Poor MPG on 1.6 TDi Sport

[rik_t]

We have had my wifes 2010 1.6 TDi Sport 5 door for a couple of months now, only done 30k. I must admit I am very unimpressed with the MPG. Getting around 40mpg most of the time, the car is only used for short trips around town and I take it out once a month on longer trip to save DPF issues.

Is this normal to get around 40mpg? How many mpg and miles to a tank are others getting?

Just wondering if to book it into dealer to get it looked at?

Thanks

 

[markmeus]

Mine is much more variable, it can be as low as 40 or as high as 60.

The good weather has improved this significantly. Though I think it's just the trip computer being over sensitive. I don't feel like I'm filling up more or less.

 

[nightflight]

the car is only used for short trips around town

This is your problem.
THe diesel is crap mpg until it gets warmed up, and driving it for short journeys round town doesnt get it warmed up.

Dealers probably should be asking"what type of journeys will you usually be doing?" and if it's not motorway mileage recommending people get the 1.2tsi instead.

But that would require dealers to have a sense of morality....

I'm in the same boat, thought i'd be doing motoway miles when I got the car, ended up working 4 miles from home (too many hills to cycle in my flabby state!) so only get low 40's during the week and then better (50-60mpg) if i'm sensible with it over the weekend doing longer journeys. maybe 300-320miles per tank on average

Don't drive it hard either, if you're in a rush getting 40mpg, even on a motorway, is good going I find.

 

[Deleted member 74601]

If I don't get the engine warmed up, I only get around 30-40mpg in my Leon Ecomotive.

It's warming it up that gets you the good mpg.

 

[rik_t]

Hmmm, maybe we should have gone for the petrol version then. I always look at the overall MPG figures, not really thought about warming up etc. Not worth selling up so soon I guess as would loose too much money.

 

[Mark_Jones]

TDi MPG

I have the 1.6 Tdi Sport, which has now done 37,500 in just under 2 years.
Normal commute to work i get a good 56Mpg, but as much as 70mpg, if I drive miss Daisy, but as low as 40mpg, if I am late for work!
Overall I can't fault it.
My son used my car to go from Norfolk to South Wales, and got 57mpg with an average speed of 75-80.

 

[gaffer1986]

I use my car for driving instruction and have been keeping an accurate mpg record. I am averaging about 42mpg over the last 10 months. It can be very economical when driving very carefully (which is not ideal for Britains roads). Driving at 70 mph for long periods usually results in about 47mpg.

 

[skeat12]

If you look at the mpg that the non DPF cars got, compared to the ones with (yes I know it's a different engine), you have to wonder how much the DPF is to blame for the crap economy.

They fit a DPF to reduce emissions, which in turn reduces mpg, which then means you need to put more fuel in.

So much for being eco friendly.

 

[NetworkMan]

All this seems to underline what we've discussed before. This 1.6 TDI just seems to be so much more variable than other engines in terms of mpg.

Can't recall the name but didn't someone on here eventually get a refund on the car because the mpg was so poor and nobody was able to fix it?

 

[markmeus]

All this seems to underline what we've discussed before. This 1.6 TDI just seems to be so much more variable than other engines in terms of mpg.

Can't recall the name but didn't someone on here eventually get a refund on the car because the mpg was so poor and nobody was able to fix it?

It's a pity the average 2 resets after a certain time, would be nice to see a total overall average.
I'd suspect overall mine is not as bad as it feels. Despite what the trip computer says, I'm pretty happy with the miles I cover between fill ups.

 

[NetworkMan]

It's a pity the average 2 resets after a certain time, would be nice to see a total overall average.

I've always recorded all the fuel I buy and keep a running mpg average, (total miles driven)/(total fuel used).

Having now got a car with a computer I thought I'd avoid the need to do this but like you I found readout 2 resets very early. I think it's the 19 odd hours of running time that does it. Now I reset it every time I fill up and compare my average with the one on readout 2 to get an idea of how accurate it is. So far it's within 1%.

 

[rik_t]

I see whatcar.com has started a REAL MPG tab, not many cars on there but the Ibiza 1.6 TDI is on there, appears the MPG I'm getting is about right if you go by this ;-)

 

[nightflight]

looks like i'd be better off getting either a cupra (+2 -3 mpg) or a bmw 320d (+8-9 mpg)

 

[markmeus]

Wow a shocking difference between the cars I selected on the what car website.

 

[Sergio]

Picked mine up with 3k on it. Was initially awful, was lucky to get 45. It's now got 50k on it and it'll do 50 easy. Can get 60 if I concentrate. Had 70mpg on a 20 mile run recently.

I find the most efficient way of driving it on A and B roads is to boot it up to speed as quickly as possible then block shift from 3rd to 5th. This isn't always possible though, and makes you look like a bit of a twat. Mine's got much faster as the miles have piled on too, it'll get to 60mph in about 9 seconds.

 

[markmeus]

I averaged 51mpg today on a 2 hour journey, mostly motorway with about 20mins of B road. I'm happy enough with that, as i was doing about 75-80mph on the motorway.

Oh and the motorway was in the Republic of Ireland, where speed limit was in km/h so my speeding isn't as bad as it sounds! lol - once i cross the border into NI I tend to stick more rigidly to the speed limit!

 

[NetworkMan]

The What Car thing doesn't make sense to me.

I chose a VW Polo 1.4 SE. Much like the Ibiza 1.4 NA I'm sure.

I push the congestion slider to the left (low) and the driving style slider to the left (economy).

As I move the type of road slider from left to right the mpg changes from:-

27.3 -> 30.1 -> 33.0 -> 41.0

This means that:-

1. The most you can get out of this car is 41 mpg (rubbish surely).
2. As the speed rises the car gets more economical (also rubbish surely). Note that low speeds should not equate to congestion and stopping since that is covered by the congestion slider.

If I select the preset style for local trips in the country (congestion is low) I get 29.0 mpg. I just don't believe this, I'm sure I could get 40!

What Car say under the 29.0 mpg:-

"This is the Polo to go for - our Supermini of the Year back in 2010. It has the best engine and you get all the kit you need at a fairly reasonable price." Do they really mean this based on the above?

Anyone with an Ibiza 1.4 care to try it?

Can't find a 1.2 TSI Ibiza, Polo, A1 or Fabia to compare with what I get in mine.

 

[J400uk]

Anyone with an Ibiza 1.4 care to try it?

FWIW the mpg on mine is excellent, as the weather has warmed up and the miles piled on its got even better. The MFD is currently reading 48.4mpg from 240 mostly motorway miles this week, and I can push up to 440 from a tank normally if I run it down to 0 miles range. Record mpg is 65 from a 30 mile slow motorway run. 41k currently on the clock.

Having said that mine has the EU4 1.4 which seems to get slightly better economy than the newer EU5 version as fitted to the Polo and 2010 onwards Ibizas, so the Whatcar figures could still be correct.

 

[Deleted member 74601]

To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if What Car and 'Honest' John, rag the arse off them to get these MPG figures. It also wouldn't surprise me if their tests are only around 10 miles long, starting from cold. No where near enough time to get hot for max efficiency.

 

[NetworkMan]

Honest John ask owners to provide their own mpg figures. I've actually provided mine. They average over all the figures they are given and quote min. and max. too.

What Car is weird. They describe a test route they use but they don't explain how they convert the measurements on the test route into the calculator with the sliders and the predetermined journey profiles. It's this last step which is key and I can't see how it can be done.