Fuel consumption for a 2005 A4 Avant 3.0 TDI Quattro

[pbradley98]

Hi all,

I was recommended this forum from the Corrado forum, so hoping someone might be able to help with some info / advice!

I'm after some help / comparison info on my 2005 A4 B7 3.0 TDI Avant Quattro S Line fuel consumption, as since about 2 months after we got it it has consistently run in the low 30s (occassionally high 20s) for mpg, which is far worse that I thought it would be and than it was for the first couple of tanks. I want to try and get some comparative info from others with the 205 bhp engine to see if I am right to be worried, or if it's just to be expected for a four wheel drive car with a 3.0l V6 turbo charged diesel engine....

I know that some of these engines have injector issues, so I'm keen to make sure if there is anything wrong it gets resolved whilst the car is still under warranty, as apparently the injectors are £400 each! I've already had it diagnosed at an Audi garage, being advised that yes it doesn't see quite right but that all the injectors are within spec, hence they can't replace anything under warranty.

Additionally, it's not great at starting sometimes, taking 5+ seconds before actually starting, which I'm guessing could also be injector related (i.e. if the injector(s) are leaking, presume it takes longer to build correct rail pressure and hence start....just a guess though and would be great to hear if others start as soon as the key turns or if this is just to be expected of a large diesel engine.

On a related note has anyone any experience of using the Redex / Wynns diesel injector cleaner type products as was thinking for the sake of £15 or so would be worth a go?

Am also looking into getting the oil checked to see if there's any diesel contamination of the oil, from injectors leaking down the bores, past the pistons into the sump...

I am a bit of a geek at times, hence do keep track of the mpg of the car which is as follows - most of the driving is longer journeys, although there are some tanks which were majority town driving, some of the tanks even being long motorway journeys driven at 70 - 85 yet still only returning 35mpg or less. Generally I don't drive the car hard, so had expected better mpg that this. The values are all calculated based on fuel required to brim the tank versus miles driven since last fill, as the car must be one of the very few with only the basic computer, so only displays range (not instant or trip average mpg). I was seriously chuffed with the first tank, but have never made it into the 40s since despite some very sedate motorway cruising trying to maximise mpg!

Date	Trip Miles	Mileage	Cost	litres	gallons	mpg	p / mile	£ / litre
14-May-11	357.0	44139	£50.26	37.81	8.32	42.92	14.08	£1.329
24-May-11	393.6	44533	£69.79	52.51	11.55	34.08	17.73	£1.329
03-Jun-11	420.0	44953	£76.90	55.77	12.27	34.24	18.31	£1.379
05-Jun-11	308.2	45261	£49.08	37.19	8.18	37.67	15.92	£1.320
19-Jun-11	236.0	45497	£42.30	32.06	7.05	33.46	17.93	£1.320
27-Jun-11	432.7	45930	£78.64	57.44	12.64	34.25	18.17	£1.369
29-Jul-11	304.0	46234	£64.15	44.27	9.74	31.22	21.10	£1.449
04-Aug-11	224.5	46459	£37.34	28.33	6.23	36.03	16.63	£1.318
18-Aug-11	313.3	46772	£51.66	39.72	8.74	35.86	16.49	£1.301
03-Sep-11	413.7	47186	£71.75	57.25	12.59	32.85	17.34	£1.253
17-Sep-11	234.1	47420	£41.97	32.51	7.15	32.74	17.93	£1.291
29-Sep-11	353.2	47773	£65.44	46.78	10.29	34.32	18.53	£1.399
05-Oct-11	347.5	48121	£57.21	43.67	9.61	36.18	16.46	£1.310
16-Oct-11	364.1	48485	£63.06	47.79	10.51	34.64	17.32	£1.320
01-Nov-11	400.0	48885	£73.06	55.36	12.18	32.85	18.26	£1.320
11-Nov-11	327.1	49212	£57.53	43.60	9.59	34.11	17.59	£1.320
24-Nov-11	352.8	49565	£55.15	44.96	9.89	35.67	15.63	£1.227
10-Dec-11	394.2	49959	£74.73	53.80	11.83	33.31	18.96	£1.389
21-Dec-11	310.8	50270	£60.33	45.72	10.06	30.90	19.41	£1.320
07-Jan-12	423.6	50694	£78.71	58.52	12.87	32.91	18.58	£1.345
16-Jan-12	385.1	51079	£75.48	53.95	11.87	32.45	19.60	£1.399
05-Feb-12	314.1	51393	£65.40	49.21	10.82	29.02	20.82	£1.329
11-Feb-12	236.2	51629	£54.95	36.66	8.06	29.29	23.26	£1.499
15-Feb-12	336.4	51966	£60.09	44.88	9.87	34.08	17.86	£1.339
25-Feb-12	393.4	52359	£73.10	55.00	12.10	32.52	18.58	£1.329
16-Mar-12	418.0	52777	£86.60	58.16	12.79	32.67	20.72	£1.489
31-Mar-12	205.3	52983	£44.04	29.58	6.51	31.56	21.45	£1.489
10-Apr-12	312.0	53295	£61.10	44.07	9.69	32.18	19.58	£1.387
28-Apr-12	415.3	53710	£80.57	57.73	12.70	32.70	19.40	£1.396
11-May-12	157.4	53868	£33.85	24.59	5.41	29.10	21.50	£1.377
13-May-12	255.4	54123	£47.63	32.87	7.23	35.32	18.65	£1.449
13-May-12	228.4	54352	£41.20	28.24	6.21	36.77	18.04	£1.459
26-May-12	289.9	54642	£51.97	41.45	9.12	31.80	17.93	£1.254
01-Jun-12	261.5	54903	£47.09	33.90	7.46	35.07	18.01	£1.389
09-Jun-12	452.4	55356	£73.45	56.48	12.42	36.41	16.24	£1.301
28-Jun-12	412.7	55768	£73.32	56.38	12.40	33.28	17.77	£1.300
09-Jul-12	425.5	56194	£75.02	54.40	11.97	35.56	17.63	£1.379
23-Jul-12	322.5	56516	£60.14	45.91	10.10	31.93	18.65	£1.310
29-Jul-12	205.5	56722	£38.26	29.63	6.52	31.53	18.62	£1.291
03-Aug-12	400.7	57123	£82.35	55.68	12.25	32.72	20.55	£1.479
10-Aug-12	143.0	57266	£29.40	20.72	4.56	31.38	20.56	£1.419
18-Aug-12	411.5	57677	£78.51	54.94	12.09	34.05	19.08	£1.429
26-Aug-12	222.5	57900	£42.22	31.32	6.89	32.30	18.97	£1.348
13-Sep-12	325.0	58225	£62.83	43.78	9.63	33.75	19.33	£1.435
21-Sep-12	224.2	58449	£43.86	30.48	6.70	33.44	19.56	£1.439
25-Sep-12	485.0	58934	£78.32	58.10	12.78	37.95	16.15	£1.348
08-Oct-12	326.8	59261	£57.66	42.77	9.41	34.74	17.64	£1.348

Cheers

Phil

 

[dubdemand]

Hello mate, cant offer any help or advice but wanted to say hi as an old member of CF (Phil K). Sold my C about 6 years ago and still miss it

Went through a few alternatives and ended up here with our B7... although ours has the (problematic) 2.0 tdi engine. I always wondered if the 3.0 would be a good replacement when we need to move this one on though so will keep an eye on this thread with interest.

Hope you get it sorted!

 

[Illusion-Paul]

I have been thinking the same since i picked up my 233bhp Cab in April.

I always thought there was something wrong as i was never getting more than 35mpg and still the max i have ever had is 37mpg.

On here there is people saying that they are reguarly getting into the 40's even sititng at 80+ mph.

I have done the following in an aid to improve the mpg:
- K&N air filter - no difference
- Diesel Injector cleaner - about 3-4mpg average
- V-Power - not really much of a difference, maybe 1-2mpg
- Cleaned the EGR - that made a couple of mpg more
- Disconnected the EGR - this made the biggest difference, averaged 37mpg on a tankful

I have also looked into the injectors, i believe 2 of mine are out of spec, but not massive, so it is on the list to do.

I also changed all the glow plugs, (about 80 quid) as two showed up on VCDS as not working (no change to fuel consumption)

Also thinking to remove the DPF and EGR and get it mapped out. After seeing the oily muck that came out of the inlet manifold...

Over the last 6000 miles i have averaged 34.7mpg

But i love driving it and looks great!!

 

[rowdyboy]

Hi mate, welcome to the forum.
I know you're new on here but this issue has been gone over so many times, have a search and you'll find thread after thread.
Everyone "claims" different figures tbh. Ive just come to the conclusion that the people who get 40+mpg must be Sunday drivers and hold everyone else up on the road, that's the only way I can get those figures.
Real world, I get around 32mpg, which if you use the power like I do is pretty good.
Like I always say, did you really buy a 3.0 V6 Turbo 4wd to worry about economy ????

 

[ben.w93]

I have had my 3.0TDI for a few months now and recently got it mapped. I can get about 42 mpg on a run sitting at about 77-84 on cruise depending on traffic. Around town I only ever gets high 20s, maybe low 30s depending on how you drive it. It is better on fuel than my previous 2005 2.0TQ, which would only get low 20s around town and high 30s on a run. When I drive it hard, it still does low 30s, and seems to be marginally better on fuel after I had it mapped. To be honest if your really worried about fuel consumption, the best car to get would have been the 2.0TDI, but I would rather have something that is reasonably quick but still relatively speaking ok on fuel.

 

[V6 Quatt]

Pbradley98 - Have you changed fuel filter, Air filter recently?? I understand your concern

Yeh good write up.

Just to say mine is 233ps and around town realistically - 24-27 mpg driving sensibly
Motorway - 37-38mpg if crusing at 70 mph can return 40 mpg

Bear in mind it is a heavy car and would be interesting to find out what others get mileage wise when filling up?? so we all can see if we are all averaging the same?? comments welcome??

£20 -
£40 -
£50 -
£80 -

I have noticed that sometimes my fuel consuption can be worse at times , It may be depending on what fuel is used, we also have to take in to account fuel prices, tyres etc.. etc

Some members say you gain more MPG and smoothness if you get a remap.


At times I feel the car drinks, then sometimes it can be better, however I love the power of the V6 and comming from a 2.0 TDI (140) non quattro the V6 fantastic

Hope this helps.

Would be good to get others views.

 

[sportstractor]

Try using www.fuelly.com, very easy service to use.

I took a 57 2.0tdi 170 A4 avant out for a day last weekend, and economy was loads worse than my sportback. I put this down to it weighing more and having a DPF. I would consider high 30s being a reasonable average for such a weighty V6. I would look at getting the DPFs removed and mapped out if you want an increase

 

[pbradley98]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions - I'll follow up on injector cleaner, fuel filter and air filter and see how they go.

As Rowdyboy points out, I'm not too worried about the economy of the car on it's own, more that after the first couple of months that despite no change in driving style / habits, that the economy dropped which made me think that something had gone wrong with either the engine or drivetrain and I'd prefer to get whatever it is resolved whilst the car is still in warranty, rather than waiting for it to be catastrophic and end up with me footing a huge bill.

Appreciate that I've started a new thread, but when looking I couldn't find anything around the 205ps engine with a quatto B7 avant, as I think that there are a few differences between it and the 233ps so wanted to get some info like for like so to speak, rather than comparing it to a later version of the engine which I would have thought is not only more powerful but would be more economic as well (for instance it sounds like the 233ps has a DPF, which the 205ps engine doesn't... hence black clouds if you boot it under certain conditions but at least not having one is one less thing to worry about!)

Phil K - had my C for 7 years now and still can't think of a replacement I can afford that I want more than to keep the C! What did you have?

Fuel used is Sainsbury's 9 times out of 10, so might try switching to BP or Shell to see if that makes any difference. Interestingly the Audi dealer reckoned that the mpg can drop by up to 10% in cold weather on a diesel, which would go a fair way to explaining why it was so bad in Jan / Feb this year, but still doesn't explain how the first tank obliterated everything else since!

Any further suggestions or experiences of average tank mileage would be welcome.

Cheers

Phil

 

[.Jas.]

I get the same sort of consumption that ben.w93 gets. BTW, I have a 233ps but no DPF.

Also, for the sake of £20, try some BG244 fuel additive, you only need the one can, that might clean things up a little - made a big difference on my car in terms of smoothness.

 

[dubdemand]

Phil K - had my C for 7 years now and still can't think of a replacement I can afford that I want more than to keep the C! What did you have?

Mine was a 2.0 16v... Not a bad drive but not fast either. It was the handling that made it so much fun... Here's a pic of mine taken a few months before I sold up. Think it lives Scotland now!

 

[pbradley98]

Great looking Corrado - not surprised that you miss it in the slightest! Mine's a VR and like you say, the handling is great fun and would imagine that the 16V would be better than the VR without the extra weight at the front....

Mine's a very similar (if not the same - Storm Grey) colour which I really think suits the car.

Jas - thanks for that - will give the BG244 a try.....

 

[Joe_Murphy21187]

Have to say my experiences with a 3.0tdi have been much the same. Mid-High 30's on average motorway runs, 40 - mid 40's if you drive conservatively, and mid to high 20's when being 'enthusiastic'. Plus you have to remember to calculate your actual MPG and not rely on the DIS... which not everybody does...

But as rowdyboy says, who buys a 3.0 V6 turbo permanent 4WD for economy? It's a lot more economical than a petrol equivalent...

 

[pbradley98]

Just stuck in the BG244, so see what happens with that!

But as rowdyboy says, who buys a 3.0 V6 turbo permanent 4WD for economy? It's a lot more economical than a petrol equivalent...

Think you've missed my point slightly - if I'd always had high twenties / low thirties I wouldn't be worried as like you say I didn't buy a V6 turbo quattro for economy, it's more the fact that it's decreased for no apparent reason from the mid thirties that it delivered initially and that it's currently covered by an Audi warranty, so I'd prefer any major work to be done under warranty (i.e. injector replacement / high pressure fuel pump gremlins etc) to be done for free rather than having to cover the entire cost myself....