Leon real world economy and performance

[mattdodd86]

Hi All, I’m currently looking at replacing my 63 Plate Focus 1.6TDCI company car and am looking at a MK3 Leon. My car of choice would be the FR 2.0TDI 150 but I am doing 35,000 miles a year in it so fuel economy and real world performance are really important to me. I know that government figures are fairly unrealistic when it comes to economy figures so I’m looking for peoples real world opinions on what these cars are like to run. I’m also looking at the 1.6 TDI but the 5 speed box and the lower BHP does put me off a bit. Again anyones experiences with these would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[ZK_FR150]

My cars a 150 TDI fr and I do like 90 miles a day for work mostly on the m1.
On a clear run I get like 65 mpg other days it's about 55/59 mpg constant 70/80 mph depending on the weather obviously less in colder weather.
A full tank dash reads bout 550miles+ range and like £55+ to fill up.
Performance, it feels quick and on the motorway its got enough power for overtaking and I'm always in eco mode.
Sport mode makes it feel quicker and feels like it gives more power top end.
The above mpg is from the computer, I've not measured actual real mpg but at the end of the week I've done about 450 miles and I've still got about 3 blocks left on the fuel display so I'd say I could get another 150 miles out of it

 

[lee123]

Hi, I've recently purchased a 2.0 tdi fr 150 and I'm currently getting around 60mpg per tank real world. My commute is 27 miles each way consisting of 4 miles through Birmingham city centre, 18 miles of motorway followed by 5 miles of A roads. I usually have it in sport mode as I like the throttle response more than Eco or normal mode and I find I achieve better mpg in sport. It feels quick enough around town and on the motorway only running out of steam if you really try to push on but my previous cars were an a5 3.0tdi Quattro and a mk1 stage 2 lcr so maybe I was a bit spoiled with those performance wise.

 

[adamant]

in my old 150FR I used to get roughly 550 miles out of a tank - that was county roads + motorway driving - drove the car fairly hard so not bad really
I have a 184 now - not much difference between the two really.

 

[W44DUP]

I have a 150 FR mk3 and I have a 125 mile round trip (half motorway/dualcarriageway and half country, windy roads) On a good day I can get 60+ MPG and if i really want to get home fast it will be low 40's MPG. In general on a usual day it is between 50-60 MPG.


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[andrewpain]

my 184 is averaging long-term 52mpg, mainly rural roads at between 40 and 60mph, but on a longer run on motorways at 70-80 it will do between 57 and 60 depending on load.
I can't complain, as I was expecting a pessimistic 45+.
In fact I'm bloody delighted with the car. Still. After 2 years...

 

[mattdodd86]

Thanks for the replies guys. Looks like the 150 is the way to go, thats not to bad real world figure wise for what it is really. I'll be doing about 38k a year in it so its got to be right!

 

[stu_m]

I have the 1.6tdi

economy is OK round town high 50's but when you start pushing on at motorway speeds it doesn't improve!

I have seen as low as 52 on a motorway and as high as around 65 on slower flowing roads!

I would have rather got the 2.0

 

[G17RY]

It all depends on how heavy your right foot is. I can achieve close to 70 (70 miles a day mostly on M90), if I stick on cruise at 62mph. However if I drive "briskly" ;-) I never see less than around 55mph. I find engine on sport seems no less economic than ECO either. I've gone individual custom setting of sport engine, sport steering and AC Eco. No red LED in doors sport mode but get the perf/Eco combi that suits.


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[cliveseat]

I'm getting nowhere near the figures mentioned above. Sure, the Leon encourages spirited driving, but I'm averaging around 45-47mpg on the daily grind on roads where my previous car (a VW CC BMT) would return 65mpg and occasionally over 70mpg. Mystifying - but don't let that put you off. The Leon's a much more involving drive, rattling doors notwithstanding.

 

[G17RY]

I'm getting nowhere near the figures mentioned above. Sure, the Leon encourages spirited driving, but I'm averaging around 45-47mpg on the daily grind on roads where my previous car (a VW CC BMT) would return 65mpg and occasionally over 70mpg. Mystifying - but don't let that put you off. The Leon's a much more involving drive, rattling doors notwithstanding.

Is there something wrong with it? I think I'd need to be breaking the ton for the whole commute to achieve that!


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[ukoldschool]

I hope people are doing MPG calcs the oldschool way (fill the tank to the brim, zero the mileometer, then next time you fill up fill to the brim again and divide the miles you did by the ammount you had to put in the tank), the MPG shown on the screen is most likely waaaay off

 

[POB]

Not so good here....I drive a round trip of 15 miles to work each day and average just 40mpg. I don't give it the beans and this is an average over 6 months of new ownership. Regen every couple of hundred of miles which ain't great but hey ho...the joys of a modern Diesel engine.

 

[Dt-spd]

Not so good here....I drive a round trip of 15 miles to work each day and average just 40mpg. I don't give it the beans and this is an average over 6 months of new ownership. Regen every couple of hundred of miles which ain't great but hey ho...the joys of a modern Diesel engine.

I get about the same on my FR184. 45mpg is the norm, driving really gently can get 52mpg but is a struggle.

 

[dsr]

I continue to get within a whisker either way of 50mpg , which I had before my DTUK addition as well. I can't complain at 50, but I wish I knew how these 60 merchants manage to achieve that on a brim to brim basis.

 

[Luckypants]

I hope people are doing MPG calcs the oldschool way (fill the tank to the brim, zero the mileometer, then next time you fill up fill to the brim again and divide the miles you did by the ammount you had to put in the tank), the MPG shown on the screen is most likely waaaay off

Quite right, my computer stats often showed 4-5 mpg more than measured mpg via brim to brim. I had that fixed by a VCDS change and now my computer under reads slightly (I got a bit carried away with the VCDS change - I need to get that dialled back).

 

[stu_m]

Mine has also been corrected via VCDS it was only a little out anyway!

I drive my car like I stole it and the wife drives like miss daisy!

I get better mpg than the wife!

figure that out!

 

[Madhatter]

Not so good here....I drive a round trip of 15 miles to work each day and average just 40mpg. I don't give it the beans and this is an average over 6 months of new ownership. Regen every couple of hundred of miles which ain't great but hey ho...the joys of a modern Diesel engine.

As good as modern turbo diesels are, compared to 10 yrs ago, the mpg claims are ridiculous, likewise with petrols. I had a bmw 125d last car which claimed 62 mpg, absolutely bollocks. Over 60k of mixed driving it averaged 42 mpg, not driven like a member of the Vatican I admit. If you drive like an annoying 40 mph everywhere twart then you might get near the official figures, but I really don't want to be stuck behind you, whilst caravans are overtaking you.

On very long journeys I can understand getting close to official mpg, but some of these claims involve driving Dangerously slowly surely, and causing other drivers issues such as dangerous overtakes.

I've driven lots of cars, diesels and petrol and even when driven VERY considerately rarely get close to manufacturers claims, unless sat on the M6 letting artic lorises overtake.

Rule of thumb if you buy a new car, base mpg on the urban figure unless you are planning on holding up the agricutural community.

 

[wheelwright]

184 St fr owner and I'm getting 35mpg on average around town, mixed driving habits but I prefer the faster side of life! .

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[will_0407]

I'm averaging 58.21mpg, based on real world calculations. Have kept track of my fill ups from day one. Majority of journeys are my 120 mile round commute up and then back down the m1 once or twice a week, have cc set at 62mph as I get no pleasure out of caining it on a motorway. I'll stick it sport and give it some beans if I hit a clear A road but chances are I get stuck behind a lorry with nowhere to get past

184 manual