Official Fuel Economy Thread (formerly Highway economy).

[Transporter]

Why didn't you buy diesel?

Before you buy BMW find out how much is it for scheduled servicing and some common servicing parts incl. brake pads and brake discs.

[PassatB6]

Hi guys,

I've had my Tig now for a couple of months now and cannot tell you how much I love it. It's exceeded expectations and both my partner and I love driving it.

There's only one MAJOR problem. Fuel consumption.

Admittedly we've come from a very fuel efficient Mini Cooper but I'm getting between 375km to 420km per tank and each tank is costing me between $80 to $95 dollars (depending on when I fill it up and that's for 98 octane).

Before we looked at the Tig, we were interested in an XC60 but quickly crossed that off our list once we saw the fuel consumption (16.something for highways and about 13l/100km combined).

We were then sold on an Audi Q5 and placed an order for a 3.0D which as a combined fuel consumption around the 6's l/100km.

THEN... we discovered the Tig and although the wait was almost as long as the Q5 we just loved the quality and bang for buck. I didn't look at the fuel consumption on the 147TSI (my fault) before we purchased it. I made a number of assumptions which turned out to be wrong. I've now discovered that the 147TSI has a city consumption of 13.7l/100km!!!!!!! and a combined of 10.1.

I know I've brought this up before in this forum and people told me to give it a while average out, but we're now seriously considering selling the Tig for an X1. Plain and simple, we don't want to and we both really like the Tig better but the X1 has a combined fuel consumption of between 5.3 and 6.8 l/100km and is also pretty good value for money (not as good). I know they'll be a change over figure but when you consider the cost of petrol and the fact that we'd be saving almost half in fuel costs, it certainly makes out a convincing case.

So... my question is whether there anything we can do to improve fuel consumption? I mean, am I missing something or is the fuel consumption on the 147 a bit ridiculous when compared with the competition? Can anyone point anything else out that I'm missing?

Thanks all.

I note that is the official figures but what are you actually getting? My Passat has the exact same engine and I got 6.7l/100km highway driving from Canberra to Sydney. This decreased with city driving but I'd be surprised if you couldn't manage 8 or better on the highway. I also found improved consumption over time. You might be able to swap for a diesel Tig for far less money than an X1?

[147Tig]

Hi guys,

I've had my Tig now for a couple of months now and cannot tell you how much I love it. It's exceeded expectations and both my partner and I love driving it.

There's only one MAJOR problem. Fuel consumption.

Admittedly we've come from a very fuel efficient Mini Cooper but I'm getting between 375km to 420km per tank and each tank is costing me between $80 to $95 dollars (depending on when I fill it up and that's for 98 octane).

Before we looked at the Tig, we were interested in an XC60 but quickly crossed that off our list once we saw the fuel consumption (16.something for highways and about 13l/100km combined).

We were then sold on an Audi Q5 and placed an order for a 3.0D which as a combined fuel consumption around the 6's l/100km.

THEN... we discovered the Tig and although the wait was almost as long as the Q5 we just loved the quality and bang for buck. I didn't look at the fuel consumption on the 147TSI (my fault) before we purchased it. I made a number of assumptions which turned out to be wrong. I've now discovered that the 147TSI has a city consumption of 13.7l/100km!!!!!!! and a combined of 10.1.

I know I've brought this up before in this forum and people told me to give it a while average out, but we're now seriously considering selling the Tig for an X1. Plain and simple, we don't want to and we both really like the Tig better but the X1 has a combined fuel consumption of between 5.3 and 6.8 l/100km and is also pretty good value for money (not as good). I know they'll be a change over figure but when you consider the cost of petrol and the fact that we'd be saving almost half in fuel costs, it certainly makes out a convincing case.

So... my question is whether there anything we can do to improve fuel consumption? I mean, am I missing something or is the fuel consumption on the 147 a bit ridiculous when compared with the competition? Can anyone point anything else out that I'm missing?

Thanks all.

DBBL, I'm not sure how you drive your Tig, but for me I managed to get around 520km-550km per tank, work out to be around 11.3L/100km to 11.6L/100km, ie aircond on 75% of the time. I'm only used Ron98 @ BP.

I'm only clock up 2400km on my Tig. Hope this help

[clip]

Can anyone point anything else out that I'm missing?
Thanks all.

Yes, you're comparing a petrol with a diesel. The equivalent in the X1 petrol comes in at a combined figure of 9.3ltr/100k's which I suspect in real terms is going to be the same as, or worse than your 147 Tig (and over $60K on the road for the X1).

So maybe sell the 147 and buy a TDI Tig, as Transporter suggested.

[Achtung Tiggy]

I've just started an excel sheet to track my fuel economy:

Distance (km) Fuel Used (litres) Consumption (L/100km) Route Day Price (c/L) Cost ($)
556.5 61.74 11.1 Highway Mon 143.9 86.37
253.5 34.61 13.7 City Wed 135.9 45.66

Apologies for the format... the copy n paste function doesn't work too well here.

[DBBL]

Thanks for your reply guys. Much appreciated.

I called VW this morning and the guy said there's definitely something wrong with the car and to bring it in. He said the least I should be getting is 500km to the tank (which I would be happy with if that was the LEAST I should be getting)

That said, I called Volkspower this morning re APR Stage 1 and asked about fuel consumption. He said that it actually improves it by between 10-15%.

Can all those with the APR upgrade please confirm or deny this statement???

[Sharkie]

It all really depends on your driving style ..... I can easily get more than 10l/100km combined out of a TDI Golf, and thats purely down to my driving style .... (when I was testdriving the 3.0TDI Q5, the computer was telling me I was averaging 14.7l/100km) .... if you are aggresive with the throttle your fuel consumption will be high regardless if you have a diesel or a petrol turbo.

When the turbo is on boost a lot (diesel & petrol) the ECU dumps more fuel in and you use a lot of it .....

Driven with some constraint, you should be getting an easy 500km out of the 147 .... if not, and if you do not drive it aggresively, then there is something wrong.

APR map, again if driven with moderation will deliver 10%+ lower fuel consumption. And again, if you use that extra power all the time, you will be lucky to get 450kms out of a tank. (Like me)

Bottom line is ... if you are aggressive with your throttle, you will use a lot of fuel regardless which car you drive ....

In my GTI I saw extremes depending on usage .... 5.7l/100km (out of a modified turbo petrol) cruising on the highway, and 29.6l/100km at the track ....

[Johnbu]

Why didn't you buy diesel?

Before you buy BMW find out how much is it for scheduled servicing and some common servicing parts incl. brake pads and brake discs.

scheduled servicing at the dealer is cheaper for a BMW than for an Audi.

15k service for a GTI at VW $450.
30k service $550700 incl wipers/brake fluid.
45k service $450

20-25k service for a BMW (variable distance/time service) $300, plus say $150 for wipers/brake fluid

40-50k is another minor service (inspection 2) say $400.

Up to say 45k on both cars, the BMW will be much cheaper as you've done only 2 cheaper services rather than 3 more expensive services.

I also find brakes, oil filters, wiper blades, pollen filters, etc slightly cheaper for BMW than VAG.

If you're not servicing at the dealer, the service + parts will be very similar, however for every 3 scheduled services for a VAG you only need to do 2 for a BMW.

Having said this, the financial cost of trading in your new VW will outweigh the savings of buying/running the X1.

(Prices quoted are real life experiences for VW and BMW, plus the fact that BMW seems to be more reliable than VAG. However this is a small sample population within our family of say 5 BMW/5 VAG)

[Tigger]

I have never been too worried about watching fuel consumption as this is just par for the course with purchasing and running a vehicle of this size and spec.

That said, I have been recently comparing the consumption and I average 8.4lt/100km at the moment.

My 125 TSI has done 24,000kms, and I am not by any means a restrained driver. I mean, I often take off briskly from the lights, and I dont always use the best gearing. etc...

I dont thrash my car, but I do not feel that it would be right to drive it like a granny either.

If you want to save fuel, or are worried about consumption, buy a bike or prius or fiesta diesel. An SUV like a Tiguan is never going to compete with those sort of things.

[sawters]

Hi All

I get low 7L per 100km in my TDI Auto Tig - around town
About low 6's on the open rd sitting at 110kmph with cruise


I love this car!