s3, the eco warriors choice !

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FamilymanS310

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Filled up the S3, (5 door facelift dsg), interior petrol gauge was showing full, but I didnt brim it because it was still going in full belt when I got to the 60 quid limit, because thats what cash id got on me, hard to know how much room was still in the tank but there was some, and prior to filling up the computer was saying 45 miles left, thats 45 miles of village driving.

Anyway went up to Preston from Nottingham, all motorway, M1 - M62 - M61, 120 miles each way, MPG on the way was going up nicely, but then stop - start traffic due to awful weather conditions right across the m62 completely killed it, still got 42.7 mpg but knew it could be bettered easily.
So coming home the roads were wet still but no standing water and we had no hold ups, got 48.7 mpg going by the computer, I was using efficiency mode and the coast function and just cruising at 60 mph. Had 4 adult passengers and some cases in the boot.
So we did 240 miles and the computer was saying we had 225 miles still in the tank, so in theory 450 motorway miles is plausible.
 
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Yep! In efficiency mode and a reasonable cruising speed my S3 (2017 model) achieves 42mpg+ pretty easily. Best I've seen on a journey was in Northern Italy along about 30km of driving and I got over 51mpg! This was in efficiency with coasting, 100 octane fuel and gentle throttle use to maintain a speed between 40-50mph with no traffic lights (which is what made it possible, tbh). The journey back had traffic so by comparison it fell to about 42mpg.

Usually don't get that though, my average is about 29mpg currently.
 
You guys must have an extra gear to me.
Best I’ve had was 120 miles of 70mph on the cruise control getting around 35mpg
 
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no, thats about right, its just that your going 70 instead of 60, just dropping that 10mph will make huge difference.
For example, my last car was a diesel focus st, cruising at 70 mph it would return 50 mpg, cruising at 60 mph it would return 65mpg, thats almost 30 percent increase in mpg just for going 10 mph slower.
 
Cruise control can’t anticipate what’s ahead eg traffic or change in incline - can get better economy driving manually. Even ACC only reacts to traffic, but doesn’t anticipate.
 
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FamilymanS310 said:
Filled up the S3, (5 door facelift dsg), interior petrol gauge was showing full, but I didnt brim it because it was still going in full belt when I got to the 60 quid limit, because thats what cash id got on me, hard to know how much room was still in the tank but there was some, and prior to filling up the computer was saying 45 miles left, thats 45 miles of village driving.

Anyway went up to Preston from Nottingham, all motorway, M1 - M62 - M61, 120 miles each way, MPG on the way was going up nicely, but then stop - start traffic due to awful weather conditions right across the m62 completely killed it, still got 42.7 mpg but knew it could be bettered easily.
So coming home the roads were wet still but no standing water and we had no hold ups, got 48.7 mpg going by the computer, I was using efficiency mode and the coast function and just cruising at 60 mph. Had 4 adult passengers and some cases in the boot.
So we did 240 miles and the computer was saying we had 225 miles still in the tank, so in theory 450 motorway miles is plausible.
Click to expand...

You must have feet made of feathers to achieve 450 miles out of a tank.
 
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When ever I worked out my mpg with the good old man maths: = fill up to the neck, drive until fuel light comes on, refill the tank.
Then the maths bit, the total amount of fuel (litres) purchased divided by 4.55 will give you total in gallons. Divide the total mileage covered between fill ups by the gallons and boom - true mpg.

EG: 50ltrs divided by 4.55 = 10.99 gallons
Say you managed to get 380 miles, divide by 10.99 = 34.57mpg.
The S3 holds 55ltrs but 50ltrs is about what you'll get in the tank when the fuel light comes on. I've never got more than 31/32mpg when I had mine on a mix of long/short/slow/fast runs but plenty of people get more.
 
Cruising at 60 on the motorway, efficiency mode etc to get the best mpg. Have you thought of a 1.6 diesel?
 
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I’ve had a ‘theoretical max’ mileage of 560 showing on my A3 1.5. Had done 120 miles and gauge showed 440 remaining. I guess when it’s on 2 cylinders it’s effectively only a .75 litre engine so bound to be quite efficient. Does the S3 have cylinder on demand?


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B33r said:
I’ve had a ‘theoretical max’ mileage of 560 showing on my A3 1.5. Had done 120 miles and gauge showed 440 remaining. I guess when it’s on 2 cylinders it’s effectively only a .75 litre engine so bound to be quite efficient. Does the S3 have cylinder on demand?


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Click to expand...
Don't believe the S3 does have COD. Not sure why you'd be buying an S3 for fuel economy

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If one is concerned about economy and is happy to drive at 60mph an A3 is a much better buy than an S3.
Driving my plain 1.5 A3 at just over 70 I regularly get around 50mpg. Coming back from Wales with a lot of 50/60 limits on the Motorway I got nuddging 60mpg with 100 octane; cruise control most of the time and AC on.
 
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Guys, I think it's safe to say that no one is buying an S3 as an economy runner. It's just surprising that it can return a mpg that high, which could be useful if you're in the middle of nowhere and find yourself far away from the nearest petrol station that sells more than 95 octane fuel...
 
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ArablueS3 said:
Guys, I think it's safe to say that no one is buying an S3 as an economy runner. It's just surprising that it can return a mpg that high, which could be useful if you're in the middle of nowhere and find yourself far away from the nearest petrol station that sells more than 95 octane fuel...
Click to expand...

^This. Or just not blasting it.
 
wab172uk said:
You must have feet made of feathers to achieve 450 miles out of a tank.
Click to expand...
In the summer my 3 door FL would regularly achieve 40+ doing 75 on the M5, that 7th gear helped a lot in the S Tronic, dropped a fair bit in the winter.

My average was 36mpg over c24k Miles. Surprisingly economical for the weight and power.

I now get 45mpg average without trying in the MX5 but considerably less weight and power but driven harder.
 
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I dont do any motorway driving, mines all round town but on average I get 55 - 60mpg.
 

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Audi Ashley said:
I dont do any motorway driving, mines all round town but on average I get 55 - 60mpg.
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I assume that must be an A3 TDI? If that’s an S3 I’m shocked, do you get out and push if going up a hill?


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B33r said:
I assume that must be an A3 TDI? If that’s an S3 I’m shocked, do you get out and push if going up a hill?


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Click to expand...

No, its a 1.4tfsi Sline. Just realised I have hacked a S3 thread. I did consider a S3 when buying my A3 but the economy/tax/insurance got the better of me. Plus from what I have read the 1.4 is an awesome engine.
 
Audi Ashley said:
No, its a 1.4tfsi Sline. Just realised I have hacked a S3 thread. I did consider a S3 when buying my A3 but the economy/tax/insurance got the better of me. Plus from what I have read the 1.4 is an awesome engine.
Click to expand...

That’s still mad. Must be very light footed and eco mode?

I used to get 27 on my 2 mile town sprint to work each morning with that engine...

Think the highest I achieved was 54 on a 50mph journey. Used to average low 40s on motorway jaunts.

It is a fantastic engine. Good power vs economy balance. Since getting the S3 the economy has gone down significantly, keep thinking should I have done this. But then I go through a tunnel and know I’ve made the right decision
 
Audi Ashley said:
No, its a 1.4tfsi Sline. Just realised I have hacked a S3 thread. I did consider a S3 when buying my A3 but the economy/tax/insurance got the better of me. Plus from what I have read the 1.4 is an awesome engine.
Click to expand...

That’s still pretty good. I (1.5 TFSI) get about that on motorway, in town it’s more like 38-40.


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The wife and I didn't buy our FL S3 for economy, previous daily was a very thirty Vectra VXR V6 Turbo V-Power guzzler. However, it's madness just how efficient a 'performance' car can actually be such as the S3. It's the best of both worlds in my mind, power & performance on tap yet eco warrior all in one cuddly package. If we had wanted a dedicated fuel/cash saver we wouldn't have gone down the S3 route.
 
I have the car in Auto mode all the time. also I have had a brand new complete turbo and a modified transmission fitted by Audi 2 months ago, i dont know if that would make a difference but yeah the engine is whisper quiet and easily get high 50's mpg. I am more than happy with the performance and the reliablity. My mate has a S3 and hes always had issues with his. Dont get me wrong I would love for my A3 to sound like a S3 but I think the trade off is too much. I had a Skyline R33 as a previous car so had my thrills. Now I just want quiet, reliable cost effective motoring whilst still driving a nice looking car.
 
JohnM100 said:
Cruise control can’t anticipate what’s ahead eg traffic or change in incline - can get better economy driving manually. Even ACC only reacts to traffic, but doesn’t anticipate.
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Actually modern ACC in newer Audis can anticipate this stuff based on GPS data - corners too. The gearbox can also be ready for corners, inclines etc. Pretty cool stuff.
 
JohnM100 said:
Cruise control can’t anticipate what’s ahead eg traffic or change in incline - can get better economy driving manually. Even ACC only reacts to traffic, but doesn’t anticipate.
Click to expand...

One can, indeed must, still employ human anticipation in conjunction with CC. On a motorway I stay awake by engaging CC (not ACC) and then attempting (usually succesfully) to anticipate the traffic so as not to have to touch brakes or gas. The odd click + or - on the CC stalk suffice for most speed adjustments if you are thinking ahead. Avoiding braking and accelerating is what makes driving economical be that achieved with CC or manually
 
Richard46 said:
One can, indeed must, still employ human anticipation in conjunction with CC. On a motorway I stay awake by engaging CC (not ACC) and then attempting (usually succesfully) to anticipate the traffic so as not to have to touch brakes or gas. The odd click + or - on the CC stalk suffice for most speed adjustments if you are thinking ahead. Avoiding braking and accelerating is what makes driving economical be that achieved with CC or manually
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When I was on the road this is all I did and like you succesfully was able to maintain speed.
 
yes, just to clarify, I didnt buy an s3 for its fuel economy, I was just interested how accurate the manufacturers claims were tbh.
Having said that I really dont feel the need to be flying around everywhere all the time, ive spent a good few years of my life karting and also on track in my cars. Public roads pale in comparison to a proper race track, so tearing up the roads like a loony tune really doesnt thrill me.
 
Stop complaining about consumption. My fl s3 returns better mpg in town than my 120d bmw back in the day. Around 26mpg and 250miles out of the tank. However nothing was worse than my ex c63 coup - 12 mpg in town.
 
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George_P said:
Stop complaining about consumption. My fl s3 returns better mpg in town than my 120d bmw back in the day. Around 26mpg and 250miles out of the tank. However nothing was worse than my ex c63 coup - 12 mpg in town.
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Nobody was complaining, was a mere discussion.
 
its all relative - my old 5.0v8 commodore would do about 25l/100km in peak hour traffic (in Sydney, Aus.) and 10km/l in country driving and 0-100 in about 6.5 secs. the S3 about 12-13l/100km in peak hour and 7l/100km in the country a a 5sec 0-100 time, yep its an eco choice for me. - except i do miss the v8 soundtrack.
 
Eco when needed plus very tune-able. A no brainer really. How many other cars will return over 40mpg and get to 60 in under 4 seconds.
 
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