S3 Economy- Genuine Stats Please!

Scotties said:
I get 300 miles for £75ish in my manual S3 (£1.39 per litre if you want to do the calculations). My journey is mixed about 30% town, 30% motorway and 40% country roads. Its great for overtaking the 40mph brigade on the country roads an has better mpg than my last car, which was the V8 version of the S4 and cost £75ish for 220 miles.

I will probably miss it in May when I swap it for the 3L TDI A4, but I hope £75 gets me closer to 500 miles. At least I should have a smile on my face when I visit a Shell garage every other week rather than once a week.
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Are you haveing the new 240BHP A4? If so would be interested to know your thoughts on comparing the acceleration and handling to the S3 and also what MPG you generally get.

I am now averaging about 30mpg, taking it easy in the morning and then driving a bit harder on the way home for a bit of fun! However, doing over 20k miles a year and with fuel prices getting higher it has started to make me think about the 3.0TDi A4 or A5 but I just wonder if they will feel a little boring, not sound as nice and not be as quick (even though on paper they are about on a par). Part of me thinks do I hold out for the new S3 next year which I assume will be about 10% better on fuel and be cheaper than A4 or A5!

Cheers.
 
I came from a 240ps A5 3.0tdi which had been mapped to 315ps - I averaged 37mpg over 10k miles with a lot of gentle driving, so you might be slightly disappointed if you are expecting on the mpg figures printed in the brochure!

BTW, I got slightly better fuel consumption after it had been mapped.
 
Had a run to Bakewell and back on Tuesday that saw me get 29.4 mpg. Thats the best I have seen. LOL
 
nluk100 said:
I came from a 240ps A5 3.0tdi which had been mapped to 315ps - I averaged 37mpg over 10k miles with a lot of gentle driving, so you might be slightly disappointed if you are expecting on the mpg figures printed in the brochure!

BTW, I got slightly better fuel consumption after it had been mapped.
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That is a bit dissapointing, I was hoping if I went for one I would get it mapped and get about 42. Did you have to use the likes of V Power Diesel as well? How does it compare in terms of acceleration and handlging to the S3?
 
CLARKE09 said:
That is a bit dissapointing, I was hoping if I went for one I would get it mapped and get about 42. Did you have to use the likes of V Power Diesel as well? How does it compare in terms of acceleration and handlging to the S3?
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No, didn't really feel any difference with v power diesel and unlike petrol you don't need it on a mapped car. It would return 42mpg on longer journeys but on my usual run to work (20 miles on the mway) I could only manage 35-37mpg.

The A5 felt like big cumbersome dinosaur whereas in comparison, the S3 feels light and nimble. I think the biggest problem was that the engine, unlike smaller VAG diesels felt slow to rev and needed to be worked higher up the rev range to get decent performance.

On paper they may of been a match, but the reality is very different. If I wanted a fast diesel with real economy I would get the 170 VAG 2.0 lump and ditch the DPF and map it to 225ps.
 
nluk100 said:
No, didn't really feel any difference with v power diesel and unlike petrol you don't need it on a mapped car. It would return 42mpg on longer journeys but on my usual run to work (20 miles on the mway) I could only manage 35-37mpg.

The A5 felt like big cumbersome dinosaur whereas in comparison, the S3 feels light and nimble. I think the biggest problem was that the engine, unlike smaller VAG diesels felt slow to rev and needed to be worked higher up the rev range to get decent performance.

On paper they may of been a match, but the reality is very different. If I wanted a fast diesel with real economy I would get the 170 VAG 2.0 lump and ditch the DPF and map it to 225ps.
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Thanks for the info. mate.

I can quite easily get 30mpg from the S3 without driving too slowly, but if I got 37mpg from a 3.0TDi I would be disappointed. It would basically not work out any cheaper, as the lease on an A5 is a lot more than an S3 and the fuel saving is just not enough.

When I was looking for a car I did consider the 170 Diesel A3 and get it mapped but as the OP says he is bored and I think I would feel the same. I know they are pretty quick for a 2.0TDi but just not enough for me and the lease cost between the Diesel and S3 wasnt really that much so I thought sod it, have 3 years of fun! Problem is, I now want something that will get better mpg but not compromise the acceleration! If Audi have managed to get over 10% better fuel economy in the new A3 and it is lighter, then I reckon the next S3 should be a bit quicker, more efficient and still cheaper than an A5, so I guess it is best to wait and see and hope it is available to order end of this year!

Although if they did decide to make the RSQ3.......:hubbahubba: guessing it would be about 45k though! :bye: Audi RS Q3 revealed | News | Auto Express
 
Blackie said:
I did manage 31.9 on a run back up the M6 last night @ around 70-80 all the way.

Back home & i,m back to 24-25 again
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I managed 34.7 a couple of days ago stuck at 65 on cruise control on the M1, I wanted to make sure I had enough fuel to get home! Was a very boring drive!!
 
CLARKE09 said:
I just asked a mate who's boss has an S3 and he reckons he gets 40mpg!!!
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Well you can get 40 MPG, if you drove at say 40-50 MPH for a period of time, and drive down hill for a while, but to get 40 MPG over a decent length journey would be really boring, and possible hold up traffic with a big queue behind you getting Us Audi S3 Owners a really bad name :)
 
nluk100 said:
I don't think 40mpg is realistic, especially as an average! Maybe he's reading the instant mpg figure on the DIS!
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I dont think it is realistic either, I did over 50 miles this morning (about 30 on motorway) and the rest mainly on A roads and I was sticking to either 50, 60 or 70 and only managed 34.7mpg!
 
nluk100 said:
No, didn't really feel any difference with v power diesel and unlike petrol you don't need it on a mapped car. It would return 42mpg on longer journeys but on my usual run to work (20 miles on the mway) I could only manage 35-37mpg.

The A5 felt like big cumbersome dinosaur whereas in comparison, the S3 feels light and nimble. I think the biggest problem was that the engine, unlike smaller VAG diesels felt slow to rev and needed to be worked higher up the rev range to get decent performance.

On paper they may of been a match, but the reality is very different. If I wanted a fast diesel with real economy I would get the 170 VAG 2.0 lump and ditch the DPF and map it to 225ps.
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Just thought was your A5 the newest model that supposedly does almost 50mpg combined or the previous that does about 43mpg?
 
Not that you buy a S3 for the fuel economy, but I managed 32mpg and 370 miles to the tank!!!

Running V-Power. Seems better for economy, but is quite flat on boost. Tesco Momentum on the other hand, slightly worse for economy, but you can certainly tell the difference when the turbo comes on boost. It delivers a "kick" that V-Power doesn't.

hBIH1.jpg
 
veeeight said:
Not that you buy a S3 for the fuel economy, but I managed 32mpg and 370 miles to the tank!!!

Running V-Power. Seems better for economy, but is quite flat on boost. Tesco Momentum on the other hand, slightly worse for economy, but you can certainly tell the difference when the turbo comes on boost. It delivers a "kick" that V-Power doesn't.

hBIH1.jpg
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This is quite interesting review mate. I always use V-power due to being a "better" quality fuel but might give it a go and fill in with Tesco Mommentum next time. Does it take long to adapt or you can feel the difference straight away?
 
As an update,I'm averaging 29.2mpg,with a best of 35mpg,and worst of 17mpg
 
Nice but why are you letting the fuel get so low? Can't be too good for your engine?
 
Shouldn't make any difference to the engine, the fuel rail is always primed, and there are filters in the system.

In a totally non-controlled, but slightly scientific methodology, I ran 3 tanks of Tesco Momentum, and averaged 29/30/29. Then ran 3 tanks of V-Power, and averaged 31/31/32 (but the car felt totally flat). Then I'm back now with Tesco Momentum for the next 3 tanks, and within 30 miles the car feels lively again.

Just to check it wasn't my imagination re power differences, a work colleague of mine in a MY2012 S3 also notices that Tesco Momentum in his car runs better.
 
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Whilst Momentum has slightly higher Octane than V Power, it has lower quality cleaning agents and will not, in the long run (no pun intended ;)) look after your engine as well as V Power! Momentum has agents added by Tesco at the pump, V Power has higher quality additives designed into the fuel! No aftermarket agents are required.

On a 600 mile run a couple of weeks ago I crept up the Motorway driving amongst lorries for 200 miles or so, I was seeing returns of around 40mpg and an indicated range in excess of 550 miles after around 50 miles for the remainder of the tank had I not got bored and floored it for around 60-70 miles. Mine is an un-mapped & un-molested 2.0tfsi DSG & I'm convinced I get better fuel economy because the auto box & cruise control take the human equation out of the correct gear selection process.

that's my 2 cents anyway. :)
 
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Compared to my old S3 8L **** me this thing is alot worse, i mean if you're attempting to make 'very good progress' on the motorways its shocking. Alot worse than my old S3. Almost makes the misses Bmw 125 (3.0l) seem pretty good.
 
(controversial mode on) All this talk about MPG figures and especially from the S3 owners! If MPG is your bag why buy a 170 TDI or an S3 in the first place. At the end of the day the 170 TDI is the "performance" option of the TDI engines, same as the S3 is for the petrol engines. Nowadays going fast, especially 0-60 fast, isn't cheap. If you want cheap running costs a 170 TDI or an S3 shouldn't really be considered IMO. As a final note, I drive an A3 3.2 so I ignore the MPG, enjoy the car for what it is and live with the running costs. If you do your homework on a car before you buy it, the associated running costs won't be a nasty surprise. Now get out there and enjoy your cars lol :racer:
 
Controversial mode off: :)

The OP is doing his research and the drivers of the S3's are giving the information he requested.... not moaning about it ;)

I do keep an eye on my MPG, doesn't mean I resent filling up and getting 24.5 Avg and 280-290 miles per £70 :) See my signature.

As a side note, if you look at the Avg in my signature, it exactly mirror's the comp 2 DIS results I get. My fuelly account has every fuel up I have made from the car being 37 miles old. Pretty impressive.
 
Don't get the beef with people asking about MPG of an S3.

No matter how much money you have, it'd be stupid not to consider every running cost when you're looking at buying a car. The OP clearly isn't wanting to buy a car primarily based on its MPG, but is just considering it along with a whole load of other factors when looking at buying one.

I'm doing exactly the same thing now. I like to know that when I'm not hooning it around, that I can achieve a fairly respectable (within reason for the engine type) MPG. I'm happy to see pound coins flowing out the back when I'm spanking it round some twisties, but it'd be pretty depressing watching them fall out while I'm stuck behind a lorry doing 50 on an A road.

Interestingly, looks like the S3 matches my Golf mile for mile - despite it being 60hp better off.
 
thebluefox said:
I like to know that when I'm not hooning it around, that I can achieve a fairly respectable (within reason for the engine type) MPG. I'm happy to see pound coins flowing out the back when I'm spanking it round some twisties, but it'd be pretty depressing watching them fall out while I'm stuck behind a lorry doing 50 on an A road.
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Agreed! Daver555 I don't think anyone is particularly 'moaning' as the kick will outways the MPG im sure! But like thebluefox says is good to know some figures when you're not flooring it. Threads like this are helpful to people like me (coming from a diesel looking at an S3 in the future) to know that semi decent figures are achievable. I would love to be saying my car does 25MPG :sly: want an S3!!
 
Hi mate my 08 s3 ...around town 26 to30. And on motorway at 70 ..34 to 36. But if you drive it hard. Half all them previous figures. But great car buy one. You won't regret it:yahoo:
 
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