Stupid question. What gear do you use, and at what speed? I've been disappointed with the mpg on my vrs (but put it down to the fact I mainly do journeys of abour 6 miles) but recently have been using a much higher gear (ie 5th at +35mph and 6th at +40mph) and my miles per gallon have improved dramatically. I'm not doing anything that might cause any damage am I? The revs stay low but the engine isn't struggling at all, and the car still responds and picks up if I put my foot down.

Matthew

Should be fine then!

I'm just used to driving my old impreza where you had to have the car in the right gear or it wouldn't go anywhere, I know it's a stupid question but it's the first (and probably the last) new car I've bought, and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one driving like a granny to get good mpg figures!

TFSI or TDI?

In my TDI I tend to use, for gentle driving without labouring the engine; I change to 2nd @ 20mph, 3rd @ 40mph, 4th @ 40mph etc.

Having said that, 4th has a really well set ratio being able to run from under 30mph up to just over 90mph; don't really need any other gear. :eek: although fuel consumption wouldn't be that good.

When it's warm my TFSI will amble along in 5th at 30mph quite happily. I wouldn't force it up a hill in that gear but it's fine. And into 6th at 40mph unless I'm accelerating. It's pretty flexible.

My in town mpg would be about 26mpg.

Yesterday I got 38mpg on a 60mph SC road with some rapid overtaking (30miles).

On the motorway at 70-75mph I can get 33-35mpg and maybe a bit more when it's warmer.

Sorry I should have said its a TSFI. The cars only done 1700 miles and I seem to average about 25mpg (mainly city driving). For the last few days I've been putting the car into a much higher gear than I normally would and have been getting 31mpg on the same journey. I never let the car struggle, and I change back to lower gear if it feels like it's struggling. It just doesn't seem right driving round in 6th gear at 40mph.

My vRS seems happy enough at 30 in 6th. Fuel consumption will improve slightly as the engine loosens up. Average city fuel consumption is around 27mpg, but has been as high as 31 mpg and as low as 18.

Mathew, I had the TFSI vrs for nearly 2 years and averaged 33mpg doing what you now do. As long as the engine doesn't labour it is fine. I have a 3.2 v6 Audi A3 before and was suprised at how well the vrs pulled at low revs.

My vRS seems happy enough at 30 in 6th. Fuel consumption will improve slightly as the engine loosens up. Average city fuel consumption is around 27mpg, but has been as high as 31 mpg and as low as 18.

If you are tootling around in 6th @ 30mph you must have really low revs (not much more than tickover) and how much control of the vehicle have you got.

IMHO and as advised by a 'performance' driving instructor, the modern predilections for economy (as advised in the Highway Code for starters) is all wrong!!

You should have full control of your car at all times and that means being in an appropriate gear for road speed that will allow reasonable acceleration!!!!

You do need to let it rev a bit though the gears to get best MPG

You do need to let it rev a bit though the gears to get best MPG

Get thee behind me satan, my drive to work daily is typical city driving, I rarely get the chance to actually put my foot down hence the new game to see what mpg I can get. Weekends are for revving:thumbup:

At those speeds the throttle pedal only changes the engine note and nothing else. Even modern agricultural tractors are not deigned to labour like that.

If you are tootling around in 6th @ 30mph you must have really low revs (not much more than tickover) and how much control of the vehicle have you got.

IMHO and as advised by a 'performance' driving instructor, the modern predilections for economy (as advised in the Highway Code for starters) is all wrong!!

You should have full control of your car at all times and that means being in an appropriate gear for road speed that will allow reasonable acceleration!!!!

Engine is doing around 1100 rpm at 30 in 6th, not chugging or anything, remember it takes more power to get up to a speed, to maintain a speed requires very little engine power. With regards to the comment about having full control to allow for reasonable acceleration, if I need to accelerate then I just drop a gear, or 4 , and press the peddle on the right, takes maybe half a second .

In all seriousness though, I think even in 6th gear my car will keep up with a bus at 30 mph, even if he tries to accelerate. Also, I'm pretty sure its recommended that people try to read the road ahead, which means looking beyond the car directly in front, so if the traffic speed does increase for any reason I have plenty of time to change gear to accelerate.

I agree with apd007. Reading the road ahead is essential not only for fuel consumption, but also road safety as well. And it's not just accelerating that uses fuel - too much use of the brakes uses just as much. So if you can adjust your driving so that most of the control is on the accelerator so that you avoid too much heavy acceleration and braking, I think you will find a significant improvement in fuel consumption.