Awful economy on new engine

[Vertigo1]

Now I'm aware that all engines loosen up a bit over time and, from new, won't be at their best but I must say I was shocked at the economy (or rather lack thereof) I was getting today from my 1.4 COD.

Cruising at a constant 70mph in 6th, I was averaging about 34mpg. I know the 1.4 is no diesel but that's simply awful. The car only has about 250miles on the clock so far so I'm presuming this is because the engine is new and still quite tight.

Anyone else here with this engine experience poor economy from new?

 

[RichardT]

Give it a search - there's been several threads on this forum regarding this topic.
I have also been disappointed by the economy of the 1.4 cod.
But I don't think you should put any store by the instantaneous consumption readout. The only real measure is a brim to brim calculation.
I have done just over 1K and I have detected a slight improvement.

 

[Vertigo1]

Oh yeah I'm not expecting it to be anywhere near the official figures nor compete with a diesel but I was expecting at least 40mpg for a constant 70mph cruise.

I will be tracking my refuels to calculate MPG accurately so we'll see how it goes. If it did end up averaging 34mpg at a 70mph cruise then I'd be making a serious complaint to Audi. As I said I don't expect it to match the official figures but, as the extra-urban figure is 68mpg, literally half that for a steady motorway cruise in 2-cylinder mode is taking the mick.

 

[RichardT]

Yes I agree. I am getting about 40 now. All short journeys around the area. I have yet to go on a long trip, but would expect it to be well into the 40's.

 

[Vertigo1]

That sounds far more like what I was expecting thanks. Will keep an eye on it over the next few months and see how it goes.

 

[DaveW]

Give it some time mate, my brand new A6 2.0 tdi ultra is returning low 40's after 230 miles, while my old A6 2.0 tdi was high 40's/low 50's.
It'll loosen up in good time. My wife's 8v 1.2 tfsi gets high 40's btw

 

[glospete]

Over 4,000 miles my brim to brim average is 41.3mpg with a best tankful of 44.1. I have to say I'm impressed with those figures.

 

[Schizophonic]

How many miles were you doing when you got those figures? Are you changing at the right times? Are you right foot heavy? The official figures which you see are dependant on your driving style. Before going to my 8v I came from a revy Honda engine and when I first got into my 8v I wasn't getting the best of results but since getting use and watching my right foot I'm hitting the correct average figures.

 

[Dylock]

I'm find in that shocking, my s3 will give me 40 if I do a motorway cruise at 70. Don't get me wrong on day to to day it is nowhere near that, more like 28 ish.

 

[A3_Rider]

That's true, when it's cruising (I find the sweet spot is 77-83 I mean 70 ) it's giving high mpg, after a 120 trip there and 120 back I had just under half a tank. However town driving it just plummets lol

 

[jbs2472]

I have 9600 miles on my COD now and avg over 40 for my daily commute (brim tested) and for longer journeys have got up to 47 (again brim tested).

I come from a 11 plate 2.0tdi 170 black edition and a more than happy with the mpg in the COD.

 

[Vertigo1]

Thanks all - I grant I was only looking at the instantaneous MPG figure and it wasn't at all scientific. It's still on its first tank of fuel but I'll keep an eye on actual consumption.

 

[a3_phil]

I've found (again, fairly unscientifically) that my fuel efficiency is absolutely hammered by the cold weather.

Identical commutes this week with similar wind direction:
12C - 62mpg
3C - 54mpg

 

[cuke2u]

The worst thing to do is believe that the instantaneous mpg readout is in anyway reflective of the excellent mpg this engine is capable of. To use an example my car is easily able to average over 80mpg on the 7 mile run from the sainsburys fuel station to my house. But is it really world driving figure, like your's, no. You need to set an average mpg over longer journey or period of time.....

 

[glospete]

I've found (again, fairly unscientifically) that my fuel efficiency is absolutely hammered by the cold weather.

Identical commutes this week with similar wind direction:
12C - 62mpg
3C - 54mpg

Interesting as I always understood that turbo engines operated at their best/most efficient in cold conditions - hence turbocharger intercoolers? Is that not correct?

 

[a3_phil]

Interesting as I always understood that turbo engines operated at their best/most efficient in cold conditions - hence turbocharger intercoolers? Is that not correct?

Yeah but I think in this context power and efficiency are not the same thing.

For maximum power you want really cold air but I believe for maximum efficiency you need warmer air.

Bear in mind I'm driving a diesel here. Not sure if the temperature thing is as relevant for petrols.

 

[mjcourtney]

This concerns me...

Currently have the 1.4tfsi 122bhp engine and looking to change to the 150 COD soon. In my 122 I'm achieving a long term average of 45mpg (indicated), I can get it into the 50s on a trip if I think about driving efficiently. I was expecting the COD to be similar (if not better) efficiency, but from what I've read on here over the past few months it appears that might not be the case.

On a 120 mile round trip on the M3 at ~70mph I averaged 43mpg, which I'm impressed with for my engine. I hope the COD is just as good.

 

[andyv49]

I have 2,500 miles on my 150 cod now. Overall brim to brim figure for the 2,500 miles is 41 mpg but that is almost all short runs around town. I zero the trip computer long term memory each time I fill up so I know that is roughly 2 mpg optimistic over a tankful. The only long run (100+ miles) so far on mixed roads gave a trip mpg of 47 so probably about 45 mpg in real terms.

Before this I had a Mk 6 Golf GTD. I would estimate that the COD 150 is probably about 2 to 4 mpg worse overall. More than happy with this for the smoothness and performance on offer.

First long motorway trip tomorrow - hoping for upper 40s provided road conditions are OK.

 

[wideboybloke]

My experience over 5,500 miles with a 150 COD is 42 mpg overall according to the DIS. That represents a good mix of motorway, country roads and short journeys to the shops etc. Brim full measurements are slightly lower, at 40/41 mpg on average. I'm not the lightest right-footed driver and I do enjoy using the car's acceleration, but I'm satisfied with that economy when you consider the performance I get in return. Diesel is a complete no-no for me and 40 mpg from a decent petrol engine is a good compromise. Best economy according to the DIS is at a constant 55 - 60 mph when it shows up to 55 mpg. At a constant 80 mph it drops to 38-40 mpg.

 

[cuke2u]

Interesting as I always understood that turbo engines operated at their best/most efficient in cold conditions - hence turbocharger intercoolers? Is that not correct?

However if the ambient temperature is too low then any efficiency gained through denser air is lost through the engine compensating for the much colder air. Diesels, by comparison, take longer to warm up thus mpg can suffer over short journey's.

 

[Vertigo1]

However if the ambient temperature is too low then any efficiency gained through denser air is lost through the engine compensating for the much colder air. Diesels, by comparison, take longer to warm up thus mpg can suffer over short journey's.

Coming from a diesel, I'm amazed how quickly the petrol engine warms up - warm air from the vents in about a mile and the temp gauge is at the half-way point after only a couple of miles. The diesels took forever to warm up.

 

[cilurnum]

Cruising at a constant 70mph in 6th, I was averaging about 34mpg.

Hmmmm. While I'm on record as stating that the official figures for this engine really are total fantasy, I'd expect you to get something a little better than that when cruising along regardless of conditions. Be mindful of where you're getting this figure from.

Yes, warm up is important to ensure that the engine runs at as optimum a temperature as possible. I never cease to be amazed how fast my 184 diesel warms up so I can only imagine the petrol being very impressive. However, cold weather is going to adversely affect economy whatever and that's not just because you're running the heaters.

 

[h5djr]

Hmmmm. While I'm on record as stating that the official figures for this engine really are total fantasy, I'd expect you to get something a little better than that when cruising along regardless of conditions. Be mindful of where you're getting this figure from.

Yes, warm up is important to ensure that the engine runs at as optimum a temperature as possible. I never cease to be amazed how fast my 184 diesel warms up so I can only imagine the petrol being very impressive. However, cold weather is going to adversely affect economy whatever and that's not just because you're running the heaters.

The problem is that the current official figures are prepared under laboratory conditions using a strict set of criteria. There only use is to be able to compare one cars set of figurers to another. Anyone who expects to get anywhere near these figures is living in cloud cuckoo land. There are moves to change the tests so that they do more accurately reflect normal driving conditions.

A good example of the current rather silly figures is when Audi state that the A3 e-tron will, according to the official Combined figure, do 176mpg where as in reality it is much more likely to do around 584 miles with a 40 litre fuel take (according to the Winter 2014 copy of Audi's own magazine) which is 66 mpg. My dealer always says the best figure to take is around 20% less than the 'combined' figure.

In the Winter 2014 issue of Audi's own Audi Magazine in the 'Tecnik' section at the end of the magazine id a details explanation of the tests that have to be done to get the 'official figures' and the test vehicle only covers the equivalent of 6.8 miles and in the Urban Cycle test it covers 2.5 miles never exceeds 31 mph and with an average speed of 12 mph. And this is with an ambient temperature of between 20 and 30 degrees C. With the Extra-Urban Cycle the car does the equivalent of 4.5 miles with a maximum speed of 85 mph and an average speed of 39 mph. The Combined fuel figure is an average of the Urban and Extra-Urban Cycle tests. These tests show why they are only any good for comparison as all manufacturers have to carry out the exactly the same tests and why they bare little relevance to normal motoring.

If you have not been sent a copy of the Audi Magazine just give then a ring 0800 699 888 and request a copy. It's free.

 

[cuke2u]

In fact audi was one of the car companies taken to task by the advertising agency for making unattainable mpg claims with the 1.6 diesel but now most car manufacturers are having to adjust their mpg figures downwards in the states. Pity the EU, or our 'wonderful' government aren't more proactive in this.

 

[steeve]

There was a class action in the USA and now all manufacturers have to provide real life attainable data. If you want to know what fuel consumption you could get look at the US websites, however don't forget to adjust US gallons for imperial gallons and bear in mind not all models are sold in all areas, plus engine specs may not be quite the same.

 

[andyv49]

I have 2,500 miles on my 150 cod now. Overall brim to brim figure for the 2,500 miles is 41 mpg but that is almost all short runs around town. I zero the trip computer long term memory each time I fill up so I know that is roughly 2 mpg optimistic over a tankful. The only long run (100+ miles) so far on mixed roads gave a trip mpg of 47 so probably about 45 mpg in real terms.

Before this I had a Mk 6 Golf GTD. I would estimate that the COD 150 is probably about 2 to 4 mpg worse overall. More than happy with this for the smoothness and performance on offer.

First long motorway trip tomorrow - hoping for upper 40s provided road conditions are OK.

Quick update - first long motorway run completed - 50 mpg on the trip computer after 80 miles of motorway so probably about 47-48 mpg in real term. This was keeping to the limit or below where traffic heavy.

 

[wideboybloke]

In the early hours of this morning I went from Hampshire to Stansted and back - M3, M25, M11 - a total round trip of about 160 miles and with the same tank of petrol that took me to North Herts and back in my post above. Average speed was 80-85 mph and when I got home the DIS was showing 38 mpg. However, I refuelled 1 mile from home and the brim to brim calculation shows 40 mpg. That isn't bad for 328 miles mostly at 80/85 and all but about 10 miles on motorways. But that's just my view...

 

[wideboybloke]

Sorry, the post I was referring to isn't above. It was under another topic, but the point about it was that it involved a 150 mile round trip on M3, M25 and A1 (M) at a very quiet time, thus ensuring a steady cruising speed.

 

[cuke2u]

I know it isn't accurate, and I will get proper figures when I next fill up, however 339 miles completed and still have half a tank.

 

[Vertigo1]

Looks like I'm panicking unnecessarily - all the figures quoted here look far more like what I was expecting. Will give it a chance to loosen up and bit and track usage over a few tankfuls using Road Trip and see what real mileage I'm getting

 

[Audimad]

You should have bought an S3.

 

[Vertigo1]

You should have bought an S3.

Haha - even if I could have got the company to spring for that and even ignoring economy and fuel costs, I've just worked out that an S3 specced the same as my current car would cost me an additional £175 a month in tax alone!

No thanks

 

[cuke2u]

If you want I could post up images of my 89mpg that is easily attainable?

 

[Vertigo1]

If you want I could post up images of my 89mpg that is easily attainable?

Is that in freefall?

 

[cuke2u]

Is that in freefall?

LOL, nope, just so as to pee off other drivers on the road don't go over 40mph light throttle opening, it can be done. Even at driving at normal speeds my readout can show 65mpg along the length the A21...

 

[ahfh1]

I get about 40mpg in my 1.4 COD 140 BHP on A roads. Would have liked to see more in the mid 40's but happy enough coming from a Golf GTI that did 32mpg.

 

[cuke2u]

I now have the correct figures after filling up my tank to the same level to what it was before I set off on my journey:
Total mileage = 347.5
Fuel used = 35.22 litres, which is 5.97 gallons.
Thus my average was 58.2 mpg driving on 'A' roads and motorways and not hanging about.
Who needs a diesel....

 

[arad85]

Who needs a diesel....

You don't for fuel economy alone. You get it for a balance of performance and fuel economy.... I can average over 50 if I'm careful (which is good enough for me), but I'll still be waving at you through my rear screen when I want to . Yes, I know the S3 brigade will be waving bye to me, but I'll probably overtake them within 15 miles when they have to stop for fuel...

 

[veeeight]

Yes, I know the S3 brigade will be waving bye to me, but I'll probably overtake them

The S3 brigade will be surprised when they are out-gunned by a mere 330D - if you're not in the correct gear in the S3, it's no match for a large German autobahn cruiser on the charge, especially mid-range.

 

[a3_phil]

I now have the correct figures after filling up my tank to the same level to what it was before I set off on my journey:
Total mileage = 347.5
Fuel used = 35.22 litres, which is 5.97 gallons.
Thus my average was 58.2 mpg driving on 'A' roads and motorways and not hanging about.
Who needs a diesel....

I hate to be a party pooper but unless I'm mistaken, you've got your sums wrong.

There are 4.55 litres in the UK gallon so you've actually used 7.74 gallons. This gives you an economy figure of 44.9mpg not 58.2mpg.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_units#Volume)