10 years of 2.0 diesel Passats: the MPG truth

[Markbarry1977]

I have a bmw m135i. Driving it like a saint on cruise at 50 might return 40mpg. Normally I average 30mpg. Pushing on

Got to admire the Diesel engine. My 123d averaged mid forties and my wife’s 125d manages high 40 low 50.

[stackmonkey]

oceanview said:

icepop said:

Interesting, I have similar for my last 4 diesels too, over a period of 12 years :

VW BORA ..................1.9 /150......180K miles..........55mpg
SEAT LEON................2.0/ 140.......147K miles.........57mpg
SEAT TOLEDO...........1.6/105........130K miles.........60mpg
SEAT LEON................1.6/105.........46K miles..........62mpg currently

mainly rural/town driving, several big euro trips to the alps......'sympathetic' driving style where appropriate.

Very "sympathetic" i'd say .

Most people would get nowhere near that unless driving very sedately.

I'd agree.
I had a SEAT Toledo with the same engine (albeit mapped mid-ownership) and averaged 48mpg over 80k. It would do 55-60 mpg on a decent run.(Official combined figure was 53.x mpg)
Followed by a VW Passat TD 170 which has done 43.2mpg over 35k., (Official combined 46.mpg)

[oceanview]

matt21 said:

Some real examples. I have Spreadsheets galore too

2004 Passat 1.9 TDI 130 - 117-200k and counting. 48.5mpg
2016 330d xDrive Touring - 3-10k and counting. 39.1mpg
1967 Land Rover Series 2A petrol - 65-67k and counting. 14.7mpg
2004 M3 CSL - 63-67k and counting. 23.5mpg
2014 M135i - 0-20k. 31.7mpg
2000 530iA - 142-185k. 27.2mpg
2010 Cooper S - 2-40k. 40.8mpg
2005 Cooper S - 10-50k. 30.2mpg
2003 Cooper - 0-42k. 38.3mpg
1994 BMW 525i Touring. 30.8mpg

Of them all the 2010 Cooper S and M135i impressed me the most. All driven on long runs with the faster cars driven harder

Blimey- 4 vehicles to tax/insure/mot and service/repair- and I thought one was bad enough!

[keeling54]

LotusOmega375D said:

I have kept a daily log of mileage and diesel purchases for my work cars for the past 15 years. Sadly I no longer have the data for the first 5 years on my computer, but I do still have the last 10 and a half years' worth.

As I have just this week swapped my last car for a new one, I thought it would be interesting to see what the actual MPG values for each car turned out to be. None of this dash computer display guesswork, which so many people seem to swallow as gospel. All cars were bought new and replaced after 3 years.

So here we go:

2005 saloon (140 BHP manual): 41.6 MPG
2008 estate (140 BHP manual): 44.8 MPG
2011 estate (140 BHP manual): 47.1 MPG
2014 estate 4WD All-Track (170 BHP DSG auto): 37.3 MPG

All cars have led a similar life (same rural home and job) and been primarily used for long journeys for work or holiday (no commuting at all), so I doubt that any real-world owner would achieve more MPG than this.

I have now gone back to a 2WD manual estate with the latest car, albeit 190 bhp, so am hoping to get back into the mid 40s MPG. I certainly don't think the 170 BHP 4WD DSG auto was worth the extra 20% fuel consumption over its predecessor. Unless you really need the traction of 4WD, I don't think it makes much sense to specify it.

My 2008 140BHP passat got no where near 45mpg, closer to 30mpg and that was over 60k mile. most of it was short journeys with the occasional long holiday trip.

[2ono]

On the school run my C63s does about 9mpg, I’ve averaged 17.5mpg over the last 2500 miles, and I once saw 29.8 mpg average on a M25 trip to Heathrow.

[oceanview]

2ono said:

On the school run my C63s does about 9mpg, I’ve averaged 17.5mpg over the last 2500 miles, and I once saw 29.8 mpg average on a M25 trip to Heathrow.

Holligan!!!

[spookly]

2ono said:

On the school run my C63s does about 9mpg, I’ve averaged 17.5mpg over the last 2500 miles, and I once saw 29.8 mpg average on a M25 trip to Heathrow.

That sounds like the school run I used to do in a Range Rover. 7 mpg average. It was up a 1/6 hill from cold, along the hill, down a 1/3 hill and along to the school, then return home. Engine had only just about warmed up when I parked it back at home.

[Russ T Bolt]

gazza285 said:

LotusOmega375D said:

Road2Ruin said:

Not sure you do! My XC60 D4 163bhp, after filling up this morning I worked it out as 43.7mpg. That is a usual trip of 14 miles a day, 6 country roads, 8 town.

That’s nothing special, is it?

I get what he is saying, the Volvo is bigger, heavier, has four wheel drive, and the figures are from a short daily commute over local roads, and yet are 6mpg better than what you manage from the most similar vehicle on mainly long runs.

I thought the lower powered XC60's were front wheel drive, may be wrong.

An Outlander PHEV (same size as XC60 and 4wd) would do several hundred mpg over that profile.

[anonymous-user]

I've been pleasantly surprised by the economy of my 2004 X-type 2.0 diesel - with the Mk3 Mondeo TDCi lump

Even with 190k on the clock it has averaged over 61mpg for the last 3000 miles. It probably needs new injectors, as it smokes in a comedic manner when accelerating hard, but this doesn't seem to affect the economy.

I tried selling it a few months ago, but there was zero interest - so I'll just enjoy relatively 'free' motoring for a bit longer.

[talksthetorque]

I'll be honest here OP, I think those figures are absolutely terrible if you were trying for economy.
If you weren't, then fair enough, they're about right, if a little low, but that might be due to roads, town driving etc.

I've had 2 x Leon FR TDIs ( 2006, 2.0 170PD, 2015 2.0 184 CR) both Manual and I struggled to get below 50mpg in either of them over a tank.
Also a 2012 Exeo 140CR, and again, never below 50 mpg ( actual figures, brim to brim, not OBD) and usually over 55mpg.
A 1.9 115 Golf IV GT TDI (1999) and Finally I had a 2006 Passat 1.9 115 and they both ran at 45mpg according to my records.
None of these cars were driven slowly, with the exception of the Exeo when the fuel card was replaced with a per mile rate

Finally a little picture from my current VAG 4wd AUTO, after a trip from Newark to Lowestoft, driving at the speed limit where possible, and a few overtakes of lorries, tractors, and a few cars who just like to sit behind.


3.0 V6 Turbo Petrol - 350bhp - Althought I don't think I used all of them on that trip)

[carmadgaz]

Used to keep record of my mpg but my I seem to have stopped this year.

I found the obvious that journey type and driving style make a serious difference. My second car was a 1997 106 1.5D and I (being 18 at the time) drove the nuts off that little tin can. Still didn't get less than 46mpg and on a holiday run being a little less heavy footed I got 64!

Best out of my current 2 was a motorway blast in my MX-5 (36) but when doing a short hop commute I was barely getting 20! Quite heavy for a 1.8!

[LotusOmega375D]

The MPG figures were not for some sort of economy drive: just REAL values after 10.5 years of new car ownership. I am staggered that people think they’re too low. They just aren’t. Sorry guys.

[to3m]

If I wanted 47.1mpg from my BMW 320d (148hp, 2001-4 era engine) or 44.8mpg from my 330d (184hp, 1999-2003 era engine) then I had to go on a 100+mile journey, predominantly on the motorway at a fairly steady speed. As long-term averages, I actually think these are pretty good.

Not surprised you're a bit unhappy with 37.3mpg from the newer model though!

[Teebs]

Long term average on my 2015 Skoda Superb 2.0 Tdi 150 over 61k is 55.6mpg, measured on Fuelio

Can get 70mpg on a run, worst tank ever was 45 and that was with a roof box on.

We get 11p/mile from work, so I make around 2p/mile which adds up when you're doing 2,500 'business' miles a month

[anonymous-user]

10+ years in 140hp diesel Passats? You have my absolute sympathy

[LotusOmega375D]

Haha. It’s actually been 15+ years. At least I have progressed a little up the power chart from 130 to 190bhp of my new one. None of them have ever gone wrong either. Perhaps more importantly there has always been at least one fun car in my garage throughout to maintain my sanity.

[GroundEffect]

220s plenty said:

mclwanB said:

Driving at very low revs in a modern manual diesel strains the dual mass flywheel promoting failure.

Source? Also what's defined as low revs?

Well it is true. It's what the DMF is for... they're there to ALLOW low rev usage without terrible torsional therefore NVH issues.

Source? I design them...

[anonymous-user]

LotusOmega375D said:

Haha. It’s actually been 15+ years. At least I have progressed a little up the power chart from 130 to 190bhp of my new one. None of them have ever gone wrong either. Perhaps more importantly there has always been at least one fun car in my garage throughout to maintain my sanity.

[donkmeister]

I wonder if there is any effect from people driving more sedately as they get older? Mpg could improve even if the cars themselves get no more efficient.

[willmagrath]

Fabia vrs 1.9 tdi on my daily commute: 48 real mpg.

A new ish fiesta st ecoboost on the same commute saw 42 real mpg.

Not bad imo