1.4 ACT DSG Driving Mode / Fuel Efficiency

[Starky]

Driving home the other day stuck DSG in sport to join busy motorway and forgot to change back to normal once settled in traffic. A while later noticed gearbox in 6th at approx. 75mph but with cylinder de-activation lit up.

Been experimenting since and have found sport to be the most fuel efficient driving mode, car generally sits a gear lower than in normal mode but runs on two cylinders more often, presumably because it sits in the most suitable rev band longer and requires less throttle input to maintain speed. Not calculated exact fuel savings as my routes are very varied so difficult to compare directly, but reckon an increase in 5 to 7 mpg on most journeys. Be interested to see if others experience the same.............

[BennyS3]

I have the 2.0tdi 190bhp and I use a app for inputting the fuel records. I did three runs with it, all the same time of day and all the same length return journey. Each record states the driving mode used. Not the same as your car I know but yet same idea as you have. The destination was sligo as shown on the picture.

Edited 29 January, 2017 by BennyS3

[Corbu33]

But its somehow logical thats why a manual always consumes less than automatic i do an engine brake much more easier and stay reved in inferior gear when i dont need to accelerate ... and if you look at the instant consumption in these situations is zero and of course it helps with the average that is why in sport you get better results, more engine brake lets say... dont know if i made myself understood  but i tried to explain it very simplistic.

 

of course in the end it s important also the overall driving style.

Edited 30 January, 2017 by Corbu33

[Finchbee]

Well, well, well !  Thanks for this post.  I tried it over the past couple of days and yes, in Sport mode, the car stays in a lower gear but is much more often in "2 Cylinder mode" when just cruising about at less than 50 mph.

 

Marginally more efficient, with the benefit of a more lively pull away from rest.

 

I'll be sticking with this in future now.

 

Top tip !

[Bogwoppit]

I agree with the above, but mines a manual, if you stay a gear lower than the gear indicator, the car uses 2 cylinder mode a lot more. Seems a little better on fuel driven this way also.

Edited 1 February, 2017 by Bogwoppit

[inaaris]

I´ve found pretty much no difference between either driving in "D" or in the "S" mode.

But that may be attributed to my drive style aswell.

The maximum change of consumption has been about 0,2l/100km.

Did a test-drive on the same 200km journey and full on sport had the avg consumption on 5,1l/100km and "D" had it on 4,9l/100km.

The weather of the days was 1:1 and the driving style aswell. Wanted to see what was the minimum consumption I could get on a windy day.

But one thing that I would like to suggest to you (if you have the same kind of problem) is using "S" to get your engine on working temperature faster.

The issue that I have encountered with the ACT is that I can´t get my engine warm (90C) when driving from home to work (approximately 15km in city).

I would get it warm, if the ACT wouldn´t kick in, but automatically when the ACT kicks in the engine loses atleast 5-10C in temperature.

That on the otherhand means that all the other stuff that needs to be warm (i.e DSG fluids) get more time to get warm. In the end it means that it takes more time for the car to become more convinient.

It took me some time to figure it out, how to solve this problem :). Hope it helps some of you guys.