Today I went to Cornwall for an hour and a half or so. I filled up at Tesco, drove 390miles and filled up again at the same petrol station. The average fuel consumption was reading 53.9 mpg at an average speed of 61 mph (it wasn't all motorway).

I calculated the actual brim to brim fuel consumption.

53.89 mpg.

Good grief...

Dill

I have to say, the Skoda is the most accurate computer I've ever had - all my Audi/BMW's have been at least 10% optimistic.

Take the car's figures with a pinch of salt. My old Saab always said it was getting 3 or 4 mpg more per tank than my own figures. My Skoda is doing the same. Comparing one tankful to another will give a fair guide how economical (or not!) your driving style alters.

Agree with JoseDB, MQB infotainment computer is like voodoo!

Edited 19 November, 201411 yr by Matt Pez

When I bother to check myself, I find the computer pretty accurate. Not bad really, considering it doesnt even know how much fuel youve got left. Telling you the tanks empty, but you can still only put 43 litres max inside when filling.

I think the diesels regen a lot and it does hurt the economy.

My 2.0 TDi has no real problem averaging 47/48mpg on any reasonable run but I rarely get 50's unless I travel absolutely miles and am reasonably mindful how I drive.

RE the tank I think its safe to assume these things have a pretty epic reserve. I reckon when mine says its empty I could probably coax it along for another 80 mile or so.....just wouldnt want to try it!

I think the diesels regen a lot and it does hurt the economy.

My 2.0 TDi has no real problem averaging 47/48mpg on any reasonable run but I rarely get 50's unless I travel absolutely miles and am reasonably mindful how I drive.

RE the tank I think its safe to assume these things have a pretty epic reserve. I reckon when mine says its empty I could probably coax it along for another 80 mile or so.....just wouldnt want to try it!

The regens have been hurting the economy of late. Think with it being winter, the regens are nearly all forced regens, and they are quite obvious. Saying that, there is something wrong with your economy. OK I have the hatchback, but on a long journey, maximum 70mph on speedo, with the odd bit of 50 in roadworks etc, I will usually get 67mpg. Virtually all my short journeys show averages around the 60 mark.

Today I went to Cornwall for an hour and a half or so. I filled up at Tesco, drove 390miles and filled up again at the same petrol station. The average fuel consumption was reading 53.9 mpg at an average speed of 61 mph (it wasn't all motorway).

I calculated the actual brim to brim fuel consumption.

53.89 mpg.

Good grief...

Dill

 

More information please: model, engine type, transmission. and I cannot work out whether you are pleased with the consumption or not.

More information please: model, engine type, transmission. and I cannot work out whether you are pleased with the consumption or not.

The way i read it, he was impressed how accurate the trip computer was.

When I bother to check myself, I find the computer pretty accurate. Not bad really, considering it doesnt even know how much fuel youve got left. Telling you the tanks empty, but you can still only put 43 litres max inside when filling.

 

Fuel capacity on  Mk IIIs and fuel gauge accuracy on diesels has been debated to death, but the actual capacity is closer to 55 litres than the official 50 litres.

If you are reasonably confident of the accuracy of the average consumption for current fuel load on your maxidot then it is not too hard to work out how much you actually have left compared to what the 'floater' sensor and gauge is saying.

The way i read it, he was impressed how accurate the trip computer was.

Thanks, I did not pay enough attention when reading.

Mine is about 1or 2% pessimistic compared to Fuelly, which is about perfect for me as the readings will vary as the tyres wear.

The regens have been hurting the economy of late. Think with it being winter, the regens are nearly all forced regens, and they are quite obvious. Saying that, there is something wrong with your economy. OK I have the hatchback, but on a long journey, maximum 70mph on speedo, with the odd bit of 50 in roadworks etc, I will usually get 67mpg. Virtually all my short journeys show averages around the 60 mark.

 

I can attest that a bit of a lead foot (I never used to) can bring about 45mpg quite easily in a 2.0 TDI. I last filled up and got 45 which was a mix of lift sharing and putting my foot down, however, with a bit of careful driving I can easily get into the upper 50's. The issue is me having found the sport button and not using Eco at all.

Edited 20 November, 201411 yr by Astec123

Fuel capacity on  Mk IIIs and fuel gauge accuracy on diesels has been debated to death, but the actual capacity is closer to 55 litres than the official 50 litres.

If you are reasonably confident of the accuracy of the average consumption for current fuel load on your maxidot then it is not too hard to work out how much you actually have left compared to what the 'floater' sensor and gauge is saying.

Dunno about 55 litres. Anyway, it doesnt exactly matter unless you are brave to go beyond zero miles. Im not, even though I know i have plenty left.

When at zero i manage to fill it up with 43 litres. I use 43litres to work out the fuel consumption. This would then correspond to the computer. You can only tell how much you have left if you know for sure the tank is 50 litres, but you now claim it is 55 litres. So who knows how much fuel is left?

I can attest that a bit of a lead foot (I never used to) can bring about 45mpg quite easily in a 2.0 TDI. I last filled up and got 45 which was a mix of lift sharing and putting my foot down, however, with a bit of careful driving I can easily get into the upper 50's. The issue is me having found the sport button and not using Eco at all.

Admittedly i think this last refill is going to be slightly less. No motorway, and often using the acceleration of the vehicle.

Dunno about 55 litres. Anyway, it doesnt exactly matter unless you are brave to go beyond zero miles. Im not, even though I know i have plenty left.

When at zero i manage to fill it up with 43 litres. I use 43litres to work out the fuel consumption. This would then correspond to the computer. You can only tell how much you have left if you know for sure the tank is 50 litres, but you now claim it is 55 litres. So who knows how much fuel is left?

VW/Skoda are conservative about the claims for the fuel tank. It is well documented that the 55l tank on the Octy 2 could hold as much as 64l, so 55l for the current 50l is plausible.

Fuel gauge technology hasn't changed much for the last 50 years, They still use a float attached to a rheostat transmitter, plus all manufacturers tailor the output to make it seem you get fantastic consumption for the first indicated half tank (it is a psychological thing that apparently we drivers prefer, but annoys the **** out of me)

It is good that you get warned early instead of late but indicated empty at 43l is ridiculous.

Of course the capacity of your tank may be reduced if a lump of polystyrene has been left during manufacture, or you have dented it while attacking speed-bumps or hump-back bridges

Edited 20 November, 201411 yr by Gerrycan

I brim my tank every fill up and run it down to zero miles or within +/- 20 miles. I've done 71 fill ups and based on my Fuelly stats have averaged 40.7 litres per fill up so James is not far off the mark with his 43 litres. I'd like to hear if you can get more than 50l, not even sure if this model can be vented like some earlier models?

plus all manufacturers tailor the output to make it seem you get fantastic consumption for the first indicated half tank (it is a psychological thing that apparently we drivers prefer, but annoys the **** out of me)

 

All except skoda then?  Even with the tanl brimed mine start moving after around 15mines.  My mkII wouldn't budge for around 80....

I ran mine down to the zero, stopped to fill up off jerrycan which I couldn't do due to the diesel lock thing in filler!

Had to continue on to the next service station where it drank nearly 48L. I reckon I must have done about 35-40 miles on 0.

When I picked up my new car on Monday from the dealers, I got 46 litres in despite the range saying 15 miles till empty( diesel)

Edited 20 November, 201411 yr by john96

All except skoda then?  Even with the tanl brimed mine start moving after around 15mines.  My mkII wouldn't budge for around 80....

No that is probably just your Skoda, each one will vary, some by a lot.

Mine (petrol) does about 120 miles ( or mines if you prefer) before it comes off the "F".When it reads half full I have covered two thirds the distance I expect to achieve and the remaining half tank until the warning light comes on, just one third the distance. I usually get 48 litres in

As I said the float and rheostat inside the fuel tank is near Neolithic technology and susceptible to manufacture and installed variations, so you just have to accept what you get because it is not easily accessible.

Having a diesel is the common denominator for those reporting it shows as Empty and then accepts less than 45 litres so one assumes that Skoda really don't want you to run it dry if you have a diesel. but it means there is probably fifty miles left in the tank, IF you have to use it.

I think it was the Fabia which had the manual vent so they cocked up the design and that was the fix. As the Octavia 3 does not have manual venting fitted then one assumes that they made an effort and got the design right and that the Octavia tank will have a minimum of 50 litres available.

 

One day I will run down the tank and try to siphon out the remainder...and I apologise in advance if I have got it all wrong and you run out of fuel.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. My car is a 2.0l diesel Elegance with DSG.

The point of my post was to express my amazement at the apparent accuracy of the computer although I suspect if I did it again it might not be as accurate. After all, how do you know when you've brimmed the tank? Just a bit of fun really and a very ironic dig at Skoda in the title of the post.

By the way, if you haven't seen The Imitation Game (Alan Turing, Bletchley story), see it. It's marvellous.

Dill

No that is probably just your Skoda, each one will vary, some by a lot.

Nope. Mine is the same as Neily. The gauge is fairly accurate all the way through.

Last I checked, the gauge at half tank was about consistent with the gauge at quarter full.

Fuel capacity on  Mk IIIs and fuel gauge accuracy on diesels has been debated to death, but the actual capacity is closer to 55 litres than the official 50 litres.

If you are reasonably confident of the accuracy of the average consumption for current fuel load on your maxidot then it is not too hard to work out how much you actually have left compared to what the 'floater' sensor and gauge is saying.

I don't think I've seen people claiming the tank is that large.

Quite the opposite, with lots of us only putting in 43 litres when it's reading empty.

Going back to the OP's point, mine is very accurate. Over the first 9 months it's always been within 1mpg when I've compared trip computer and calculated figures.

All except skoda then?  Even with the tanl brimed mine start moving after around 15mines.  My mkII wouldn't budge for around 80....

Interesting - on my Mk2, the fuel gauge on a brimmed tank wouldn't move until I'd done somewhere between 125 and 145 miles (depending on how much welly I gave it) - on my new one it's more like about 85-90 miles.

 

On the Mk2, the most I ever got in a 55 litre tank was a little short of 58 litres, and that was with the fuel left indicator showing about 35 miles left. Early days in the new car, but the most I've got in is about 50.75 litres, and that was with maxidot telling me I only had enough fuel for another 10 miles. I've managed about 406 miles on a tank in the new car (with better consumption figures than I ever managed in the Mk2), but that does feel around the limit, whereas in the Mk2 the limit felt more like 430-450 (I did once manage 501 on a Mk2 tankful). Overall it feels like my tank size has actually gone down by about 7 and a bit litres, not 5, and my range has probably dropped about 25-30 miles. That said, since I'm getting better fuel consumption it's probably more of a psychological than actual drawback, and maybe over time I'll get used to filling up a little more often.

The trip computers do seem to be getting more accurate; my Mk1 was consistently about 5% optimistic on the mpg, my Mk2 started off being about 2-3% optimistic but for some reason seemed to change about halfway through my ownership and flipped the other way, and ended up being about 1.4% pessimistic over the whole ownership. So far the new one looks consistently about 1% optimistic which is fine by me.

One way of testing exactly how much fuel is in the tank when you get to zero KM to go on the computer is to get to the zero KM to go, then drain your tank with a hose into a container and measure what is left.  Then put the fuel back.

 

Of course I can't do this as I am still waiting for my car to arrive (been waiting since May).