I recently bought a 2016 Octavia VRS Estate (Manual Diesel).  Since I bought I've been informed it's a 4x4 but I can't find the code to confirm?  

 

My general fuel consumption since I bought is about 38mpg however in the past few days I drove much more carefully and got it up to about 43mpg (not too enjoyable in a VRS).

 

This is way lower than I would have expected though I know the 4x4 would be harder on juice.

 

Can anyone tell me how to identify the model from the boot sticker and also if my fuel economy seems correct?

Many thanks!

The easy way is to peer underneath the car and see if the rear axle has a drive shaft going to it.

Or this site might help: What Generation of Haldex is on my car? – Haldex Parts and ECU Repairs by Auto Fault Finder Ltd (haldexrepairs.co.uk).

 

There are a lot of factors that affect consumption, so you need to supply a lot more information if want a more definitive reply.

If you do a lot of journeys less than 10 km then your consumption is very good. If longer trips on motorways, then fairly poor

Your typical driving conditions urban/country/motorway and usual journey driving distance and average speed would be helpful for a more definitive reply

 

Condition of car: distance on odometer, condition of diesel particulate filter (DPF) would be helpful for others to reply.

 

Are you in Northern Ireland and working in miles or Eire with metric settings? I only ask because if the latter then you have to make sure you are converting L/100 to imperial mpg not US mpg for correct figures. Surprising how many make the mistake of using the Internet US preferences.

 

Edited 31 May, 20242 yr by Gerrycan

Many thanks @Gerrycan for the detailed answer.

 

The car has 200,000km on the clock and was (as far as the service history shows) was well looked after by one owner from new.  I have no dealings previously with a DPF as my last VRS (2007 diesel) was remapped and had it removed.  I'll probably need to look for best practice in keeping the DPF sweet.  The fan runs after most journeys which I believe (!) is normal?  

 

As regards consumption the first few weeks was mixed driving - some short journeys, a couple of 100 mile/150 km journeys of motorway and some days on a 30 mile/50km run to work.  This resulted in around 38mpg (around 610 km for 45 litres).  In recent days it's been (mostly) long runs of over 100km on regional Irish roads (plenty of bends and gear changes). Very gentle driving most of the time resulted in 505km on about 33 litres.

 

Big fat driveshaft heading for the back wheels do definitely a 4x4 - so lower consumption anyway!  But is 40 odd mpg normal or acceptable or do I ned to check the DPF?  Car was fully serviced before I bought it.

 

THanks again!

 

18 hours ago, cian_ie said:

I recently bought a 2016 Octavia VRS Estate (Manual Diesel).  Since I bought I've been informed it's a 4x4 but I can't find the code to confirm?  

 

My general fuel consumption since I bought is about 38mpg however in the past few days I drove much more carefully and got it up to about 43mpg (not too enjoyable in a VRS).

 

This is way lower than I would have expected though I know the 4x4 would be harder on juice.

 

Can anyone tell me how to identify the model from the boot sticker and also if my fuel economy seems correct?

Many thanks!

If it is a VRS TDi 4x4, then this is quite a rare spec. It will come with a (slightly knotchy when cold) 2nd gear and generally the 4x4 badges on the boot and also on the gear knob.

 

Your car is a HALDEX 5 system. Very good and the four wheel drive only comes into effect when you loose traction on the front. It's not a permanent 4 wheel drive system.

 

Are you sure it is a TDI, because unless you are driving it super hard, I would expect mid to high 40mpg on the fuel consumption side of things. TSI (petrols) on a VRS would definitely give you the mpg you stated.

 

As @Gerrycansaid, you can confirm by the driveshaft under the length of the car and the HALDEX box at the back. You need to get the HALDEX oil changed every 20k miles and the filter cleaned otherwise the 4x4 system may not engage when you need it.

 

 

 

 

Just seen the previous answer; if the fan is coming on after every journey, this means the car is trying to so a regen. I think a longer journey to let the car complete it's regen is appropriate. It might be worth getting the calculated soot levels for the DPF. If the car had a blocked DPF, it would throw a code (suggest investing in a ODBELEVEN dongle).

 

200kms...engine is barely run in! I hope you don't have an oil burner (keep an eye on oil consumption) and run some decent super diesel through it occasionally (or my personal option is a Cetane improver - especially if you are using supermarket fuel)

3 hours ago, cian_ie said:

  The fan runs after most journeys which I believe (!) is normal?  

 

I don't believe that is normal and would certainly be a major contributor for your generally poorer than expected consumption.

As @varaderoguy says, a tdi is barely run in at 200k km but certainly enough distance for issues with the dpf to become apparent.

A reasonably cheap ODBC dongle and an appropriate phone app will give you some idea of dpf ash levels.

If ash levels are high then there are some businesses who will clean them out for a lot less than the excessive price of a new one.

If someone has used this sort of service on their dpf, then it would be good if they could report on its effectiveness.

 

Don't believe the claims from the sellers of fuel additives that their product will clean ash from a dpf.

 

 

 

Okay so an embarrassing update😳I had a quick look under in the rain this morning and assumed it was the drive shaft. Got a look under the car now and that's the exhaust ( i know, mortifying😱).

 

So the fuel economy is very poor.  I'll need to get it checked out and order an ODBC dongle in the meantime.

 

Apart from a longer run, is there anything else I can do to help trigger or complete a regen?

Or other general maintenance tips for keeping the DPF happy?

Thanks again for all the help!

I think you are better off without AWD really. Useful in snow or allied to a bit of ground clearance or a really powerful engine but otherwise a mostly under utilised feature.

Like you, neither of the diesels I owned had dpf (Australia lagged on emission standards)  but despite liking diesels I gave them away when dpf became mandatory as they are not suited to our personal largely short urban drives.

I think knowing the condition of your dpf will govern future actions.

Edited 1 June, 20242 yr by Gerrycan

On 31/05/2024 at 16:40, cian_ie said:

Okay so an embarrassing update😳I had a quick look under in the rain this morning and assumed it was the drive shaft. Got a look under the car now and that's the exhaust ( i know, mortifying😱).

 

So the fuel economy is very poor.  I'll need to get it checked out and order an ODBC dongle in the meantime.

 

Apart from a longer run, is there anything else I can do to help trigger or complete a regen?

Or other general maintenance tips for keeping the DPF happy?

Thanks again for all the help!

DPF's are a problem unless you are doing long/fast runs.  The re-gen process is really important to let it complete.  I would first hold of an ODBEleven dongle and get the car to do a forced-re-gen as a matter of urgency.  If it doesn't allow you, then your DPF is blocked and it will need to be backflushed to clean it out.  Its not just a VAG problem; lots of diesel vehicles suffer these problems (thinking about Nissan/Renault engines and people ambling around town and not understanding that their cars need the re-gen and the heat to keep themselves clear).

A quick update.

 

I drove about a half tanks worth of diesel doing mixed runs - up to about 45 mins max. Put it in sport for comparison but didn't drive it hard. 

 

Worked out at 34.5mpg😬

 

Any suggestions or comparrisons?? Fan still coming on if I drive for more than about 10 mins. I've a 40 minute run in the morning - should I try keeping It to about 4th gear??

 

Need to get my hands on the app and a new dongle. 

I'd say what you have done to date should be enough to allow the regen to complete but the fact it does not suggests there is something wrong.

It could be high residual ash levels, or it could be a sensor malfunction.

 

The poor consumption will be due to the system continually injecting fuel into the exhaust to get the temperature upto the required 400+ degrees to burn off what it thinks is excessive quantities of soot.

I would be getting a specialist to look at it as soon as possible.