Its a 2002 OCTAVIA AMBIENTE 1.9 TDI AUTO with the ALH engine.

I've had a 2.0 Vectra diesel for the past several years and loved that, but it was costing too much in parts to keep going.

So now we have this one,

1st impressions, beautiful car to drive, really smooth powerful engine with gearchanges that are so smooth I sometimes have to check by watching the rev counter to make certain it was a gear change.

1st question - how accurate is the MPG display on the dash? It says I got an average of 63.4 on a 140 mile today, thats a mix of A roads, a lot of motorway at 70( + a little) and some town driving.

If thats accurate thats amazing for an automatic. I seriously expected it to be around 40-45mpg average.

2nd Is it possible or has anyone ever changed the washer jets for those misting nozzles that some cars have and some others use?

3rd The automatic gearbox. Never having owned an automatic before, is there anything I need to know or look out for? Such as how often does the oil in it need changing? what type of oil? Should it be changed or left alone? anything else I need to look out for to keep it in top health?

I Think that's all the questions for now, but I'm sure I'll come up with more later

and Hi everyone - from sunny Manchester

Edited 5 June, 201016 yr by Lew247

Welcome

Initially, welcome :-)

1st question - how accurate is the MPG display on the dash? It says I got an average of 63.4 on a 140 mile today, thats a mix of A roads, a lot of motorway at 70( + a little) and some town driving.

If thats accurate thats amazing for an automatic. I seriously expected it to be around 40-45mpg average.

Some ppl say the trip comp can be about 10% optimistic. On my 110TDi manual, I average high 50s, but the other day on a gentle(ish) drive from Amesbury to Salisbury my trip average was showing 70.4mpg. I even took a picture

2nd Is it possible or has anyone ever changed the washer jets for those misting nozzles that some cars have and some others use?

All Octys have "fanjet" front washer, so you get the mist, rather than a single (or pair) of jets of water.

3rd The automatic gearbox. Never having owned an automatic before, is there anything I need to know or look out for? Such as how often does the oil in it need changing? what type of oil? Should it be changed or left alone? anything else I need to look out for to keep it in top health?

Pass. Guess an oil change would not do it any harm, but if you do, there are some types of auto transmission oil which are uch more favoured (ZF or something.....). Sure Ken will know.

3rd The automatic gearbox. Never having owned an automatic before, is there anything I need to know or look out for? Such as how often does the oil in it need changing? what type of oil? Should it be changed or left alone? anything else I need to look out for to keep it in top health?

ZF recommend changing the ATF in these boxes every 50,000 miles. HTH

Regards, Peter

I have a 2001 Ambiente 1.9TDI (manual) and often get 58-62 MPG (A-roads and M-ways).

I have done the calculations myself and I'd say it's no more than 5% 'optimistic'. i.e. over a good 300-400 miles the on-board computer may have been reading 60MPG and in actual fact it was more like 57-58 MPG.

They are VERY efficienct engines, especially if you drive them sensibly.

That sounds very familliar Lew247; I used to run a 2.0 Vectra which I've just replaced with an Octavia 110 TDI!

The jury is still out on my fuel consumption, although I've yet to manually do the figures. I must admit I tend to cruise in the high 70's, but the trip comp will hit 50-53 mpg on the run to work and back (35 miles mainly motorway).

I've just had to have the Head Gasket replaced :( , but she's due a service as well, so hopefully once thats done the figures should go up a bit!

EDIT: Kept the speed below 70 on the way home from work this evening and the trip computer was showing 58.6 MPG Average when I got home.

Edited 10 June, 201016 yr by Captain_Carisma