Here are some insights I've gathered from using the VAGDPF app to monitor DPF regeneration on my diesel Skoda Superb:

• Short Journeys:
  Frequent short trips result in poor fuel economy and quicker soot build-up in the DPF, causing regenerations to occur more frequently—sometimes as often as every 200 miles or even less if short trips dominate your driving pattern.

• Longer Journeys Help:
  Extended drives are beneficial. I’ve observed intervals of up to 370 miles between regenerations during consistent, longer journeys.

• Driving Behaviour During Regen:
  Maintaining a steady speed and throttle input during a regeneration seems to improve efficiency. Stop-start driving extends the regen duration, likely because the car adjusts DPF temperatures carefully to avoid overheating and reduce fire risk.

• Incomplete Soot Removal:
  Regenerations don’t appear to reduce soot levels to 0%. On motorway drives with steady speeds, the soot level typically drops to around 22% before the regen is marked as complete. In contrast, interrupted regens tend to stop at about 33%.

• Incomplete Regens Lead to More Frequent Cycles:
  If a regeneration is not allowed to complete, more soot remains in the filter, which shortens the interval before the next regen is triggered. This is a key reason why diesel engines aren't ideal for drivers who mostly do city or short-distance driving.

• Aggressive Driving:
  Hard acceleration or racing the engine increases soot production, meaning regenerations are needed more frequently.

• Fuel Additives:
  Based on my experience, I haven't noticed any measurable benefit from adding fuel additives to the tank in relation to DPF regeneration frequency or performance.

can i link up this app to my odbeleven? I haven't been able to get it working

5 minutes ago, SkodaKing said:

can i link up this app to my odbeleven? I haven't been able to get it working

no its not related to odbeleven, but I believe you'd need to manually look for the measuring parameters used to perform the same analysis.

I've got an Android phone and this app works fine. Might also be available for iPhone but would need to check.

Can you link the OBD module you are using? thanks

1 hour ago, SkodaKing said:

Can you link the OBD module you are using? thanks

ELM327 Bluetooth 2.0 ODB2 interface

Cost me about £2.50 when I got one.

Edited 22 May, 20251 yr by ffvrs

Very interesting, thank you for monitoring and analysing 👍

On 20/05/2025 at 12:37, ffvrs said:

Aggressive Driving:
Hard acceleration or racing the engine increases soot production, meaning regenerations are needed more frequently.

Do you think the often quoted recommendation to drive on the motorway in a low gear to complete a regen might make things worse?!

The problem I have is that I often do a journey where a stretch of dual carriageway close to home triggers a regen but isn't long enough for it to complete.

Edited 22 May, 20251 yr by D402

5 minutes ago, D402 said:

Very interesting, thank you for monitoring and analysing 👍

Do you think the often quoted recommendation to drive on the motorway in a low gear to complete a regen might make things worse?!

The problem I have is that I often do a journey where a stretch of dual carriageway close to home triggers a regen but isn't long enough for it to complete.

Well I don't know who quoted the recommendation to drive in a low gear but my observations are that it doesn't speed up the process. I got better results putting the car in manual mode (as it's a DSG) and maintaining a constant 2000rpm.

The car appears to need a constant high 600+ degrees temperature to achieve adequate soot burn. If you drive steady it appears to me that it is able to regulate that high temperature, whereas if you drive hard the ECU must have a harder challenge trying to keep a balanced temperature and thus with that approach I've seen the burn temperatures go up and down constantly as the ECU tries to stop things getting too hot (presume to avoid risk of fire).

In the grand scheme of things is it worth worrying about... probably not as we're talking about a process that takes between 10-20mins to complete once it's started. 10mins is the best regen time I've seen with constant throttle vs 20mins with varied throttle behaviours.

I have had quite a bit of success using a "Diesel Decarboniser" for DPF problems, so I would say not all fuel additives are equal