Audi A3 1.8tfsi s-tronic - shocking MPG returned

[Mani_S_Bhogal]

Hey all,

I purchased a 1.8tfsi about 5 months ago and have generally been happy with it.

One nagging issue that has emerged, is that the MPG is awful. I never expected to return 50.4mpg as quoted but I am having to drive like an OAP (I'm not ageist lol) to return 31/32mpg its horrendous.

On motorway driving - trip to Birmingham from London got me 40.4mpg and this was a poodle session at 85mph the whole way.

Just wondering what other peoples experiences are with a 1.8tfsi s-tronic soo far and if I need to go back to Audi and state that this isn't good enough...

Mani

 

[97catalunya]

I think as someone quoted here before, you would expect approx 20% less than quoted in real world driving.

I have been getting an average of 32mpg around town, pretty much bang on 20% under the quoted 40.4mpg quoted in the book

Not really given it a good motorway run yet but on a short motorway run I had about 46mpg so I should expect this to go up a little when I give it a bit more of a run.

This is the price you pay for performance if I wanted economy I would have gone for a diesel or 1.4 COD

 

[97catalunya]

P.S a friend of mine has just got a 1ltr Focus Eco thing. They are quoting 70+ MPG and he is only getting mid 30s driving it like Miss Daisy. Now that is unexceptable!

 

[Daveotto]

On motorway driving - trip to Birmingham from London got me 40.4mpg and this was a poodle session at 85mph the whole way.

Hate to flame you down on your first post but 85mph all the way Birmingham from London and were not caning it in your words .....really!!!!

You sound a bit of a boy racer and apart from the fact you are breaking the law even if taking the reading from your speedo why would you expect anything more from your MPG as you obviously bought the car for performance rather than economy.

 

[JohnM100]

Mani,

Do you do a lot of relatively short journeys (<10 miles)? That will kill MPG on any car and the bigger the engine, the larger the pain.

Your long motorway run seemed reasonable MPG for the speed, but I don't have any decent hard metrics to compare.

John.

John.

 

[cemerson]

As above, not sure what you expected from a high powered, turbo petrol engine hooked to an auto gearbox!

 

[sftdi]

I had a test drive in a 1.8 stronic and after 30 mins, I got 42 mpg which sounds about right. A mixture of driving; some start stop traffic, dual carriageways. At no point was I caning it at 85 mph though !

 

[M_D_O_London]

Mani - I think you're mpg figures are probably quite realistic.

I've not got high hopes for efficiency of my 1.8 TFSI S-Tronic SB on order, but seeing as I only do 6000 or so miles a year, (mostly London town driving), a petrol auto makes complete sense. Plus the 180ps of the 1.8 means plenty of shove, when required. If did higher mileage, would have gone straight to one of the 2.0 TDIs.

As a side note, I previously had a MkVI Golf GT TSI DSG (1.4 petrol auto turbo + supercharged). This averaged 28mpg in town and 55mpg at 70mph on the motorway, (calculated figures - not from the trip-computer).

 

[mjcourtney]

Try 60mph in the slow lane for a few miles.... suspect your MPG will shoot up

 

[Mani_S_Bhogal]

Mmmm,

Thanks for the input guys.

I kind of resent the boy racer comment, I guess Daveotto is atleast 80 and clearly he never goes beyond 70 on the motorway, please do get points applied to my licence! Prejudices aside, the basis for this post is that the other car in the family is a 2007 A4 2.0 TFSI and we get what's quoted as a combined figure, it's general usage is in line with this A3. This is the main source of my alarm and I'm not seeing consistency in that respect. I have only done 3k soo far, so let's see what we are getting after 10k miles more. I was expecting roughly 38mpg-40mpg combined or something nearer to SFTDI's experience but maybe this is optimistic.

Ownership aside has been a lovely experience and I am extremely glad I went for MMI 3g and B&O. I was wondering if at the time I would miss out not going for S-Line (went the Sport route) and I don't feel like I am. Saturday morning car wash still happens which after this length of time is a good thing and the car still smells new haha! Feel like I should have got cruise control however.

Anyhow, thank you all for your comments, boy-racer aside. I think I may just need to reign in my expectations from an MPG perspective.

Mani

 

[Fragup]

Most A3 engines seam to get around 75% of the official MPG quoted on 'normal' driving which seams about average for modern cars.
Driving style seams to effect the petrols mpg slightly more than the diesels, but petrol engines performance and buying costs are the upside.
Would expect / hope to do similar speed on motorways to you mani, to keep up with traffic in the fast lane so I would be a boy racer as well then ?

 

[Daveotto]

Mani,

Actually I am only 78 and never drive over 50mph in any circumstances not even on a track day in an R8

Actually I kind of think you deserve the tag of "boy racer" there are a lot of very knowedgable and friendly people on this forum and when someone comes rushing in with comments like "a poodle session at 85mph the whole way" and "please do get points applied to my licence" you are sort of setting everyones expecatation of you rather low.

BTW welcome to the forum and enjoy your time here , you migt actually find the majority of us are are not slow lane geriatrics after all

 

[Daveotto]

Would expect / hope to do similar speed on motorways to you mani, to keep up with traffic in the fast lane so I would be a boy racer as well then ?

Keeping up with traffic at 85mph I can live with but when its coupled in the same sentence with "poodle" it certainly paints a somewhat different picture

 

[cemerson]

At least in my car, the difference in mpg between 85 and 70mph is quite a lot. I agree it doesn't look good on you effectively calling 85mph slow. Everyone knows that a lot of people drive over 70, but 85 is still faster than the vast majority of people on the motorway. Going much faster than this is pretty stupid IMO, you never know what debris or potholes could be in the road (especially in this country!), and a tyre blowout at that speed isn't going to end well...

 

[Fragup]

Keeping up with traffic at 85mph I can live with but when its coupled in the same sentence with "poodle" it certainly paints a somewhat different picture

i appreciate that and don't disagree, just diffusing it a little,
if this claims to be a friendly forum then live and let live.

 

[Mani_S_Bhogal]

Thank you Fragup for attempting to diffuse this.

I think this all stems from the use of one word, poodle. Admittedly, it was the wrong word to use, probably breeze or cruise would have been more appropriate. Just alarming that some have chosen to climb all over that and then pass a judgement rather than even address my concerns over economy. Daveotto what exactly did you expect me to say to you after calling me boy racer? I didn't start the name calling you did.

Anyways, (moving on from all of that) I have already found the forum to be incredibly helpful and generally I have enjoyed reviewing pictures of alot of cars before making a choice on Glacier White with 18' 5 arm alloys which IMO is a lovely combination. I almost purchased some S-tronic paddle extensions (linked from this site) from TiD Styling till SG Smith in Bexley shot that down by saying if there was an issue with the any aspect of the gearbox system the application of the paddles would invalidate the warranty! Was a bit put out by that but then any excuse not to back the warranty I guess.

I look forward to being more active on the forum actually as I make use the car more. It only gets used at the weekends as I work in central London so I will be reliant on you all for unearthing and commenting on all things 8v A3!

Thanks again.

Mani

 

[Daveotto]

i appreciate that and don't disagree, just diffusing it a little,
if this claims to be a friendly forum then live and let live.

Good point, just defending being called a geriatric ahead of time (50 is not that old when you actually get there) and not sure if I can be classed as being prejediced by accusing someone of speeding but if i can I'll own up and apologise to that one.

For what its worth it is not the absolute speed that causes the problem in a lot of instances it is is the differential between an individual cars speed and the bulk of the traffic on the road, and the relative car density. For example driving at 60mph through a 50mpg average speed check stretch of road where cars are more likely to tail gate is more dangerous in terms of number of accidents than doing 80mph on a 70mph motorway with well spaced out traffic - both in theory illegal but one is more likley to cause an accident than the other.

 

[Daveotto]

Mani,

Nuff said, lets move on - you have passed the initiation welcome to the club

 

[Mani_S_Bhogal]

Haha! Thanks!

 

[Buneet]

I average 41/42mpg and I take short 3/4 mile trips to school, rarely go on the motorway, if I do I'm going from Liverpool to Manchester so nog for very long. I'm in a 1.4 TFSI With S-Tronic
Somewhat better than my old 1.4 Corsa D which got 37!

 

[TFSI]

I once had a A3 courtesy car from Audi when my 1st 1.6fsi went in for a new sump, it was a 2,0T Quattro and I put that through it's paces a little and returned 19 MPG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in my 50's by the way. Old guy racer.

 

[constvoid]

I do a 70 mile round trip to work each day, almost totally motorway (at 70 officer, honest). This is using the ACC to keep with the flow. The DIS shows between 39 - 42 for each journey, but today was one of the rare occasions it hit 43.

However, even this figure is optimistic. If when filling up I note the mileage and then do the calculations based on the amount of fuel bought it's invariably 2-3 mpg less, even if I've done no other driving than the work run.

I'm happy though - it's better mpg than my 8P 1.8 TFSI.

(And no, I wouldn't swap it for a diesel - I'm a dinosaur who's never taken to those things!!)

 

[97catalunya]

The biggest problem with the mpg on the 1.8 is the beautiful rasp of an exhaust note when you put your foot down and the blips on the down change, oh and the smile on my face when it happens

 

[TDI-line]

Poodle =

 

[shady-ninja]

I got 51.9mpg on my 1.8tfsi at a steady 65mph. I think your mpg levels are excellent.. looks like you are asking too much.

Hey all,

I purchased a 1.8tfsi about 5 months ago and have generally been happy with it.

One nagging issue that has emerged, is that the MPG is awful. I never expected to return 50.4mpg as quoted but I am having to drive like an OAP (I'm not ageist lol) to return 31/32mpg its horrendous.

On motorway driving - trip to Birmingham from London got me 40.4mpg and this was a poodle session at 85mph the whole way.

Just wondering what other peoples experiences are with a 1.8tfsi s-tronic soo far and if I need to go back to Audi and state that this isn't good enough...

Mani

 

[Mani_S_Bhogal]

Thanks Shady, yea it's clear from all the comments above I need to reign in my expectations re: mpg!

I guess I am lucky from a usage perspective that I barely use the car during the week and its nice to drive on weekends and yes I do think its juicy in comparison to what I expected but in saying that 97 catalunya has hit the nail on the head, it does sound lovely when you do push on with it!

 

[RossR]

I've got a 1.4 COD and on the same journey in the same traffic I can get anywhere from 33 to 49 mpg, depending on how much I push on. Different engine, but it shows how much difference driving style makes.

 

[Fragup]

I've got a 1.4 COD and on the same journey in the same traffic I can get anywhere from 33 to 49 mpg, depending on how much I push on. Different engine, but it shows how much difference driving style makes.

How you finding the C.O.D. Now you've had for a bit ?
Is the mpg improving as it is run in ? Be good to get some feed back while in patiently wait for mine
ta

 

[Twizzler]

The amount of power needed to propel a car doesn't rise in a linear fashion as speed increases. For example, around 2.5 times the power is needed to move a car at 95mph compared to 65 mph. Slowing down a little makes a big difference.

 

[cemerson]

The amount of power needed to propel a car doesn't rise in a linear fashion as speed increases. For example, around 2.5 times the power is needed to move a car at 95mph compared to 65 mph. Slowing down a little makes a big difference.

It's a square law, so (95 / 65) ^ 2 = 2.13 - still significant though!

 

[RossR]

It's a square law, so (95 / 65) ^ 2 = 2.13 - still significant though!

The square law is for the force. Power is force times speed so is a cube law. (95/65) ^ 3 = 3.12. It is only an approximation though and is for aerodynamic drag, not rolling resistance.

 

[RossR]

How you finding the C.O.D. Now you've had for a bit ?
Is the mpg improving as it is run in ? Be good to get some feed back while in patiently wait for mine
ta

I'll be writing more soon, but in summary the C.O.D. is a great engine. MPG has sort of improved as it's run in. However, that has been partially offset by me using the right pedal more since it passed 1000 miles

 

[cemerson]

Wind resistance doesn't apply a power to the car though, it applies a force

 

[BGS]

But power is used to match the force applied to the car in order to maintain speed, or to overcome that force in order to accelerate

In addition the increased speed means that the distance covered and therefore work done is performed in a shorter time. This requires a corresponding increase in power, as power is work done over time. So 95/65 = 1.46 approx. I think that brings the new total to around 4.56 give or take a decimal place here and there.

Any advances

 

[97catalunya]

I LOVE LAMP!!!.....

 

[Buneet]

Oh man now I remember why I dropped AS-level physics.

 

[Fragup]

I'll be writing more soon, but in summary the C.O.D. is a great engine. MPG has sort of improved as it's run in. However, that has been partially offset by me using the right pedal more since it passed 1000 miles

Cool, thanks, good the know. Sounds like your enjoying it, which is even more important sometimes.

 

[Fragup]

But power is used to match the force applied to the car in order to maintain speed, or to overcome that force in order to accelerate

In addition the increased speed means that the distance covered and therefore work done is performed in a shorter time. This requires a corresponding increase in power, as power is work done over time. So 95/65 = 1.46 approx. I think that brings the new total to around 4.56 give or take a decimal place here and there.

Any advances

+ =
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If = or :busted_cop:, then

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or technical version

Best I could find,
Table 4.A1 Forces acting and power requirement for a car at different speeds
http://www.collinseducation.com/resources/chapter4energyandcars.doc

its nearly 20 years since I did A level physics and maths, and to be honest haven't used that much since,
but roughly based on table linked above:
20 mph = 2.5 Kw
40 mph= 8.1 kw
60 mph = 18.6 kw
80 mph= 37.7 kw
100mph = 67.7 kw

 

[cuke2u]

Hi, Audi had a spanking from the Advertising Agency this year for making unsubstantiated mpg claims "Misleading" car mpg claims to be banned - Telegraph

 

[cemerson]

Which is ridiculous, because they don't have a choice what mpg figures are reported - it's all standardised!