Poor fuel economy on my Golf?

Hi,
I'm new to this forum as I've just got my first VW - an 04 1.9 SE TDI with 38k on the clock

I've driven about 200 miles since I got it at the weekend and I don't seem to be getting as good a fuel economy as I expected - which is why I started looking at these forums. I would have expected 600 miles out of a tank at least but after 200 the fuel guage is nearly half empty and it was practically full when I got it

My daily trip to work is a 40 mile round trip with about 80% of this at dual carriageway speeds, say 70mph or so, and I don't drive particularly madly either

The car was serviced about 4 months ago, but does this sound like a problem to anyone? Should I take the car back to VW for a once over under the warranty?

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I'm a little bit miffed about this at the moment

Cheers,
Andy

As a guide for you, I got 650, nearly made it to 700 miles out of my MK5 2.0 gttdi, I was driving like a granny tho, 55mph tops.

my daily milage is 32 each way, and like you its 80% 2 or 3 lanes.

i may get 450 to 550 out a tank. and i'm normally 50 - 90 mph where conditions and traffic allow.

if you are still on the fuel you got with the car then forget it. fill the tank up yourself, brim full, then you know it is, reset the trip computer and off you go. i find i can get around 100 - 120 miles before the needle has started to move.

ben

id agree with the above, i only average around 450/500 a tank depending on my driving, most of mine is town work.

id also agree with the tankfull, dealerships dont fill tanks till their brim full.

a tip for filling.... fill until the pump 'clunks' wait a few minutes and then put in the last few litres. the reason for this is that diesel foams when pumped into your tank, you need to leave it for a few minutes (about 5/10) so that the foam settles and you can fill up to the very brim ;)

OK, thanks for the advice

I filled it up today and got as much in the tank as I could, so hopefully I'll be able to get an accurate measurement now and it will turn out a lot more efficient than I initially thought

Andy

I'm interested to know if your next results were any better.
I have the same ongoing complaint with my '07 Seat Altea 1.9Tdi (105ps engine) which averages 45-47 mpg on my mainly motorway 35 miles each way daily journey. I've just done 22,000 miles in 15 months. Dealer said it will improve once 'bedded in'. But no change.
This follows my 2 previous Seat Toledo 1.9TDi's - old technology engines - but which did 57 mpg ! Interesting that Seat posted 61.4 mpg for urban cycle for both old & new engines - and insist that these stats are fair.
How can they be, when the result is an extra £300 fuel cost p.a. ?
First time on this site, as the old Seat / Skoda one was closed down due to hackers. But looking forward to views of others with same engine/problems.

Hi,
Bit of an update....

I recently made quite a long trip and so filled the tank all the way to the top. I did about 100 miles before the needle even moved and did about 350 miles at half full (ish).

The rest of the tank I did my normal driving to work and back and from the half tank left I got 240 miles or so when the fuel gauge started beeping at me. So basically just under 600 miles out of the tank before it beeped, with just over half of that in one long trip

So it seems that it is a lot more efficient (By about 100 miles) if going on one long trip and it's fair to assume I could get 700 or so out of the tank if I just went up and down the motorway all day.

Overall, not as bad as I first thought as it seems that although the needle was near the top of the gauge when I picked it up it was nowhere near full.

Thanks for all the advice

Andy

Wow, I can only get about 500 miles out of one tank from mixed driving. Don't understand how people can get near 600 miles other than driving like complete grannies at a constant 50 mph. Mind you, I do have the 90bhp engine which I guess struggles a bit more and I don't have a 6th gear :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Edwardo_TDI

Mind you, I do have the 90bhp engine which I guess struggles a bit more and I don't have a 6th gear :(

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I've seem posts on this forum stating that a 90bhp engine is more economical than the more powerful ones. I've had two 90bhp Mk4 Golks and have been able to get over 600 miles per tank fairly easily (mostly motorway driving). At the end of the day, driving style (acceleration & braking) will be a significant factor in how many miles you can squeeze out of a tank of fuel. A 6th gear probably would help too, though only found on the 'sport' versions I guess.

I think part of the answer was always there in your original post. In order to get 600 miles to the tank, it's fair to say that you would have to have done around 300 miles with half a tank (maybe more as some people believe fuel efficiency/performance isn't as good when nearing empty)

Bare with me now...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyF

I've driven about 200 miles since I got it

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I'm going to assume you meant 'nearly' or 'just less than' 200 miles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyF

after 200 the fuel guage is nearly half empty

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'nearly half empty' ...so not actually half empty

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyF

it was practically full when I got it

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'practically full'... not full to the brim. You may have noticed that when you fill your car up, you can do alot of miles (around 50-100) before the needle moves from the 'full' line.

There was always scope to get 300 miles from half a tank. I think you just worried yourself unneccessarily. Oh well... all sorted now.

Hope you're enjoying your new Golf.

Why not post your car stats on the Top Trumps thread...

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...ad.php?t=12440