New 1.6Tdi Mpg

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JCMCN

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I have questioned this issue already with little response due very few having this engine model. However I guess by 'Audi' statistics loads have been sold!

Those that have this engine what miles per gallon are you getting?. Audi say that you should be getting 68/72mpg. I have questioned this and asked for a diagnostic check as mine is only producing 48mpg!!!! Audi guys reckopn It could be my driving style:sadlike:. I have tried all styles and all seem to return the same mpg. I'll currently do around 600 miles/week and mostly motorway driving.
 
Ye around the same MPG, nothing close to the audi prediction of 68mpg!!!!!!:sadlike:, just done 2000 miles and had it 3 weeks now and the MPG has not moved from 42/45mpg since new, at least your getting a few more than me, lol hopefully it will improve with a few more miles under its belt.
 
You have to remember that the official figures are tested on rolling roads etc so its unlikely you will get within 10% of them, it sounds unfair but its the same test for all manufacturers so you just use the data as a guide. Every VAG diesel I have owned has significantly increased mpg wise once past 15,000 miles, another factor which helps a great deal is the use of cruise control, you would be amazed at what a difference it makes without involuntary right foot movements on the throttle. My wifes` 320D claims 54mpg on the combined, we get 44 with 6,500 miles on the clock, I can see why you would be disappointed though.
 
As above with Spin140. It is frustrating but I don't think there's anyone out there that gets what the manufacturer tells them they might and they do loosen up and improve after time (generally speaking not the 1.6, I've no experience of these).

Good luck with the mile munching and watching the DIS average.....
 
Hi , i'm thinking of getting this engine and this is disappointing . Has anyone with this engine been getting more than this whilst regulary using cruise control ? Is it quite common for this to improve with miles ? Spin140 , you say you had cars that significantly improved after 15000 miles - can you give us any idea as to what sort of improvements you were seeing , thanks . What sort of mpg are you guy's seeing from a 2.0tdi after getting some miles under your belts ? Sorry JCMCN for hijacking your thread , a lot of people get this engine because of the MPG so hopefully it will improve , cheers .
 
shilts said:
What sort of mpg are you guy's seeing from a 2.0tdi after getting some miles under your belts ?
Click to expand...

Up to 14000 miles now and I can't say mpg has changed much since day one - mix of driving 49-50mpg, that's with S-Tronic.

From what I've seen I am not sure cruise control helps the figure - when I use cruise the DIS mpg figure starts to drop.
 
All interesting comments, although disapointing. My main bone of contention is that i sold my 1.9tdi mainly on the 'promise' of better mpg's from the 1.6tdi!! My 1.9tdi was doing over 50mpg's. I have tried the Cruise/non Cruise approach, still no differance. I drove from Carlisle to Glasgow the other day with no radio, no heating and no Cruise. I kept all electrics to a minimum and watched my speed,max 68mph. I can tell you it was tough!

As mentioned I have booked it in for a diagnostic check next Friday. I will keep you posted.............
 
JCMCN , I like many others would be interested to hear the results of your diagnostics test ! It would be interesting to hear across a broader spectrum what others are achieving . I thiught that these figures may be relative - like every model / engine would experience an equivilent drop , but 'Igdos' for example is seeing more from the 2.0tdi with s-tronic .
 
Thought I'd jump on a give my 2pence worth. Mine (59 plate Sportback) is coming up to 6500 miles since 23rd Dec 09. MPG ranges vary. Lowest I've had is 44/45 and highest around the 55mpg mark as an average over a day. I have got high 50s but it drops back down as soon as you get a bit right foot heavy. Got 52mpg today as an average driving Shropshire to Warrington (motorway) A and B roads whilst there for the day and then back down the M6 this afternoon. Drive style was careful but didn't hang about either. Not sure that this has improved since new if I am honest, but the engine does feel like its loosened up lots.
 
Hi Joe H, I started today with just 44.3 on DIS2 with 130miles since fill up, did 90 miles with some silly drivin, accelarated down hill and free wheeled uphill !!! to see what mpg's I got. Managed to raise from 44 to 47mpg. I think Audi have got this one wrong, will be interesting to see what comes up on Friday after diagnostic. I wonder what the Trading Standards would say about the 'Mis-Leading' info on the Audi literature if everyone were to challenge the issue.
 
Hi. JCMCN - I wondered if there was a news from the diagnostic check? Having bought a new 1.6tdi a month ago mainly on the basis of its economy, Ive been really dissapointed to only be getting 46-50mpg - even driving extremely conservatively. Like others have pointed out, I didnt expect to get the Audi quoted figures (event though sales people suggested this was a realistic possibility), but I expected maybe within 10-15% - not the 30/35% difference Im actually getting. Any news would be good before I tackle Audi on this one!
 
I have to say, perhaps the 1.6 TDI just falls into the Top Gear 'Prius vs M3' trap.
 
Just been out to the car park to check mine. 4500 miles since Jan and the DIS is showing 46.2mpg.

With it being a company car on a fuel card I don't pay much attention to consumption, but that is dissapointing. My previous Octavia 1.9TDi averaged 48mpg over 55,000 miles
 
I have a 2.0 TDI 140, 53 reg with 65k on the clock and i comfortably get 570 miles to a tank and mpg of around 55+
 
The diagnostic test didn't show up anything untoward dissapointingly!! However they have asked that I put another three thousand miles on the clock and bring it back and they will do a further disgnostic, especially if things haven't improved. I'm currently only getting 48Mpg's. To rub salt in my wounds the Audi Magazine came in the other day claiming that they have achieved 24% more economy than their published figures:banghead:

Apparently Audi Uk are looking to get involved in my issue and asked that they are kept informed by the outlet. When I was enquiring the sales guy told me they had sold over a dozen 1.6tdi's. The head mechanic told they had only sold three!!!
 
Staz said:
I have to say, perhaps the 1.6 TDI just falls into the Top Gear 'Prius vs M3' trap.
Click to expand...

Can't agree more

With it being a smaller engine, you probably have to drive it slightly harder to get it to move

My 2.0TDI 170 is getting around the same sort of MPG figures as you lot, so either something isn't right, or the smaller engine for the diesel just doesn't work
 
My 140 has 2000 miles and averaged (according to the fuel computer) 44.8mpg. Considering most of that is A roads and m/ways, it's a tad disappointing, but expected.
 
To get the great fuel economy you have to drive it off boost all the time, as soon as you use the turbo the economy will drop loads. I did a trip of taking my girlfriend to work and then to and back, a mixture of motorway (slow rush hour) and main roads and got a trip average of 62mpg (2.0 140). But that was consciously taking it steady in acceleration with light throttle, the same journey could be done in more normal driving and it'd be below 50mpg IMO.

But as said, I think it's more important with the 1.6; drive it the same as the 2.0 and it might use more fuel.
 
Agree with the other posts; the smaller engine may have to be worked hard. For what it's worth, our 54-plate 2.0TDI Sportback with 46k does between 52-55mpg in normal conditions, as does my 119k Bora 1.9TDI. Whenever I use either car however it's rarely for a short journey. Interestingly, I recently had a major service on the Bora (cambelt, water pump, coolant and oil change) which has made a 2-3mpg improvement.

However, obvious as this is going to sound, there are so many factors which affect fuel economy. I often drive through the 50mph-limited roadworks around the M25 west, and some of the figures I've seen on DIS are astonishing. How about 66mpg from Hertfordshire to Guildford, in the Sportback? Both my cars have raised tyre pressures too (about 37-38psi at the front) which also helps.

In this case however if you've been driving like a daisy and you're still in the 40s, there must be something wrong.
 
I can't understand how Audi arrive at these figures ! Ok , i know these figures are obtained from a car on a rolling road but low to mid forties - this is very disappointing ! Joe_H seems to be doing about the best - low fifties , which seems quite a bit better than most . I for one would be very interested to know across a broader spectrum what you guy's are getting from one of the newer 2.0TDI 140's with stop/start . A lot of you with slightly older 140's without stop/start seem to be getting in the fifties so i can only assume that WITH stop / start this would slightly improve further . Cheers .
 
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Sounds like a 2.0 TDI would have been a better option. My Dads CR140 A3 gets better MPG than that and its mainly used for short journeys so not even the best sort of driving for MPG.

Shame they dont do the 2.0FSI still, you could of got one of those and not had to worry about the turbo going bang....:laugh::tocktock:
 
This thread really got me looking into the 1.6tdi consumption.

So today I had a 100(ish) mile drive on mostly duel cariageway, doing 75 or less all the way and got just 53.7mpg. To me that is shocking.

The Audi fugures say that rural driving it will acheive 70 odd mpg, now I'm not daft enough to expect to get close to that, but to be lower than the published URBAN figure of 56mpg on a motorway run is just amazing.
 
Interestingly, the dealer have also offered a diagnostic test on mine. It'll be a few days before I can get it organised, and Ill report back. Im guessing it wont show up anything untoward, but will give me a stronger argument to persue it with Audi.

AR, Shilts and others hit the nail on the head for me..... no-one expects to get the official figures, but to be so far adrift is really bugging me having spent a lot on the car - specifically for its economy credentials!
 
Ok, its not an A3 but i've got the same engine in my Mk6 Golf TDI SE (not a bluemotion model)

I've now got 4k miles on the clock and the engine is a lot better now than when i picked it up before Xmas - for the first 2k miles i thought it was dire, seemingly a lot less power than the Mk3 90bhp 1.9TDI i scrapped, and the fuel economy didn't seem as good either.

I'm still not convinced either - the engine is very very smooth and the power is a lot more linear that the wham bam delivery of the old TDIs. I could drive the old Mk3 very hard and get 48mpg at the worst; in fact when fuel prices were higher and i kept speed down to 65-70mph on the m-way that car could do 58mpg.

The Mk6 is typically doing 48mpg on my short commute, and anything from 52-66mpg on my longer regular A road jaunt through Wales (125 miles). To get 66mpg i basically hade to keep to 52mph on the cruise on unrestricted A roads and 65mph on dual carriageways. Incredibly boring watching tens of cars overtaking and even lorries catching me up on the A roads !!

A steady 25 mile run at 75mph on the cruise gives about 48mpg, do 80-83mph and the figure drops to 43-44mpg.

there is another mk6 owner who is getting better mpg - around 64mpg average, but his commute whilst motorway is during heavy traffic times and typically 56mph.

The Mk3 had 153k miles on it, so it was just about run in - the Mk6 is still loosening up. I am considering a tunit box though - simple plug n play and 130bhp, which should help with overtaking and maybe improve mpg under normal driving.

On the golf forums the 2.0 140 owners are certainly no worse off mpg wise, and in general maybe slightly ahead !

VAG claims for the 1.6TDI are way off - its a nice smooth engine, and you don't buy it for the performance but the mpg should be better.

Hope this helps
 
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Looking at these threads, I suspect that the 1.6 has its work cut out in the relatively heavy A3 and isn't in a sweet spot for fuel economy at cruising speeds.

Personally, I'd look at the MPG range of a car as an indication. My 2.0T (with the added drag of quattro) is easily able to sail past its average EC fuel economy figures with gentle long runs - I guess that's because the 33MPG overall is a combination of around 25MPG urban and 40MPG extra urban. That's quite a big hi-lo range in % terms.

To get a real-life average of anything near 68MPG, I think you'd need to be getting 60MPG around town and up to 85MPG on long runs. I'm not sure the 1.6 TDI is up to that to be honest!

I used to have a diesel and found it was harder to achieve even the average quoted MPG than in petrol cars in the same driving.
 
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I've had the 1.6TDI Sportback SE for about 6 weeks now. I'm on 3500 with an average 53 mpg, although I have to say I've been driving around like an old woman trying to get the efficiency up. Best I've had is 61 mpg on a trip from Leeds to London and back.

I'm still pretty disapointed with the mpg, and I'm hopeing it picks up after a few 1000 more miles. If anyone gets anywhere with the dealers/diagnostics please let me know.

Cheers
Dave
 
Drove to London from Manchester and back over the weekend, cruise set at 70 all the time I could, returned 54mpg using just over half a tank (indicated on the gauge, probably more like 2/3) with 250miles range left (did 450miles). 2.0TDI 140.
 
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This is really interesting, my dad has the 1.9tdi-e and while I never totally believe the DIS I am astonished with what can be achieved. I have a pic somehwere coming back home in the dead of night after two ****** were doing about 50 all the way on delimited roads, then no traffic in 30 streches I got 84.9 on the DIS, and its not a fluke I have regularly seen 75+ when I took it out to save fuel in Boxster S i had haha! IT was like two different games one car driving fast one economic.

My dads DIS over 9k miles shows 68 MPG so I think the 1.6 is sounding a bit too much for the polo not golf/a3 size cars
 
c_w said:
Drove to London from Manchester and back over the weekend, cruise set at 70 all the time I could, returned 54mpg using just over half a tank (indicated on the gauge, probably more like 2/3) with 250miles range left (did 450miles). 2.0TDI 140.
Click to expand...

I did the same journey and got 54mpg in my A5 2.0d Sportback.
 
Just back from a trip round south Yorkshire (from Hampshire) with A3 sportback 1.6 tdi. Did just about 1000 miles (had only done 60 miles before the trip) including town, country, and Motorway (with cruise on for most of the time).
Wasn't in a rush to get anywhere, but "made progress", and probably picked up a speeding ticket (definitely not happy) .
DIS tells me the average was 61.4
Not sure whether to be happy with that or not.
 
I posted on this a while ago, and finally got it checked out by the local dealer about 3 weeks ago. They tell me they did a factory reset of the engine management and checked associated systems. Have only done about 700 miles since, but its noticeably better - with careful driving regularly acheiving 60-65mpg and 'normal' driving more like 55-60. Ive even managed 70+ in really favourable road conditions.

Its much closer to expected figures now, and Im probably happy with anything thats around 60 or better, all things considered.

Having had the car a while now, I think in retrospect I'd go for the 2.0 litre in future - the 1.6 just seems to have too little power to comfortably take on longer hills, overtaking or maintain a good motorway cruise speed, without having to work the engine.... with of course a correspondiong drop in mpg. I suspect the larger engine would take this in its stride and be less thirsty overall.

Nevertheless, am much happier with the car than I was in the first few weeks, and I'd reccommend contacting your dealer if you are in a simialr position.
 
alistairm1 said:
Just back from a trip round south Yorkshire (from Hampshire) with A3 sportback 1.6 tdi. Did just about 1000 miles (had only done 60 miles before the trip) including town, country, and Motorway (with cruise on for most of the time).
Wasn't in a rush to get anywhere, but "made progress", and probably picked up a speeding ticket (definitely not happy) .
DIS tells me the average was 61.4
Not sure whether to be happy with that or not.
Click to expand...


I'd be happy, cos you'd only get that from the older 1.9TDI engines anyway.

We all know VAG engines take 10k miles to loosen up fully, and we're comparing new tight 1.6s with well run in examples of the older engine.

I've managed 70.4mpg on a 125 mile A road trip in mine now (albeit in a Mk6 Golf body), but to get that you've got to stick to 50-53mph in the 60 zones, and not get carried away on any 70 sections. There's no doubt that speed kills the mpg on the 1.6 engines. Set the cruise at 70mph and you'll see 52mpg, set it to 80 and you'll be lucky to see 48mpg (based on my car with 7k miles on it).

Overall i can't see its that much different to the older engines, especially once it runs in. However those who like to push on and have come to this engine by way of reduced company car tax are going to be a bit disappointed - this engine is for cruisers, not sprinters.

When this engine first came out in the Golf, there were all sorts of complaints about stalling, lack of torque etc etc, but once run in things are an awful lot better.

Give it time - i'll happily take 2mpg less and a nice smooth engine, over the old rattle box 1.9s which were only fit for a tractor
 
Thought I would touch on this topic again!! I've had my 1.6TDI Sportback almost a year now and with over 26,000mls on the clock according to others I should be experiencing 55/60mpg:( Not so, unfortunatly. I'm currently getting 48mpg cruising at 71mph on the motorway and lucky to get 45mpg around town. I have spoken to my dealer and also Audi direct but neither want to listen.
What are others experience?
 
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Thats disappointing!!! I manage high 50s to mid 60s everyday in my 2litre 140. Best I've managed is 75mpg. My cars got 11000 on the clock and the daily drive is a roads for 85% of the drive and a little town driving. I'm very impressed with my car and often manage 650 miles a tank. Even when I give it some manage high 40s low 50s!!!
 
JCMCN said:
Thought I would touch on this topic again!! I've had my 1.6TDI Sportback almost a year now and with over 26,000mls on the clock according to others I should be experiencing 55/60mpg:( Not so, unfortunatly. I'm currently getting 48mpg cruising at 71mph on the motorway and lucky to get 45mpg around town. I have spoken to my dealer and also Audi direct but neither want to listen.
What are others experience?
Click to expand...

Something doesn't sound right there, to get almost the same urban as you do on the motorway! - have you done a manual calculation by brimming the tank, reseting the trip and then refilling?
 
We have a loaner and have done 800+ miles at an average 54.3 mpg... seems to be very economical and a cracking little motor albeit not the performace of a 2.0Tdi Quattro 170 we have been used too... looking forward to MArch wnem hopefully the BE arrives ;-)
 
This is an imteresting read, I recently traded my 1.6 tdi S40 for an 07 plate 1.9 tdi A3, I regularly got 52-55mpg from the Volvo (same engine as the Focus BTW) but best I've managed from the A3 is 46/47mpg. I too am a high miler 450/week all dual carriagway/ motorway 70-75mph all the time. I think it may get better in the summer with no lights air con etc. but have to say not that impressed generally with the A3 the S40 was a better performer all round even with the smaller engine.

Alan
 
c_w said:
Something doesn't sound right there, to get almost the same urban as you do on the motorway! - have you done a manual calculation by brimming the tank, reseting the trip and then refilling?
Click to expand...

Yip, Do this every time I fill to prove a point to Audi. A bit gut wrenching when I was easy getting 55mpg from my 1.9TDI:crying:
 
i have a 2.0 tdi sport and have manged 65 mpg - south wales to ipswich and back ( got 65mpg on way back kept to 70mph all the way home )
 
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