Fuel consumption A4 TDi 110 bhp?

[Nessy]

Hi,
I have been the owner now for 1 week of a late '98 A4 Avant TDi SE 110 bhp, bought to replace a '94 80 TDi SE Avant (90bhp) that I ran for over 5 years with no problems.
Reason for posting is that I'm rather disappointed with the fuel consumption of the A4 so far.
My daily journey to work is a 60 mile round trip, virtually all motorway; the 80 returned an mpg of 47-48 constant, no matter how hard I drove it.
The A4 over the last week has 'only' managed a best of 47 mpg, and that is with me taking it easy, as I become accustomed to a 'new' vehicle.
Surely it should be returning better figures than that?
Its done 110k miles with fsh, goes great, and I have changed the airfilter as a preautionary measure.
The previous owner did say that he had recently changed the MAF meter as it had felt a bit sluggish, but don't know how that would affect the mpg?
I haven't yet had time to have the tracking etc checked,as I would normaly do with any second-hand car that I buy, but no unusual tyre wear is apparent.
Anyone have any ideas why my consumption is so bad, or am I worrying for nothing?
Thanks

Paul

 

[auroan]

47 isn't a bad figure for the 110 in an A4 Avant. Thats what I'd expect to be honest, my old 99T saloon returned that on avg with the same engine.

How fast on avg do you do on the motorway ?

 

[tubtub]

That seems right to me. My '97 110 saloon with 180K does about that.
What sort of figure had you been you expecting?

 

[Nessy]

Thanks for the quick replies!
Try and stick to 70-75 on motorway, thought the A4 may have had better mpg than the old 80 , as I seem to have read in the past about the later diesels (ie like my A4) doing well over 50 mpg with ease!
Perhaps driving at 30 mph with a whole queue of traffic behind then 50-60 mpg is feasible!
If my mpg is normal then that is fine, was just worried that my car may have had something wrong it....so guess I can relax now!

Thanks once again....

Paul

 

[auroan]

I have managed to get 59mpg over a 50 mile run, but that was setting the cruise control @ 50mph following the removal truck my mate was in when I helped in move. Most car companies including audi harp on about how frugal their diesels are.... but they take there figures from speeds of around 56mph when doing tests

 

[tubtub]

I can add a hundred miles to the range by driving like my auntie - not much fun in that though!

Have a look at:
http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/index.asp

Unfortunately I couldn't find data for the 110bhp engine but for the 115bhp engine it's:
Fuel Consumption - Imperial [mpg]
Imperial Urban (cold) 36.7
Imperial Extra Urban 60.1
Imperial Combined 48.7

which might give you a better idea of what is reckoned reasonable for that range of engines.

 

[imported_kris_tdi]

dont forget the a4 is heavier car.

mind you on a run i get 46-50 mpg from mine, driving about 80mph, do have an extra gear though. best i got was 52mpg over a 190 mile trip.

 

[Nessy]

Thanks everybody, intend to get tracking checked, just for peace of mind; to be really honest though haven't really felt that the A4 feels any heavier than the 80.
The tailgate on my 80 Avant feels hewn from rock in comparison with the tailgate on my A4, and guessed the overall weight of both vehicles was similar.....must be wrong though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[johndow]

With the age mileage, the engine may be coked up a bit. Try using an additive which may clean the injectors etc, one like Millers Diesel Plus.

I used this in my old Golf TDI for most of its life. Sold it with 135k miles and it still ran as efficiently and as sharp as when i bought it with 30k miles on the clock.

Or, try using BP Ultimate or one of those higher performance diesels for a few fills.

JD

 

[Nessy]

Have done a few fill-ups now, each approx 200 miles apart and can report that the economy has improved to just over 50 mpg .
Am much happier now as the 80 never achieved this sort of economy at high(ish) motorway cruising speeds..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[imported_kris_tdi]

engine probably just needed cleaning out.

 

[Nessy]

[ QUOTE ]
engine probably just needed cleaning out.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think putting some air in the tyres helped too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
As they are 205/55 x 16 they look much lower profile than the old 205/60 x 15 that the 80 had, and which were easy to tell if not correctly inflated.
When I checked the pressures a few days after buying the A4 they were much lower than they should have been /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif