Fuel Consumption

[Guest ScottKirk]

Having only had my Galaxy (1.9 Tdi 115) for a just over a month I was wanting to keep an eye on the fuel consumption. I had high hopes for getting a lot of miles to a tank of fuel.

 

Unfortunately my wife filled the car up tonight so I have no exact figures but I do know that I reset the odometer on the last fill up. The needle was hovering just over the red and the car had done 368 miles. Is that about right - it seems a bit low to me. Then again the aux heater has been kicking in quite a bit and I understand that this uses a separate fuel feed.

 

What does everyone average to a tank of fuel this time of year ? The type of driving was fairly mixed with a lot of round town but also 120+ miles of motorway.

 

Comments would be appreciated.

 

Also on a side note - with the current cold weather is it normal for diesel engines to sound louder and erratic when starting from cold. Nothing major - it settles after about 10 seconds and once warmed up quietens down a lot. Again comments from other diesel drivers welcome.

 

Thanks

 

Scott

[Guest SA Intruder]

Just filled up after the short runs/cold starts of the Xmas Break - 520 miles/tank.

 

Not as good as usual.... and the booster has been doing its EFA impersonations a lot.

 

Your's sounds crap, as you say.

[Dally]

You guys are making me cry big time!!

 

I have less than a quarter of a tank left at the moment and done just about 200 miles - This is about my usual lot from the V6.

 

I sense some cognitive dissonance coming on.......

[Guest SA Intruder]

My old fella has a 2002 V6 Gal Auto.

 

And the world's lightest right hoof - averages about 25mpg (although the old queen can drop that to the square root of f*** all if she tries, the crazy bid).

[Dally]

Swings and roundabouts - What the V6 loses in mpg, it makes up for in other areas!

 

Yes it does!

Yes it does!

Yes it does!

Yes it does!

Yes it does!

Yes it does!

Yes it does! - The therapy's working!

[seatkid]

My waffle on fuel consumption....I love this subject ;) B)

 

Don't read too much into your measurement..... To even get a "reasonably accurate" fuel consumption you need to be absolutely meticulous about your measurement technique.

 

You could run full tank to full tank. But determining if you have a full tank is difficult with the Shalaxy as you can sometimes get as much as 20 litres more into it after the first nozzle cut offs. If you're not holding the nozzle exactly at the right angle the nozzle cuts off real early (due to splash back). So do you know exactly how much fuel you used? I doubt it. The fuel indicator is somewhat misleading (non linear)

 

Do it say over at least three to four tanks and work out the average to get a much more accurate figure.

 

Or maybe try running until the fuel warning light just comes on (and stays on on a level bit) - then fill up (say 65 litres) and see how far you go until the fuel warning light just comes on again (and stays on on a level bit) - you'll have used that 65 litres more or less. Again averaging helps.

 

Of course the simpler way is to use the fuel computer if you have one. I find it surprisingly accurate and you don't make mistakes so easily.

 

My two Alhambras gave very similar figures and agree well with Govt figures etc. What I read (tests, other users) also leads me to believe there is little variation from (diesel) vehicle to vehicle - the VW engines are that consistent.

 

How you drive is the BIG factor - slow relaxed driving (< 55 mph) = 50mpg+ easy, Motorway cruising (70-75mph) = 40-45mpg but now depends on prevailing winds, whether your going uphill or downhill to your destination etc (I'm not joking - it makes a surprising difference). Once you start going much above 75mph the brick wall effect comes in and consumption plummets and its easy to get down to low 30's.

 

:rolleyes: Nerdy bit

Sad person that I am, my first alhambra I kept meticulous records of fuel bought etc. and plotted them on a spreadsheet. You could draw all sorts of interesting conclusions....e.g. about the benefits of synthetic oil, improvements due to running in and the most obvious - effect of average speed. Given up that habit with my second when I noticed almost identical figures.

 

Couldnt really see that aux heater or aircon made a great deal of difference to overral figures though.

 

 

Yes, diesels are noisy when started from cold (diesel knock) and take a few seconds or more to settle down as the combustion temperatures rise.

 

2 things to help -

 

make sure to observe the glow plug delay before starting - these engines are very good at starting but if you wait for the glow plug light to go out before starting they will quieten somewhat quicker.

 

Or keep it in a warm garage (my preferred option)

 

p.s. 1st alhambra started first time several times after being stood overnight in -22 deg C :D . The glow plug light stayed on for ages, and it was a bit noisier than normal for 2 - 3 minutes! Wished I had heated seats in that car!!!

 

pps maximum I did on a (very) full tank? Around 825 miles I think, let me dig out that spreadsheet......... :lol:

 

 

Oh! and to answer your question, this time of year and similar mix of motoring? Around 44mpg (fuel computer running total average figure) dont spend much time stood in traffic though..

[Guest kd035050]

I have a 2.3 manual and am getting 400 miles per tank on average and this is mostly round town, but I must admit when I drive I only get around 340. I normaly drive a mondeo desiel so Idont realy care but my Galaxy even though not the quickest car in the world do bring my horns out a bit at the wekend when I get to drive it. I have had 35mpg shown on the fuel computer on a long trip at 60mph with cruise control on.

[Dave-G]

"I have had 35mpg shown on the fuel computer"

 

:lol: was that downhill? :rolleyes:

[Guest kd035050]

no that was the average after 300 miles

[seatkid]

i get the best of both worlds LPG :rolleyes: :lol:

Fredt, I considered LPG but decided I was unhappy with driving around with a bomb in the back! B)

[Guest Idris]

Fredt, I considered LPG but decided I was unhappy with driving around with a bomb in the back! :rolleyes:

what bomb? try reading .......Is my car more dangerous when it has an LPG tank?

I would agree after four years of driving LPG cars. I would be far more worried about a petrol based leak after a collision, than an LPG one ...!

[seatkid]

It was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek hence the ;) ;) ;) Locally, LPG is available at 29p/litre! :huh:

 

But the arguements about it being safer than diesel just doesn't wash. Think its an accepted fact that diesel vehicles are lowest fire risk by far.

[Guest kd035050]

thats why desiel engine require turbo's, cause they are too slow without

[Guest ScottKirk]

Right I can do the sum properly now - I have back tracked and worked out that the wife actually put 54.8 litres of fuel in - so there was some way to go.

 

54.8L = 12.09 Gal (approx)

 

368 miles / 12.09 Gal = 30.4 MPG (this figure is also very close to what the fuel computer showed as well).

 

I also worked out I would of approx got 470 miles to a tank of fuel so that makes me feel a bit better.

 

One thing I did omit to state is that my 1.9 Tdi 115 is also an auto which looking at the figures shows a big difference between the manual and auto.

 

Any other 1.9 Tdi Auto drivers out there wish to comment on their fuel consumption ?

[Guest EVSS]

i have a 110bhp auto and thats about right 450/ 470 however went to cornwall last year kept around 65 /70 area got around 520 to the tank. the computer usually says mid 30s but by being careful can get around 40 (not often)

this gets marginally better with enhancements. :huh:

[Guest Ross]

I have a Alhambra TDI 115 Auto and get on average 35 mpg (Wifes car used alot around town). on a decent run on a moterway with the cruise set at 70 mph I can get around 40 - 42mpg overall.

I think that mine needs a new temperature sender as well as when it warms up the need hovers up and down between 50-70 degrees, I am also 1000 miles off the 70k service (Not sure if anything that will be serviced will imprive the MPG).

 

Ross

[Guest web]

my 1.9TD also does about 360 to the tank, jaw dropping i found it when i first got it.and this is my wife driving and she doesn't boot it at all.

on the M roads i can practicly see the needle move, thinking about adapting my trailer to carry an oversized tank on it.

 

WEB.

[italiastar]

350 to a tank is more like 20 - 25 mpg - something is wrong if it is a tdi. Mine is between 40 - 45 mpg on a run - the best I've ever got was 50 mpg and the worse (fully loaded, high speed, air con the lot) was 29 mpg.

[Danny Boy]

I'm getting an average of 34mpg out of my tank at the moment with an average speed of 19mph....dont you just love traffic!!!

[Guest Murdock]

I hope the computer MPG isn't that acurate as mine rarely goes over 19 MPG but that's only short journeys around town (2 miles to work in traffic) is this normal for the 2.0 Petrol auto Sharan?