Latest fill up, 521 miles, 8.022 gallons Shell diesel = 64.95 mpg. :sun:

How, How, How,

 

1.6 DSG and am getting mid 50's.....

 

do you wanna swap??

I always use premium fuels, (Shell, BP or Esso). I have the "Eco-tips" on, it encourages changing up far earlier than I would normally, usually 1500 rpm). The auto stop-start definitely helps. But my commute is a fairly early morning start, approx 15 miles on single carriageway A roads the remainder on motorway, the entrance to my work is literally at the end of a motorway so very little stop start town crawling, I tend not to accelerate to hard and cruise at around 75 mph on the motorway. My return journey home is busier but still not too bad traffic wise as long as the M27 behaves itself.

I never in my wildest dreams expected the Octavia to be as economical, I anticipated low to mid fifties to be honest. I certainly didn't expect it to be more economical than the Toyota Yaris 1.4 diesel it replaced.

Of all the cars I've owned, including some powerful sports cars this Octavia is as impressive as any car I've ever had.

Not bad at all!

Insane I would say... Congrats...

Reminds me of when I averaged 78mpg in my Fabia Greenline over three tankfuls.

Good heavens, I was bored senseless!

Reminds me of when I averaged 78mpg in my Fabia Greenline over three tankfuls.

Good heavens, I was bored senseless!

But I'm not consciously driving slowly so it doesn't bore me. I don't use the "eco" setting either. I bought the Octavia so i'd have a nice comfortable relaxing car to drive to work and back, not to do Sebastian Vettel impressions with.

Edited 29 July, 201312 yr by Timoctav

I borrowed an A4 tdi with DSG last week which is exactly the same but mine is manual. In the 2 days I had it, it was 10mpg down (mid 40s rather than mid 50s) on the same road. I would say that the transmission is to blame here. 

I borrowed an A4 tdi with DSG last week which is exactly the same but mine is manual. In the 2 days I had it, it was 10mpg down (mid 40s rather than mid 50s) on the same road. I would say that the transmission is to blame here. 

 

I'm still unsure why double-clutch gearboxes are more economical than manual transmissions with most petrol engined cars, particularly high performance ones, combined with lower CO2, but less economical with nearly all diesels with higher CO2. :think:

I'm still unsure why double-clutch gearboxes are more economical than manual transmissions with most petrol engined cars, particularly high performance ones, combined with lower CO2, but less economical with nearly all diesels with higher CO2. :think:

Is it the dry/wet clutch differences? The higher torque diesels use the wet clutch systems so lose some in mixing the slush?

Is it the dry/wet clutch differences? The higher torque diesels use the wet clutch systems so lose some in mixing the slush?

 

Maybe, but Porsche's PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe) uses wet clutches and are quicker, more economical and emit less CO2 than the equivalent manual transmission in the same car.

Is it that they are *actually* more efficient in normal use, or just for the CO2 tests?

Is it that they are *actually* more efficient in normal use, or just for the CO2 tests?

 

I guess this could well be part of it - Porsche have immense issues getting their fleet emissions down to the EEC targets averaging 150 g/km as you can imagine with their range of performance orietated cars, hence the recent introduction of unpopular hybrid versions of the Panamera limousine and Cayenne SUV. All manufacturers tune their cars to do as well as possible in the largely meaningless official fuel consumption and CO2 tests.

But the question is... where is Matt 

But the question is... where is Matt 

Here I am!!!!

Been on a road trip today, 340 miles round trip to Newbury, managed 59 mpg round trip using eco mode, sticking to the legal limit. Going to use Normal tomorrow, got to do the exact same trip , should have booked a hotel me thinks!!

By the way, well done Timmy, but now ur secret is out, I feel happy with my new found 59mpg!

Matt, if that is the computer read out you are quoting I've found it to be pessimistic compared with actually working it out brim to brim so you could well be into the sixties with any luck. I don't bother with eco mode, I don't actually think it makes any difference to fuel consumption it just slows throttle response by extending the travel. Don't like it.

I am surprised you don't have a Fuelly or spritmonitor page Tim.  I think your public needs to see the running average :wonder:

Economy aside how is living with start and stop in your diesel? I had a 1.6TDI demonstrator for a day and that tremor of a diesel engine dying and being woken up every few meters in London traffic was really getting on my nerves and giving me headache after a while. That and O3 do not have electric steering support to go with S&S, so every time you stop mid turn and S&S kicks in the steering goes dead, heavy and tries to spring back after engine starts again.

You should have disabled it in those conditions. It only gives you some benefits if you're stationary for more than 15-20 seconds anyway.

My "every few meters" is your "stationary for more than 15-20 seconds" in London traffic. The system worked and worked well.

Pic above is all the way across London from White City in West to Blackwall Tunnel in the East then about 20 miles on A2. Economy benefits were visible even at the shortest of stops between the lights. We are talking about 4.5l/100km in continental terms. Normally I would be lucky to see low 40ies out of diesel engine on this route. Skoda's new S&S also reacts much quicker to releasing of brake pedal with DSG than the older systems, my only complaints are that it just became uncomfortable very quickly due to starting characteristics of the engine. Plus loosing control over power steering all the time was quite unsettling. You can see quite clearly the system was developed to be paired with small TSI engines. I wonder if high output vRS is any better at it or if also does shake the hell of the engine mounts few dozen times on every trip to the shops.

Edited 30 July, 201312 yr by v0n

Given the inertia of a larger displacement engine, I'd assume it's not much different for the VRS TSI engine. Anyway, quite good mpg for London stop start traffic. That's better than Timoctav's current record.

Oooh cant wait to see what I can get out of my new one when he arrives! Currently on a 1.9 TDi Octy mk1 estate auto I average between 50-55mpg on my route to work which includes motorway, urban and country roads. Very much looking forward to see what the TDi vrs manual will do. These figures are encouraging anyway~!

I am surprised you don't have a Fuelly or spritmonitor page Tim.  I think your public needs to see the running average :wonder:

I did set up a page on Fuelly - keep forgetting to use it to be honest.

Matt, if that is the computer read out you are quoting I've found it to be pessimistic compared with actually working it out brim to brim so you could well be into the sixties with any luck. I don't bother with eco mode, I don't actually think it makes any difference to fuel consumption it just slows throttle response by extending the travel. Don't like it.

Hi Tim, that was the computer showing 59 in eco. This morning's run down to Newbury in normal mode showed 61mpg. I am on Fuelly, and filled up today with Shell V Power in Newbury. Been using Tesco so far. The trip back computer also showed 61mpg so not sure if VPower going to be worth the 10ppl premium and bearing in mind Tesco often knock off 5ppl with coupons and diff at pump price, the real diff is about 16ppl which means VPower needs to give me an extra 60 miles per tank to break even, so don't think it will pay for itself, but prepared to give it a try!

By the way, I agree about eco, not worth it, just makes the car labour more in my opinion when accelerating! I do like the option to firm up the steering though :-)

Edited 30 July, 201312 yr by Matt Pez

Hi Matt - must admit I don't put V Power in the Octavia, I don't think you'll see much difference over and over regular Shell diesel, which is what I use, but I never use supermarket fuel unless no other alternative, you won't get the best economy using that stuff, trust me.