Hi.

 

I have been a happy driver for 6 days now!  Everything is brilliant on this car so far, except these too bits:

 

1) The bottle holder between the two front seats are narrow, quite narrower than the competition.

 

2) The reason that I am writing this post:  Fuel "economy". 

 

I have the 1.4TSI 150BHP.  Okay, yes, fuel economy is high at the beginning.  But, how about 21-22mpg in city driving over this first week of ownership?  Personally, I believe that figure is way too low mpg..

 

And there is this other thing:  No matter how gentle I am accelerating from stop, the instant fuel consumption showing on the Maxi-Dot reaches 40 l/100km, which is 7mpg!

 

Compare that to a 2005 1.4 (normally aspirated) petrol, which rarely drops below 14mpg during acceleration from stop.

 

I really mean "no matter how gentle" I am with the throttle.....  Is this normal?

 

Is the average mpg ever going to rise to 28+ mpg in city conditions?

Mine has done 8000 miles now, nearly all slow around-town driving and the average consumption on the dashboard read-out hovers at about 40 mpg

Really difficult to say as there are a lot of factors in play here that we don't know.

I'd say the high consumption readout is normal while accelerating in the lower gears as the instant consumption display is responsive and brutally honest.

The only cars really suitable for inner city work are EV or hybrid.

The quickest way to check if your car is ok is to switch your maxi dot display to L/100 and when the engine is warmed up and idling (you may have to turn stop/start off) the display will show consumption in L/hour.

Mine registers between 0.4 and 0.5 L/hour with no load ie no a/c, lights, screen heaters, low fan setting. If yours is similar then I think the car is ok.

What city are we talking about here. I live in zone 4 of NW London - Lots if traffic lights, slow moving traffic plus speed bumps to slow down for and pot holes to slow down and drive around. I get around 35mpg on average during town driving on journeys longer than 20min

Mines a 1.4TSI (150PS), DSG driven in Eco mode. Had it for a year now from new.

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Edited 2 June, 201610 yr by RB79

_{Dunno ?}

Let the engine bed in till 1500kms as indicated in the manual the see if that makes a difference. Any 150bhp petrol car is going to eat fuel round town.

I'd agree that it is best to let the engine bed in and to record the distance achieved on a tank and compare real consumption against the display average for the tank.

A couple of things:

The centre holders are really only for cups, use the larger bottle holders in the door, and they don't get in the way then either

 

The OP does not mention whether the car has a manual or DSG, which is a factor albeit a relatively small one.

I see the OP is in Cyprus and having a warmer climate is probably running the air conditioner, again not a real problem but in heavy traffic it can have a marked adverse affect on consumption.

With the aircon on, running the ventilation fan at high levels, and then the radiator fan chipping in that static consumption I mentioned before elevates from 0.5L/100 to more than 1.2L/100. Throw in a lot of stop/start low gear traffic conditions and good consumption is just not achievable.

In my experience aircon use has relatively little effect on highway consumption, and I'm talking about temperatures up to 45 degrees Centigrade

It might be useful to us to know what your average speeds and journey length are for a typical trip with this poor consumption?

 

Just a thought, but it occurs to me that it might be worth checking the trip settings to make sure that the mpg display is set to UK Imperial gallons and not the smaller US gallons.

Oh yes, and as it is a new car, check the tyre pressures, always worthwhile for economy (if too low), or comfort (if too high).

Edited 3 June, 201610 yr by Gerrycan

Bedding-in any engine is not going to give you a 50% increase in fuel economy.

you might get 2,3,4,5mpg but not more.

 

Manos, what was your previous car before the Octavia?

I've not driven the 1.4 TSI but I would suspect that the pedal map is quite agressive & so if you've come from a lower-powered normall apsirated petrol, the difference you are experiencing is because the driving style of a TSI is more like a diesel than NA-petrol.

 

I would give it a month or so to get used to the car overall & see how the MPG improves.

 

In most cases when people with modern engines see improvements it fuel economy its usually because they have become more comfortable with the car rather than because the engine is more "loose".

Wait few thousand km before judging the mpg.

Check if the fuel was of decent quality / refuel elsewhere.

Get on a longer, steady trip to have representative reading (no stop&go, minimize breaking, etc).

Calculate the actual mpg using reading from a distributor between 2 top-up refuels.

Delayed reply, but here I am.  Thank you for all your posts.

 

It's a DSG and always kept in the Normal mode.

 

For the idle consumption without a/c on, it is 0.7-0.8l/h (with only the front LED's on).  Is that a worry?  (this figure is a few minutes after starting, maybe when the engine gets warmer, it drops?)

 

I live in Cyprus, the home-work-home distance is a 10min drive, average speed less than 10miles/h.  Air-condition is erm... almost always on, yeap.

 

As for the mpg US and UK, I actually use the l/100km and I simply used Google to translate it to mpg so that you understand me.  The actual figure is about 11L/100km, average speed 15km/h (so 9miles/h) and from stop, the initial (from 0 to about 20km/h) instant consumption reaches 40L/100km.

 

Tyre pressure is as suggested by the manufacturer (the sticker on the car, 2.2/2.3bars, so 32-33PSI).

 

Previous cars were 1.5 auto (sold) and 1.4 manual (kept as a second car), both normally aspirated.

 

The main question here is if the 40L/100km (this is 7 UK mpg according to google) when accelerating from stop.

 

Tomorrow is a motorway drive day to the beach, let's see the mpg there.

 

PS Yes I meant cup (and not bottle) holder.  I am Greek, some of you may know that we drink frappe coffee, something similar to Starbuck's frappuchino.  So my cup is actually a usual glass and it barely fits in the cup holder (it does get in but not reaches the bottom of the cup holder so I am worried I may accidentally trip it).  Octavia has the smallest cup holders of the cars I test drove!

Edited 4 June, 201610 yr by ManosSkoda

For the idle consumption without a/c on, it is 0.7-0.8l/h

average speed 15km/h

instant consumption reaches 40L/100km.

The main question here is if the 40L/100km (this is 7 UK mpg according to google) when accelerating from stop.

All above figures are ok.

The idle consumption is 0.8-1 L/hr in my case (1.8TSi) and was same in my earlier Superb having same engine.

Instant consumption at start may be even higher...I remember in VW Touran 99l/100km at the start

Apparently you driving at very low average speeds (lots of start stop or very curvy road I guess) therefore you are away from any optimal conditions and consumption must be higher.

Try to get on a trip where you go past 60km/h average speed with longer steady runs and check the avg consumption then.

Far too soon to judge. Needs several full tankfuls and several '000k before judging overall consumption. And ignore acceleration from standstill consumption.

 

 

 

(IIRC the DSG has slightly better consumption figures than the manual, but only a little, so I don't think type of gearbox is much of a factor one way or another here.)

Hi.

 

I have been a happy driver for 6 days now!  Everything is brilliant on this car so far, except these too bits:

 

1) The bottle holder between the two front seats are narrow, quite narrower than the competition.

 

2) The reason that I am writing this post:  Fuel "economy". 

 

I have the 1.4TSI 150BHP.  Okay, yes, fuel economy is high at the beginning.  But, how about 21-22mpg in city driving over this first week of ownership?  Personally, I believe that figure is way too low mpg..

 

And there is this other thing:  No matter how gentle I am accelerating from stop, the instant fuel consumption showing on the Maxi-Dot reaches 40 l/100km, which is 7mpg!

 

Compare that to a 2005 1.4 (normally aspirated) petrol, which rarely drops below 14mpg during acceleration from stop.

 

I really mean "no matter how gentle" I am with the throttle.....  Is this normal?

 

Is the average mpg ever going to rise to 28+ mpg in city conditions?

 

I'd ignore the instant fuel consumption - it's meaningless

 

I have the previous generation 1.4tsi Superb II with 30k miles on it and get much higher figures.  If drive carefully around town I usually get late 30's mpg and on a long run (not fully laden!) I can get late 40's and sometimes top 50mpg. Since I started using Spritmonitor late last year I've averaged over 45mpg. There have been some good reports of fuel economy in the Superb III forum with the 1.4 ACT which I think is the same engine as yours.

 

Hopefully your fuel economy will improve as the miles pile on 

Delayed reply, but here I am.  Thank you for all your posts.

 

It's a DSG and always kept in the Normal mode.

 

For the idle consumption without a/c on, it is 0.7-0.8l/h (with only the front LED's on).  Is that a worry?  (this figure is a few minutes after starting, maybe when the engine gets warmer, it drops?)

 

I live in Cyprus, the home-work-home distance is a 10min drive, average speed less than 10miles/h.  Air-condition is erm... almost always on, yeap.

 

As for the mpg US and UK, I actually use the l/100km and I simply used Google to translate it to mpg so that you understand me.  The actual figure is about 11L/100km, average speed 15km/h (so 9miles/h) and from stop, the initial (from 0 to about 20km/h) instant consumption reaches 40L/100km.

 

Tyre pressure is as suggested by the manufacturer (the sticker on the car, 2.2/2.3bars, so 32-33PSI).

 

Previous cars were 1.5 auto (sold) and 1.4 manual (kept as a second car), both normally aspirated.

 

The main question here is if the 40L/100km (this is 7 UK mpg according to google) when accelerating from stop.

 

Tomorrow is a motorway drive day to the beach, let's see the mpg there.

 

PS Yes I meant cup (and not bottle) holder.  I am Greek, some of you may know that we drink frappe coffee, something similar to Starbuck's frappuchino.  So my cup is actually a usual glass and it barely fits in the cup holder (it does get in but not reaches the bottom of the cup holder so I am worried I may accidentally trip it).  Octavia has the smallest cup holders of the cars I test drove!

Good news and bad news

Bad news is the cup holders don't grow any bigger - live with it, drink Italian ristretto

 

The good news is you stuffed up your selection of conversion tables with google and selected US mpg. 11L/100 = 26 Imperial mpg

For that distance, from a 'cold' start, at that average speed and with aircon on, then I'd say you are getting pretty good consumption.

 

The idle consumption goes down considerably when the engine is warmed through so 10 minutes is barely sufficient.

 

Have you considered a bicycle for that distance? It would probably be quicker than the car

I'm presuming the OP has climate control rather than manual aircon. Over fifteen years driving various motors I've never found CC make any material difference - under 2 mpg at most - providing it's set on auto and with sensible temperature settings. This includes several 000 miles in temperatures in mid 30s in Australia, so comparable with Cyprus. Manual aircon is a true petrol drinker though.

I'd ignore the instant fuel consumption - it's meaningless

 

I have the previous generation 1.4tsi Superb II with 30k miles on it and get much higher figures.  If drive carefully around town I usually get late 30's mpg and on a long run (not fully laden!) I can get late 40's and sometimes top 50mpg. Since I started using Spritmonitor late last year I've averaged over 45mpg. There have been some good reports of fuel economy in the Superb III forum with the 1.4 ACT which I think is the same engine as yours.

 

Hopefully your fuel economy will improve as the miles pile on 

 

Since refuelling, I am on 27mpg around town.  Tomorrow will see on the open road!

 

About the air-con.  If in idle I have 0.6L/h (warm engine is less than the previously quoted figure) and when I turn on the air-con it rises to 1.3 L/h, then this is how I understand it:

 

So, the air-con consumes 0.7L/h (I guess no matter the speed)

 

If my average speed is 20km/h, then over an hour, I have driven 20km and my air-con consumed 0.7L.  So, after 5h, I have driven 100km and my aircon consumed 3.5L

 

This is 3.5L/100km of airconditioning within town!!!!!  That's over 30% of the total petrol used.

If I get my maths right, then the high consumption to date make sense.  But, am I?  30%?

 

Obviously, when at speed of 100km/h, then over these 100km (1 hour driving) the air-con has consumed 0.7L, which is less than 10% of the total petrol consumed.

 

------​

@ Gerrycan:   Bycycle?...... erm there is a "technical" problem.  Even cycling for 3minutes during the Cypriot summer (37deg plus over three months) gets your clothes soaked from sweating.... Add to this the life risking factor (I buy you a pint if you don't see a driver holding a mobile at any point anywhere in Nicosia) - people crash all the time..... motorcycling is dangerous, cycling is absent.

 

 

Yes I have dual zone climate control.  And no, the Octavias don't do ACT engines unfortunately.

 

Beach time tomorrow!!  Good night from hot cyprus

Edited 4 June, 201610 yr by ManosSkoda

We get similar temperatures here but rarely the humidity so I see your point about the sweat problem with the cycling option.

 

I did a little test today with a short trip and from a cold start but no air-con (it is the start of our winter) and the 3 km trip at an average of 20 kph (once briefly in 4th gear) I could only manage 8.5L/100 average, if it were summer with air-con on then it would be about 10L/100. If I extend the trip by a couple of kilometres at a more normal 50 kph then the average drops to 6.0L/100. So you may not be doing as bad as you think in your conditions.

 

My air-con is not climate control but still more sophisticated and efficient than some of the older systems used to be and that is to minimise consumption  

The amount of load it places on the engine is varied automatically so when I first turn it on the static consumption can rise to 1.8L/hour briefly then knock back to about 1.3L/hour and then down to 0.8L/hour as the internal condenser gets to its optimal cooling temperature. From there it cuts out entirely reducing to 0.5L/hour and only occasionally cutting in on minimum load to maintain the condenser temperature.

So your calculations are probably a bit pessimistic regarding the constant air-con load on your consumption.

 

I think your main problem is the short journey, very slow average speed, and what would be an awful lot of stop/start and low gear work.... and possibly the air-con set to minimum temperature(?)

I agree the instant mpg reading is meaningless - it flickers about like a moth. But the "overall average" reading probably has some worth.

On a reasonably long drive I find my readout clicks up and down by just 0.1 mpg every so often.

It is supposed to be telling me the overall mpg through the lifetime of the car (I think ?) and it is usually showing between 40 and 41 mpg.

And as said before nearly all my mileage is short, around town travel.

"reporting" info after my trip onto the motorway.

 

I averaged 5.2L/100km (54mpg) with mostly steady speed of 65mph on the motorway.

 

On returning, I was more aggressive, average motorway speed @ 75mph and total trip average speed of 50mph, consumption 46mpg (6.2L/100km).  Is that any good?  Is it more, or less economic than an older 1.4 normally aspirated petrol engine?

 

I guess I ignore the instant consumption, so I am never going to show it on the maxi dot anymore.

I averaged 5.2L/100km (54mpg) with mostly steady speed of 65mph on the motorway.

 

On returning, I was more aggressive, average motorway speed @ 75mph and total trip average speed of 50mph, consumption 46mpg (6.2L/100km).  Is that any good?  Is it more, or less economic than an older 1.4 normally aspirated petrol engine?

 

That's pretty good for a tight new car and somewhat more economical (er and much quicker) than the normally aspirated older 1.4 (I still have this engine in my old 2001 Octavia 1.416v )

"reporting" info after my trip onto the motorway.

 

I averaged 5.2L/100km (54mpg) with mostly steady speed of 65mph on the motorway.

 

On returning, I was more aggressive, average motorway speed @ 75mph and total trip average speed of 50mph, consumption 46mpg (6.2L/100km).  Is that any good?  Is it more, or less economic than an older 1.4 normally aspirated petrol engine?

 

I guess I ignore the instant consumption, so I am never going to show it on the maxi dot anymore.

I'd agree that the consumption is not unreasonable without knowing too much about Cyprus roads.

It is a new engine so driving for economy during the initial bedding in is probably not a great idea. Just drive it normally and where the opportunity presents itself load the engine up a bit without exceeding the recommended revs. It beds in the piston rings and that helps for improved long term economy and reduced oil consumption.

Record your petrol refuelling and compare it with the maxidot tank averages and you'll get an idea as to how accurate it is. You know you can flip between trip, last refill and long term fuel averages?

My maxidot is pretty well spot on for accuracy and so I've quite a lot of confidence in it even the instant display readings.

My odometer is within 1% accurate (on new tyres) but the speedometer is about 6% optimistic which is not uncommon.

 

Whether the 1.4tsi is more economical than the NA version? Well I'd say it is potentially more economical but definitely has more power potential but accessing that power will have a hit on consumption.

Wow, I now get it!

With cruise control at between 75 and 78mph, consumption is approximately 50mpg. It probably is even better, as my average mpg does include a small bit of town driving until I reach the motorway.

That IS amazing. Impressive.

With city driving, it ranges a lot depending on traffic. In any case, be gentle and you get good-ish figures, be a little aggressive and you get the local petrol garage guy happy.

1.4 TSI rocks.

Yep - the 1.4 TSI can be very economical at moderate speeds in light traffic.  Start using the loud pedal a lot or get stuck in a lot of stop/start and the economy seems to tumble more quickly than it did with my old 1.9 TDI.  However, it is both a lot faster and quieter than that old tractor - so no complaints from me.

 

I managed a personal record of 61.4 MPG (4.6 l/100km or 51.1 MPG measured on those funny small US gallons) the other night.  This was before the UK experienced its customary three-day long summer, so the aircon was not working hard.

 

Just got back from a return journey of about 60 miles, starting with "full" tank.

On return it still registers as full! 

 

The available mileage left figure started at about 385, but by the time I got home it was around 400.

Typical speed on the run was about 60 mph. with almost no hold ups.

Interesting discussion, but mostly I agree with your conclusion... mine is only 140PS, but you're correct that it "rocks"!

 

Some comments:

My town driving is less extreme that yours, average speeds up into the high teens, and I get about 40mpg on the maxidot. I guess high 20's in a hot country with aircon on, averaging 9mph doesn't sound so bad.

Highway - I had a trip last week where I was early for every meeting, so cruised at 60mph on the motorway, with cruise, and averaged 60.5mpg on the maxidot. Normally I'm getting just under 50. If I drive everywhere at 90mph (not in this country, obviously) I can get down into the 40-42 range.

I only see less than 40mpg when I'm in a good mood on an empty B-road, but it's not that often as you only get empty roads round here when I'm asleep.

 

Regarding the effect of climate control, I find it does impact fuel economy with low speed start-stop driving, but if you're doing 70-80mph the impact is negligible. Kind of the opposite to the effect of opening the window really, although yesterday was a definite windows up, air con ON day!