Advice needed please.

[Aaz]

Well heres the thing, i have been trying to work out if its gona save me money if i get a desiel and i need a bit of help with peoples mpg readings that they get, im looking into getting a MY08 A3 2.0 Tdi 170 or 140, so the figures from these will be a greay help.

Here are my journeys and mpg i currently get, would appritiate if anyone could give me rough mpg on what you would expect from the same journeys, cheers.

Journey 1 - 12 miles there, currently get between 36-38 mpg by the end of the 12 miles, journey back is exactly the same. Roads are A road and some town driving.

Journey 2 - 16 miles there, currenty getting 35-38mpg. A roads and town driving, and a couple of miles of country roads. Journey back is the same & same figures.

Journey 3 - 20 miles, currently getting 37-40mpg. A roads for the majority and about 3-4 miles of town driving, journey back is more B roads with an mpg of 38-40.

Roughly do about 100-150 miles at weekends, mixed roads.

Btw, i drive sensibly for all journeys, even do 60-65 most of time on duel carrigeways. And my annual milage is prob about 15,000-20,000.

All help will be appritiated, sorry if anyone doesnt understand it i'll try explain further if you dont.

Thanks again.

 

[Brodster]

I can't see how anyone else can gauge what your after. Yes the TDI 140/170 are good on fuel but by breaking the journeys down into segments shouldn't sway your decision. Pointless exercise IMO and both cars that you have labelled are very good vehicles obviously the 140 will get greater fuel consumption so if your bothered how much you get which I believe you are then opt for the TDI 140.

 

[Aaz]

I can see where you are coming from, I was in two mind about posting it because I didn't think I would help or not. I am going to view a 170 Tdi on Saturday at my local Audi, I'll take it for a test drive and see what it's like. I would like the 170 as my current car has 180bhp and I don't think I want too much of a power difference but it the 140 really does make a big difference then I'll go on the search for one of them. On the other hand, I'm buying it for the car and the Tdi engine so which ever one I can get my hands on I'll be happy with.

 

[Aaz]

Been reading about the DPF, would i get many problems with it if i was doing the journeys as stated above?

 

[Brodster]

More than likely your journey type and driving style will block the DPF. Im not saying definately it will but there is more chance of it blocking and bringing on the DPF light on the dashboard. The DPF or "soot catcher" is very good at what it does but you have to maintain a constant relatively high speed, on a decent run in top gear - fifth or sixth for the ECU to regenerate the DPF (i.e empties the cannister). Simple commuting to and from work, dropping the kids off at school etc (normal driving) equates to a DPF that is unable to clear itself. A quick search on the internet about DPF and you'll know all about it.

DPF Removal Audi A3 170 TDi. Diesel Particulate Filter Problems

 

[Aaz]

Cheers for that, i'm pretty sure i'll get that done if i manage to get the a3.. And im quite tempted to go for the remap as well

 

[Ash187]

Your better off getting a 140 and mapping that. Better fuel economy and still get the power plus mapped 140 will give you more torque so better feel of acceleration

On a 20 mile journey of pure A road (A2) I can get up to 60mpg in my 140 which is still running standard map with no engine upgrades. The same journey in a 170 would give 50mpg purely because it uses more power to drive it. Also if it's an auto you would typically expect less mpg.

Most people buy a diesel to save them money but if you are not doing regular long journeys then a petrol car would be better as diesel engines take longer to warm up and regular short journeys can cause issues with the already mentioned DPFs

Your description of your average journeys with the longer weekend driving sounds good enough for a diesel engine and I can't see you having much issue with DPFs if you do that long weekend drive regularly

 

[Aaz]

Thanks for that long reply.

I'll look around for a good deal and see what i can get for my money. If i see a 170 for the right price with a few good extra i may as well go for it.. But if i see a 140 at a good price with some extras then i've got a decision to make