How long for an engine to loosen up and MPG to improve?
Discussion
I have had my new Octavia vRS TDi now for over a week and have covered 1000 miles.
I love the car but am a little underwhelmed by the fuel consumption to date - struggling to get over 48mpg even on a steady 65mph motorway run - I was expecting mid to high 50's.
Of course the engine is brand new so what sorts of improvements am I likely to see and after how long?
Maybe I was spoilt from an economy point of view with my last car, a 320D Efficient Dynamics which was almost tee-total!
Steve
I love the car but am a little underwhelmed by the fuel consumption to date - struggling to get over 48mpg even on a steady 65mph motorway run - I was expecting mid to high 50's.
Of course the engine is brand new so what sorts of improvements am I likely to see and after how long?
Maybe I was spoilt from an economy point of view with my last car, a 320D Efficient Dynamics which was almost tee-total!
Steve
My A4 Tecnic , which is the Audi answer to the BMW ED 320, mine is doing a life time average of 45.4 which is some 30% down on Audi claims of 64 and it only has 140bhp, but Audi were taken to task over their MPG claims by ASA last year and had to pull some adds , Most companies are 10-15 percent down on advertised MPG figures
Oh it's done just short of 40 k miles so should be loose now .
In fact over the last 5k miles it's dropped from 46
Oh it's done just short of 40 k miles so should be loose now .
In fact over the last 5k miles it's dropped from 46
Edited by Chippo1 on Tuesday 5th May 19:48
I have always worked on getting the figure quoted for the urban cycle as an overall one and to date on everything from BMW 320D to Vantage V8 it has been within 1 or 2 MPG of that.
Manufacturers can tune their modern cars and gearboxes to suit the test so unless you never use the accelerator you aren't going to get near their figures.
Would think that 48 MPG for the car in question isn't unreasonable and is likely to improve once it is properly loosened up, the wife's 120D has worked out to 51 MPG over its 70,000 miles and it has less power then the Octavia in question.
Manufacturers can tune their modern cars and gearboxes to suit the test so unless you never use the accelerator you aren't going to get near their figures.
Would think that 48 MPG for the car in question isn't unreasonable and is likely to improve once it is properly loosened up, the wife's 120D has worked out to 51 MPG over its 70,000 miles and it has less power then the Octavia in question.
Chippo1 said:
My A4 Tecnic , which is the Audi answer to the BMW ED 320, mine is doing a life time average of 45.4 which is some 30% down on Audi claims of 64 and it only has 140bhp, but Audi were taken to task over their MPG claims by ASA last year and had to pull some adds , Most companies are 10-15 percent down on advertised MPG figures
Oh it's done just short of 40 k miles so should be loose now .
In fact over the last 5k miles it's dropped from 46
This is my A4 Technik mine is worse than your's tracked in now for just over a year 82 full tanks and just over 35k miles.Oh it's done just short of 40 k miles so should be loose now .
In fact over the last 5k miles it's dropped from 46
Edited by Chippo1 on Tuesday 5th May 19:48
Car now has 73k on it I have had it from new should have started Fuelly earlier I don't think the VAG engines do 'loosen up'.
Very interesting as I said mines dropping off with age now at 38k miles so if anything the opposite of loosening up.
Engine is some what noisier than it was, more tractorish as well
Me thinks it's time some one got hold of the manufacturers and the European gov and hit their heads together and made them tell the truth , Audi claims vis a vi the real world are so far removed from each other to be on the point fraud
Then again we have a brand new Citroen Cactus loan car at work being driven by every one , it had 100 miles on the clock and is showing 61 mpg at the moment after 2000 miles of very mixed town , motorway and a multitude of drivers none of which are noted for being light foot larry,s
Engine is some what noisier than it was, more tractorish as well
Me thinks it's time some one got hold of the manufacturers and the European gov and hit their heads together and made them tell the truth , Audi claims vis a vi the real world are so far removed from each other to be on the point fraud
Then again we have a brand new Citroen Cactus loan car at work being driven by every one , it had 100 miles on the clock and is showing 61 mpg at the moment after 2000 miles of very mixed town , motorway and a multitude of drivers none of which are noted for being light foot larry,s
In answer to the op's original question, I believe that new cars don't not reach their optimal efficiency until around 10K miles. From my own experience, which isn't scientific, only what I sort of felt. My last 4 new cars (which were new, not new to me i.e used) all were thirstier than I expected for the first 1-2k, they then started to steadily improve for the next 2-5k miles, but once 10k rolled around they all seamed to just settle down, go a bit better and become a bit better on fuel.
these were all VAG cars, 2006 A4 avant 2.0turbo petrol, a 2011 3.0 TDi A6 avant and a 3.0bitdi A6 avant. the 3.0tdi A6 was the most noticeable. I could never get anywhere near 40mpg crusing up the motorway at reasonable speeds, but as the miles clicked over 10K it started to return 40-44mpg on the same run to the mother in laws and I was getting around 20 miles extra per tank on give and take motoring. I have my own theory as to why, but I won't bore you with it.
Like I said no science involved, just what I noticed.
these were all VAG cars, 2006 A4 avant 2.0turbo petrol, a 2011 3.0 TDi A6 avant and a 3.0bitdi A6 avant. the 3.0tdi A6 was the most noticeable. I could never get anywhere near 40mpg crusing up the motorway at reasonable speeds, but as the miles clicked over 10K it started to return 40-44mpg on the same run to the mother in laws and I was getting around 20 miles extra per tank on give and take motoring. I have my own theory as to why, but I won't bore you with it.
Like I said no science involved, just what I noticed.
Just to add my findings to this, I had a Superb for two years with the 170 bhp TDi engine.
Fuel economy improved after 10,000 miles, but also don't forget that fuel economy tends to be better in warmer weather too.
Anyway, after two years and 34,000 miles, my rolling real (calculated) average was a shade under 50 mpg (49.7 or something). I tended to drive on cruise at 70 mph on the motorway, but was quite heavy footed around town. A long, gentle motorway drive without much of a headwind could get indicated MPG up to around the 60 mpg mark, which is a real figure of around 55.
So as a starting figure for a new car, you're not doing too badly OP. I would expect this to improve over time, obviously depending on driving style, and your local roads (lots of hills/stop start makes a big difference).
Fuel economy improved after 10,000 miles, but also don't forget that fuel economy tends to be better in warmer weather too.
Anyway, after two years and 34,000 miles, my rolling real (calculated) average was a shade under 50 mpg (49.7 or something). I tended to drive on cruise at 70 mph on the motorway, but was quite heavy footed around town. A long, gentle motorway drive without much of a headwind could get indicated MPG up to around the 60 mpg mark, which is a real figure of around 55.
So as a starting figure for a new car, you're not doing too badly OP. I would expect this to improve over time, obviously depending on driving style, and your local roads (lots of hills/stop start makes a big difference).
Trailhead said:
My vag 2.0tdi 150hp variant is getting 62mpg combined.
Its the new A3 though which I suspect is much lighter than your Skoda.
About 120 kg, less than you'd expect, but I suppose the weight of a very fat person. Not sure it's enough to result in a 14 mpg difference at a motorway cruise where the weight shouldn't have much of an impact. Its the new A3 though which I suspect is much lighter than your Skoda.
I have a 2012 vRS CR DSG which I bought with 9½K miles on the clock. It has now covered over 29K miles and the fuel consumption has definitely improved. When purchased a regular 207 mile journey was returning around 46mpg and the same journey now shows 51mpg. My driving style hasn't changed and I don't drive with economy as my main aim. The mpg figures quoted are from the Maxidot readout and numerous long term checks have confirmed that it is optimistic by around 5%. Your car should be more economical than mine.
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