Cupra Formentor Poor MPG

[Bobt47]

Hello Everybody
Thank you for letting me post in this forum
My car is a V2 190TSI AWD DSG7 and although it is quite new (2k miles covered) I find the mpg around town quite poor !
To me it always seems to be in too low a gear and hangs on to 2nd and 3rd for too long.
Also it surprises me when say going downhill at 40/50 and using the manual paddles it wont let me go higher than M5 and even slowing down to 35-40 it wants to hang on to M3 at 2500rpm ???
I am driving in individual ECO which is slightly better than comfort for this reason.
Also when I go to the manual paddles it will only let me go up one gear and no more (my previous car would let me go up as high as I liked but if the car didnt like it it would drop it back down , Its just nice to be in more control if you think a higher gear would be better in the circumstance.
After driving my daughters Ateca FR 190 AWD it seems to be much better at getting up the gears no problem and returns much better mpg although it is essentially the same engine, drivetrain etc.
I can only think that the Cupra is tuned this way for a bit more performance perhaps !
My question is would the dealer be able to detune it for better mpg as driving in comfort or eco is still quite brisk but with the offset of the mpg.
Any help would be appreciated
Bobt47

 

[Bear]

Hello Everybody
Thank you for letting me post in this forum
My car is a V2 190TSI AWD DSG7 and although it is quite new (2k miles covered) I find the mpg around town quite poor !
To me it always seems to be in too low a gear and hangs on to 2nd and 3rd for too long.
Also it surprises me when say going downhill at 40/50 and using the manual paddles it wont let me go higher than M5 and even slowing down to 35-40 it wants to hang on to M3 at 2500rpm ???
I am driving in individual ECO which is slightly better than comfort for this reason.
Also when I go to the manual paddles it will only let me go up one gear and no more (my previous car would let me go up as high as I liked but if the car didnt like it it would drop it back down , Its just nice to be in more control if you think a higher gear would be better in the circumstance.
After driving my daughters Ateca FR 190 AWD it seems to be much better at getting up the gears no problem and returns much better mpg although it is essentially the same engine, drivetrain etc.
I can only think that the Cupra is tuned this way for a bit more performance perhaps !
My question is would the dealer be able to detune it for better mpg as driving in comfort or eco is still quite brisk but with the offset of the mpg.
Any help would be appreciated
Bobt47

What are you actually getting mpg-wise Bob?

 

[Bobt47]

Hi
Thank you for the quick reply
My trip to work and back is up a bit up and down dale and short 6 miles mostly downhill 27mpg and coming back uphill 22mpg.
I am driving steady in Individual ECO
The car is much better on a run and on the motorway.
But after owning a couple of older BMW's with the ZF 8 speed they seemed to change gear much faster into a higher gear very similar to my daughters Ateca and you get used to the car being happy at lower revs.
I just get a bit frustrated when going into the manual paddles it just wont let me go into a higher gear I know it would pull so seems to just keep the the engine at higher revs than needed.
OK it a Cupra ! but I am not in Sport mode or even comfort so would expect something a bit more economical.

 

[SRGTD]

The Formentor is quite a large, heavy car IMHO, and on a short (six mile) journey when the engine will be cold for much - if not all - of that journey, the mpg will suffer and will never be great.

You’ve said that fuel consumption is a better on a (longer) run and on the motorway but you’ve not said what mpg you’re getting on those longer journeys. Also, are you relying on the car’s fuel computer for your mpg figures? I’ve found in the VW’s I’ve owned that the cars fuel computer can be out by between 5-10% compared with manually calculating the mpg - filling the tank full each time and dividing the distance driven by the number of gallons used.

It might also be worth checking your tyres are at the correct pressure. Also, if you’re carrying unnecessary items in the car that are adding weight, it’s be worth removing those items too.

I’ve never used eco mode in my VW. The general consensus on some other (VW) forums I’m on is that eco primarily dulls the throttle response, so there’s a tendency to override that dull feeling by applying more pressure to the accelerator pedal and using more fuel in the process, which IMHO largely negates the value of having an eco mode. Have you tried driving your short journeys in comfort mode to see what effect it has on your mpg?Does comfort mode rectify the gear change issues you’ve been experiencing?

 

[Bobt47]

Hello Again
What you have said makes perfect sense about the short journeys ( some up steep hills)
I do use the onboard to look at the mpg (from start) but have always filled my cars up to full and then used the tank full
and the calculated the cost or mpg in this case is around 25mpg
I can try to use comfort mode a bit more but another thing I have done recently is start using E10 fuel 9it is more expensive but gives around 4 mpg overall
but because its more expensive I do not think its made any difference.
My question really is concerning why the car always seems to be in the wrong gear for my liking and I know it is doing too many revs for the road conditions
Regards
Bobt47

 

[Bobt47]

Hi Again
The mpg on thge motorway is okay for a 2.0L petrol I would think 36mpg (steady 70mph) its the trips to work that drink it all up

 

[Bear]

Hi Again
The mpg on thge motorway is okay for a 2.0L petrol I would think 36mpg (steady 70mph) its the trips to work that drink it all up

I've got a VZ2 310. If it makes you feel any better, I average about 23 mpg, but I regularly give it a blast (every time I drive it). Motorway driving I get about 38, but I'm sensible then.

 

[Ares9]

Make sure you are not on sport in the gear lever.
All VAG cars I drove shift gears up too early to my preference (as low as 1200-1500 rpm after gear change where the engine has "no" torque)

 

[SRGTD]

Make sure you are not on sport in the gear lever.
All VAG cars I drove shift gears up too early to my preference (as low as 1200-1500 rpm after gear change where the engine has "no" torque)

Good point!

I‘ve got the old style DSG selector in my VW and I rarely shift it into Sport, as IMHO the car hangs onto each gear for too long before changing up, so the engine is revving unnecessarily high. I keep the transmission in ‘D’ (I believe VAG call this Comfort these days) and let it do it’s own thing. If anything in ‘D’, it changes up a little too soon, but I can override that when I want / need to, either by changing gear manually using the steering wheel paddles or moving the DSG lever forwards and backwards.