Poor fuel economy

[bluemoona3246]

Having done over 2.5k miles so far since September, I haven't seen the fuel economy get any better, I have the drive select in efficiency mode and I try to drive carefully, however on my journeys to work and back I only seem to be getting an average of around 41-42 mpg. I know it's claimed to be able to do around 53mpg and I have seen 52 mpg once, but that was on a long motorway cruise. I thought the economy would be at least over 45mpg on a normal journey. Just wondering if there's anything I can do to improve the fuel economy.. although with the cold snap coming in and defrosting etc, I only saw around 35mpg this morning!

 

[tinbumtudz]

What engine?

 

[Reggieboy71]

What engine?

Check the OP's signature!!

 

[Reggieboy71]

Having done over 2.5k miles so far since September, I haven't seen the fuel economy get any better, I have the drive select in efficiency mode and I try to drive carefully, however on my journeys to work and back I only seem to be getting an average of around 41-42 mpg. I know it's claimed to be able to do around 53mpg and I have seen 52 mpg once, but that was on a long motorway cruise. I thought the economy would be at least over 45mpg on a normal journey. Just wondering if there's anything I can do to improve the fuel economy.. although with the cold snap coming in and defrosting etc, I only saw around 35mpg this morning!

I'm the same mate! Currently getting around 42mpg & that's driving very carefully! Doubt if it will get much better to be honest!!

 

[S32B]

lol I'm aiming at 25-30 mpg when I get the S3 in March. Anything extra I'll be happy with

 

[leosayer1]

Doesn't sound unusual.

In my 1.4 COD I occasionally get only 32mpg out of a tank and have a best of 46mpg.

Average is 40mpg.

 

[tinbumtudz]

Check the OP's signature!!

Oh yeah!

 

[wideboybloke]

1.4 COD too. 4.5k miles completed and averaging low 40's, sometimes high 30's. I don't consistently drive it hard, but I do enjoy using the power from time to time.

 

[AllanG]

Doesn't sound unusual.

In my 1.4 COD I occasionally get only 32mpg out of a tank and have a best of 46mpg.

Average is 40mpg.

I'm averaging 42mpg since getting my 1.4 COD last April, though this has been mostly urban driving conditions, so not expecting to get much more.

 

[tinbumtudz]

Mine's dropped a bit too. Long term average is 62.5mpg, can still get 70 plus on a long run, high fifties on day to day, but nowhere near the 80 I had when it was a bit warmer.

 

[Schizophonic]

When town driving and keeping the low revs and changing early I can get about 43mpg, on motoroway if I'm sticking to about 50 (road works) I can get up to about 52mpg. I'm on the 1.4 TFSI (non cod)

For me, the trick is to keep the revs low and change earlier, even before the indicator light comes on.

Driving in economy or dynamic doesn't make a difference for me as I know when its best to change gears.

 

[glospete]

Mine's dropped a bit too. Long term average is 62.5mpg, can still get 70 plus on a long run, high fifties on day to day, but nowhere near the 80 I had when it was a bit warmer.

Are these figures for the 1.4 COD as they sound incredible if they are! Mine are around the 43mpg since new and I've never seen 60 let alone 80mpg.

 

[OliJ]

lol I'm aiming at 25-30 mpg when I get the S3 in March. Anything extra I'll be happy with

Driving it enthusiastically... I get about 22. Stuck on a single carraige way for an hour at a solid 40mph, i got about 35.

Didnt buy the car for the fuel consumption

 

[arad85]

Expect Audi claim - 20% - which if it is claimed 53MPG, that would put you at 42.5MPG. Which is about right.

The other thing I've noticed from those on here with the smaller engines is they get proportionately lower MPG compared to the higher performance cars. The only thing I can put that down to is needing to drive the smaller engines harder to get sensible performance out of them.

 

[MA3RC]

My long term average on the 1.4 is 39.9mpg, I drive 9 miles each way to work in heavy traffic (can sometimes take me an hour each way). Eventually when I reach an open road I do like a bit of spirited driving. So I guess those figures aren't that bad for my circumstances. Although I used to have a Fiesta Zetec S 1.6 (140 bhp as well) which I used to drive the nuts off and I used to average 35. In that context the Audi seems pretty poor.

 

[Longy]

Driving it enthusiastically... I get about 22. Stuck on a single carraige way for an hour at a solid 40mph, i got about 35.

Didnt buy the car for the fuel consumption

Yes, totally different engine between us S3 owner vs the OP, I say most who went with the A3 1.4 COD did so because fuel efficiency was one criteria that was important to them.

 

[steeve]

Forget the economy, stick it dynamic and leave it there. Enjoy the performance instead of pussyfooting around as if you're on some economy run.
You'll still get about the same economy, have a whole load more fun and satisfaction and get where you're going that bit earlier.

There's nothing more boring than being in a pub or some where and all these guys talking about fuel consumption figures. Modern engines are designed to be more efficient at revs higher than tick over.

 

[cuke2u]

Forget the economy, stick it dynamic and leave it there. Enjoy the performance instead of pussyfooting around as if you're on some economy run.
You'll still get about the same economy, have a whole load more fun and satisfaction and get where you're going that bit earlier.

There's nothing more boring than being in a pub or some where and all these guys talking about fuel consumption figures. Modern engines are designed to be more efficient at revs higher than tick over.

Quite, so many are obsessed with their own figures versus the quoted when, in the real world, it is so different between one car to another, how and where they are driven. To put it into perspective my 1.6 diesel S-Tronic A3 loaner managed 26mpg on my journey to work yesterday when it was very cold without being driven hard...

 

[bluemoona3246]

It's the 1.4 122. Thanks for all your suggestions/replies.

 

[Stephen C]

1.4 COD - my average on Fuelly so far is 36.9 MPG. I've found it's been getting worse recently, maybe due to the cold weather or a different mixture of fuel being sold in winter?

Cruise control at 55mph can get about 50 MPG on a long journey.

 

[tinbumtudz]

Are these figures for the 1.4 COD as they sound incredible if they are! Mine are around the 43mpg since new and I've never seen 60 let alone 80mpg.

No, mine's a 1.6tdi manual, got 55 this morning due to traffic and 59.5 on a better run home, 15 miles each way. It would appear from cuke2u that the s tronic version isnt quite as economical.

 

[tinbumtudz]

Quite, so many a) re obsessed with their own figures versus the quoted when, in the real world, it is so different between one car to another, how and where they are driven. To put it into perspective my 1.6 diesel S-Tronic A3 loaner managed 26mpg on my journey to work yesterday when it was very cold without being driven hard...

How did you manage that?. Not even my wife can get it that low )

 

[Vertigo1]

For comparison I'm only averaging around 40mpg in my 150PS TDI with the vast majority of my travels short urban trips. According to the DIS I've averaged 41mpg over the last 5000 miles.

Sounds like the 1.4COD will actually be reasonably similar, time will tell. Of course it's not going to compete with diesel on long motorway trips but just getting 50mpg out of a petrol at a reasonable cruising speed is quite an achievement really.

 

[arad85]

I drive the 2l 184Q as my daily. It went into the garage this week and I had an "ultra-economical" (https://www.audi.co.uk/about-audi/latest-news/ultra-econimical-audi-a4-tdi-gets-the-e-treatment.html) A4 136e as a replacement for 24 hours. Not only did it average 4MPG less than my 2l Q on my normal daily commute, as well as feeling as energetic as a limp lettuce, I also managed to spin the tyres twice as I put my foot down (which means way more per year to shod it as the rubber goes).

IMHO, economical engines are false economy unless you are trying to reduce BIK to as low as you can get it...

 

[cuke2u]

How did you manage that?. Not even my wife can get it that low )

I drove it exactly the same way I drive my 1.4 COD, it was a particualry cold day morning, so I had to sit in the car for a few mins to deice the screen and I only traveled about 7 miles.
On normal days, with warmer ambient temps I am getting about 45-50mpg, this one just seemed rather extreme.

 

[cuke2u]

For comparison I'm only averaging around 40mpg in my 150PS TDI with the vast majority of my travels short urban trips. According to the DIS I've averaged 41mpg over the last 5000 miles.

Sounds like the 1.4COD will actually be reasonably similar, time will tell. Of course it's not going to compete with diesel on long motorway trips but just getting 50mpg out of a petrol at a reasonable cruising speed is quite an achievement really.

I would say that is spot on apart from I've been seening 55mpg on a motorway with mine and 65mpg on the 'A' roads. That was my first longish distance drive with the car, however it is in the menders having stuff done to it's gearbox at the moment but when I get it back I've another run of the same coming up over Christmas. I do tend to do mostly shortish urban journeys though where I get just a whisker over 40mpg average. All these figures are as shown on the trip though, not by the tank.

 

[lozzermo]

7,000 miles in after 8 months in my S3 SB and getting 23mpg. Always dynamic, mostly sport and 50:50 local to long distance. Not surprised as my S4 gave me 19mpg avg compared with Audi claim of 30mpg.

 

[Bristle Hound]

TBH I've always found Audi's quoted mpg figures overly optimistic

I've had 3 new A4's in the last 12 years & not 1 of them EVER reached the quoted mpg figures

Not expecting the S3 to reach the quoted mpg figures, but then again I'm not buying a 300bhp car to worry about mpg

 

[veeeight]

As stated by many different people, many, many times on this forum -

The NEDC mpg figures are not, and never meant to be, real world absolute figures.

They are merely representative figures obtained in a lab on a rolling road, driven to a standard program, to enable you to do relative comparisons between different cars and models.

Is isn't, and has never been, a real world indicator of fuel consumption:
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/real-life-motorway-mpg-1-6tdi-v-2-0tdi.226223/

 

[lozzermo]

I suppose it depends on what your priority is when buying a car and how you compare the total cost of ownership between models.

Anyone paying their own money to run a car should factor in running costs and MPG starts to be material.

Personally it's down the list for me so I just used the manufacturers figures for comparison and then took off 30% for real world.

 

[Andy1608]

I went from running the S3 with £70 a week to the 1.6TDI where I'm at about £60-£70 a month. Don't get me wrong I miss the power but certainly don't miss the running costs.

 

[Redgrouse]

This is my 1.4 (150) COD consumption over the last couple of months. I leave my car in auto mode as it seems to be more efficient for some reason (and nicer to drive) than efficiency mode. I don't hammer the car. I commute 36 miles to work and 36 back. Mainly dual carriageway and a little bit of rural. The figures are calculated from filling the tank up verses the trip since the last visit to the garage so should be very accurate. The claims of some people getting 60mpg+ seem a little far fetched as there is little point using the onboard computer to give you a real reading. I've found it can be as much as 5mpg out over the period.

 

[steeve]

If you want a better idea about real life consumption figures go check out the quoted numbers in the USA. Because of huge class actions car manufacturers were forced to quote real figures (or at least closer to reality).

Don't forget to factor in the difference between the US and UK gallon. Also bear in mind that there may be some difference in engine set up too.

 

[TheFiftheElement]

Average 26 for me, lots of short-ish urban trips with the occasional longer B-road/A-road/Dual .. best I've seen is 35 on an early morning 70-75 constant trip to Glasgow Airport.

I appear to be pretty crap at being fuel efficient, and never ever get anywhere close to manufacturers mpg.

I only do about 5K a year, so fuel efficiency isn't really important to me. All my cars end up with an average of about 20-25 mpg, always the same, from my Impreza WRX with PPP, Forester STi, 2xJCW mini's, Porsche Boxster RS60 Spyder, X5 3.0SD etc.

The only one I was disappointed in was the 3.0SD X5, 19 at best around town, and could only squeak 27 on a long run even at a constant 65-70, crap. That's the same as my wife's 4.8iS X5 and I know which one I'd rather listen to.

I drove back from Loughborough in my first JCW mini, and almost turned around after 30 mins thinking the fuel gauge was broken. It hadn't moved. I was used to the Forester STi at that point though which clearly wasn't the most fuel efficient car lol.

 

[cuke2u]

This is my 1.4 (150) COD consumption over the last couple of months. I leave my car in auto mode as it seems to be more efficient for some reason (and nicer to drive) than efficiency mode. I don't hammer the car. I commute 36 miles to work and 36 back. Mainly dual carriageway and a little bit of rural. The figures are calculated from filling the tank up verses the trip since the last visit to the garage so should be very accurate. The claims of some people getting 60mpg+ seem a little far fetched as there is little point using the onboard computer to give you a real reading. I've found it can be as much as 5mpg out over the period.View attachment 45192

Your figures seem rather low, and the onboard computer readings have been quoted as being about 3% out, so I am not so sure they are as far fetched as you say. However, next time I do a run I will get my readings from the tank, not much good doing this on my day to day journey's as I only ever put in about £40 per month.

As this thread is about the 1.4 can we have everyone else with a different engine not post as it isn't really relevant.

 

[splash18]

Best for fuel economy is the engine 1.6 tdi guys

 

[Redgrouse]

Your figures seem rather low, and the onboard computer readings have been quoted as being about 3% out, so I am not so sure they are as far fetched as you say. However, next time I do a run I will get my readings from the tank, not much good doing this on my day to day journey's as I only ever put in about £40 per month.

As this thread is about the 1.4 can we have everyone else with a different engine not post as it isn't really relevant.

I'd be interested in your figures. I think the most accurate way is to use the litres verses miles calculation. I've owned a number of Audi's and I don't think any of them have had particularly accurate on-board calculations. I look forward to hearing how you get on.

 

[cuke2u]

I'm happy to share them but I will be using gallons, as I have done for the whole of my driving history...

 

[Vertigo1]

This is my 1.4 (150) COD consumption over the last couple of months. I leave my car in auto mode as it seems to be more efficient for some reason (and nicer to drive) than efficiency mode. I don't hammer the car. I commute 36 miles to work and 36 back. Mainly dual carriageway and a little bit of rural. The figures are calculated from filling the tank up verses the trip since the last visit to the garage so should be very accurate. The claims of some people getting 60mpg+ seem a little far fetched as there is little point using the onboard computer to give you a real reading. I've found it can be as much as 5mpg out over the period.View attachment 45192

What app is that you're using?

 

[Redgrouse]

What app is that you're using?

MPG Calc by Stephen Peters
https://appsto.re/gb/ERfBw.i