poor MPG on 06 S3

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pablo

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Hi all, recently bought an S3 and while I knew it wouldnt be frugal I thought it would do a little better.

around town it will struggle to see 20mpg. On a long A/B road run (eg 40miles) I drove like a nun and ended up just shy of 30mpg.

I know its not *too* bad but Id have expected a little better, closer to 40 on a very gentle long run?

No faults on dash or in vcds so Im guessing its either:

- MAF
- Lambda
- A crappy remap I dont know about

Any pointers to something I can look at? Maybe using VCDS?

Cheers all.
 
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I'm seeing between 23-25mpg around town and between 30-35 on a long run.
 
Check your DV for tears. Has it been serviced recently? New airfilter? You can check your MAF output using VCDS.
 
I used to get that sort of mpg on mine, remap has slightly improved it from around 30 on a motorway run to about 34 now.
 
Are you joking? My 2009 S3 did 32.2mpg yesterday on a 35 mile motorway run, youd be lucky to get above that anywhere its a 2.0 Turbo with a quattro system, most diesels will struggle to see 45mpg on a run unless you drive like a granny all the way at 50mph!!! yours will also be the older/non haldex system so someone correct me if im wrong but it is 4 wheel drive more often than the post 58 plate haldex systems?
 
same journey my 5speed 330Ci would have cracked 35mpg, my A6 2.0TDI would have seen 55mpg.

And I was driving like a granny :p

As for the haldex I was under the impression it was 2WD until it needed extra grip and engaged the rears.

Any contemporary hatch (ST focus etc) would have seen 40mph on that same drive imo.
 
nluk100 said:
Check your DV for tears. Has it been serviced recently? New airfilter? You can check your MAF output using VCDS.
Click to expand...

Do this, and remap it. Then see what you get. But in all honesty the figures you have given are not far from actual.
 
pablo said:
Any contemporary hatch (ST focus etc) would have seen 40mph on that same drive imo.
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Focus ST returns worse MPG than an s3 due to its larger capacity and ford didn't really pay much attention to fuel economy when creating the ST!
 
I put a new DV in when I bought it as it was rev C (looked ok in fairness but given the failure rate and the low cost seemed sensible). Ive to service it tonight as it happens so Ill see what its like after (oil/filter/airfilter/plugs).

I could check MAF output no problem but wouldnt be sure what I was looking for tbh.
 
If you were expecting 40 mpg, you should've bought a diesel!

The most i've had was 31.
 
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FWIW,mine will do an average of around 30mpg on the drag into work,but can easily return very low 20s if hoofed.

A remap can improve economy,but only if you don't use the power.

That said,the S3 isn't designed as an Eco model,but it's better on the gas than the 3.2.
 
Mine runs a bit better than those figures you posted but when ma dv was ****** it was about same. Maybe you got boost leak or something? My friends focus st that he had, he was lucky to see 20mpg so thats swinging a miss. The s3 1 off the better for mpg and 1 of the best for performance in the hot hatch world.
 
yeah I checked up there and the ST is pretty dire!

If thats what it is, thats what it is but defo expected a little more I guess on a granny run.
 
I have seen 38-39 mpg on a couple of long runs and regularly get 32-34 mpg on shorter runs. Even when caning it I get 26 mpg, so something is amiss!
 
A simple thing as the thermostat not holding at 90 deg will return a lesser mpg.
 
When I first start up in the morning it displays 16, then as I drive to work t creeps up to 27.
Cruising on the motorway it can reach 30.
 
pablo said:
same journey my 5speed 330Ci would have cracked 35mpg, my A6 2.0TDI would have seen 55mpg.

And I was driving like a granny :p

As for the haldex I was under the impression it was 2WD until it needed extra grip and engaged the rears.

Any contemporary hatch (ST focus etc) would have seen 40mph on that same drive imo.
Click to expand...

No the older system doesnt quite work like that i dont think but someone correct me if im wrong?

As said a focus ST one a run would probably do half :/

For what it is.. its an economical car, to put it into perspective though i did the same journey yesterday in an S3 at 32 MPG then in a brand new 2.0 tdi 150 and it did about 44ish MPG both driving calmly and sensibley... diesels arent all to shout about!!
 
I could genuinely see 60mpg on my A6 2.0 TDI.

My E46 M3 could eek nearly 40mpg and its 350bhp.

30mpg on a granny run is really not economical at all.
 
could you stop being an ******** please?

Id rather not sell it, Id rather see if there is a fault and fix it. It certainly isnt comparable to other performance cars Ive owned and Id like to find out why. If its just the way it is then fair enough but I do not believe 30mpg on a granny run at 50-60mph is correct.
 
pablo said:
could you stop being an ******** please?

Id rather not sell it, Id rather see if there is a fault and fix it. It certainly isnt comparable to other performance cars Ive owned and Id like to find out why. If its just the way it is then fair enough but I do not believe 30mpg on a granny run at 50-60mph is correct.
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Well the main thing thats come up so far that can cause bad economy you have already sorted, the DV.

Personally i think there is enough evidence up there to say that its probably about average mpg for the type of car, there are so many things that can affect fuel economy it isnt just the speed you drive at. Have you tried running a tank of V-Power through the system. The 2.0TFSi engine performs best on 98+ RON.....

Are all the tyre pressures correct?

Is it due a service?
 
Why not see how many actual miles you get before the low petrol light comes on.
 
there we go :)

to be fair if I done a normal motorway run Id see around 25mpg. sitting at 70ish. So I do think its low.

unfortunately we dont get v-power here. or shell at all for that matter. Maybe try some BP Ultimate through it.

Getting serviced tonight, and might clean the intake valves over the weekend.

First thing I might do (as someone suggested) is to log the MAF output and see A) if its mapped, and B) if the MAF is bad.

It feels quick, quicker than I expected in all honesty, so may be mapped. And if mapped, it may be a bad map!
 
Dan-Jnr said:
Why not see how many actual miles you get before the low petrol light comes on.
Click to expand...

£40 at 133.9p = 6.57gallons. That gets me 160miles = 24mpg average. That was mostly made up of 2 x 60-70mile at 50-60mph round trips at a gentle pace (in family mode).

Shall report back after a service and a tank of Ultimate. I realise this is an unanswerable problem via the net but more looking for A) others experiences and B) things to check out. Rather than actual answers.
 
Ive had 2 S3s, manual, DSG, stock, mapped. And covered around 50-60K miles in them combined.

21mpg is all I see around town.
28mpg is all I see on a run.
Have only ever once seen over 30mpg on a run back from London to Newcastle.

I have never found the S3 to be particularly economical but I didnt expect it to be so havent been concerned.

Great car but I wont miss the V Power bills when it goes to a new home on Saturday....
 
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Hmmm, if the car is from NI and has only ever been run on 95RON, it could be an indication of why its MPG is low? It even says on the petrol flap that optimum fuel is 98RON.

A service will help if it hasnt had one in a while. How many miles has it covered?

It should do more than 25mpg down the motorway. I think if it has a bad map then the car would feel sluggish, i doubt fuel economy would be the only indicator of a bad map.
 
was bought from England 2 weeks ago. 68k. last service unknown but when I changed the air filter the other day (while I had the cover off) it didnt look too dirty.

only has part history last audi service was at 40k.
 
Mine normally hunts about 28. On gentle runs I've seen 35+. Of course, use it properly and that drops fast. Sounds like something is wrong. That's 99 only.
 
pablo said:
£40 at 133.9p = 6.57gallons. That gets me 160miles = 24mpg average. That was mostly made up of 2 x 60-70mile at 50-60mph round trips at a gentle pace (in family mode).

Shall report back after a service and a tank of Ultimate. I realise this is an unanswerable problem via the net but more looking for A) others experiences and B) things to check out. Rather than actual answers.
Click to expand...

these figures sound round about right on mine aswell.... Generally only see a return of 320 miles max to a full tank... I've been running the car constantly on tesco momentum 99 since I got it.. I'm going to get it mapped soon so dont really want to flip to any other fuels at the moment. I'm also going to upgrade from the standard dv and will be interesting to see if it makes any difference once its all done
 
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pablo said:
was bought from England 2 weeks ago. 68k. last service unknown but when I changed the air filter the other day (while I had the cover off) it didnt look too dirty.

only has part history last audi service was at 40k.
Click to expand...

Hmmm To be fair, an S3 isnt the sort of car i would ever buy with only part service history, these cars are supposed to have an oil service every 9k and a major service every 18k... having no history for the last 30k miles could be part of the issue but you never know i guess!
 
Just to add my two pennies worth. Having owned my S3 for a month now I'm the opposite in fact my mpg has impressed me I got near on 400 miles from a tank that did have a couple of long trips in there. Maybe I feel lucky the fact I've owned a ST and that was truly shocking. So all in all I'm delighted with my overall mpg. Oh I'm running bp ultimate doubt that has much impact though.
 
Bp ultimate aint the best v-power or momentum 99 are the ones to use, i bet you feel the differnce if you try either.
 
the car should have a bit better mpg i agree. i get over 30 mpg running on motorway at normal driving and going slowly eg 60 odd on motorway will see me do 34-36 mpg.

maybe u was just driving into strong winds :s3addict: lol
 
LEE69 said:
Bp ultimate aint the best v-power or momentum 99 are the ones to use, i bet you feel the differnce if you try either.
Click to expand...

Yeah I wish I could get these round my way we have nothing local anymore. So I just put the next best in.
 
LEE69 said:
Bp ultimate aint the best v-power or momentum 99 are the ones to use, i bet you feel the differnce if you try either.
Click to expand...

cant get either in NI *** :(

well oil/oil filter and plugs done tonight and £40 of Ultimate in so will see how it goes tomorrow. Oil/filter and plugs all looked fine so Id imagine it was serviced relatively recently. Must phone around see if I can find any more service info from the places that MOTed it.

I got it cheap and it drives brilliantly so cant complain too much :)
 
In my scooby days I only dreamed of mpg like that :) Brilliant cars though, burble is truly addictive, fuel bill is about the only thing I don't miss about them, well apart from the brakes, shxt stereo, cheap interior............
 
pablo said:
cant get either in NI *** :(

well oil/oil filter and plugs done tonight and £40 of Ultimate in so will see how it goes tomorrow. Oil/filter and plugs all looked fine so Id imagine it was serviced relatively recently. Must phone around see if I can find any more service info from the places that MOTed it.

I got it cheap and it drives brilliantly so cant complain too much :)
Click to expand...
what does the air filter look like? If thats clogged then it could be causing some issues :)
 
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