Passat TDi 130 sport estate - disappointing mpg

[randall977]

So as regards the K&N filter - a bad move - should I take it out?

[Lex Luthor]

So as regards the K&N filter - a bad move - should I take it out?

The concensus of opinion on the various forums is that they are a liability and unnecessary. The regular paper one costs £6 or so and lasts two years.

[squeeguk]

Having had my 130 for almost a week now and driving to work and back and a little in town, I am averaging 48mpg overall. On the work run which is in heavy traffic on the M3, M25 and M4, I have seen anywhere from as low as 49mpg to today as high as 58mpg. I have been driving very economically to see what I could get. From memory, not as good as my Bora TDi, but great after my 323i auto.

Meant to also add that from what I read about the way diesels and petrol engines work and their intricacies, that a diesel is only more economical on smaller throttle openings. Apparently, they can be just as heavy on fuel as a petrol car when using higher throttle loadings. (I will probably be corrected by more educated souls, but this I read in a 'respected' technical journal many years ago)

Cheers

Luis

[Eugheugh]

My TDI 130 Sport estate does between 48 and 49 MPG on long motorway runs which i thought would be about right for a car of this type.

[randall977]

So on the K&N thing - should I take out the new £42 filter or is it okay to leave it (even if it makes no difference performance wise)? I've had a K&N filter in my last 4 cars - all of which were either PD TDi's or VW Turbo petrol engines and never had a problem. I thought K&N were reputable - the sticker looks good on the engine!

[randall977]

Ok - I don't think there is anything wrong with my Passat but the mpg is just not that great. I worked out the mpg by filling the tank and then refilling it and the mpg came out as 42.5mpg - this is exactly what the computer said for the average mpg! With my Golf I could drive it how I wanted and it nearly always returned 50ish mpg - I guess that's not the case with a bigger car.

I still wouldn't swap back - the Passat is great - it's hard to beat a mk4 Golf PD GT TDi though!

[Pimped-Passat]

Just thought I'd mention this, my 2004 TDi 130 Passat had "sticky" rear brakes (only binding a little bit) which caused the pads to wear quicker than normal. Once the "sticky-ness" had been resolved I noticed a few mpg difference on the computer.....

Any chance you have got "sticky" brakes?!