Fuel economy - The last word

[Neil]

Hi people,

I have a 1.4 SE and am getting 240 miles from the tank being full to the brim to the first alarm sounding when the indicator kicks in.

What is everyone else getting? I dont think this is right, my calculations show i'm getting around 38-40mpg. (I generally use the a/c for 80% of the time.)

I travel 12 miles to work (6 of those on a motorway) and the car has done 4100 miles.

I would appreciate some other people sharing their figures.

[?]
Cheers



Neil Howells
A2 1.4 SE - Atlantic Blue
Symphony Radio, Electronic A/C

[Skipton01]

Neil - I'm on the pointof rejecting my A2 because of this very reason.
The A2 TDI is marketed on its economy, extra urban figures of 80.2mpg are bandied around and combined cycles of 65mpg. I've spoken to my dealer at length over this and they are (giving the impression of being) baffled.
Apparently air-con makes very little difference, as the compressor on the A2 is so small, small enough that apparently opening a window and the ensuing wind drag makes a bigger difference.
On a run from Manchester to Covenrty and back a couple of weeks ago, the car averaged 53mpg. This was at a steady 70-80mph, no hold-ups and air-con on econ. setting. This journey is approx. 90% motorway and should be nearer to the magical 80mpg.
My partners Yaris betters this figure - and that is a petrol car!
Having had enough with my dealer, I've contacted Audi UK, who promise to resolve the situation - will keep you informed.
Mike

A2 TDI SE 2001 Ebony Black Pearl (The Little Tank!)

[HT]

Hi Skipton01,
From my understanding of the economy figures and what it says in What Car,
Urban = cold start, average of 12 mph
Extra Urban = warm start, average of 39 mph
Combined = weighted average of urban and extra urban

The Audi technical details for the TDI says,
Urban = 49.6 mpg
Extra urban = 78.5 mpg
Combined = 64.2 mpg

As I see it, there is no published figure for what an A2 will return at 70 or 80mph, but there is no way it will be around the 80mpg. From my own experience I get on average 60-62mpg at a steady 70/75mph, but this is greatly reduced if I have to nail it,(over taking, motorway slip roads etc). Tootling around town at 30/40mph and short shifting I regulary get between 75 and 80mpg.
Unfortunately the magical 80mpg you mentioned is only achievable at around 40mph (extra urban).
HT




TDI SE AMULET RED, OPEN SKY,1/2 LEATHER, BOSE

[DaveS]

We have a 1.4SE and get about 240 miles to a tank. This is made up of lots of short journeys (sub 1 mile). I calculate it as just about 40mpg on average. We always have the climate switched on.

We've switched to Shell Optimax 98 and it seems to make make a small difference (perhaps 20 miles/tank).

On long journeys on a recent holiday we got about 45-50mpg. On pure motorway cruises to/from work I've got up to 55mpg.

Ths cold be the strat of a new thread - whats the most miles anyones got out of on e tank in a 1.4 petrol ?

[John Disdale]

Neil,

Don’t forget the fuel consumption figures for the A2 were calculated in a laboratory and not out on the open road. I would have said your average consumption of 38 – 40mpg was very realistic for the petrol model when I only got around 32/34 on local street trips, with 42 on motorway runs at speeds around 75/80. Those owners who have DIS fitted have a far better chance of quoting more accurate figures.

Regards
John Disdale

[JanF]

Neil,

I do the same mpg as Dave does, under the same circumstances. The only difference I think is that I use the 'common' 98 RON unleaded from different fuel brands.

I have never totally emptied the tank (like to drive, hate to push), but have managed upto 290 miles on a tank.

JanF

2001 1.4 Petrol Exclusive
Cobalt Blue Metallic

[Skipton01]

John. I have to disagree with you, the figures quoted are the EU calculated figures. These take into account real world driving conditions, not just rolling road type data.
Mike

A2 TDI SE 2001 Ebony Black Pearl (The Little Tank!)

[John Disdale]

Mike,

The real world is not real anymore, and I am adamant that the only time the A2 experienced any tarmac was when the first customer drove off in one. Much of the same nonsense also applied to the A2 alarm system being classified as “Thatcham” and I know that 99% of people would believe that this must mean compliance with an independent bodies set of specifications, but it does not. Audi set their own standards, and then said the end result met with those standards – and so based upon only this it was awarded the Thatcham seal of approval. This is the real world – the world where illusion, deceit and propaganda are King.

In terms of the FSI model, and fuel consumption, I do acknowledge that things will change in the future but the fuel used for the Audi MPG tests is not even available in the UK, so for now anyone looking to match Audi quoted performance figures is dreaming. In this instance however I do believe that Audi printed a “proviso” regarding this, but how many people do not read and absorb the small print ? Indeed I wonder how many Audi dealers issued a verbal warning to purchasers of the FSI – by bet is none.

Regards
John Disdale

[maersk]

MOst pundits agree that the combined figure, for any vehicle is the best guide to real world fuel consumption.
A2 64.
I regularly see 66 from mine regardless of how it is driven, but it has takem 16k miles to get there.

images/icon_smile_cool.gif

[Skipton01]

Well, I've pumped up the tyres, let's see if I can get close to even 60mpg.
John, your belief in the real world and Audi's rule setting is so refreshingly depressing! (but possibly quite true).
After 4200 miles, my A2 TDI manages 90 to the 3/4 mark, 170 to 1/2 full and then tails of rapidly to the chimes.
Mike

A2 TDI SE 2001 Ebony Black Pearl (The Little Tank!)

[runboy]

My old A2 was doing around 34mpg (around town with a couple of fast A road trips mixed in and aircon on for a fair bit of the time) after 2500 miles on the clock.

My new A2 has just done it's first tank and I got 260 out of a tank (the new larger tank). As I didn't fill it up I can't say if it was 100% full (if you know what I mean!). Now I have filled up myself I shall see what I get over this next tank.

I used to get 30mpg from my 1.6 Leon.......

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior

[Neil P]

We're getting an average of around 44-45mpg on everyday driving, this is with climate on Econ most of the time.

We can almost get 400 miles out of a tank (the DIS always says there's over 400 miles range available when we fill up). The current tank has done 310 miles, and there's around 55 miles left according to the DIS (and we've done plenty of short 'town' trips on this tank)

The car has done 1300 miles from new, and so far it's giving about what we expected regarding economy and range.

Neil - 1.4SE Petrol. Brilliant Blue. Yellow/Black Interior, Symphony, Open Sky, Climate, DIS, Multi-function wheel

[JanF]

While comparing the miles we get from a tank, it might be better to tell what tank we are talking about: the old 34 litre or the new 42 litre[?]
And where expenditure seems to improve after the car has done some more miles, maybe we should mention the mileage of the car too[?]

My car has the old 34 l. tank, and has done about 16.5k miles.

JanF

2001 1.4 Petrol Exclusive
Cobalt Blue Metallic

[jonmerrick]

It really depends who's driving.

I get about 60 mpg on average (1.4 TDI). The missus is lucky to get 50.

Jon

[jonhaworth]

So... we see around 56 - 58 mpg from our TDi SE. Aircon is on Auto most of the time and it has the extra weight of the Open Sky.

I have to say that we were initially disappointed with the fuel consumption, and I remain skeptical about any claims that the A2 is a radically economical vehicle. My 6 year old A4 TDi 110 SE Avant returns high 40's. It's a much older engine and a much heavier vehicle (and quicker accelerating) than the A2. My brother in law has a Seat Leon Tdi (115). He get low to mid 50's and from a car that is heavier and considerably faster accelerating than the A2.

I'm a little bemused really... the A2 has all the right characteristics for exceptional fuel economy but I feel that it under-delivers in the real world (to coin John Ds term). Incidentally I disagree with John Ds comments re testing of fuel economy. The A2 will undoubtedly have undergone track tests etc. to establish whether computer models and rolling road tests stood up in reality.

Do we still like the car? Absolutely! Would I recommend someone choose an A2 because they want an economical vehicle? No...the A2 has a whole bunch of other charms and redeeming qualities, but I think it under-delivers in this respect - there are cheaper and better performing vehicles that come close to the A2's fuel economy.

[Phil]

In my petrol A2, no climate controll. The bong sounds when 28.5 litres have been used. I normally get between 280 to 295 miles before the bong but do a lot of motorway driving. My best before the bong is 325 miles but this was nearly all motorway driving.

If you are prepared to drive with the fuel light on as I am you should get more than 300 miles to the tank easily, I usually fill up at around 330 miles. I have also managed to get just over 34 litres into the tank so either Audi or the petrol station have left some slak in their figures.

As I do 250 to 300 miles per day regularly these figures are easy to achieve but the biggest killer of fuel consumtion is running the engine cold. If I do lots of short journeys I tend to only get 40-42 mpg.

Phil

[martinw]

I get 36 to 38 mpg. Journeys are 12 miles each way to work, traffic is not bad, takes about 15 minutes.

I went down to Devon recently and still only got about 40 mpg, but I was doing 80 most of the way (indicated anyway).

The car has done about 2500 miles. I hope it improves, it's a bit dissapointing :(

MartinW - Dolphin Grey 1.4SE

[Griff]

I was initially disappointed with the mpg's from our recently acquired A2. Probably drawn in (as many others I suspect) to extra urban cycle quote of 78.whatever mpg. Also the small tank can easily distort the perception of how economical the car is. On reflection now though, having had the car for 4 weeks I am slowly realising how economical it is!

As the car is primarily driven by my wife I have honed her driving skills to deliver increasinly better fuel consumption. Having explained that diesel engines have different power bands to petrol engines, and to get performance from them they need to driven differently, my wife interpreted this as the car must be driven around just under 2k rpm to 3k rpm at all times...result fuel consumption pretty poor...50 mpg if lucky.

After a little coaching (diplomacy the key skill!!!) the mpg has increased...basically adapting driving to suit need as opposed to booting the turbo all the time. The car then produced 56 mpg..not bad...it was getting better although, as she does 50 miles a day on the motorway, I was suspicious she was probably tanking along anything up to 90mph (what a speed demon[}:)]).

Anyway a mate shared a lift with her today and he said she did not go over 75 tops (just doing as I told her...makes achange). The proof is in the pudding and low and behold the last fuel top up she had averaged 61 mpg. Not bad as I know the car could be driven more economical (still up to 75mph)....we wont mention who could do this!!!!!

The car is 2001 tdi se with 9000 miles on it. All in all I am reasonably chuffed with the mpgs now!

Griff

[chivers]

I get exactly the same mpg as jonhaworth with my TDI - same heavy roof and ac.

Chivers ':)'
'02 A2 1.4TDi SE

[Neil P]

I've just done a decent run to and from London over the weekend - totalling around 460 miles.

It could have been done on one tank (but I filled up a few miles from home). I was doing around 80mph on the motorways most of the time, and averaged 51.6mpg over the whole trip. There was a huge difference in fuel consumption between 70 and 80 mph, and if I'd have kept at 70mph then I think the mpg would have been much better. (Car is almost 2 month old and has completed 1800 miles).

Neil - 1.4SE Petrol. Brilliant Blue. Yellow/Black Interior, Symphony, Open Sky, Climate, DIS, Multi-function wheel

[martinw]

Nice to know someone is getting good mpg out of a petrol A2. I had mine checked over by the dealer, but the usual 'no fault found' was the answer.
Still getting around 38 mpq. The guage is a pain as well, I get 100 miles for the first quarter of the tank, another 50 miles to half way, aboutn another 50 miles to 3 quarters, at around 240 miles the bong goes off, then the tank's nearly empty - I reckon around 280 miles to the tank.

MartinW - Dolphin Grey 1.4SE

[Crawfster]

With TDI 1.4 SE, Open Sky, now getting 60 mpg every tank (based on fuel bought/miles travelled, and not the DIS, which lies and overestimates). For first 3000 miles, was getting no better than 55 mpg. After also pumping up tyres to 38 psi (cf previous 30 psi), moved economy up from 57ish to 63ish. Not unhappy with this performace, but agree that official figures are utterly unachievable.

[Harps]

MartinW - I have a petrol as well and I think a lot of it depends on the sort of driving I do.

On motorways, without being particularly careful of speed (ok mainly 80-100), I can usually comfortably get well over 325 miles without the bong on a full tank. On shorter drives to the station each day, because the engine is cold and gets switched off just when it has fully warmed up, I probably lose around 50 miles from a full tank.

But if you are regularly getting 275 miles from a £21 tank of fuel, I would have thought that this is fairly economical compared to most 1.4s (although probably not matching the astronical claims made by the manufacturers). Your driving style, load, etc would all need to be accounted for when comparing fuel economy.

I do partially agree with your comments on the gauge though - although have previously put this down to my imagination whilst trying to get as many miles out of the tank as possible.

[tcasaca]

Hi Guys
Fuel economy....good question?
Most of us didn´t buy the A2 ´cause the fuel economy but talking about it ...let me see
I drove from Carcavelos(Lisbon) to the Castellfels(Barcelona)more or less 1275 km with less than 2 tanks about 63 litres average speed 110 - 120 km
So i comparate to my brothers car Punto 1.9 D and it a huge differance.
As anyone knows they make tests in labs....and the better result they write on the car manual.
We all drive in a different way so the fuel consumation is not always the same but if you compare for example a2 1.4 tdi - 75 hp top speed 173 km your car compared to all the car in general is almost perfect ....and one advice the diesel is more "dirty" than the petrol so don´t let your gas tank "bip"


TCasaca

[Rob Earl]

We're really impressed so far. We had a jaunt out to Folkstone & Dover today and on the return journey we got 50mpg. Not bad considering we only picked it up on Wednesday and its now done only 300 miles. We only got 300 miles from the tank but that consisted of a lot of short journeys showing off the car to lots of people.

1.4SE petrol in Merlot Red, Biege interior, 16" 5 spoke alloys, DIS, Open Sky, Elec rear windows.

[chivers]

Crawfster

The information display does not lie - at least mine does not. Mine is optimistic for fuel consumption - but only by 0.94 per cent at best and and 1.05 percent at worst. This over the course of 13000 miles/20000km

Chivers ':)'
'02 A2 1.4TDi SE

[runboy]

Got around 35mpg on my first tank of fuel that I could really check the calculation. Car has now done about 500 miles so still a way to go until it's loosened up. Appears to be slightly better than my previous A2 already (and the engine seems to be a bit more responsive)....

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior

[Andy_A2]

We get 38-40mpg on standard trips to and from the office (12 miles each way), 45-50mpg on longer motorway trips 70-75mph (just 40mph if driven at 80-85mph), and have got upto 55mph on long trips in France.

Always have the AC on at 21oC

Andy

Silver 2001, 1.4SE, Petrol.

Using the lone 1.4 TDi (2002) - these figures increase by about 10mpg.

[4sst]

1.4 tdi se 21000 miles completed, small tank, I normally get over 65 to the gallon

[martinw]

Andy - Aircon at 21? I leave mine on 18 unless it's cold outside when it might creep up to 19. Maybe that's why I only get 36 mpg:)

MartinW - Dolphin Grey 1.4SE

[smartie]

today i have had the car a week, i have done 300 miles on the first tankful and the computer is saying 38.4 mpg.

[martinw]

I haven't got a computer, I record gallons used and mileage. It would be interesting to compare that method with the computer readout.

MartinW - Dolphin Grey 1.4SE