I want a vRS - will I get 35mpg? Is LPG a mad idea?

[spk]

I'm not gonna write anything about mpg; I'm just going to say now you've driven the petrol vRS and really want it, don't worry about it and get one rather than buy something else because of mpg and spend the entire time wishing you had the vRS instead! Coming from someone who bought 3.6L v6 Superb because "I don't do many miles and will do less"...then accidentally have put on 9,000 miles in 6months...

[Orville]

My average over 3-years / 24K miles is 28mpg. Best-ever tank-full returned 35mpg (90% motorway).

 

35-40mpg is possible, but you'll need to keep the car within 6th gear on motorways for most of it's life. A 1.4TSI will be better for chasing mpg whilst retaining refinement and half-decent performance.

[buck890]

Will easily achieve 35mpg, i get between 30 to 35 on my may to work and being the wifes taxi, have done 2 long runs and just managed 40 to the gallon.

[StephenVRS]

I have moved from a Mk2 1.8TSI to a 2014 VRS (220) a month ago.

I have done about 1000 miles.

The maxidot is showing 36 MPG overall. I have done a range of longer trips and short trips.

I have seen the MPG go up to quite a bit over 40 (44 if I recall) on motorway/dual carriageway driving.

 

 

If I recall the Mk2 was a bit better MPG (but not much) and it is not yet summer when things improve, so I am happy. :-)

Especially with the smile I get when driving the VRS.

It was because of the smile I got when test driving that I bought it!

 

It brought back memories of my Volvo S40 T4 I bought near the start of the millennium, It had 200 BHP which at the time was a lot for front wheel drive car that looks like a “boring” saloon. But was not! That car gave me s similar smile.

 

If you like the TSI VRS I would say go for it. I did!

 

I have driven a range of cars, petrol and diesel, and as I am doing 11000 a year petrol was the obvious choice. I test drove a 1.4 TSI, and it was good, as nippy as my 1.8, but test driving the VRS was more fun ;-)

 

Edited 20 March, 2017 by StephenVRS

[juan27]

I replaced a Volvo V50 2.0D with my VRS TSi. In the V50 I got about 40mpg average against about 35 in the VRS. Appreciate everything has moved on but I was surprised how close the petrol VRS got to a 140bhp 2.0 diesel 

[64VRS]

5 hours ago, spk said:

I'm not gonna write anything about mpg; I'm just going to say now you've driven the petrol vRS and really want it, don't worry about it and get one rather than buy something else because of mpg and spend the entire time wishing you had the vRS instead! Coming from someone who bought 3.6L v6 Superb because "I don't do many miles and will do less"...then accidentally have put on 9,000 miles in 6months...

 

Spot on reply! Don't buy something else and regret it! 

 

Get the vRS! 

[TheWanderer]

Just be aware if you were to take the LPG route, you may find that if you want to go abroad on the Chunnel or Ferries, you might not be able to go.

 

I know that the Chunnel doesn't like LPG powered cars, Ferries you'll need to enquire about.

 

If you're doing just the UK and around 15000 pa, it's a borderline choice between petrol & diesel, but the way that current thinking is going in regard to diesel, I'd stay with petrol, because if you're careful you can get some good mileage returns from them and with the current thinking may cause the resale value of diesel engined cars to plummet.

[Ootohere]

^^^ You have to travel with Empty Tanks and not select LPG as the Fuel. 

This can be an issue for those that only run on LPG with no other fuel source obviously.

[TheOctaviator]

33 minutes ago, TheWanderer said:

Just be aware if you were to take the LPG route, you may find that if you want to go abroad on the Chunnel or Ferries, you might not be able to go.

 

I know that the Chunnel doesn't like LPG powered cars, Ferries you'll need to enquire about.

 

If you're doing just the UK and around 15000 pa, it's a borderline choice between petrol & diesel, but the way that current thinking is going in regard to diesel, I'd stay with petrol, because if you're careful you can get some good mileage returns from them and with the current thinking may cause the resale value of diesel engined cars to plummet.

LPG is heavier than air, so that, if you use a tunnel where the middle is lower than the ends, any LPG leaks will leave an explosive bubble in the middle of the tunnel, just waiting for something (cigarette, sparks from a dragging exhaust etc.) to make it go 'boom'. I'm not aware of any ferries which ban LPG vehicles (or caravans with bottled gas on board). 

[TheWanderer]

Thanks for explaining that. 

[TheOctaviator]

1 minute ago, TheWanderer said:

Thanks for explaining that. 

You're welcome. 

[glosrich]

Also consider the Seat Leon ST estate in sporty FR trim with the 1.4 TSi 150.

Pretty pokey and will do 50mpg on a long run.

Space, sporty looks and 70% of the power of the Vrs but with better economy and built from the same VW parts bin.

[Ootohere]

Not relevant to the Octavia really as most would not even know there was LPG on board.

 

But just a quick one on LPG and ferries,

check what they say, because you might find that they say, 'Standard Manufacturers Vehicles' 

because i know i was not allowed my converted Orange 110 Diesel Landrover with a 4.6 V8 that only run on LPG after i told them dipping the tank was a waste of time 

as there was a filler and no diesel tank and 220 litre and 90 litres of LPG and the 'Customs Officer' wanted to open them.

(luckily i never mentioned the 'bomb' word, just the are you for 'F'in real.)

http://v8engines.com 

Edited 20 March, 2017 by Awayoffski

[POWYSWALES]

I set out at first trying to drive for economy using eco mode regularly, but the last few tank fulls I have left it in normal, driven harder and seen my range increase. My wife (passenger) took photo.

 

posted image

Edited 21 March, 2017 by POWYSWALES

[harrylime]

If you test drive a potential purchase, reset the mpg trip meter and try to replicate your type of driving/route for the test drive. Request that you be allowed to drive the car from cold, and obviously the longer the route , the better idea you will have about your likely returns

[vRSAnt]

On 20/03/2017 at 11:01, Orville said:

My average over 3-years / 24K miles is 28mpg. Best-ever tank-full returned 35mpg (90% motorway).

 

35-40mpg is possible, but you'll need to keep the car within 6th gear on motorways for most of it's life. A 1.4TSI will be better for chasing mpg whilst retaining refinement and half-decent performance.

 

Who want half-decent performance, I'd rather have whole-decent performance

[andyh41]

I've had an O3 1.4tsi and a now petrol VRS. On like for like journeys I got about 43mpg from the 1.4 and 33 from the VRS.

The 1.4 was surprisingly good, but the VRS is so much quicker and (for me) well worth the drop in economy.

[SimonTVRS]

My driving is largely local and the car doesn't really get warmed up, or opened up; i'm getting around 30 mpg in those circumstances. A not particularly light footed motorway trip with no hold ups recently returned 38 mpg so 35+ for your driving mix should be attainable. If you do go for the 2.0 TFSI (mine is the 217 bhp) motor you might also want to consider tyre costs - I've read forum threads where members are seeing 9k miles or less on the front tyres. Again, it all depends on how you drive it!

[Garnett]

I would not do LPG again. I bought a 1 year old Daewoo Nubira and had it converted with a state of the art Tartarini multipoint system. I kept it for 120k. It does not pay for itself. 1. 220 mile range on the 44 litre tank. 2. MPG is 15% worse on LPG than Petrol. Speed and acceleration are 5-10% better. 3. No spare wheel. 4. and the real biggie. LPG runs hotter than petrol. That meant that I had to change the head gasket 8 times in £120k! It took 8 hours and I could do it in my sleep! 5. You need to fit a Flashlube System. 6. You have to run the first 5 miles on petrol until the engine is hot enough to stop the LPG freezing when it turns into gas. 7. You cant go on the Chunnel. 8. When you sell it, you will be able to sell on ebay to somebody who will drive it to Russia. LPG costs almost nothing there so there is a demand for old LPG cars. 9. You get through a lot of engine oil.

 

Realistically my current 2 litre diesel is cheaper to run. It does 48 on average. My 1.6 Nubira did 23 on LPG.

 

If you are serious, speak to Gas Power UK in Exeter. They do annual maximum MPG events. They even have an LPG Prious. They will test the actual car you are going to convert ant tell you if it will behave well.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Garnett

[bigjohn]

LPG conversion difficuly. Prins do an interesting lpg conversion for direct injections cars " http://www.prinsautogas.com/en/products/directliquimax_system/directliquimax_system.html " - BUT yours also has port injection.

 

The other thing to note is lpg filling stations seem to be slowly vanishing - the government decided it wasn't environmentally friendly at the same time as they said diesels were the way to go - and taxed accordingly.

In other parts of Europe/world LPG is commonplace

 

PS UK car discount doing the VRS for about £20k

Edited 22 March, 2017 by bigjohn

[MikeF]

On 19/03/2017 at 12:02, CestrianGuy said:

Hello everyone,

 

Hello from a Skoda 'Virgin' !

 

I'm about to take the plunge and get me a vRS octavia (In the market for a 1-2 year old, can go unto about £18K). I do 15K miles per year, of which around 10K are motorway/dual carriageway (owing to a 48 mile round trip to work). I intend to keep it for quite a while (I have owned my current car around 10 years). I am used to driving a Hyundai coupe 2.0SE, which returns me around 32mpg in the summer and 30 in the winter (though can push 40mpg on a long motorway trip with a light right foot).

 

I was dead set on a TDI vRS up until a month or two ago and was looking forward to a rapid car with 49mpg according to Honest John, but the recent concern about diesel taxation, parking charges and city bans made me think twice. I went and test drove a TSI vRS and......... I'm in love. That engine is a peach. 

 

I have some questions:-

 

1) If I go for a TSI, I know that I won't see 46mpg in the real world but... is 35 achievable? I could just about be happy with this as it is more than I get now. I do love a thrash from time to time but for the most part I drive reasonably conservatively. What mpgs can you guys all achieve if you take it easyish?

2) Is buying a petrol for 15K miles a year mad? Is diesel a no brainer do you think?

3) I have thought about converting a petrol to LPG; is this totally mad do you think? Has anyone done it?

 

Many thanks indeed in advance for your advice 

 

 

 

 

Just find an extra £2k and go new :p

 

or do a bit more shopping around, might find one for less than this but its where I bought mine from in 2015.

 

http://www.discounted-new-cars.com/outright-purchase-cars/skoda/octavia-hatchback/octavia-hatchback-20-tsi-vrs-5dr-98912

 

[ahenners]

Just thought I'd add a pic to confirm the mpg I posted on the first page. That's door to door from a cold start with a full tank. Cruise set to 70mph on motorway. Always calculate manually the mpg after each refuel and my trip computer is always on the money or within 0.5mpg.

 

Got to say I'm loving this car, it's the perfect all rounder and I'm glad I went Petrol DSG. The engine is a peach and the gearbox combination is great! You know what to do OP....

Edited 25 March, 2017 by ahenners

[Mallettsmallett]

The best way to get as close as possible to a mpg figure that isn't the car telling you how good it is, is to measure brim to brim, take the pump reading (pumps are allowed a tiny degree of tolerance but they are checked by weights and measures) and then calculate given on mileage. I've noted that it's slightly less than the car tells me.

[ahenners]

19 minutes ago, Mallettsmallett said:

The best way to get as close as possible to a mpg figure that isn't the car telling you how good it is, is to measure brim to brim, take the pump reading (pumps are allowed a tiny degree of tolerance but they are checked by weights and measures) and then calculate given on mileage. I've noted that it's slightly less than the car tells me.

 

That's exactly what I do, I log into an app after each fill up. It's always within 0.5mpg or less of the "Since refuel" figure

[pipsyp]

I dont have a vRS TSI.....though I do have a Polo GTI 1.8 TSI.

 

I do between 25/30k a year...15/20k business and 10ish K personal and mine averages 36/38 mpg.

 

It does this reliably on a run, with the occasional toe down.  I can say around town its in the late 20's most of the time.

 

Its not great in other words....but I rather bought the car knowing that.  Its such a riot to drive I can some make allowances for its running costs.....

 

That said I also have a 2001 Forester S Turbo Auto that will bearly do 200 miles to £60 of Super so comparitively its not that bad.

 

I've had an Octavia Elegance 150 TDi and two Mk7 Golf GTD 184's.....the TDI motors are wonderful and provide far better MPG with only reasonable compromises in performance.....but I have to acknowledge the TSI's provide better performance and are more flexible.

 

I am however not remotely anti-diesel....I'd have another 2.0 TDI again.....and Ive just bought a 2.0 diesel MPV.......