Fuel Consumption

[Guest T120]

I have a 1.9Tdi with 98k miles and would like to know what others get to the gallon.

Recently did a 350 mile run and got 38 to the gallon, virtualy all motorway @ 70 to 75 mph,

is this normal?

should I get more? I expected to get over 40. or am I being optermistic?

if not any idea of possible causes for the heaver than expected fuel consumption?

[Guest Paul Collins]

I'd be pleased with 38 mpg. On a run I get 24mpg on LPG which equates to about 30mpg on petrol. It drops to 16 on a short commute.

 

38mpg sounds fine for what is quite a heavy car

 

Paul

[degens]

I am just waiting to pickup my new 1.9TDi (115PS). Although it is 2 year old I looked at the MPG in the brochure for the new ones and it seemed to suggested you should get about 50mpg on the motorway and 32 around town.

 

Fuel consumption was my only reason for replacing my 2.8 so I would be very disappointed if I don't get into the 40s with the mpg.

 

I noticed on the test drive around the town (only a couple of miles or so) it got to 30mpg.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

I'm sure SA Intruder will correct me if I'm wrong, but...

Government fuel figures are produced using a rolling road in a laboratory and do not take drag into account. Hence, basically no car will achieve the constant speed figures quoted. The larger the car's frontal area, the worse the disparity - so MPV's will struggle to get within several mpg of the government figures for steady-speed fuel consumption.

Low 40's mpg at 70mph for 6-speed diesels is the norm, but depends on number of hills encountered and whether you had to go up or down them, plus a few other things will affect consumtion too, like headwind, buffeting from HGV's.

[johnb80]

I've just done a 210 mile trip in my new 115 TDi Galaxy Auto and managed 52.6 MPG. This was NOT on motorways but windy Lincolnshire roads (Gainsborough to Wisbech and back) the car is Auto and I was sticking to a maximum of 60 with gentle acceleration. My driving style is to drive smoothly and not to use the brakes (waste of fuel) but to anticipate whats ahead. Mega impressed with this vehicle, should get better as things run in.

 

Regards - JB

[Guest Boggler]

I've got a 97 1.9TDi, 102k on the clock, normal (ie either town or belting down motorways) 38-40 mpg, Careful (ie slow acceleration, change up at 2,500 rpm, sticking to 56 mph on a motorway) averaged 53 mpg, but could only stick to that for a week :rolleyes: before vboredom set in. Shows how much effect the weight of a right foot has.

[william]

I get about 38 mpg in my 00' 1.9TDI 110 Auto in general driving.

 

On long motorway runs this can get as high as 44 mpg. Speed makes a big difference, I found that about 75 mph gives best fuel consumption.

 

Hard acceleration will drop the mpg, reset the trip computer and watch the mpg change!

[Guest Gav1968]

I've got an auto TDI too, and 38 mpg sounds just right. Over 50? I'd have to really lay off the right foot to do that. I think the AC probably brings it down a little too.

[Guest emjay]

I'm getting an AVG of 24 on my aging V6, thats a mix of urban, motorway and thrashing around. I'm happy with that -it's a lot of fun for your money!!. Still considering an LPG conversion though.

[johnb80]

Hi,

Do the careful maths first on the amount of money you'll save by converting to LPG versus what it costs to convert. Don't be fooled about the enhanced resale value either. I converted my 4.2 litre Range Rover which was superb and I got my money back in 7 months which made it very suitable for conversion, especially since the gas tanks were underneath so there was no loss of interior space. Consider selling your existing Galaxy and getting a diesel which in my opinion is a much better approach.

If you do go the gas route your ignition system needs to be 120% in order, the voltages for LPG are much higher, make sure you haven't got a plastic inlet manifold (these shatter nicely if you get a backfire - Ford Exploders are well known for it) and if you can you need to adjust mega amounts of advance on the ignition timing (my Rangie needed 40 deg BTDC) to get best performance.

 

Regards - JB

[Guest tazzy62]

in my '97 sharan 1.9tdi 110 bhp at about 75 mph on a motorway in daylight and in good weather (i.e. minimal load on the alternator) the fuel computer shows 43-44 mpg. i am entirely happy with this! around the outskirts of town i have had up to 53 mpg. obviously this changes considerably in traffic but overall it's better than my nissan primera which is also excellent. that's the good points out of the way then.

what i will say is that i find even though it's been looked after well i am always buying bits and pieces so this impacts on the running costs. compared to the nissan the quality of these vw's is shite! i have owned the nissan for 6 years and it has never failed an mot and has cost me only 4 tyres and normal servicing and still going strong. the sharan, expensive oil changes, make sure the ecu is dry, electrical gremlins that have knock on effects and so it goes on..... if everything in life was as reliable as a a volkswagen? god forbid! so, anyone wanna buy a very nice sharan????!!

[_dg]

Isn't there a previous thread on this?

[Guest Paul Collins]

If you do go the gas route your ignition system needs to be 120% in order, the voltages for LPG are much higher, make sure you haven't got a plastic inlet manifold (these shatter nicely if you get a backfire - Ford Exploders are well known for it)

 

The previous owner of mine had a backfire which blew apart his airbox, it now has a pop-off valve in the box.

 

The real way to save with LPG is to get an account with Countrywide, 30.5 pence per litre, compared to my local BP station price of 39.9.

 

Paul

[johnb80]

>>The real way to save with LPG is to get an account with Countrywide, 30.5 pence per litre, compared to my local BP station price of 39.9.<<

If you get your own tank you can get it much cheaper than this though you do have to have space for it and the relevant distances from boundries etc. When I had my Range Rover a couple of years ago I was paying 21-23p per litre.

 

Airboxes going are common, with the bosh type clips it's easy to mod by fitting tension springs instead the lid then simply lifts when the inlet gas has ignited. Usually if the ignition system is in good order backfires don't happen, when they do they can be devastating for air flow meters, manifolds etc. I did over 120,000 miles in my Rangie and only ever had one backfire and that was my fault - turned the key, into gear, pedal to the metal (in a slight hurry, bad day etc) and BANG. The noise was incredible, everyone was looking in my direction, kids screaming, dogs barking. I looked under the bonnet, everything looked OK with a deep intake of breath I turned the key again and was rewarded by the gentle hum of the V8 running on gas. I never did floor it again from a standing start.

Regards - JB

[Guest T120]

Thanks all for your comments relevent to Tdi's and fuel consumption, looks like its not too bad after all but still thought over 40 mpg was obtainable after reading all the reports before I bought and its a lot better than the Carlton 2Ltr Auto I had before.

 

I am going to change the air filter as a matter of course as I don't know when it was last changed, supposed to have been serviced :rolleyes: when I bought the Galaxy in the middle of September, but you never know whether all the the bits where done or not.

 

Also looking into additional heater problems (see relevent string)

 

Has any one fitted a K&N to a Tdi; is it worthwile doing and how much?

 

There was a thread a while back about tyre pressures, and as this can have an effect on fuel consumption I will be looking into this also. But the owners handbook says:-

up to half load 34F 31R

But stamped on a plate on the drivers door pillor it says

up to half load 39F 36R .

I wonder which one is correct?

[Guest Paul Collins]

For the mielage I do, it's not worth getting a tank. I don't think the landlord would be too impress either :rolleyes:

 

The only backfire I've had was when I switched from petrol to gas at 50mph, instead of blipping the throttle to switch over, I waited for the next gearchange - sounded like a bomb going off!

 

Paul

[johnb80]

Nope, the Rangie had single mixer but a twin evaporator unit and was run closed loop. It switched to gas as soon as the engine started (even when cold) and the switchover between gas and petrol was absolutely seemless at any speed. The most important part of the copnversion was the dual ignition timing 8 deg BTDC petrol and over 40 deg BTDC gas. LPG has a very slow flame front compared to petrol and therefore needs igniting much earlier, my ECU was modified to have two sets of timing (switching automatically) the difference was incredible. Most people experience a slight loss in performance but a smoother running engine on LPG, with the timing advanced you get the performance back as well. The Rangie's 0-60 time on LPG with normal timing was some 2.2 seconds slower, with the timing advanced it was only down by 0.52 seconds. RPi engineering provided all the kit and I installed it under their expert supervision.

 

Regards - JB

[Guest SA Intruder]

Yep, Fredt's right, MAF dies within minutes of aftermarket oil-soaked air filter fitment! Applies to all MAF vehicles of the hotwire/hotfilm variety, petrol or diesel.

 

Hotfilm worse.

 

Stay with genuine filters too (Mann or Beru typically)

[Guest T120]

SA Intruder

Thanks for the info I will be sticking with the standard type, already had to have a new Mafs fitted, dud one came with the car.

[Guest T120]

Cracked it got over 40mpg on a run to Warwickshire and back. :D

 

But over filled the tank right up to the neck so the 40.16mpg should read about 41/42 but all will be revealed in the future.

 

This was after I had changed the air & fuel filters, the air filter looked like it had been used down a coal mine, it was BLACK, :angry:

 

As I said in a previous pm "supposed to have been serviced when I bought the Galaxy in the middle of September, but you never know whether all the the bits where done or not." obviously not. :(

 

Will have to try and get a photo of it seeing as everone else is showing bad experiences ie red dust on cam belt.

 

Maybe we can start a photo gallery of rougue mishaps? to our Galaxy's

[Guest Shazza]

I have an automatic Tdi, and on a normal long run, including some town driving but mostly motorway, I get about 36-40 to the gallon. If I'm pulling my 20ft caravan, I get about 25.

 

Coming back from my dog club every week, along a long stretch of 30mp, which then goes to 40 for a mile, and then 50 for about 5 miles, I can get up to around 54mpg, but then as soon as I get onto the dual carriageway and done the 6 miles home at 70mph, it drops gradually and by the time I've got home, it's dropped to about 43.

 

Shazza

[iainkirk]

Ummmmm....I must have a heavy right foot... :D

 

Having left "setting 2" on the tripmeter un-reset for the last 15000 miles, I have acheived an overall consumption of 34.8mpg...

 

I must slow down....ok maybe not, as I don't pay for the diesel :D

[ALARM MAN]

Mpg figures some people are happy some are not

 

You have a vehicle twice as heavy as normal cars

The Engine is only 1.9

 

Your getting 38+ on runs

 

I also have a Vectra 2.0di getting about 35

 

What do you want Blood

 

30 + for that size is a bonus Be HAPPY !!!!!!! :angry:

[Dally]

iainkirk

 

I'm not sure that the trip computer on setting 2 works that way - this is what's in the manual about memory 2:-

 

"Displays the average data for several journeys. The data is reset once one of the following criteria is met: 100 hours elapsed, 10,000 miles or kn driven, or 220 gallons (1,000 litres) of fuel used. New calculations start from zero".

 

A bit stupid isn't it if it can't handle more than just over 4 days worth of data! Or have i misunderstood something?

[seatkid]

You do over 10,000 miles in 4 days? That must some kind of record...... :angry:

 

100 hours means 100 hours driving time....