After 6 months' ownership I have now developed a good feeling for the fuel consumption of my 18 reg (pre-facelift) Superb 1.4 TSI (petrol) 140PS DSG estate.  A mixed bag....but generally impressive. 

 

On a motorway or A-road cruise (i.e. free-flowing traffic) on level roads in warm weather I can get a wallet-caressing journey average of 60+ mpg, my best being a journey average of 66 mpg between Swindon and home in the West Mids, i.e. diesel-level consumption at petrol prices (not that there is much difference in price these days). That exceeds my expectations by some margin, especially considering the size of the Great Czech Whale. 

 

Regular daily commute of 30 mins duration (15 miles) each way along a mix of averagely congested suburban / town-centre roads, dual carriage way ring roads, and fast, rural B-roads: journey average of 50 mpg, varying from 47 to 53 mpg depending on traffic.  Not bad. My old diesel Berlingo (which had the aerodynamic finesse of a greenhouse) would deliver 55-60 mpg over the same stretches. 

 

Short journeys of ~4 miles in and out of town, low-medium congestion: journey average of between 35 and 45 mpg depending on traffic.  Poor...my old diesel Berlingo would return low 50s for short hops like that, and it's not much better than petrol cars I was driving in the 90s.  

 

I've never found any improvement by turning off the air-con, with windows up or down. All these figures are with Tesco Momentum rather than standard unleaded.  I'll run for a few weeks on the vanilla stuff (yes, I do love scented petrol....) for comparison.  Tyres are inflated to 2.4 bar, which is slightly under the suggested "economy" pressure of 2.5 bar. 

 

Oh, and if this isn't the dullest and most anally retentive post ever made, I'll eat my shoes. 

For the size of it - those a fantastic numbers.

I'm not convinced that higher octane petrol makes any difference to fuel economy.  I got 50mpg out of my 2.0 TSI last week on a 30 mile run on regular stuff.  The odd tank to benefit from the detergents, maybe....

I currently getting better mileage than my old man who drives a Nissan Note with a 1.2 petrol engine.  I'm beginning to wonder if he's taking the handbrake off.....

13 minutes ago, Awed said:

Oh, and if this isn't the dullest and most anally retentive post ever made, I'll eat my shoes. 

Don't worry - your shoes are safe lol!

I'm using eco mode at the moment on my commute (A road with lots of traffic), making use of stop/start, driving like a granny and managing 28mpg with my 280.  Stop complaining 

14 minutes ago, unclerichy said:

I'm using eco mode at the moment on my commute (A road with lots of traffic), making use of stop/start, driving like a granny and managing 28mpg with my 280.  Stop complaining 

 

Lawks-a-mercy. It would probably be cheaper just to take your house apart brick-by-brick and re-build it next door to wherever it is you want to go. Have you considered a more economical form of transport, e.g. a Space Shuttle, the "OOCL Hong Kong", etc? 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OOCL_Hong_Kong

1 hour ago, unclerichy said:

I'm using eco mode at the moment on my commute (A road with lots of traffic), making use of stop/start, driving like a granny and managing 28mpg with my 280.  Stop complaining 

So you're basically experiencing the worse aspects of owning a performance engine with none of the benefits?! 

 

 

3 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

So you're basically experiencing the worse aspects of owning a performance engine with none of the benefits?! 

 

 

Well, I bet his exhaust note is sweet music.

2 minutes ago, Awed said:

Well, I bet his exhaust note is sweet music.

Not driving 'like a granny' it won't   Only *just* audible at 4k + revs.  Like I said, 'none of the benefits' 

Edited 21 August, 20187 yr by penguin17

My figures so far (using the app not measured myself) for my 4 month old 220 (18 Plate) L&K Petrol Hatch are so far: 

Long term avg of 36mpg.

Most short daily commute trips are mid 30's (hence the avg above!), but can go either way (i.e high 20's low 40's) depending on the traffic/eco on or not etc.

Eco does its job and those results are better (mostly high 30's and a few low 40's). Managed a 44mpg trip once - Going from Portsmouth to Scotland 

Also managed a 17mpg  though!

All bog std petrol (As I have to go out of my way to get to a station that sells the good stuff - But am planning on doing that to clean it out a bit very soon).

I kinda want a 1.4 now for the mpg....but suspect I will miss the zip of the 2.0 and I wanted L&K and can't get them in 1.4 guise.

39 minutes ago, BenSh said:

I kinda want a 1.4 now for the mpg....but suspect I will miss the zip of the 2.0 and I wanted L&K and can't get them in 1.4 guise.

 

I suggest a compromise.  Buy a 1.4 and enjoy an average ~50 mpg but smoke a mixture of Cif cleaning fluid and Black Mamba whilst you drive to obtain the thrill-factor you seek.

4 hours ago, penguin17 said:

So you're basically experiencing the worse aspects of owning a performance engine with none of the benefits?! 

 

 

Yup. That's commuting for you  It's only 7 miles door to door but stuck in traffic after the first mile.

 

If I go to our other site then the trip home takes me down a long steep downhill stretch on the M1 and I've had up to 50mpg on that bit #thuglife 

My admittedly limited experience on British motorways is that they offer great potential for excellent economy.

I was staggered at the amount of traffic on them 24/7 and the close proximity in which they travel. This often limited speed but offered an environment a bit like a cycling peloton where those in middle often saved as much as 30% effort from lower exposure to wind resistance.

Obviously this only works where traffic still flows but it meant I occasionally exceeded 70mpg (actual) on some tanks of fuel for the 1.6d Kia hire car we had.

Travelling the backroads of Cornwall meant the consumption dropped to about 50mpg but I was still happy with that.

 

My own 103kw 1.4tsi Octavia consumption is very relatable to the OP's results. Short urban trips from cold are a killer for consumption and go something like 1km=35mpg, 2km=40mpg, 5km=45mpg, 10km=50mpg, with potential to increase to high 50's low 60's over greater urban distances in local (Australian) friendly traffic (non rush hour) conditions.

Pre DPF diesels like my old 1.9pd were capable of similar economy to the OP's Berlingo, and while it took a long time to warm up it still returned better economy while cold than petrol over very short distances. We are unlikely to be driving large distances these days so it is extremely unlikely we would return to a DPF equipped diesel unless we get the travel bug to tour Australia which would then require an AWD off-road capable vehicle.

 

On 22/08/2018 at 04:20, Gerrycan said:

My admittedly limited experience on British motorways is that they offer great potential for excellent economy....

 

Thanks for your post, Gerrycan. A nice confirmation of my own findings. However, I feel obliged to point out that I would never advise slip-streaming other vehicles and my figures were not made on that basis.  You can't slipstream and maintain a safe distance. 

2 hours ago, Awed said:

 

Thanks for your post, Gerrycan. A nice confirmation of my own findings. However, I feel obliged to point out that I would never advise slip-streaming other vehicles and my figures were not made on that basis.  You can't slipstream and maintain a safe distance. 

Sorry, but inadvertent  slipstreaming is almost unavoidable on a reasonably busy motorway.

The slow lane is filled with nose to tail trucks and B doubles so you are getting benefit from their sidewash even as you are overtaking them. The other two lanes are filled with white vans and cars, and if anyone leaves more than a two second gap to the vehicle in front then it is usually an invitation  for someone to slip in.

It is just normal uk motorway traffic.

But deliberately tailgating is as you say downright dangerous.

Edited 23 August, 20187 yr by Gerrycan

21 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

and if anyone leaves more than a two second gap to the vehicle in front then it is usually an invitation  for someone to slip in.

If somebody wants to fill the safety gap in front of me I let them and drop back a bit more. 

The idea that you are losing ground is ridiculous. If you have to drop back 20 feet you have lost almost nothing.

Travelling at 70 mph you are gaining over 100 feet every second so the time you have lost is a fraction of a second.

Edited 24 August, 20187 yr by facet edge

1 minute ago, facet edge said:

If somebody wants to fill the safety gap in front of me I let them and drop back a bit more. 

The idea that you are losing ground is ridiculous. If you have to drop back 20 feet you have lost almost nothing.

Travelling at 70 mph you are gaining over 97 feet every second so the time you have lost is a fraction of a second.

Still annoying though right?  You or the ACC leaving a gap is for safety, as you say.  It's not an invite for some tw@twaffle to occupy in their need to make up one more car length on a congested road.  

 

Obviously a different situation when someone has the courtesy to signal they'd like to get across and you drop back a little more, flash them out, etc.  

6 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

Still annoying though right?  You or the ACC leaving a gap is for safety, as you say.  It's not an invite for some tw@twaffle to occupy in their need to make up one more car length on a congested road.  

 

Obviously a different situation when someone has the courtesy to signal they'd like to get across and you drop back a little more, flash them out, etc.  

It's only annoying because you are thinking that you have lost something.

What I am trying to point out is that you have lost practically nothing. You are not going backwards, you are still hurtling forwards at over a mile a minute.

Unfortunately we are very competitive creatures which doesn't go well with driving.

Just now, facet edge said:

It's only annoying because you are thinking that you have lost something.

What I am trying to point out is that you have lost practically nothing. You are not going backwards, you are still hurtling forwards at over a mile a minute.

Unfortunately we are very competitive creatures which doesn't go well with driving.

Oh I agree.  It's not the loss of ground, it's the fact that the gap is there for your safety.  It annoys me even more when I have the kids in the car.  I leave a gap to mitigate risk, I don't leave it for someone to quickly occupy in an erratic manoeuvre so they can 'steal a few metres'.   Dropping back again adds no significant time to your journey.  

I'm honestly not having a go at anyone.

The usual recommendation for a safe distance in normal conditions is a 2 second gap, which at 60 mph equates to nearly 60 yards or about 14 car lengths.

My observation of UK motorways (eg M1 and M25) with enough traffic to prompt overhead gantry restrictions at junctions down to 60 mph is that most drivers do not allow anywhere near that sort of distance to the vehicle in front. I am not really criticising it either, it is just how it is and if that if traffic is running smoothly enough in reasonably close proximity then most cars are deriving an economy benefit from inadvertently slipstreaming. Might be as much as 10mpg for some.

That is about the benefit  I got and as I was travelling with my wife then any tailgating activity on my part would have resulted in a 'stern reprimand' 

On ‎20‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 23:47, Awed said:

After 6 months' ownership I have now developed a good feeling for the fuel consumption of my 18 reg (pre-facelift) Superb 1.4 TSI (petrol) 140PS DSG estate.  A mixed bag....but generally impressive. 

 

On a motorway or A-road cruise (i.e. free-flowing traffic) on level roads in warm weather I can get a wallet-caressing journey average of 60+ mpg, my best being a journey average of 66 mpg between Swindon and home in the West Mids, i.e. diesel-level consumption at petrol prices (not that there is much difference in price these days). That exceeds my expectations by some margin, especially considering the size of the Great Czech Whale. 

 

Regular daily commute of 30 mins duration (15 miles) each way along a mix of averagely congested suburban / town-centre roads, dual carriage way ring roads, and fast, rural B-roads: journey average of 50 mpg, varying from 47 to 53 mpg depending on traffic.  Not bad. My old diesel Berlingo (which had the aerodynamic finesse of a greenhouse) would deliver 55-60 mpg over the same stretches. 

 

Short journeys of ~4 miles in and out of town, low-medium congestion: journey average of between 35 and 45 mpg depending on traffic.  Poor...my old diesel Berlingo would return low 50s for short hops like that, and it's not much better than petrol cars I was driving in the 90s.  

 

I've never found any improvement by turning off the air-con, with windows up or down. All these figures are with Tesco Momentum rather than standard unleaded.  I'll run for a few weeks on the vanilla stuff (yes, I do love scented petrol....) for comparison.  Tyres are inflated to 2.4 bar, which is slightly under the suggested "economy" pressure of 2.5 bar. 

 

Oh, and if this isn't the dullest and most anally retentive post ever made, I'll eat my shoes. 

Yeah agree with your findings having ran a 1.4Tsi ACT SE hatch from April 2016 until August 2017 (16,000 miles). Just checked my best was 64.5MPG but averaged around 50mpg overall effectively giving a range of 700 miles from the 66 litre tank (managed to put in upto 70 ltres though).

Am finding the mid 60's mpg claim a little hard to believe. Will be nice if mine gets anywhere near when it's loosened up.

Slip Streaming up someones jacksy is not safe, but HGV's and Buses and other vehicles want to see you in their mirrors, and there are plenty Motorways or Dual Carriageways and NSL's like 60 MPH where HGV's or Coaches at 70 MPH can be used for 'The Tow',  which is getting in the sweet spot where there is no need for wipers if it is raining and you can lift your toe off the accelerator and the car gets drawn along. Or with coasting mode the DSG goes just to 'D' and you are trucking along using almost no fuel behind a truck or coach.

 

Yes there might be those that take your place on the road, but i seldom find any doing that as i hypermile behind a StageCoach / Mega Bus or others at or over their National Speed Limit....

39 minutes ago, xman said:

Am finding the mid 60's mpg claim a little hard to believe. Will be nice if mine gets anywhere near when it's loosened up.

Pictures never lie and regular 26 mile commute involving 14 roundabouts and probably aided by using a truck to punch a big hole in the air (spot on as usual OFFSKI), but also plenty of 2 cylinder action as ACT did the business!

^^^ VW were Simply Clever,  it was not just the knowledge they used from Bentleys & Cylinder Deactivation to get ACT / COD in the 4 cylinder 1.4 TSI's.

 

They had those 1.4 TSI's that went down from 4 cylinders to 3 or even in Limp Mode to 2 Cylinders and Turbo Disabled and could still do 60 mph and get 60 mpg.

Obviously those engines were gubbed, but at least the were on the game.  'Vorsprung Durch Technik',   Turn the negatives to a positive.

Edited 25 August, 20187 yr by Offski

PS.

I did the North Coast 500 in the Twincharger in Limp Mode using a tank of 99 Ron Minimum and i had 10 litres of 102 Ron to use with the 95 ron i was going to have to buy during the trip.

So it was 1,100 miles all in for the trip and 'Economy Mode' when required and where losing my licence was quite a high probability.

 

Edited 25 August, 20187 yr by Offski