Audi A4 2.0 TDI Fuel Economy

[NathanMackay]

I have recently purchased the above car and I bought it on the premise of it having a high fuel economy.

The book states the following figures:

Urban- 48mpg
Combined- 61.5mpg
Extra Urban- 74.1mpg

I live in a secluded village in Scotland so most of my driving is done on quiet country roads so I assumed I would be getting the high end economy, instead I am getting average figures of 47mpg.

What economy figures are other people getting in this type of car?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Nathan Mackay

[John140]

I have a TDI 143 and thats about what I get overall average. On gentle motorway cruises (sticking at or below 75) in warm weather with summer diesel I get low 50's mpg.

[slope]

I travel 20 miles to work mainly country roads with a stretch of carriageway about 2 miles long.
I average around the 47-48mph area.

That is driving between 40 - 60 mph in moderate traffic.

Happy enough to be honest

[John140]

What I forgot to say is that the 2.0 TDI CR engines can be erratic with their MPG. There are some days when I take my car out and drive it normally but still cannot see why my MPG is bad. Ive never understood quite why this is.

[theskyfox]

I realise that its 1000cc more..but today:

-Filled tank to brim at beginning of journey
-Drove 358miles,90% A-roads/Motorways
-Refilled tank to brim at same petrol station

Burned 39.58 litres of BP ultimate diesel

= 41.1 MPG.

-Andrew

[Niko]

170 Diesel, just put 40.2 litres and the trip is 458 miles. 140 of that is Mway, rest commute to work via A and B road last week. In the summer (warmer) best I have achieved brim to fumes is 712 miles. Cold weather really pulls the mpg down I have found, roll on the warm weather!

[markp306]

There is a recent thread discussing miles per tank for this engine. However I typically get 47-48 mpg on a good run and can see 50+ if driving at 70 mph ish on the motorway. I once saw 62mpg driving at 60-65 and resetting the trip whilst on the motorway. However wife does a lot of school run/shopping/short local journeys and this returns much lower mpg.

The DIS#2 shows 37 mpg average since new. The DIS #2 average mph is also very low, less than 30 mph I think, from memory. I'll check it later and confirm. That says it all really.

My previous A4 was 1.8T quattro and this returned about 50% less for the same conditions. (250 mile range v. 430 between fillups) The TDI is also far more responsive, so I accept the numbers. If I "lived on the motorway" then tank would last longer.

What TDI do you have? Those numbers are higher than Audi's numbers for the 143 (urban 42, combined 52).

[Hammy969]

Guys

I have a 2.0 TDI 143 S Line on 19s. It is about to turn 40,000 miles.

From experience the fuel economy is effected by the temp as stated before, the wind and have seen 5mpg change depending on this and finally how many miles the car has done.
I have always worked on the basis that you should be able to achieve near to the combined figure on a journey not overall.

My car is booked as 55 mpg combined and i didn't manage to hit that till I had clocked nearly 20,000 miles.

To cut to the chase I have an overall average of around 45 mpg which is ok I think based on a majority of journeys being a road or motorway at legalish speeds!

Hope this helps

Ham

[mhurer]

Also have a 2.0 TDI 143 S line 58 plate. With mixed driving I was getting around 40 mpg in the winter, now averages 45 mpg. Also did 90 miles this weekend each way, Watford to Peterborough. Seemed to be mostly uphill on first leg and got 44mpg, and 50mpg on the way home mostly downhill. With the storms drove mostly at speed limits.

[slope]

Small update on mine. The last couple of days I have got caught behind a Mer driver out for a Sunday afternoon drive :-))

He travelled around 55 mph constant so i just relaxed, cranked up the music and at the end of my 20 mile journey into work got 52.7 mpg.

The only reason I didn't pass him was the steady stream of heavy traffic.

[markp306]

The DIS#2 shows 37 mpg average since new. The DIS #2 average mph is also very low, less than 30 mph I think, from memory. I'll check it later and confirm. That says it all really.


It says 25mph average!! I guess I need to get out onto the motorway a bit more if I want to get better mpg!

[tourer2]

Hi
I have just got a A4 TDIe 136 Tecnik and am anxiously waiting to find true fuel consumption. I previously had a Golf 140 TDI GT and had collected detailed statistics for 14,000 miles, (14mths) on a brim-to-brim tank fill basis. This showed 55mpg summer, 53mpg winter averages, versus manufacturers 'combined' figure of 57.6mpg, so I was pretty happy. Audi claim a 'combined' figure on my car of 65.4mpg so I was rather hoping to get something like 60mpg average. Thus far (400miles) the computer shows an average of 53mpg, yikes me thinks! When I have enough brim-to-brim data, if consumption is less than my old Golf, I will be hitting Audi hard. I for one will not accept misrepresentation by any manufacturer in relation to any product. If you have been disappointed, get on to Audi, don't just accept!

[slope]

Your car is far to new to be getting better fuel figures but they should be better as the miles roll on. I really don't think Audi will help you tbh if your car isn't doing what they claim. They will come out will stuff like their economy is based on ideal test conditions , and will argue that your driving style is different to test conditions blah blah blah.

I hope yours gets better (and it will) but as for hitting Audi hard, Don't hold your breath mate, they have an answer for everything and it will no be what you hope to hear.

Good luck with the new car, I have had my 2.0Tdi A4 S-Line 143 for 2 weeks now and LOVE it.

[C172s]

On the M25 when its been clear Ive had achieved 57.6mpg and once reached 58.8 MPG on my 143 TDI. Its still got under 10,000 miles on the clock. Slow gentle accelerations, averaging 60 - 70MPH and cruise control on. Love the car.

[Pimped-Passat]

I get roughly 45mpg, and I keep a very sad Excel spreadsheet which documents exactly what mpg I've achieved since I took delivery of the car, where I bought the fuel, and the price of it, etc... (very sad I know)....!

If anyone would like a copy, please let me know and I'll email you it..!!!!

Cheers
ExcelMark

[slope]

I'll take a copy, have pm'ed you my email address

[Hammy969]

I get roughly 45mpg, and I keep a very sad Excel spreadsheet which documents exactly what mpg I've achieved since I took delivery of the car, where I bought the fuel, and the price of it, etc... (very sad I know)....!

If anyone would like a copy, please let me know and I'll email you it..!!!!

Cheers
ExcelMark

Hi Mark

I thought I was the only person who did such a thing.
I have done this for over ten years, it is scary when you see the price of fuel back then!
I also keep a book with all the fuel I put in my cars since 91!!

I need to get out more
Ham

[Pimped-Passat]

Slope - I'll send you a copy once I get logged into my work email later....

Ham - I bet there's plenty of other 'closet' Excel MPG book keepers out there... It's about time we outed them..!!

Cheers
Outed-Mark

[slope]

Got it in Email today.

Cheers mate

[theskyfox]

Its basic physics. The A4 is a big car...You've got a 4 cylinder 16valve turbocharged engine..trying to move a car that weighs the best part of a tonne and a half...your lucky to get near to 60MPG. Remove all the "heavies" like the bonnet, boot and replace most of the bodywork with carbon-fibre..then take off the turbo...and you might stand a chance...

As for them telling you that you will get 60+ mpg..no way in real world as it is right now. I agree its wrong that they get away with advertising it like that. Can't help that a lot of it is just a fiddle to keep the environmentalists at bay and fob off the EU-standard people that they are making progress...

It is however very efficient for what it is. I get 41mpg out of a 6 cylinder 4wd A4 which is very good. A 2.0Turbo petrol equivalent of what you have right now would be raping your wallet with about 23mpg...

-Andrew

[tourer2]

Very interested in this thread as have just bought a TDIe. Quite frankly I am horrified at the mpg numbers being quoted and staggered that drivers here are not beating down Audis door about their cars massive mpg underachievement. Too early to tell what my car is doing but if it's more than 10% less than advertised combined figure, Audi will get a right rocket from me. My previous golf TDI 140 GT gave an average of 54.1mpg (tank brim to brim fill every time, not the useless onboard computer figure) over 14,000 miles which was 6% less than the manufacturers combined cycle figure. On the debit side, my new A4 weighs 100Kg more than the Golf (manufacturers own figures) but thats only one person + luggage, and on the credit side it has start-stop, recuperation (!), low rolling resistance tyres, efficiency programme etc etc, none of which were on the Golf. Thus my target figure will be no less than 90% of advertised combined figure of 64mpg = 58mpg real, not that shown on the computer. Everyone else should think the same and not let manufacturers get away with misrepresentation!

[tourer2]

Sure you don't work for Audi? Basic physics gave my Golf 140 TDI GT (weighing only 100Kg less than the A4) 54.1mpg average (I also spreadsheeted the data!). Seems to me like folk are too ready to accept something far less than what they were led to expect.

[derekm]

Sure you don't work for Audi? Basic physics gave my Golf 140 TDI GT (weighing only 100Kg less than the A4) 54.1mpg average (I also spreadsheeted the data!). Seems to me like folk are too ready to accept something far less than what they were led to expect.

How many miles have you done on the TDIe? The mpg will get better as you put more miles on it. Only when the engine has done at least 10k miles will you start to get the best economy out of it.

But at the end of the day I wouldnt worry about it not doing the claimed figures. There are too many variables that affect it anyway. I couldnt be bothered worrying about it and all this briming the tank and spreadsheet records etc.......there must be better things to do in life. Why not get a hybrid if your that worried about it.

[kodkod.84]

You guys should check out spritmonitor.de for a comprehensive 'real world' data of mpg for your cars compiled by owners. When I had my A4 2.0t I was doing quite well with average of 31mpg- think I was 3rd best :)

[xtremist]

Honest John (http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/) has a real MPG page, it's worth looking at.

[YawnGumbo]

Got car new last week (TDIe 136 Avant) and was getting an indicated 50mpg on motorway run at the weekend. I was pretty impressed with that for a car that had only got 100 miles on the clock. We'll see how this develops as the engine loosens up.

[John140]

I think it is quite possible to get the combined cycle MPG on a level motorway in moderate traffic on a warm day and I am happy with this to be honest. My car is currently showing 47 mpg over 2400 ish miles albeit heavily motorway biased.

[roche1800]

hi all, i am a brand new member!

i have just bought a 2010 (so not quite 2 years old) a4 avant 2.0tdi (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004TSFAN6/) avant multi, the problem is i am averaging 34/35mpg.

i have filled the tank and done 124.4 miles then refilled with 15.72 litres, and have driving it in 'old man mode' even did 60 using cruise on a dual carriageway and only achieved a max of 38mpg.

yes i know there are 1 & 2 and 1 is the instant mpg whereas 2 in the mean average.

called local dealer and they will monitor emissions and any computer (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?133375-Fuel-consumption-MPG-June-2010-2.0tdi-A4-Avant-Multitronic&p=722228#) faults.

i bought this car to get a good mpg, i have a 6 year auto 3.0tdi toureg and can get 33/34 mpg at 82 mph.

is this right for the audi, or is there a problem. if i can only achieve the current mpg then it will be up for sale!!!

please help

[Guest 2]

Multitronic = variable revs

In the loan 2.0 TDI 170 Manual I was getting 40-42mpg so expect a drop in the auto

[roche1800]

A6_Chris,

thanks for the reply, take on board what you say but I am miffed that technology is moving on yet driving it so gently the mpg is so poor, can it be improved. the car was bought to increase mpg for long trips to europe but looks as though i no better off (well slightly 33/34mpg at 82mph on cruise on motorway in touareg versus 35.6mpg driving it at 60mph on cruise on dual carriageway), if this is the case then its for sale A4 multi avant s line.

[roche1800]

sorry forget to mention its 140 (not 170)

[Guest 2]

When was the car last serviced? Tyre pressures, depths etc?

There are a few 140 owners on here so expect a more accurate reply soon ;)

[roche1800]

just been serviced about 160/180 miles ago and had the lovely multitronic oil change for circa £150.00, service was over £500.00. Tyre pressure, depth etc all exceptional. cheers

[boronet]

The problem, as Honest John will tell you in the Telegraph (most Saturdays) is that ALL cars are tested under unreal conditions. The engines are warm, tests (I believe) are carried out on a rolling road, there is no wind resistance and everything will be optimum. Driving styles, ambient temperature, tyre pressures, tyre type, air conditioning and road conditions will also affect the figures. Hardly a shock therefore when mpg doesn't quite live up to 'government' figures.

[zollaf]

this is also how they work out how much pollution your vehicle chucks out the zorst pipe, hence how much road tax you pay each year. the more pollution, the more you pay. so really, the more it does on paper the better, even if real world figures are much lower but in theory you are saving polar bears, even if in reality you are killing them, and its cheaper for you.

[quattrodaddy]

I am sorry to hear such low returns on the fuel economy.
I drive a 3 litre TDI and regularly get 40+ on the M25.

[Guest 2]

I am sorry to hear such low returns on the fuel economy.
I drive a 3 litre TDI and regularly get 40+ on the M25.

Me too in my auto 3.0TDi - highest I've seen is 41.4 but usually around 36-39

[magt1000]

I've recently starting cruising at 70 rather than 75 and have seen a significant improvement on my MPG figures on a long run. Was getting 46-47 mpg now getting 52-53 over a long run. The cruise control is also much better than my right foot at driving efficiently...

I've averaged 45-46 mpg over the last 66k miles, car has just ticked over 100k....

[roche1800]

I have just bought an A4 avant S - line 143 multi tronic, with 44k an was registered on 29th June 2010. Very impressed with build/bluetooth etc.

My problem is the mpg - average 34mpg, 37mpg on cruise doing 60mph on flat dual carriageway, so I have called Audi and taken the car in for a fault check on there diagnostics with the result being everything is OK.

Before the car was taken in it was agreed to do brim-100miles-brim to work out if the computer is correct - well it is. 124.4 miles on 15.72 litres = around 36mpg. These miles were driven in 'old man' mode, not thrashing through the multi gearbox or going fast.

Audi say it is within the parameters, I know the official mpg is without various belts and used as an industry standard blah, blah, blah.

I read some cars are getting over 40mpg, which is what I would expect.

Can anyone help me????

Cheers

[boronet]

Driving in the fashion you mention I would typically achieve 44-46 mpg in a manual version. My experience is that most automatic vehicles will be at least 10% heavier on fuel dependant upon type of use. Your mpg does appear quite poor even allowing for the 'box.

It is worth noting though that different tyre makes will have a measurable effect on fuel economy and so will tyre pressures if they are not correct.

[tenfootrob]

I'm getting 45-50 mpg on my 143 multitronic. That's mostly at 70 (ish :) ) mph with cruise control. The warm weather seems to have improved things somewhat (was 40-45 in the winter), although it's only done 20k miles, so it's still settling in

[Desmo]

I'm the sort of **** anorak who writes everything down. I have a 2010 2.0TDI Multitronic and average 45 mpg. This is mostly motorway at 75-80 mph. My worst tank full gave me 37.5 mpg, but this was clogging it across Germany at 90+ mph. My last car was a Passat manual with essentially the same engine and with that I got an average 48 mpg, so I'm quite satisfied with 45mpg from an automatic. I'd be gutted if the consumption was below 40 mpg on a regular basis. Here's my last tax year's consumption.




£
litres
Miles
MPG





15437



06-Apr-11
£62.46
50
15949
46.5


09-Apr-11
£82.20
67.0
16675
49.2


14-Apr-11
£70.50
56
17290
49.9


30-Apr-11
£73.50
51.8
17774
42.4


05-May-11
£53.00
39.9
18175
45.6


14-May
54.51
41.64
18610
47.4


22-May-11
£66.01
49.67
19127
47.3


23-May-11
£50.44
40.6
19545
46.7


27-May-11
£53.27
46.52
20031
47.4


20-Jun-11
£75.00
54.8
20547
42.7


28-Jun
£58.00
43
20983
46.0


29-Jun
£69.50
51.14
21518
47.5


05-Jul-11
£77.50
57.03
22119
47.8


18-Jul-11
£87.85
69.1
22842
47.5


21-Jul-11
£62.50
52.08
23351
44.4


05-Aug-11
£72.50
51.8
23919
49.8


15-Aug-11
£70.00
51.2
24420
44.4


21-Aug-11
£75.50
55.15
24980
46.1


12-Sep
£72.50
53.7
25489
43.0


19-Sep-11
£61.84
50.1
26010
47.2


20-Sep-11
£34.21
28.8
26291
44.3


27-Sep-11
£74.00
54.45
26809
43.2


03-Oct-11
£79.00
58.13
27382
44.8


16-Oct-11
£68.03
54
27892
42.9


17-Oct-11
£65.49
52.52
28434
46.9


20-Oct-11
£48.79
37.58
28809
45.3


22-Oct-11
£78.00
57.06
29387
46.0


31-Oct-11
£71.89
52.6
29908
45.0


12-Nov-11
£75.01
54.79
30472
46.7


21-Nov-11
£55.17
45.75
30900
42.5


24-Nov-11
£60.87
50.9
31389
43.6


25-Nov-11
£60.00
43.5
31786
41.4


09-Dec-11
£76.00
55.11
32296
42.0


16-Dec-11
£71.00
51.12
32774
42.5


22-Dec-11
£72.23
52.84
33289
44.2


28-Dec-11
£61.00
44.52
33711
43.0


30-Dec-11
£74.00
54.13
34211
41.9


10-Jan-12
£77.00
55.92
34734
42.5


28-Jan-12
£74.00
53.28
35268
45.5


03-Feb-12
£69.00
49.68
35770
45.9


19-Feb-12
£84.87
68.56
36429
43.6


21-Feb-12
£79.60
65
37108
47.4


27-Feb-12
£49.00
35
37397
37.5


29-Feb-12
£81.39
55
37957
46.2


05-Mar-12
£75.05
51.44
38467
45.0


17-Mar-12
£72.51
51.17
39004
47.6


21-Mar-12
£76.50
53.6
39549
46.2


31-Mar-12
£71.51
49.76
40031
44.0












Average
45.1

[Desmo]

Blimey the censorship's a bit strong. I only wrote a n a l.....not too bad is it?

[roche1800]

Desmo & Tenfootrob,

Thank you for your posts, are you driving saloons or avants? Should there be a difference between the two body types?

It appears you are both getting what I would perceive as acceptable with a 143 2.0tdi multi, so where am I going wrong? I am not exagerating my figures, I am going by the average mpg on #2, I have had it for about a month, FMDSH, private sale, no chips on ecu, been to dealer etc.

Slightly puzzled when I use cruise at 60mph and only achieve under 40mpg on #2!!!!!

Any pointers, just seems to be way out with what you guys are achieving!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tenfootrob]

It's a saloon. SE trim if the tyre size (17") makes any difference vs S-Line

We also get roughly the same mpg from our A5 with the same engine / gearbox

[Desmo]

Mine's a bog standard SE saloon.
I found it does take a few tanks before you adapt your driving style to get the best mpg....but honestly, your car is too far from what's acceptable. I hope you find a solution.

[tourer2]

Update on my A4 TDi Technik after 2000miles. Trip computer indicated average now 55.3 whilst the real figure is 53mpg on a tank brim to brim fill basis, versus manufactures 'combined' figure of 64.6mpg. Most of my driving is in the country but also some long runs and my driving style is 'gentle'. Have had the car back to dealer as engine takes quite a while to warm up and start-stop works/does not work for no apparent reason. Dealer says low engine temp under low load conditions is a known problem, but there is nothing they can do about it (!), whilst start-stop has to satisfy so many parameters in order to activate, that there is nothing they can do about that either!!! Overall I am unimpressed with Audi technology and would say, based on my experience, they are well behind VW, which I find very surprising.

[markp306]

A real 53mpg is a good result. Is that a TDIe engine? I get nothing like that from my 143. In fact I usually average the wrong side of 40 for the tank v. milage, but that's probably the daily school run effect.

[tourer2]

Sorry, should have said, this is the 136 TDIe engine, but for me the consumption is bad, not good. For a claimed 64.6 overall I would expect to get about 60 in the real world. The car is very, very sensitive to right foot pressure and I can see that you could easily get a lot less than my average. I had a A5 170TDi on loan while they fixed a recall on my car (never had this problem with any of my previous 3 VWs) which had done the same mileage as my car and the trip 2 was reading 39.7mpg. This would be a sales persons car and thus likely to do less than average. My son-in-law has a A4 Avant 3 months old (he is not sure if it is a 136 or 143!!) and he doesn't hang about and gets just shy of 50mpg. Using these two reference points, I think your figure for the 143 A4 sounds very poor, but if you enjoy the car, I don't suppose that matters.

[roche1800]

tenfootrob,

i am intrigued into your mpg, i have an 143 multi s-line avant, june 210. not had it long and using DIS 1 obtain around 36mpg ish, on DIS 2 it says 34mpg to 35mpg.

how do you achieve it?? is yours a saloon?

been to dealers and have carried out a fault check - and it shows no faults.

any poiters would be good. fuel is from Esso.

[tourer2]

My 136 TDIe is a saloon. I rigorously stick to the eco programme gear change indicator, which means changing up between 1500 and 2000rpm, in fact I don't think the engine has been much above 2500rpm ever. Doesn't mean I drive at snail's pace, just in a conservative fashion, but never holding up fellow road users. I wouldn't have bought the 136TDIe if I wanted to fly around - been there, done that. Only ever use the cheapest diesel that I can get hold of. Below is all the data for my car from brand new. Has done 2070miles total now and TRIP 2, which covers last 1500 miles reads 55.3mpg i.e. about 3% high. Can you tell I'm a scientist by profession!



Miles between fills
Mpg
£ Cost/mile


264
51
0.13


165
47
0.14


277
58
0.11


269
51
0.12


148
57
0.11


283
52
0.12


157
52
0.12


376
57
0.11

















Weighted average 53.5 which is 81% of Audi claimed 'combined' mpg

[tenfootrob]

roche1800,

Mine's a saloon & I'm using mostly supermarket fuel. The big factor for me is the kind of driving - short runs into town will only get 38mpg, but most of my driving is the daily commute on motorway @ 70-75. I also use cruise control a lot.

Got 54mpg on a long run (200 miles) - cruise control at 70 all the way - only stopped for the M6 toll booth!

[magt1000]

roche1800,

Mine's a saloon & I'm using mostly supermarket fuel. The big factor for me is the kind of driving - short runs into town will only get 38mpg, but most of my driving is the daily commute on motorway @ 70-75. I also use cruise control a lot.

Got 54mpg on a long run (200 miles) - cruise control at 70 all the way - only stopped for the M6 toll booth!

Using the cruise does seem to make a big difference on those long motorway runs.

[neilos100]

Cruise is not always best for economy .....it keeps your speed constant so when going uphill will increase revs to maintain speed thus increasing consumption. Your better off not using it and just finding the optimum speed and being very gentle with the accelerator pedal. You'll also be able to 'lift off a little when going up those hills.
On my previous car I had a speed limiter..this was way better for economy than the cruise. Acted as almost a Rev limiter....in a 2.0i Petrol Grand Picasso I could often get over 40 MPG using the limiter.

Sent from my HTC One X using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2

[roche1800]

roche1800,

Mine's a saloon & I'm using mostly supermarket fuel. The big factor for me is the kind of driving - short runs into town will only get 38mpg, but most of my driving is the daily commute on motorway @ 70-75. I also use cruise control a lot.

Got 54mpg on a long run (200 miles) - cruise control at 70 all the way - only stopped for the M6 toll booth!

Thanks for the reply, is that 54mpg on DIS 1 or DIS 2?

Does anyone know if there should be a drastic difference between a A4 multi SALOON v AVANT?

[markp306]

Sorry, should have said, this is the 136 TDIe engine, but for me the consumption is bad, not good. For a claimed 64.6 overall I would expect to get about 60 in the real world. The car is very, very sensitive to right foot pressure and I can see that you could easily get a lot less than my average. I had a A5 170TDi on loan while they fixed a recall on my car (never had this problem with any of my previous 3 VWs) which had done the same mileage as my car and the trip 2 was reading 39.7mpg. This would be a sales persons car and thus likely to do less than average. My son-in-law has a A4 Avant 3 months old (he is not sure if it is a 136 or 143!!) and he doesn't hang about and gets just shy of 50mpg. Using these two reference points, I think your figure for the 143 A4 sounds very poor, but if you enjoy the car, I don't suppose that matters.

I'll mention it at the service next month, but as DIS 2 shows average mph of 25mph, I guess 37mpg overall is understandable. Like others, I can hit 50mpg+ (DIS) on the motorway.
Previous B6 1.8T averaged about 23mpg overall for the same runs, so for me it's a massive increase.