Poor MPG on 1.6TDI Sport!!!

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PaulAshcroft01

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I picked up a second hand 1.6TDI A3 Sportback, 59 plate, one of the main reasons for choosing this model was the attractive MPG that I was supposed to get with the car! I travelled over 100 miles with mainly motorway but a varied journey. I only got 48 MPG for an average of the journey, I was expecting at least 55 ish!!!!

Is this normal for the engine?

Any advice would be appreciated!
 
Varied as in lead foot at times & stop/start?
 
Not in depth reviews, no! With Audi advertising an average of 68MPG I presumed I would get there or there abouts! Not 20MPG less!

i haven't used a full tank of diesel yet so will record the actual miles from a full tank.

The car is due for a long life oil change in 4k miles but might do it now, would this make a big difference?
 
I didn't go over 80 on the motorway part of my journey. It was too cold for start / stop to be activated!

maybe it's my driving style, I normally drive a 2001 Audi A4 2.0 petrol. Even this car gives me 35MPG on average!
 
Advertised MPG should be taken with pinch of salt.
IMHO, for good mpg from a car this size/weight, engine needs to develop around 140bhp.
Sadly you've been caught out...

Landrover Evoque Diesel Auto is claimed to give around 44mpg, but real world figures dips to around 32mpg...

My previous car Mini Cooper Diesel Auto returned around 50 ~ 55 mpg, depending on weather temp.

Do you think the new A3 1.6 TDi will achive 74mpg in normal driving????? I doubt it...
Audi A3 1.6 TDI Sport first drive review Review | Autocar
 
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New air filter will make a bigger improvement.

PaulAshcroft01 said:
Not in depth reviews, no! With Audi advertising an average of 68MPG I presumed I would get there or there abouts! Not 20MPG less!

i haven't used a full tank of diesel yet so will record the actual miles from a full tank.

The car is due for a long life oil change in 4k miles but might do it now, would this make a big difference?
Click to expand...
 
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PaulAshcroft01 said:
Not in depth reviews, no! With Audi advertising an average of 68MPG I presumed I would get there or there abouts! Not 20MPG less!

i haven't used a full tank of diesel yet so will record the actual miles from a full tank.

The car is due for a long life oil change in 4k miles but might do it now, would this make a big difference?
Click to expand...

Audi are quite prepared to give a 30% leeway on the consumption figures.With a quote of 68mpg, i would expect in real time about 40.And the oil change will make no differance either.Didnt on my 2.0 170 a4
 
Cold weather, old diesel, old oil, DPF burn off's, all contribute to sh*te MPG. Diesels also take about 15K to free up and run best.

MPG tests are done on a roller with simulated Coefficent of friction so it's a stick in the ground at most, If your light on the loud pedal and use the fuel cutoff as much as possible (pre empting the need for stopping by coming off the throttle early) you should be able to get the combined figure.
 
In my highly uninformed opinion, the 1.9 TDi would have been the one to go for. The 1.6 might be a tad underpowered, which means you end up using a bit more right foot than you realise. Pals of mine with the 1.9 diesel lump in the Golf's are returning very impressive mpg numbers.
 
Driving to and from work I was amazed how much of a difference the outside temperature makes. Also if your new to the car it might come up a bit once you get used to where its MPG sweet spots are!
 
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I've recorded an average of 62mpg in my a3 2.0tdi DSG 140 over a 100 mile round trip consisting of 75 miles motorway 25 back roads
 
My MPG has gone down a little since the remap due to the right foot being heavy! But am still returning 50+ when careful on motorways

2.0TDi PD 140 (180ish)

As the temperature this time of year is cold/dense there will be more air being crammed into the engine, this in theory means that the engine is likely to be adding more fuel... Or am I talking tosh?!!
 
jimmo said:
In my highly uninformed opinion, the 1.9 TDi would have been the one to go for. The 1.6 might be a tad underpowered, which means you end up using a bit more right foot than you realise. Pals of mine with the 1.9 diesel lump in the Golf's are returning very impressive mpg numbers.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. It's a small engine for a relatively heavy car.
Big engines FTW. When I'm on an economy drive it's 2nd, 4th, 6th without reving past 1500
 
PaulAshcroft01 said:
I picked up a second hand 1.6TDI A3 Sportback, 59 plate, one of the main reasons for choosing this model was the attractive MPG that I was supposed to get with the car! I travelled over 100 miles with mainly motorway but a varied journey. I only got 48 MPG for an average of the journey, I was expecting at least 55 ish!!!!

Is this normal for the engine?

Any advice would be appreciated!
Click to expand...

In my 1.6TDI I get on average 60MPG on my commute to and from work, 30 miles motorway and some back roads, all at about 50-60mph. From experience you won't see anything near that at 80mph! Try drop it down to 70, apparently some engines use 20% more fuel at 80.
 
Thanks for all the comments and advice. I have got it booked into audi for a diagnostic but from reading your posts I am guessing they won't find anything wrong. I will change the oil and air filter and see if I get squeeze anymore out of it!

i am just a bit miffed with audi falsely advertising these figures! Naive I know! Rant over!
 
try laying off the pedal a bit.

what revs are you sitting at ? over 2000 Id imagine

try dropping your speed of 80mph to 60mph or around 1600-1700 revs.

try that over course of a tank and work out your avg
 
Also try millers diesel treatment for 10 fill ups it will give you a bit more bhp and clean the injectors aswell i use it on all fill-ups.
 
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Do not waste time or money changing oil.. Do you think you'll recoup the cost in fuel saving?
 
Unlucky purchase. I had a right set to with Audi over my 1.6TDI. I got one when they first came out. Ran it for two years and was more than pleased to see the back of it.
The computer may tell you it's returning 50+, I can assure you when measured at the pump (Which I kept record for EVERY tank fill) you will be lucky to get 50!! Mine averaged 48MPG over 72,000 miles !!! nothing like the book says. I had it checked by Audi dealer 3 times, and once by an Independent and all said engine was running perfect. The car was serviced by Audi regular, Tyres and alignment changed and checked regular, I even changed driving styles to see if it made any difference. I did run it with 245 x 45 x 18" wheels and that added about 5mpg!!
I now have a 2.0TDI 170 BE S-line DSG....MPG...consistently 50+mpg along with some exciting driving :jump:
 
I recently bought a 2013 Audi A3 1.6 tdi for the Mrs. She is a highly qualified driver and is employed by the police to coach drivers after they have been involved in serious accidents. As well as driving the car herself, she anaylses other peoples driving and helps them to improve. Her old car was able to acheive and average of 55mpg+ on this mixed driving. Her A3 is averaging 37.6 mpg. She is understandably very disappointed with this mpg. We accept that the car is unlikely to average 68 as advertised but it should be in excess of 50. Many years a go I had and A6 1.9 tdi estate which regulary averaged 50 so we are very surprised at the A3 1.6 tdis lack of economy. The car is less than 2 years old and had done 30k miles so is still under warrranty. We have taken it back to our local dealers 3 times now and they say they have checked the car and there is nothing wrong with it. They even suggested the workshop manager take Mrs. D out and show her how to drive more economically. You can imagine how this made her chuckle! I recently got Audi UK involved and they have given us another 1.6tdi for the week and guess what.... we are getting 55mpg from it. To me this proves that there has to be a fault of some description with our car. I wonder what they will do now??? Will they simply try to sell us a brand new car or will they admit there is a fault? I will keep you posted!
 
John Paterson said:
I recently bought a 2013 Audi A3 1.6 tdi for the Mrs. She is a highly qualified driver and is employed by the police to coach drivers after they have been involved in serious accidents. As well as driving the car herself, she anaylses other peoples driving and helps them to improve. Her old car was able to acheive and average of 55mpg+ on this mixed driving. Her A3 is averaging 37.6 mpg. She is understandably very disappointed with this mpg. We accept that the car is unlikely to average 68 as advertised but it should be in excess of 50. Many years a go I had and A6 1.9 tdi estate which regulary averaged 50 so we are very surprised at the A3 1.6 tdis lack of economy. The car is less than 2 years old and had done 30k miles so is still under warrranty. We have taken it back to our local dealers 3 times now and they say they have checked the car and there is nothing wrong with it. They even suggested the workshop manager take Mrs. D out and show her how to drive more economically. You can imagine how this made her chuckle! I recently got Audi UK involved and they have given us another 1.6tdi for the week and guess what.... we are getting 55mpg from it. To me this proves that there has to be a fault of some description with our car. I wonder what they will do now??? Will they simply try to sell us a brand new car or will they admit there is a fault? I will keep you posted!
Click to expand...

What do you get the old fashion calculated at the pump method? Have you reset the computer readings?
 
ive got a 2.0L TDi DSG S-Line Sportback and around town i average 30 - 35mpg depending on traffic and if traffic lights are red or green :p

But on motorway easily 45 - 55mpg at 70 75mph

I would have though the 1.6tdi would easily achieve 40mpg+ around town and 55-60mpg+ on motorway
could well be what others have said about it being under powered.

Definitely something not right there....
 
millers eco max is awesome.

I do have to say though, we had a leon ecomotive 1.6TDI for a hire car a bit ago and i thought the economy was very bad, we felt like we were always having to put fuel in it worse than my VR6 golf
 
When was the last service it had and the last time the fuel filter was changed? i noticed when i serviced mine with a fuel filter change that the MPG improved.
also other things that factor the Mpg like tyre pressures, size and weight of alloys, tyre type, weight of right foot, etc
 
I get an average of 59-60mpg from my A3 2.0 TDI PD140 when i drive carefully and that is calculated using the miles covered and the quantity of fuel put in the car. I do mostly motorway mileage. The trip 2 computer, says 62.7mpg so it's not too far off. I managed to get that up to 62.9mpg and as some of you may know, it takes a few days worth of economical driving to get the Trip 2 reading to go up! but when I drive at 70mph, it drops to around 55mpg
I think that for bigger engines, greater economy is achieved at higher speeds in comparison to a car with a smaller diesel engine being driven at the same speed, as the engine has to work harder.
So perhaps you may just need to drive a bit slower (60-65mph) and frequently take your foot of the accelerator especially if you are coming to a stop or see traffic building up. It may also help to give the car a good thrashing. Fill up from empty with Shell VPower nitro+ diesel, go for a long drive and once the engine has warmed up (after about 20 miles), thrash it a bit to give it a good clear out (3k-4k revs, do 70 in 4th etc) then return to normal driving.
 
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