Mpg and running in?

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Ryanytchan

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Hi all,

I have a 1.8 quattro and I'm now 300 miles in and averaging 29mpg, does this sound about right? How many miles does it require to achieve 'normal' mpg figures?
 
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29?!.. Yikes! That's worse than my old Golf V6 4motion! (32mpg) Really glad I ordered TDI 184 quattro now. Don't do the miles to really justify diesel but at least it should be cheaper to run than the Golf...
 
So much of this depends on driving style and roads. Also are you trusting DIS or calculating from brim to brim at the pump? My DIS gives a figure ~3% better than actuals.

Mine is on 3500 miles. I get 33 on my commute and 40 on a good run. No real change since the very early miles.

Still early days in the life of the engine but comparing like with like, am now on average a whole 1mpg better on same roads and journeys than my 11 year old A3 1.8 T-Sport with over 100k on it. (But I wasn't expecting much difference when choosing the engine).

Try googling "Real MPG" or "True MPG" as HonestJohn and WhatCar both have these.

John.
 
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Yes I'd not put any weight to this until we know how the car is being driven and under what conditions. If any car was being driven rapidly in short stop start conditions then even the mpg of a diesel would be poor...
 
I have had a few new cars and they have all had poor initial fuel consumption. It took 10000 miles for my diesel Civic 2.2 to really give its best performance and economy. One thing I noticed was the oil colour. When the engine is very tight the oil was like it was from the tin, even after 5000 miles, still straw coloured. When the engine beds in and loosens up the oil starts going black, the car's performance then noticeably improves too. Less extra throttle is then needed up inclines and fuel economy is 10% better or more.

After the initial running in period it is good to make the engine work a bit occasionally and rev it through the gears. Accelerating up hills is a good way of loading the engine and it seemed to run my engine in better. My Civic was run in carefully and had excellent economy after 10K.

My current A3 2.0tdi 150 has done nearly 8K and seems to be reasonably run in now. Fuel economy is nearing 60mpg on a sensible speed run.
 
m0sbf said:
When the engine is very tight the oil was like it was from the tin, even after 5000 miles, still straw coloured. When the engine beds in and loosens up the oil starts going black, the car's performance then noticeably improves too.
Click to expand...

The black colour comes from tiny bits of ground down pistons / cylinders / camshaft parts etc - makes sense that when the engine loosens up a bit, your performance and economy improves - less friction than before.
 
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cemerson said:
The black colour comes from tiny bits of ground down pistons / cylinders / camshaft parts etc - makes sense that when the engine loosens up a bit, your performance and economy improves - less friction than before.
Click to expand...

Thanks, interesting. So there is a bit of merit in my theory that a car with golden coloured oil is still to run in.
 
cemerson said:
The black colour comes from tiny bits of ground down pistons / cylinders / camshaft parts etc - makes sense that when the engine loosens up a bit, your performance and economy improves - less friction than before.
Click to expand...

don't be daft - if the engine wears like that you're in the sh1t.

the black colour is consequent to oil oxidisation and carbon deposits from the combustion cycle. it's certainly NOT engine parts LOL !
 
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Nevertheless, the engine parts do wear slightly and con provide a bit of resistance to movement when new, and they do wear down a bit over time
 
I'd rather think that the improvement in mpg is more down to the driver getting used to the engine and the sensitivity of the controls...
 
There will be a bit of that, but that happens very quickly. The engines do 'bed in' and loosen up somewhat still.
 
My 1.6 TDI S-Tronic has done 1600 miles now and the economy hasn't changed since new. It's not as economical as I thought it would be. It's matching the economy of my old 2.0 TDI 8P at the moment.

How much difference does winter make to the MPG? Cold mornings and a cold engine might count for a few MPG? Hopefully it will be better when it's done a few more miles and when it's warmer?
 
OUR RS3 is 25/26mpg from NEW. OUR TT 2.0 quattro roadster is 25/26mpg from NEW.

Guess the way the driver and/or drivers drive might have something to do with it... :racer:
 
StefRobinson said:
My 1.6 TDI S-Tronic has done 1600 miles now and the economy hasn't changed since new. It's not as economical as I thought it would be. It's matching the economy of my old 2.0 TDI 8P at the moment.

How much difference does winter make to the MPG? Cold mornings and a cold engine might count for a few MPG? Hopefully it will be better when it's done a few more miles and when it's warmer?
Click to expand...

Cold weather does affect the economy a lot. Diesels take longer to warm up, the CC is working harder to warm up the cabin, you will be using the rear screen heater. It all adds up...
 
My 1.4 S-Tronic hit 5,500 miles the other day and I still achieve around 40.0 mpg (on a good day) I try to drive as smoothly as possible and try to allow 5 minutes in the morning for the car to warm up. I've once hit 50.2 mpg avg and that was a goooood day ;) I even took a picture of it I was that proud haha.
 
So does heater affects the mpg (petrol cars)?

Also is it better it let the car warm up? I usually leave it for 1-2 min... Is that enough it should it leave it a bit longer...
 
My 1.6tdi longterm average MPG(2) is 49 at the moment. I has certainly inproved from new. Ive now done 2500mile
 
farzad said:
So does heater affects the mpg (petrol cars)?

Also is it better it let the car warm up? I usually leave it for 1-2 min... Is that enough it should it leave it a bit longer...
Click to expand...

No it is bad practice to let the car warm up before driving off....
 
Why... It makes sense to let the car wake up and then driving it... I always thought it's better
 
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