Just bought a 2.0 TDI 4x4 200 Estate SEL to replace my company car. Haven't used it much as I still have my company car for another couple of months but took it to work via my normal commute today which is about 30 miles, about 80% of it motorway, the rest being country lanes.

Got about 47.5mpg (trip computer readout), motorway kept moving, speed varying between 55-75mph.

Main question is can I expect this to improve much as the car racks up miles? It had only done about 30 before today.

I do a fairly high annual mileage (circa 25k). Also if anyone has experience of mpg's of these at high speeds that would be of interest too as I do frequent trips to Germany and like to put my foot down when I'm there.

Many thanks!

Welcome.

 

Things might improve as you get to know the car, or might not. 

Some say the first oil change improves economy, some say not. 

 

You have cold weather coming in the next weeks so you will maybe get poorer economy with more lights, heating etc.

But maybe not where you are and the weather, tyre pressures and warming up time will make no difference as the Winter Diesel will not.

Time will tell.

 

If you have not already checked the tyre pressures then best do that. 

They might be OK,

but could be over inflated and when set correctly you might get a bit less MPG.  Reset the TPMS as well.

 

When the car runs in / drives in as Skoda call it the brakes might be less tight, the bearings and engine / gearbox all will run well and freeer.

Owners manual covers that. 

That might all be in just a 1,000 miles or so. 

 

Check your oil level now and the coolant level and know where they are and check the oil over the next few thousand miles and see if there is any drop.

Welcome

I would say you are about where the mpg will be. 
 

My FWD 190 DSG would only do around 51 mpg, obviously the AWD will not be quite as economical. 

Hi

I have the same model as you - all wheel, 190 and have settled down to expecting the following consumption figures over 40,000 mile

 

General running about on A roads and lower B [&C] 30/gal

Towing 1500 caravan - mainly on motorway - 25/gal

Moving on motorway at around 70, about 45/50

I do a regular run from Herts to Kent of 90 miles. This has enabled me to play[?] around with the rate of travel. When running at a steady 60 mph I reached 60/gal !

Travelling at 60 means you are amongst the HGV folk so there are more gear changes when holding that speed. Weekend is quieter! [A caravan attached legally restricts me to 60]

I have also looked at the consumption when forced to the mandatory 50 in motorway roadworks. This can be used as a good indicator. Just zero the reading at the start and finish of the works.

Most of the driving is done in the economy mode of gear selection which really has no real measurable effect but I can detect an early change up.

Using the Cruise Control uses up more fuel - your foot is better when there are gradients.

 

These are a few observations over an enjoyable tenure without any faults. I hope you have the same.

 

Regards

 

Thanks all - I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes!

Would you say it is overall a good tow car? I got the towbar fitted when I bought it (which I have to say is a very neat arrangement) but I don't actually do much towing at present.

I would day your MPG is about right, given the time of year etc. 

I have the 2.0TDi 184 DSG combo, getting low-mid 40's around town and mid 50's on the motorway at a constant speed. It will happily sit in the 60s in the summer months. 
 

They are supposedly more economic and with lower emissions now in 2022.

Nice if they really are, and just sip the Adblue and use little of the VW509 00 /0w 20 FS IV oil. 

 

Different oil, different engine management, it will be good to know how the OP's car does as a high annual mileage car. 

19 hours ago, ancientbrit said:

mandatory 50 in motorway roadworks

M20? 😁

1 hour ago, Dieselgate said:

Thanks all - I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it goes!

Would you say it is overall a good tow car? I got the towbar fitted when I bought it (which I have to say is a very neat arrangement) but I don't actually do much towing at present.

Hi,and welcome to the site, we have a 4x4 sportline plus 190 diesel, it replaced a Volvo xc70 D5 manual 06 plate car that we owned and used for towing for 15 years on the continent mostly.

The Volvo was without doubt a good tow car, very gutsy from low revs and great for towing /winter driving.

The Superb has been used to tow for two summer holidays both trips were 400 miles round trips and boot full of stuff.

Superb is a lighter car ( Volvo about 1800kg) and handles considerably better and rated to tow quite a lot more V-18oo kg  S- 2200 kg although it's sits lower when hitched , Volvo had self levelling rear suspension. 

No worse on fuel with the dsg having said you are towing something with the aerodynamics of a shed.

Still miss the more comfortable seats of the Volvo tho.

Regards

Martin

Saw a 4 in front of the comma yesterday, 4.7 to here, which puts me squarely in 60mpg territory. That's with 7C outside and winter tyres, with 50/60mph limits. It's around 20% better than with the 80/100/120 summer limits, same tyres. 

 

My numbers are in my sig,   here. They represent the 40k kms from the last year. 

Edited 11 November, 20223 yr by brettikivi

Re Dieselgate.

Mine is an excellent tow car. Bought as replacement for Audi A6 Allroad [2004] Virtually the same performance.

Just finished a circular tour around East/West and North of England over a month

No hassles except intimate contact with a pothole that felt more like a mine shaft.

Anyway, now for MOT and replacement tyres.

Regards

 

Re Gammyleg

From memory travelling west on M4 after the M25/M4 junction. Every time I went that route it was always there.

 

All the best to everyone

On 09/11/2022 at 14:28, Dieselgate said:

I do frequent trips to Germany and like to put my foot down when I'm there.

Think carefully about your choice of tyres, you won’t be allowed to run with factory fit summer tyres if wintery or slushy.   Winter tyres aren’t mandatory, but don’t be surprised if the factory tyres are Eco biased and wet grip falls dramatically below about +10c.   
 

Remember if it is old enough for salt to be laid, and salt often keeps the road damp, then running at speed on tyres with little wet grip in the cold is not a good idea.

 

Compared to mine, your MPG is about right.

 

On a motorway at a constant 70-75mph it will do between 53 and 56mpg depending on load. Around town however the MPG is quite poor, I've seen it as low as the low 30's. Mine is averaging around 45-47mpg.

 

I've towed with mine once and it wasn't too bad, plenty of pulling power, I however experienced snaking every time I went over 55mph to get up to 60mph for motorway travel. I think this may have been a worn stabiliser pad in the hitch and will try again once they're replaced.

 

Ta

 

Andy

I have been towing caravans around for a loooooong time and would like to suggest the following regarding the snaking.

Apologies if this seems like sucking eggs!

 

Make sure the nose weight is as near the allowable limit as specified by the van manufacturer as well as the load for the tow ball. I have worked on the principle when I was younger and stronger of lifting the hitch with the wheel brace to give me a guide. Never thought of a bathroom scales!

 

As you have indicated the the replacement of the internal friction pads may well be called for.

As an historical aside before this method of damping came in  [ALKO?] I had what was effectively a leaf spring fixed to the tow ball mount and extending down the side of the A frame to an L shaped bracket. The amount of lateral friction was controlled by an adjustable screw clamp working in the same way as a 1930 damper on car suspensions.

 

When towing on a motorway keep an eye out for artic lorries overtaking as the side draught can start the back end of the van swinging. [some do exceed the 60 mph limit which of course you know is also the legal towing limit for caravans so we are always in with the HGV's]

 

The caravan industry seems to promote the balance ratio of 85% [car/caravan] Whilst the Superb handbook  is I think quoted with a towing capacity of  2000kg I would be wary of going that high. I tow a Bailey Indiana rated at 1500kg with no problems.

 

Hope all works out well

 

Norm

 

your mpg sounds about right, i have the 190 4x4 l&k estate, i travel to work (80 mile round trip) via A-roads (no dual or motorways here) and tend to average around 41mph. unlike most folks i have found that the use of the adaptive cruise control can take it up over 51mpg if following locals (not tourists... 🙂 ) if i can i tend to run on the acc most of the time while driving about

Mine's FWD only, so of course it'll return a better fuel consumption than 4WD, but here's my readings for a trip to Croatia in June and then Lithuania in August.

Impressive!

 

Which engine?

 

Regards

11 minutes ago, ancientbrit said:

Impressive!

 

Which engine?

 

Regards

TDI 190

Apologies - too interested in fuel info!

Cheers

Bit of an update - have done a few more journeys to work in the car and cruising at 60-65 on the motorway and generally being pretty economy focused I got 56 mpg on the way yesterday and 61 on the way back which I'm overall quite happy with. Will be interesting to get a proper brim to brim figure when I need to refuel.

Company car goes back at the end of this week so I'll be using it full time from then and will start to get more data.

I’m getting a new kodiaq sportline 1.5tsi DSG with the factory electric towbar in a few weeks. I too have a Bailey (Pegasus Verona) which is just under 1500, hoping the kodiaq is going to be ok to tow. 
 

I know it’s ‘legal’ but anything to watch out for. I just couldn’t stretch to the diesel or 4x4 this time around. 
 

lee

The general consensus in the industry is to use the 85% rule regarding weight /balance.

The car nose weight limit will be in the technical specs.

The maximum weight of the loaded van should be very close to the weight of the 85% of the car .

I would suggest you try to make the nose weight as high and easy to handle as possible and certainly not exceed the recommended limit for both car and van.

So using the 1500Kg for the van the car should be around 1800Kg. For practical reasons the car would be loaded with driver/passengers etc. so the weight would then tend towards the acceptable balance of the total combination.

 

Enjoy