1.4 Tsi DSG Fuel Consumption - Long Journeys

[Gerrycan]

The original quote said AC (air conditioner) not climate control which is a slightly different story.

It is my belief that when you set the internal temperature then the air cooler will only switch on if the incoming air is at a higher temperature than the setting, if not then it only gets heated.

With climate control it is ok to run  with "a/c" on all the time as it will only function when needed.

 

Here in Australia the Octavia 3 get climate control on the upper spec models only. The Octavia 2 had climate control on all specs.

[themanwithnoaim]

Press the auto button, set the temperature and then leave it Fn be

 

KISS methodolgy is always best

 

Sorry Jerry, A/C climate control must have been lost in translation

Edited 8 October, 2014 by themanwithnoaim

[Geek42]

Press the auto button, set the temperature and then leave it Fn be

 

All well and good, but if the missus gets hold of it God only knows what state the settings will be in when it comes back!

[FlyingGecko]

Re aircon/climate control - if the Octy is anything like my previous Saab 9-5, the whole ventilation/heating of the car is designed around the CC running all the time. At least it seemed to be. When the system lost the gas then there was naff all by way of ventilation.

 

Anyway, back to the original post. I'll be doing around 700 miles over the next few days, a trip from Cheshire to Kent, with a detour to Worcester on the way home. Four up, full boot. I'm expecting over 40 mpg for the trip. The Saab (2.3t, 220 bhp) gave 37 mpg on a similar trip in March, 10 mpg than I normally used to get.

[themanwithnoaim]

All well and good, but if the missus gets hold of it God only knows what state the settings will be in when it comes back!

Dual zone is god send, the wife and kid on one side at 24C sleeping whilst, I'm at 17C trying not to fall asleep as once their asleep its pedal to the metal time

[FlyingGecko]

Re my post on 8th - Two fill-ups, one gave 51.04 mpg, the other 47.67. I was seeing in the high 50s cruising at speed on motorways. Even now, home and playing with it solo, so to speak, (lead-filled right shoe) GOK how themanwithnoaim can get it down to 32!

[Geek42]

GOK how themanwithnoaim can get it down to 32!

 

Agreed! I started out getting high 50's on the motorway and about 50 average, but it's down to around 47 average lately as I've been going a bit quicker. Thought I drive it like I stole it the other day though and kept it to around 38 for a good chunk of my journey, but after traffic slowed me down a bit it was back up to 42 by the time I got home. I guess I don't actually know what a stolen car goes like!

 

That said, a lot of motorway involved in that, so maybe I need to find me a full tank of fuel with no highway to really test how low I can get it.

[themanwithnoaim]

GOK how themanwithnoaim can get it down to 32!

 

 I guess I don't actually know what a stolen car goes like!

 

 

Dedication guys, its just dedication but even I know, its not big and its not clever.

[jthyssen]

Just returned from a trip Denmark to South France and back: 2x 1800km (gotta love that company fuel card....)

135km/h in Denmark, 155 km/h in Germany, 135km/h in France with the occasional mix of roadworks, queues, reduced speed limits etc. I think average speed was in the 115-120kmh range.

Got around 14.5km/L or 41 mpg

I only see >50mpg in the MFD when doing <50mph.

[jthyssen]

BTW, it is easy to get it to ~25mpg: attach a caravan

[Geek42]

I only see >50mpg in the MFD when doing <50mph.

 

That almost sounds like you have a different engine. If I cruise at 50mph I can get mpg well into the 60's on the maxidot!!

 

How many miles (km) have you done? Mine is up to 22,000 miles now (35,000 km).

[themanwithnoaim]

BTW, it is easy to get it to ~25mpg: attach a caravan

Or a mother-in-law in the back seat. 

[jthyssen]

That almost sounds like you have a different engine. If I cruise at 50mph I can get mpg well into the 60's on the maxidot!!

 

How many miles (km) have you done? Mine is up to 22,000 miles now (35,000 km).

About 10.000 miles, but it seems like the mpg is going up with every tank.

I have the DSG7, so gearing might be slightly different

Just to make sure: 1km/L ~ 2.8mpg imp, right?

[themanwithnoaim]

29.4 the last tank, anybody else seeing a drop in fuel economy with these colder mornings ?

[FlyingGecko]

29.4 the last tank,

 

 

You're just showing off now.

 

 

anybody else seeing a drop in fuel economy with these colder mornings ?

 

 

Not yet - but I'm retired, so mine doesn't get fired up until noon some days.

[IainC]

I've covered 4,600 miles in my DSG 1.4 Estate.  The Maxidot is quoting 51mpg as its 'overall' figure (I haven't zeroed it since new in March).  It will return ~55-60mpg on A-ish roads, driven fairly carefully (i.e. with anticipation, no acceleration up to junctions, for example).  Recent trip to Angus from Cumbria (approx 270 miles) with 2 adults and quite a bit of self-catering clobber + cases returned 55mpg going north, but 46mpg coming south.  The difference?  A very strong SW headwind.

 

Overall, considering the power output of this engine, this is pretty good for a petrol automatic.  Flicking the DSG lever back into Sport Mode provides an uplifting surge of joyful power that previous, bigger-engined automatics failed to deliver.

 

Only DSG niggle = that elusive first gear (I will often choose to pull away in Sport in order to hold that first notch longer).  Ideally I would have liked the ratios spread out more so that 7th gear is triggered at 60mph rather than at 50mph.

[themanwithnoaim]

Sunday afternoon 31 miles pootell back from some adventure park or the other with family & the Maxidot is showing 51.1mpg so, I guess there's nothing wrong with my car must be user error !

 

IainC, the pull away in first is a bit of a no no in Sport Mode if anyone else is in the car although, it does go like Debbie does Dallas, short shifting manually in sport changing up at about 3,000 will keep you in the max torque band of the 1.4 TSI engine, don't lift off the accelerator when shiftting and you'll get sub-8 second or there abouts.  A bit of a toughy granted outta giveways as the sort mode sets the steering a bit heavier but, just like Debbie above, it'll give you a bit of forearm development.

 

Regards

T

[MrkSkoda]

I've covered 4,600 miles in my DSG 1.4 Estate.  The Maxidot is quoting 51mpg as its 'overall' figure (I haven't zeroed it since new in March).  It will return ~55-60mpg on A-ish roads, driven fairly carefully (i.e. with anticipation, no acceleration up to junctions, for example).  Recent trip to Angus from Cumbria (approx 270 miles) with 2 adults and quite a bit of self-catering clobber + cases returned 55mpg going north, but 46mpg coming south.  The difference?  A very strong SW headwind.

 

Overall, considering the power output of this engine, this is pretty good for a petrol automatic.  Flicking the DSG lever back into Sport Mode provides an uplifting surge of joyful power that previous, bigger-engined automatics failed to deliver.

 

Only DSG niggle = that elusive first gear (I will often choose to pull away in Sport in order to hold that first notch longer).  Ideally I would have liked the ratios spread out more so that 7th gear is triggered at 60mph rather than at 50mph.

 

Re Gear ratios. At 70 the rev-counter is indicating just over 2,000 RPM.  I would be very interested to know how revs the 6-speed manual is at when driven at 70.  Anyone with a manual able to advise?

 

Definitely agree that the ratios could do with being better spaced.  That is why the car is so much more frugal in 50 MPH road works than at full motorway speeds. Would also be interesting to know at what point the turbo cuts in.  Guess at this point (which could well be 2,000 RPM), the engine is not at it's most efficient.

 

Iain.  You are certainly getting better consumption than we are achieving.  Think ours is around 45mpg (should have checked at weekend!), although that does include town driving.  How much are you using the cruise control?  My wife feels the fuel consumption is better without. This is not what I would expect as the 2 previous diesels (BMW/MERC) I had were more efficient with cruise control on.

Edited 4 November, 2014 by MrkSkoda

[Geek42]

According to the published figures the manual does 27.9 mph/1000rpm in top gear (6th), whilst the DSG does 33.3mph/1000rpm in top (7th).

 

The low top gear in the manual is a complete nonsense when viewed logically, considering the torque curve of the engine I would like to see top gear in the mid-high 30's mph/1000rpm. It's one of two things I'd like to change about the car, but I reckon it's done this way to keep a strong differentiation between petrol and diesel. Gear ratios designed by the marketing guys...

[themanwithnoaim]

CC doesn't let the coasting work in Eco hence, better not used unless on really long journeys. Checking the consumer consumption often helps to not leave things turned on that you don't need which helps the real world figures as you can see from my fuelly.

[neiln]

29.4 the last tank, anybody else seeing a drop in fuel economy with these colder mornings ?

See my posts on the vrs fuel consumption thread, but yes.  I got about 5 mpg less than expected from a200 mile motorway run Sunday night. Checked my tyre pressures last night and they were all down about 3 psi. Hopefully that is the cause, I'll see now I've pumped them up again.

[Geek42]

My MPG was well down this morning, but that's because I have a very short drive to work (< 2 miles), and it spent 5 minutes sitting on the drive defrosting first. I was walking to the office until about 6 months ago, I should really get back into the habit. Apart from unnecessary fuel use + wear and tear on the car, I'm also finding my trousers are starting to fit less well (or maybe that's because I've started to go to Greg's at lunch time).

 

I can already tell that I'm going to miss the heated front screen this year though. :'(

[themanwithnoaim]

Geek42, try the chicken slice instead of the steak, it'll help but, not loads & don't be fooled by the chicken salad sandwiches, that Mayo is fully loaded but, I gotta admit it tastes great.

 

Best advice, is find your local postman on a Saturday morning and help him deliver at least three of his 8 bags of mail     save you pounds in christmas tips as well as weight.

[IainC]

Re Gear ratios. At 70 the rev-counter is indicating just over 2,000 RPM.  I would be very interested to know how revs the 6-speed manual is at when driven at 70.  Anyone with a manual able to advise?

 

Definitely agree that the ratios could do with being better spaced.  That is why the car is so much more frugal in 50 MPH road works than at full motorway speeds. Would also be interesting to know at what point the turbo cuts in.  Guess at this point (which could well be 2,000 RPM), the engine is not at it's most efficient.

 

Iain.  You are certainly getting better consumption than we are achieving.  Think ours is around 45mpg (should have checked at weekend!), although that does include town driving.  How much are you using the cruise control?  My wife feels the fuel consumption is better without. This is not what I would expect as the 2 previous diesels (BMW/MERC) I had were more efficient with cruise control on.

 

I use the Cruise Control generally only on M-Roads - mostly in speed-restricted/average-speed stretches.  My subjective impression agrees with your wife's: I reckon I can treat the accelerator pedal more gently than the software, particularly when on hillier terrain . . .   I don't do a huge amount of town driving: we live in a small Market Town, so minimum journey is ~13miles on A-roads before we hit conurbations; this undoubtedly helps.  I haven't used the ECO mode.

[UKMark]

 For some reason VAG adaptive cruise control is not available on UK spec Octavia's. 

 

It is on the 2015 model. I've just ordered one.