Hi Dormouse, what brand of diesel do you use? I have been using a local Shell station and was getting the figures I quoted in my earlier post. Filled up with Tesco yesterday and now getting upper 40's on motorway and upper 30's on non motorway. Does anyone think different brands give different results?

Yes, I do find they make some difference though I only really use two (Tesco & Ultimate). Mostly I use Tesco, especially when it is 5p a litre off, but will use Ultimate when the premium isn't too high. Don't know that it makes much of a difference motorway cruising; Ultimate is better in town etc & feels and sounds much smoother.

If you go the Superb route make sure it is silly cheap as the market for them isnt good, we have a 2.0 Elegance 18 months old bought from new & we were offered 10,000 for it, older ones are even cheaper & with the new superb out shortly & the declining economy values are likely to take another hit, avoid the 2.0 like the plague, the DPF will come to haunt you & skodas attitude is "were not interested"

Hope this helps

Stuart

Gotta add to this Stu, the residuals on a Superb might not be that good when it comes to PXing, but look on Auto Trader and you will find they have strong residual when it comes to the dealer selling them, also as Stu said avoid the 2.0 unless you like the garage coffee enough.

I have an '05 model year basic 130 PS manual diesel. It's generally agreed that this engine option is the pick of the bunch and that the diesels have become worse as they have been made to comply with Euro Cat IV (mine is the last of the Cat IIIs).

Although I'm totally ****ed off with the dealers, the car does exactly what I want and the fuel economy is really excellent. If it proves to be reliable I will be well pleased with it. Depreciation is another story though, and my plan is to run the thing into the ground - easy with cheap pattern VAG spares and diagnostic software.

Mine is still fairly low mileage and has folding seats so I suppose in the light of the changes they have made to the diesels, it's quite a good specimen.

I was still surprised yesterday to be made quite a good cash offer for it by a taxi driver - just out of the blue. It seems that as usual, the trade know which ones are worth having.

I declined his offer.

rotodiesel.

Thanks Muddy, I found the same was true was with Rover 75. Shell very good Tesco very poor unless of course the Shell filling station I use has been doctoring the fuel. Do not want to start thinking that way really but the difference is remarkable. I had the same thought as you could it be differing engine set up. Not being a mechanic this seemed a little off the wall.

70-75MPG! Really?! I have a VRS and the most iv had on the trip comp is 71 and that was driving like a granny and coasting! How fast do you drive on the motorway to get them readings?

Hmm, I turn my back for a couple of days and a small three-post thread turns into two pages!

70-75mpg is my normal Stafford - Redditch commute, 70-75mph 95% motorway and driving, er, "carefully". I think it's that 6th gear. The same journey with my Superb gets be 50-55mpg.

...hence why I borrow mum's VRS when I can!

EDIT: I've just read the post above this one, both figures are obtained using Shell Diesel Extra, not that supermarket bleach they call diesel. Perhaps that makes a difference.

Mine is still fairly low mileage and has folding seats so I suppose in the light of the changes they have made to the diesels, it's quite a good specimen.

Hm, post-hijack somewhat, but do you happen to know if this would be a possible retro-fit, rotodiesel?

Retrofitting folding seats would be a major job not worth doing. Folding seats was an essential part of my purchase spec and I had a look at both types. I suspect the Superb is a bit marginal on torsional rigidity of the shell because the seat "opening" is heavily gusetted with reinforcing plates.

If you took the rear bulkhead out of a pre-'05 Superb, it would be like taking the hardboard back off an Ikea kitchen cupboard....

I do wish VAG had done the job properly and made the seats fold flat - I decided it would just about do the job.

rotodiesel.

Hm, post-hijack somewhat, but do you happen to know if this would be a possible retro-fit, rotodiesel?

Anything can be done, however there is a full, welded in bulkhead behind your seats, so that would need to be cut out to begin with, so as you can see its not a simple job.

Shell and Tesco etc diesel is all the same, you wont get any different mpg figures just from where you bought it.

Go anywhere near your local refinery and watch all the different lorries filling up at the same tank, and no, they dont add different additives afterwards.

I can't believe people are getting such good economy out of their Superbs. The best I have ever done was 52mpg on a run from the Midlands to Southampton and that was taking it very easy (for me).

When I was travelling to Birmingham daily (35 miles each way on mainly country roads) I was averaging 43mpg. I usually get over 500 miles to the tank, but not much more - don't think I've ever seen over 550.

I'll start piling on the miles this week as I'm starting a job with a 160mile a day commute. The vast majority of that is motorway, so I'm hoping for 45mpg. I'm sure I can get 50mpg, but I've got to really concentrate to drive that gently!

Mine's a manual PD130.

How does the fuel consumption of your '05 Superb compare with the '04?

Don't forget that the dealers have a habit of not changing the air cleaner elements - the book is unclear (no surprises there) but whilst some Skodas are specified to run to 40k miles on the original element (!) the Superb needs a change at 20k.

This happened to me - a new element improved the consumption and performance considerably. More seriously, on any turbocharged engine, restricting the intake will cause blowby gases and oil to be drawn into the intake. Don't run these vehicles with a dirty aircleaner. A new element is about £5 from GSF.

rotodiesel.

How does the fuel consumption of your '05 Superb compare with the '04?

Don't forget that the dealers have a habit of not changing the air cleaner elements - the book is unclear (no surprises there) but whilst some Skodas are specified to run to 40k miles on the original element (!) the Superb needs a change at 20k.

This happened to me - a new element improved the consumption and performance considerably. More seriously, on any turbocharged engine, restricting the intake will cause blowby gases and oil to be drawn into the intake. Don't run these vehicles with a dirty aircleaner. A new element is about £5 from GSF.

rotodiesel.

I have just replaced my filter with a 'performance' version and I am unsure whether it's the fact it's a cleaner filter or a 'perfomance' one but it certainly runs better so I would have to agree with rotodiesel on this one......

How does the fuel consumption of your '05 Superb compare with the '04?

Don't forget that the dealers have a habit of not changing the air cleaner elements - the book is unclear (no surprises there) but whilst some Skodas are specified to run to 40k miles on the original element (!) the Superb needs a change at 20k.

rotodiesel.

Fuel consumption is much the same between the 04 reg and the 55 reg - I think it's more to do with my lead foot than the car. It was serviced about 2500 miles ago, so hopefully the air filter was done then

Have a look at it. The air filter is one part of a vehicle you can judge by appearance. If it hasn't been changed when it should, perhaps you could let us know who was negligent.

Beware "performance" air cleaners. Why throw away all the testing done by VAG? Why not a "performance" fuel filter? I can't understand why these things get fitted - I suppose it's something to fiddle with on top of the engine without going too far in - and you might be able to see it.

I used to test engines for a living and air filters are very carefully designed. On a PD diesel, you stand to damage the MAF and the turbocharger if there are any shortcomings. If the "performance" version produces a bit of intake roar, it fools a lot of people - the dynamometer will tell you otherwise. Anyway, a new proper one is dirt cheap - about £25 per 100,000 miles.

rotodiesel.

Beware "performance" air cleaners. Why throw away all the testing done by VAG? Why not a "performance" fuel filter? I can't understand why these things get fitted - I suppose it's something to fiddle with on top of the engine without going too far in - and you might be able to see it.

I used to test engines for a living and air filters are very carefully designed. On a PD diesel, you stand to damage the MAF and the turbocharger if there are any shortcomings. If the "performance" version produces a bit of intake roar, it fools a lot of people - the dynamometer will tell you otherwise. Anyway, a new proper one is dirt cheap - about £25 per 100,000 miles.

rotodiesel.

If we are going to be realistic then most 'performance' additions to any car move away from 'all the testing done by VAG' and while I agree that this is the case and agree with your comments, people do this including myself....

I assume that you would have the same opinion on 'Chips and Maps' but with your extensive knowledge of the Superb or B5.5 Passat as you refer to it, you know that all things are Designed to a set tolerance and there is always room for improvement or to push the Design to the limit......

I have noticed no 'roar' from the filter but have observed a slightly better performance already.....

Granted though a clean and cheap filter, as designated for the specified vehicle will improve running over an worn dirty unit.....

If you want the best mpg out of a Superb (especially the 2.5), it is important to realise the importance of conserving momentum. Actual speed is not an issue (at least at speeds up to about 80 mph; I don't know about higher). Remembering this, you can get a reasonable mpg at highish speeds out of the 2.5 with high levels of comfort and with very good acceleration available when you need it. What you won't get is the agility you can get with a smaller car and that BMWs etc seem to aim for.

Very good points. To add to this, from my experience, the speed does not matter up until around 110mph.

At 130mph you get fuel consumption of about 11l/100km, ie about 25mpg. I would say it is not bad at all, considering the speed, and the comfort in the cabin at that speed.

I travel a lot across Europe, with the bulk of trip distances across Germany. I'd say my car is doing around 30% of total mileage above 120mph, and another 40% of total mileage above 90mph...

Blimey.

I notice a real difference in economy above 80, so tend to stick to around 75 on the speedo tbh.

I used to get over 50mpg on the display, but now I get about 46mpg on motorway jaunts, but brim to brim calcs show that as accurate.

from my experience, the speed does not matter up until around 110mph.

Sorry, got to disagree, it makes a big difference from 80mph.

At 130mph you get fuel consumption of about 11l/100km, ie about 25mpg.

25mpg @ 130mph? this is from a car that can do nearly double that and you think 25mpg is good!

25mpg at 130mph is good!!

Just wish it was possible in the UK.

Tom, the point i was trying to get across is first you double your fuel consumption, then think that its good / acceptable.

Well what price do you put on your time?? If you can do a 4hr journey in 2hrs for the sake of a couple of gallons of fuel then its probably worth it.

Do see your point though, but on the same level, is it worth pootling along at 55mph to get another 10mpg?

200 miles @ average 50mph & 50 mpg = 4 gallons

200 miles @ average 100mph & 25mpg = 8 gallons

So the same trip has cost twice the amount (about £20 more)

It all comes down to who is paying for the fuel i suppose?

I have worked for company's before who give you a £50 per week "fuel bonus" - just for getting a very easily obtainable average mpg over the week.

That would be awesome if you got a bonus for driving economically.

£20 for getting somewhere 2 hrs earlier... even I earn more than £10/hr...

If Skoda/VW really cared about mpg at higher speeds, they'd have put much taller 6th gear on the 2.5TDI. But they didn't.

Basically, the gearing in 6th is the same as for the 130PD Octavia.

Which is silly, given the smooth V6, similar driveline loss and 20%more power.

As for cost of fuel vs time vs being green and all, make your own calculations.

But if you really want to show off how green you are with the Superb, get the 105/130PD engine and drive around at 55mph. Remember to fuel up with biodiesel, too.

Personally, I prefer to stick to V6, fuel up with biodiesel (B80 summer, B30 winter, lots of biodiesel stations across Germany), and save time on every trip.

On the drive home yesterday (80 miles mostly M1) I averaged 42.9mpg, but that was doing around 80 and a little above now and again. On the way up here tonight, I was stuck in traffic and had a lower average speed which gave me 49.7mpg which I think is okay for such a big car. Traffic was crawling in a couple of places, so would have been over 50mpg if it weren't fot that.