Why is it that A3 1.6 Sport drinks so much petrol?

[ldyeruea]

Hi there all, a newbie at audi and only two years at driving, but I'm just wondering why Audi's drink so much petrol. Live in London and do alot of weekend driving (i.e. shopping, leisure) but also ad-hoc late night driving, put in 20/25 a week in the tank and it seems it goes every sunday. not really technical with calculating exactly to the mile how much i use but a friend of mines told me to do an experiment and empty the tank (to the reserves) and fill up, then reset my mileage clock on my instrumental panel and work out where im going and how many miles im doing. she said to do this over a spread of three weeks to work out if something's wrong or just if thats the way an Audi is.

Anyone with an A3 1.6 sport can help me or had one or experienced enough to answer this. its my first driving car btw, had an old fiat never used it before passing my test, so having a sport is the first for me.

thanks

[Guest 2]

Welcome to VWAF

Alot of variables and outside factors can affect MPG. When was the car last serviced including all filters and spark plugs? Are your tyre pressures correct?

Town driving will use more fuel than motorway and being a petrol car with no turbo, you really have to rev it out to get going.

If you think putting £25 a week into a car, imagine how heart breaking it is nearly putting £200 a week into 2 cars!

[zollaf]

20 or 25 quids is like 4 gallons. you seem to do a lot of driving, so if you do 120 miles a week then you are getting 30 mpg, which is good for london. max mpg will be seen at 50 - 60 mpg on a long road. quick acceleration uses a lot of fuel, so if you actually only do 50 miles a week, try slowing down a bit.

[Eshrules]

I echo zollafs post.

I'd also suggest you listen to your lady friend, she knows what she's doing.

[harryg]

I have a1.6 petrol and wonder if remapping would improve MPG and also the BHP anybody any thoughts?

cheers

[ldyeruea]

Thanks for the feedback! yes i know in town driving is alot, I guess i'm not experienced enough yet to know how much a car should be drinking, but i've used my aunty's car, a 207 peugot 1.4 and i never remember consciously having to watch her petrol tank everytime i used when i needed to fill it up but hey...its aun audi i cant complain...The car was last serviced bank in 2010, spark plugs were changed then along with other issues then in 2012 spark plugs were changed again, although dunno how often spark plugs ave to be changed???

sorry to hear ur putting in 200pound!!!! how are u putting that in???and where are u going???

[ldyeruea]

I do a lot of driving! spse cos im enjoying it now realising it comes at a price lool! but my friend doesn't think so but i kind of do. like a lttle bit of driving a night to do shopping and oter bits. then on some odd weekends, ave to take my cousin up to harlow, other days i wud pick her up from south london (im over in north) so dunno, but the mileage clock looks like it adds up qickly on the a3. yeah i have noticed i accelerate alot and harsh brake, i need to stop that.

[ldyeruea]

ahhh my lady friend. I didn't want to do her experiment but i spse its the only way i'll know if theres actually something wrong with the car....mind u, its 15 years old and th eprevious owner is a friend of my lady friend and he kept it in good condition always servicing it when it needed to be done. so im quite careful with it but even he complained that it does drink petrol. awww well like i said, its an audi, what do i expect lol!
thanks for the feedback.

[Eshrules]

Thanks for the feedback! yes i know in town driving is alot, I guess i'm not experienced enough yet to know how much a car should be drinking, but i've used my aunty's car, a 207 peugot 1.4 and i never remember consciously having to watch her petrol tank everytime i used when i needed to fill it up but hey...its aun audi i cant complain...The car was last serviced bank in 2010, spark plugs were changed then along with other issues then in 2012 spark plugs were changed again, although dunno how often spark plugs ave to be changed???

sorry to hear ur putting in 200pound!!!! how are u putting that in???and where are u going???

If the vehicle hasn't been service for 4 years, it's due an oil change at the very least.

Personally I'd give it a full service and check over.

ahhh my lady friend. I didn't want to do her experiment but i spse its the only way i'll know if theres actually something wrong with the car....mind u, its 15 years old and th eprevious owner is a friend of my lady friend and he kept it in good condition always servicing it when it needed to be done. so im quite careful with it but even he complained that it does drink petrol. awww well like i said, its an audi, what do i expect lol!
thanks for the feedback.

Not wanting to offend here, but it isn't an experiment, it's the only way to establish a true and accurate mpg reading. If you're having to put fuel in as often as you are, it won't take you long to complete a couple of brim to brim calculations for comparison.

I never work on the basis of "£10 gets me x miles", every car is different and you need to establish if your mpg is in the right ball park for your style of driving.

I'd expect late 20's to mid 30's given the engine and your driving style.

[ldyeruea]

If the vehicle hasn't been service for 4 years, it's due an oil change at the very least.

Personally I'd give it a full service and check over.



Not wanting to offend here, but it isn't an experiment, it's the only way to establish a true and accurate mpg reading. If you're having to put fuel in as often as you are, it won't take you long to complete a couple of brim to brim calculations for comparison.

I never work on the basis of "£10 gets me x miles", every car is different and you need to establish if your mpg is in the right ball park for your style of driving.

I'd expect late 20's to mid 30's given the engine and your driving style.

Thats what I'm thinking of doing....I was going to one regardless anyhow as I need to get up to speed with the car.

I only called it an "experiment" as its only a trial and error thing for me to see if theres actually an issue, as with all thigns relating to a car, you see something wrong, you try a number of ways to get to the issue. although come to think of it, could be my driving style. As soon as my tank runs out i'll reset my mpg clock see whats going on then after 4 weeks will let u guys know!!!

wen u say u'd xpect late 20's mid 30's what do u mean??