Had the dreaded cam belt, water pump and a couple of other jobs done at CARS in Coggeshall last week. On the return journey home (A12/A14) noticed a marked improvement in mpg. Instead of the usual 46/47 got a reading of 57!

A few days later trip to Wales (A14/M6/M42/M5/M50/M4)recorded 55.9. Wasn't hanging around and kept up with a 2.0l Scirocco TSI from M50 to junction 48 on M4. Anyone have an explanation as to the dramatic improvement in MPG? Could it have been the the original factory set timing wasn't spot on? Interested to hear people's comments.

Oh wow, that is some serious MPG there. Even with my remap I dont get any higher then 48/49mpg on a long motorway run sitting at 70-75mph. High 50mpgs may just be a short term fluke im afraid.

I would suspect the original timing was out , i get 50-54 mpg on fast motorway cruising 80+ regularly in my remapped PD vrs

I can get 52 - 53 on a run (real figure) with the car showing over 60 at times from my Scout tdi so would expect the lighter VRS to better this in diesel form and even get reasonably close in petrol form on distance journeys.

Edited 22 August, 201114 yr by Anddenton

not meaning to be rude but are you all going off the numbers the computer is telling you or actually working it out yourselves based on refuels etc the only 100% accurate way?

not meaning to be rude but are you all going off the numbers the computer is telling you or actually working it out yourselves based on refuels etc the only 100% accurate way?

Did go by numbers on the computer, but had never seen figures like this on the computer before.

After filling up following some stop start slow shopping traffic I had covered 345 miles and put in 6.38 gallons to fill the tank. This gave me figures of 54 mpg! I'm still amazed how the figures have improved so much following the cambelt change.

not meaning to be rude but are you all going off the numbers the computer is telling you or actually working it out yourselves based on refuels etc the only 100% accurate way?

My figures quoted above (52 - 53mpg) are actual from doing the maths. The car over eggs things by around 10 to 15% on the trip computer.

Reading of 60 mpg give real figure of approx 52 mpg.

I've just had my cambelt & water pump replaced as well as a full service, so I'll be interested to see if there is any improvement in my fuel economy.

In short, my commute is approximately 100 miles a day, mainly on motorways. I must admit, I do drive like 'Driving Miss Daisy' as I stick the cruise control on at about 60 mph and sit in lane one.

I've just done the maths and I'm currently getting 58 mpg, which also includes the usual running the kids to their football matches, horse riding etc!

By the way I've got a 1.9 Tdi Octavia Elegance, 2007 model with 46k on the clock.

I'll keep you posted if I notice any significant change in the figures.

Cheers

Dave.

I guess it is possible that the new timing belt is set up better than the previous one. Unlikely though.

Consumption figures from the computer are just not reliable, you really do need to make your own brim-to-btim calculations.

On the other hand nice for you to get some good news after shelling out for the water pump.

I'm into Hi-Fi and many years ago a chap called Peter Belt advocated sicking small triangles of metal foil to the outside lightswitches and plug sockets. Apparently people noticed huge improvments in sound quality...............

Just kidding

Had the dreaded cam belt, water pump and a couple of other jobs done at CARS in Coggeshall last week. On the return journey home (A12/A14) noticed a marked improvement in mpg. Instead of the usual 46/47 got a reading of 57!

A few days later trip to Wales (A14/M6/M42/M5/M50/M4)recorded 55.9. Wasn't hanging around and kept up with a 2.0l Scirocco TSI from M50 to junction 48 on M4. Anyone have an explanation as to the dramatic improvement in MPG? Could it have been the the original factory set timing wasn't spot on? Interested to hear people's comments.

If one of the other jobs was a new air filter there could be an explanation for improved mpg, but not that much.