Cupra 290 drop in fuel consumption

[LiamCupra290]

Hi all,
Hoping there might be someone who can offer a bit of advice. My Cupra 290 used to comfortably get 40mpg on the motorway but over the last 6 months I’ve seen quite an abrupt change and currently 31/32 appears to be the absolute maximum I can achieve (60mph cruise control on the motorway).

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions on what this could likely be? I seem to recall when I first bought the car that the EGR on these VAG engines was poor and prone to failure and that a aftermarket version was available but I honestly can not find any info on the EGR for this car never mind find a spare part....

 

[Cuprabenwytm]

My cupra has never seen 40 mpg even driving like a granny in crusie control at 56, 31 32 max low 20s when toeing it

 

[Damo H]

My cupra has never seen 40 mpg even driving like a granny in crusie control at 56, 31 32 max low 20s when toeing it

Newer cars have the higher 7th gear our earlier cars don't have sadly. Which is why the new cars are more economical on the motorway.

 

[Damo H]

Hi all,
Hoping there might be someone who can offer a bit of advice. My Cupra 290 used to comfortably get 40mpg on the motorway but over the last 6 months I’ve seen quite an abrupt change and currently 31/32 appears to be the absolute maximum I can achieve (60mph cruise control on the motorway).

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions on what this could likely be? I seem to recall when I first bought the car that the EGR on these VAG engines was poor and prone to failure and that a aftermarket version was available but I honestly can not find any info on the EGR for this car never mind find a spare part....

This is all (semi) educated guess from me, so happy to be told I'm completely wrong on any or all of it:

1. Could it be that you are not doing long enough runs to get the GPF/OPF/PPF hot enough to burn off any particle build up. This may mean:
   
   a) GPF/OPF/PPF is getting clogged reducing fuel efficiently.
   
   b) To combat the above the ECU is running the engine hotter/less efficient to try and burn off the excess particles on the GPF/OPF/PPF.
   
   
   
2. What fuel are you using? Not saying it is, but if you're using a cheap fuel or lower octane, that could be a contributing factor to the above.
   
   
   
3. Finally the newer cars I don't think have port injection, and this helps reduce carbon build up. So if you are doing a lot of miles this may also be the reason why.

Sorry can't help much more than that.

 

[LiamCupra290]

This is all (semi) educated guess from me, so happy to be told I'm completely wrong on any or all of it:

1. Could it be that you are not doing long enough runs to get the GPF/OPF/PPF hot enough to burn off any particle build up. This may mean:
   
   a) GPF/OPF/PPF is getting clogged reducing fuel efficiently.
   
   b) To combat the above the ECU is running the engine hotter/less efficient to try and burn off the excess particles on the GPF/OPF/PPF.
   
   
   
2. What fuel are you using? Not saying it is, but if you're using a cheap fuel or lower octane, that could be a contributing factor to the above.
   
   
   
3. Finally the newer cars I don't think have port injection, and this helps reduce carbon build up. So if you are doing a lot of miles this may also be the reason why.

Sorry can't help much more than that.

Appreciate you taking the time for this response, I have a 20 mile each way commute and it’s mostly 60/70 so I do a fair bit of acceleration etc but even when driving carefully on a solid stretch of 60 I struggle to get higher than 30.
I used Tesco’s 99 fuel and always have done!
It’s the fact I’ve not changed anything which is confusing to me, it’s quite a large and sudden drop!

 

[SRGTD]

@LiamCupra290; I suppose it’s possible that that the additives in Tesco’s premium fuel may have changed.

Are you using your car’s calculated mpg to measure your fuel consumption? If so, I suppose it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that there might be an issue with your car’s fuel computer. It would probably be worth manually calculating your cars mpg over a few tank fulls of petrol if you don’t already do this, and compare the results to the figures calculated by the car.

I know you’ve said you’ve not changed anything, but just checking you haven’t recently replaced your tyres with a different tyre brand that might have a different fuel efficiency rating to the previous tyres. Have you checked your tyre pressures recently? If your tyre pressures are low, then that could adversely affect your mpg.

 

[Alzak]

Hi all,
Hoping there might be someone who can offer a bit of advice. My Cupra 290 used to comfortably get 40mpg on the motorway but over the last 6 months I’ve seen quite an abrupt change and currently 31/32 appears to be the absolute maximum I can achieve (60mph cruise control on the motorway).

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions on what this could likely be? I seem to recall when I first bought the car that the EGR on these VAG engines was poor and prone to failure and that a aftermarket version was available but I honestly can not find any info on the EGR for this car never mind find a spare part....

Did you replaced tyres recently if not check tracking wrong setting do have bug impact on fuel economy...

Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[Cuprabenwytm]

Newer cars have the higher 7th gear our earlier cars don't have sadly. Which is why the new cars are more economical on the motorway.

Im a manual man aswell which probs adds to it

Sent from my MRD-LX1 using Tapatalk

 

[mty12345]

Is the thermostat ok, sometimes if they fail open the colder engine temp will cause a noticeable drop in MPG

 

[Nicholas Ellis]

Did a 216 mile round trip in mine on Saturday Driffield (near hull) to Nottingham and back
Highest seen was 42mpg average on motorway , after the A-roads home averaged 40.6 mpg.
I 1000% didn’t get the car for fuel economy but was doing my dad a favour and he was covering the fuel so wanted to drive it as efficient as I could.
(2020 Cupra 290 gpf, 7speed dsg)

 

[70 Plate- Cupra 290]

Have you maybe started to use the Heater/AC more than usual? This definitely does impact the fuel too..
but yeh 40MPG haha on a Cupra as nice as a number that is, This car isnt meant for MPG so dont worry about it and enjoy the car!
Since the day i got this car 5 months ago brand new, I have been on a average 22.3 MPG absolutely having a blast!

 

[Jimbobcook]

Strange, in my 300 4Drive I noticed this exact drop from 38's down to 30's over the longer distances for about a month, but as of last week they're now back up even though the fuel (V-Power) hasn't changed and the traffic is just as bad haha I have had a few more quicker drives during this last week due to nicer weather so maybe that helped but yeah same thing for me and it just sorted itself.

I had been doing a few shorter journeys as is expected in the current climate so I assume that's a big factor. Also noticed that I can now hear the exhaust pop (couldn't before) so maybe a giant turd of a filter has cleared or something haha

As above also now it's not so cold I imagine the heater is being used less.

MPG is a cruel mistress haha

 

[Kirky]

Hi all,
Hoping there might be someone who can offer a bit of advice. My Cupra 290 used to comfortably get 40mpg on the motorway but over the last 6 months I’ve seen quite an abrupt change and currently 31/32 appears to be the absolute maximum I can achieve (60mph cruise control on the motorway).

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions on what this could likely be? I seem to recall when I first bought the car that the EGR on these VAG engines was poor and prone to failure and that a aftermarket version was available but I honestly can not find any info on the EGR for this car never mind find a spare part....

Did you ever solve this issue? I've had my Cupra Lux since new for the last 2 years and it's just suddenly dropped from high 30s to mid 20s mpg.
I scanned for errors but no errors came up. Hoping it's just GPF related.

 

[SRGTD]

Did you ever solve this issue? I've had my Cupra Lux since new for the last 2 years and it's just suddenly dropped from high 30s to mid 20s mpg.
I scanned for errors but no errors came up. Hoping it's just GPF related.

Over what period have you seen this fairly significant drop in mpg?

Over on the VW Polo forum, owners of the GTI / GTI+ model with a GPF have reported that when a regeneration is happening, there can be a significant deterioration in fuel consumption. However, when the regen has completed, mpg returns to ‘normal’, so mpg drop as a result of a regen should only affect one tankful of fuel.

I have a Polo GTI+ and in a year of ownership I think I’ve only experienced one GPF regeneration. I say ‘think’ because I didn’t notice any drop in mpg, but I did notice some other symptoms that Polo GTI / GTI+ owners have experienced during the regeneration process - my car had a deeper, louder exhaust note and a ‘hot’ smell. Some owners have also said they noticed a slight lumpiness and hesitancy from the engine during a regeneration.

 

[Kirky]

Over what period have you seen this fairly significant drop in mpg?

Over on the VW Polo forum, owners of the GTI / GTI+ model with a GPF have reported that when a regeneration is happening, there can be a significant deterioration in fuel consumption. However, when the regen has completed, mpg returns to ‘normal’, so mpg drop as a result of a regen should only affect one tankful of fuel.

I have a Polo GTI+ and in a year of ownership I think I’ve only experienced one GPF regeneration. I say ‘think’ because I didn’t notice any drop in mpg, but I did notice some other symptoms that Polo GTI / GTI+ owners have experienced during the regeneration process - my car had a deeper, louder exhaust note and a ‘hot’ smell. Some owners have also said they noticed a slight lumpiness and hesitancy from the engine during a regeneration.

Just the one long trip so far. Usually get 38mpg on the same journey and got 26mpg driving exactly the same. Exhaust was pinging more than normal as if I'd been giving it some beans but I'd been driving it like miss daisy. Didn't feel any different to drive and no regen light and zero error codes.
Hoping it's just the GPF. Will find out when I take it out on some long runs.

 

[Cope]

Hi all,
I have a cupra ateca, I have had it 8 months and I have also noticed a drop in mpg, average trip to work 17 miles I used to get 32mpg - 40 if I really took care,
now I only get 23mpg and have noticed it’s running hot and the fans kick in more ( not over heating) exhaust is more throaty in normal driving mode and when in neutral it will not go over 4000 revs.
It is booked in 25th April so i will post my reason if any found.

 

[Glosphil]

A change from 40mpg to low 30s is a RISE in fuel consumption.
In my FR the change from E5 to E10 has caused slightly more petrol to be consumed; although you're probably using higher grade fuel which is still E5.

 

[SRGTD]

Hi all,
I have a cupra ateca, I have had it 8 months and I have also noticed a drop in mpg, average trip to work 17 miles I used to get 32mpg - 40 if I really took care,
now I only get 23mpg and have noticed it’s running hot and the fans kick in more ( not over heating) exhaust is more throaty in normal driving mode and when in neutral it will not go over 4000 revs.
It is booked in 25th April so i will post my reason if any found.

@Cope; it sounds to me like it’s your car’s GPF (gasoline particulate filter) going through an active regeneration.

It’s been discussed on a couple of the VW forums that unlike DPF’s on diesel cars where active regenerations are a fairly frequent occurrence and the driver is aware of them happening, GPF’s on petrol cars would pretty much regenerate passively, so the driver would be unaware of them taking place. However, based on my experience and other GPF-equipped Polo GTI’s over on uk-polos.net forum, this isn’t the case.

Since owning my VW Polo GTI+ 18 months, I‘ve been aware of a GPF regeneration taking place on three occasions. During the first two, the only signs were a slightly louder exhaust tone and a ‘hot’ smell, so I’ve concluded they were probably passive regens. The most recent (last Friday) was an active (forced) regeneration with all the tell tale signs experienced by other owners; very loud exhaust note, a lumpiness and hesitancy to the engine and a slight unwillingness to accelerate, a hot smell / fans running and a significant worsening fuel consumption - mpg dropped to around 20-21 mpg (usually, it’s in the mid 30’s to mid 40’s, depending on journey). These symptoms lasted around 10 miles and it’s now back to running normally again.

I suspect there’ll be no fault found with your car - that’s assuming the reason for symptoms you’ve outlined is a GPF regeneration. However, please report back once the dealer has investigated, or if it happens again in the meantime.

 

[Cope]

@Cope; it sounds to me like it’s your car’s GPF (gasoline particulate filter) going through an active regeneration.

It’s been discussed on a couple of the VW forums that unlike DPF’s on diesel cars where active regenerations are a fairly frequent occurrence and the driver is aware of them happening, GPF’s on petrol cars would pretty much regenerate passively, so the driver would be unaware of them taking place. However, based on my experience and other GPF-equipped Polo GTI’s over on uk-polos.net forum, this isn’t the case.

Since owning my VW Polo GTI+ 18 months, I‘ve been aware of a GPF regeneration taking place on three occasions. During the first two, the only signs were a slightly louder exhaust tone and a ‘hot’ smell, so I’ve concluded they were probably passive regens. The most recent (last Friday) was an active (forced) regeneration with all the tell tale signs experienced by other owners; very loud exhaust note, a lumpiness and hesitancy to the engine and a slight unwillingness to accelerate, a hot smell / fans running and a significant worsening fuel consumption - mpg dropped to around 20-21 mpg (usually, it’s in the mid 30’s to mid 40’s, depending on journey). These symptoms lasted around 10 miles and it’s now back to running normally again.

I suspect there’ll be no fault found with your car - that’s assuming the reason for symptoms you’ve outlined is a GPF regeneration. However, please report back once the dealer has investigated, or if it happens again in the meantime.

Thanks for this, yes I will post findings, it’s been going on for a week now, but you have made me feel better and more confident about driving it, it’s got 13,000 miles on the clock, It does have a hot smell and the fans run for about 5 mins after a journey of around 17 miles. I turned the heating off, I can feel the heat coming through from the engine. Thanks again for your reply.

 

[SRGTD]

If it’s doing it very regularly and the fans are running when you reach your destination, that could be that the GPF regen process hasn’t finished, so switching off the engine interrupts the process and it has to start over again on the next journey.

Short(er) journeys will mean more soot build up in the GPF, so if most of your journeys are 17 miles or less, I think it’d be worth going on a few longer journeys, and during a longer journey once the engine is up to optimum operating temperature, accelerate up to around 3.5 k - 4.0 k rpm’s in 4th or 5th gear and then take your foot off the accelerator so the car decelerates under its own steam. Repeat this process a few times. This draws additional air into the exhaust which should will help the process of passively burning off any soot accumulations in the GPF. I carry out this process every few longer journeys in my car to help reduce GPF soot build up.