one that's ended-up with a 'friday afternoon' A4!

Note - I've taken all the repair reports on face value & do not know if they've carried out any software updates/ retrofits that have helped cure the fuel & lag problems.

[sefton1]

37mpg on average is wonderful compared with 23mpg of my old 3ltr beast so im well chuffed

[robbielees]

I think this is awful fuel economy. I traded a 2.0 TFSI TT in Jul for an S line 170 avant, hoping for a bit of practicality (yes) and good fuel economy (no!) To be frank, driving the TT for fun returned between 30 and 33 mpg, driving the avant carefully returns 33-37, doen't even offset the increased cost in diesel over unleaded. I'm fuming as my dealer talked me into the 170 in defference to the TT, and said he drove one hard getting 40mpg plus. Reading these posts I'd say that was a complete fabrication.

I note that no one is really getting close to the published figures (not on but close) - it seems Audi aren't providing what they're selling, do we have any come back??

[Giles H]

Been reading the posts and I just had to say something.....

I run a 2006 140ps TDi which I've had from new with 70,000m on the clock. I do a lot of motorway miles but also live out in the stix....so I get to play a little every now and then ;)....I generally get 650 miles out of a tank of standard tesco stuff....but on one trip up north, i wasn't in a hurry....steady 60mph...and the DIS eventually told me after a few miles that i had 1200 miles left in the tank!!!! So.....take it slow and steady and they wont cost you a penny! lol

However.....

....who wants to do 60mph!?:D

Oh....and I had it on a rolling road near me (a calibrated one)....and she was kicking out 153bhp after 20,000m! And no...I haven't touched anything on it! Can't be bad!! lol

[prolfe]

153bhp is probably about right. Superchips and Revo have had the 170 at 182 and 195 as as standard.

I came back from Plymouth the other day, A roads - dual carriage way and then the M3, M25 and M1.

It was a leisurely drive back speed limit pretty much all the way, 70-90 on the dual carriage ways and motorways and got about 48mpg.

[martynah]

how interesting - the golf v variant with this engine I have, I can get 50mpg if driving carefully, drops to about 45-47 normally for my driving, and then about 41 with the aircon on

how strange that the A4 consumption is so much higher?

[richardg158]

Hi all,

Apologies to ambush the Audi thread but I run a VW Passat 170 TDI Estate and found my mpg dramatically improved after 20k. On the run to work 25 miles of A & B roads I always get at least 45mpg and 50mpg on a good day. Even driving it hard I struggle to get less than 40 mpg.

The strange thing is I had a Golf 170TDI (10k on the clock) as a courtesy car a few weeks ago and really struggled to get 40mpg on the same trip, would love to know why these engines seem to vary so wildly?

My mpg is great but i would be a little reluctant to replace with the same as they seem to vary so much.

[randall977]

Amazing! After buying my A4 Avant 170 S Line a few weeks ago I was thinking of posting the same question. 41.5mpg is the average so far - v poor indeed! The book said the overall consumption sould be around 48mpg. I've tried all kinds of driving styles but getting it above 47mpg is very difficult. I'm wondering if I made a mistake getting the 170 - however the twin exhaust helps make up for it! I have to admit the old 1.9 PD TDi's were excellent engines - and they didn't use up loads of oil either.

[martynah]

ah, loads of oil - having just had mine back from getting a new oil-cooler after an 'accident' involving all the coolant being blown out and replaced with oil from the engine, I know all about 'oil consumption'

Still, all better now, and the placebo (sp?) effect applies , having been valeted by the dealer it's obviously faster now.

Dont know about the whole mystery of fuel consumption, I'm at 68k on my 57 plate TDI 170 and it's got better - average to begin with was about 42 now it's 44-45.

[urbanaspect]

Mines just gone over 25k and I've noticed an increase of at least a few mpg over the last few thousand miles.

I'm now getting 40mpg urban which I never used to get on a 10 mile run.

[martynah]

So, some experimental conditions from today (sorry if this is a bit suck-eggs, but this is quite interesting)

- driver only in car.
- 15c outside
- warmed up car
- AirCon OFF, heater 22c middle, 1
- everything else off
- 1/4 tank of fuel (though the results are pretty much the same on a full)
- 70mph 6th gear on the motorway for the entire run
- reset mpg trip 1 while driving
- drive 15 miles ish (I did M4 J12-13)
- check trip 1 av mpg = 48.6

I've done 58k on my golf, so perhaps the more miles the better?

[randall977]

30 mile trip on A roads with very few stops at about 50mph, barely touching the accelerator....46mpg. So where is the missing 15mpg? I phoned Audi and they helpfully told me it was down to the driver - I think it's actually down to their very questionable official mpg figures. Interestingly when I drove it at 80mph it made very little difference to the mpg. Does my car need remapping (currently all the power is delivered at 2000rpm) - would that help? Could poor quality oil make any difference?

I kind of wish I had never retro fitted the trip computer now!

[prolfe]

not hanging around all the time and i can get 38mpg, now while this seems pretty rubbish it really is not hanging around. drive normally and high 40's are normal, drive really economically then 55's are easy.

I used to fill up every time i needed fuel, now its never more than £25 a time.

half a tank of fuel weighs a lot less than a whole tank obviously. less weight, higher fuel economy.

:)

[randall977]

The A3 has a weight advantage over the A4 - my A3 easily does 50+ mpg but it is the TDi 140. Btw, the A3 is a far superior drive to the A4...and a better quality car...but then it's a newer model than the B7!

[Vwsteve76]

not hanging around all the time and i can get 38mpg, now while this seems pretty rubbish it really is not hanging around. drive normally and high 40's are normal, drive really economically then 55's are easy.

I used to fill up every time i needed fuel, now its never more than £25 a time.

half a tank of fuel weighs a lot less than a whole tank obviously. less weight, higher fuel economy.

:)

Ive had my A4 2.0tdi 170bhp 4 weeks now, love the car but bit sad about the fuel consumption around town im getting 35-36mpg on a long run 48-53mpg( that im happy with) bit the combined im getting 40-42 but im putting it down too the very cold weather we are getting at the moment.

but im going to try just filling half a tank too see if it makes any diffferent`s to the MPG, like the last chap said a full tank od fuel is lot of weight so that means more fuel to pull it around.

In my VW passat 1.9tdi 130bhp used get 40mpg around town, around 55mpg on a run and 46-48 combined so hopping the A4 can live up these mpg too but some how i dont think it will.

[Puresilk]

Mine was remapped to 170 BHP.

and I average 52 mpg (mainly motorway and some town) I get approx 650 miles to one tank.

[prolfe]

A remapped 140 will be more fuel efficient as it's not as powerful as the 170. The 170 actually pushes out a lot more than 170 as standard.


FYI my new CR 170 averages 10 - 15mpg more than the PD version.

[irishejit]

I have a 140 model an I usually get around 36-42mpg
depending if its motorway miles....even when the display
keeps saying im averaging 50mpg PAH!

[Andrew170]

I've got a 56plate 170 and average 42Mpg with mixed driving (some with a pretty heavy foot...) If I'm really gentle on the motorway I can hust about get 51Mpg out of it... Not nearly as good as 130bhp golf though where I averaged 54Mpg over 5k miles!

[prolfe]

The newer CR is much much better for fuel. I've averaged 55mpg which is very easy. I know that the PD would of been around 40/42mpg.

[crmason]

Hi all,

I have just had my 170 remapped. My overall trip (option2) was displaying 38.8mpg with mixed driving for a month b4 the remap. I have now reset everything and will let you know the post remap results after a couple of tanks have gone through.

Cheers.

[allanmb]

Keeping your tyres PSI right with weekly checks is another good tip as is not having air con on. You can also radically improve your mpg by knocking it into neutral on downhill stretches, not in the advance drivers guide, granted. I appreciate you're all talking about what the engines can 'do' but some of these suggs may help get yours up (so to speak) ;-)

I would advise against putting it in neutral when going downhill, instead put it into the highest gear that you can - this way the engine use zero fuel. If you have it in neutral it requires a bit of fuel to keep the engine idling. This was confirmed to Clarkson on Top Gear a few years back when he did the London->Edinburgh->London trip in a 4.2TDI A8 with a single tank of fuel!

Allan

[JimC64]

Ok guys, here's my input.
Car is A6 2.0 Tdi 140bhp, had this remapped to 176bhp by Audi from new at a hefty cost too.
Anyhow I now do a mix of short start stop journeys with the odd longer one thrown in, currently getting 38.7mpg.....the bulk of this is ALL stop start around town.
When I used to do predominately longer motorway journeys?
The boot is stacked full of all kinds of work related things, and weigh a fair bit. A/C is ALWAYS on to avoid the foul smell that can occur if not used regularly and I ALWAYS use cruise when on long runs too.
If I had to guess the absolute average I'd be looking at 45mpg-47mpg generally and no worse than 42mpg.
The best ever?
I tried to see what was the absolute best I could achieve on a long run. Left Galsgow with the tank brimmed and set off to Derby all at 75mpg with a few runs at 130, picked up my mate and headed on to Swansea all at 75 mph with some roadworks at 50. Left there and back to Cerby where i dropped him off and refuelled a little later with 52.1mpg showing and a total of 695 miles with around 40 left in the tank. When I refuelled display showed 915 miles if driven in the same style on the same journey:approve:

Personally speaking I think thats pretty damn good for such a big heavy car:beerchug: