Skoda Octavia 2.0 DSG TDI Fuel Economy

[Johnny_dust]

I have a question regarding fuel economy. I have a 07 build 2.0 TDI Octavia Sedan with the DSG box. I don't think I am getting very good fuel economy or at least as good as I expected. I drove from Melbourne to Canberra today and it averaged 6.1 and that was with some economical driving and no air-con running, earlier in the trip it was sitting on 6.4. I really was expecting it to be around 5.5 on the highway and was hoping to get around 1000kms out of the tank. The car has 35000kms on it with a long term average of 6.5.

Any feedback on what sort of fuel economy your getting would be appreciated as I think mine is using too much fuel.

Thanks in advance

Johnny

[gregozedobe]

It might be worth having a look in the Mk V and Diesel sub forums here for more examples of real world economy. Yours does sound like it might a bit thirstier than average.

Maybe if you can give us some more info about your load, tyre size & pressures, cruising speed, driving style, roof racks/top boxes etc we can comment more usefully.

The economy calculated by the trip computer can sometimes be inaccurate (usually a bit optimistic). The best way to get accurate fuel consumption figures is to use the fill to fill (or brim to brim) method, recording distance and actual fuel put in, prfereably over at least 2 or 3 fills.

Note also that the long term average and totals in the trip computer [memory (2) ] is reset every 99.9 hours of driving.

My 2.0 TFSI gets more like 9-11 l/100km, but it is a petrol and I do lots of short trips and tend to drive a bit enthusiastically (when you do less than 7,500km a year in a car fuel costs aren't usually much of a worry).

[neil]

I have a question regarding fuel economy. I have a 07 build 2.0 TDI Octavia Sedan with the DSG box. I don't think I am getting very good fuel economy or at least as good as I expected. I drove from Melbourne to Canberra today and it averaged 6.1 and that was with some economical driving and no air-con running, earlier in the trip it was sitting on 6.4. I really was expecting it to be around 5.5 on the highway and was hoping to get around 1000kms out of the tank. The car has 35000kms on it with a long term average of 6.5.

Any feedback on what sort of fuel economy your getting would be appreciated as I think mine is using too much fuel.

Thanks in advance

Johnny

Seem high for hwy driving but as mentioned need more info.
What speed were you doing aircon on , how many people ect.
Have you calculated your fuel consumption manually to see
accurate the MFD is.

My Jetta at 110 on constant flat Hwy I would expect mid 4's

added ....Just done a return trip from CC to nelsons bay, 3hours
driving consisting of 110km/h on Fwy for 80 mins and averaged 4.6
Might be worth using BP for some time and some injector cleaner if you don't use BP,

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

My RS TDI DSG Wagon averaged bewteen 5.6l/100km & 5.9l/100km driving bewteen Melbourne to Mildura and back the 3 times I've done this trip - approx 550km one way. Driving conditions OK each time, although once it was windy.

The average speed for the trips was between 106km/h & 109km/h - mind you the speedo is out between 3-4 km/h, so true average speed in less.

Each time the car just has myself and approx 50kg luggage in it. The car currently has 7,300km on the clock.

Driving on the freeways around Melbourne I've had the average fuel consumption down to 4.8l/100km but the average speed was much lower.

So to compare this to your car we need to know the load you were carrying, twoing or with roof racks on, the average speed (the faster you go the more fuel used) and was it raining heavily or windy? All these can increase fuel consumption.

Cheers

[neil]

My RS TDI DSG Wagon averaged bewteen 5.6l/100km & 5.9l/100km driving bewteen Melbourne to Mildura and back the 3 times I've done this trip - approx 550km one way. Driving conditions OK each time, although once it was windy.

The average speed for the trips was between 106km/h & 109km/h - mind you the speedo is out between 3-4 km/h, so true average speed in less.

Each time the car just has myself and approx 50kg luggage in it. The car currently has 7,300km on the clock.

Driving on the freeways around Melbourne I've had the average fuel consumption down to 4.8l/100km but the average speed was much lower.

So to compare this to your car we need to know the load you were carrying, twoing or with roof racks on, the average speed (the faster you go the more fuel used) and was it raining heavily or windy? All these can increase fuel consumption.

Cheers

Your fuel consumption will improve even more when you get more K's on the clock.
I noticed a difference when I reached 18000k's

[dazag]

what tyre pressures are people running in their tyres??. Also heard the MFD can be out slightly, if you need to do the full tank to full tank checks and work it out manually, I think on the briskoda forum there is a post that tells you how you can go in and adjust your MFD so the L/100km is more accurate.

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

Your fuel consumption will improve even more when you get more K's on the clock.
I noticed a difference when I reached 18000k's

Thanks for that. Cheers

[Johnny_dust]

Thanks for all the info and sorry for late reply, I'll provide some more trip info for you guys as I have return trip details too.

I travelled Melbourne to Canberra - Avg 6.1

Canberra to Melbourne - Avg 6.0

I had my wife in the car with me and overnight bags and a set of golf clubs in the boot. I have skoda 17" factory alloys with pirelli rosso tyres which were inflated to 36 all round for both trips. On the trip down I used Mobil and on the trip back I filled up with BP.

Fuel economy improved whenever I went through any towns and slowed to 60 and then went the opposite way when I got up to cruising speed on the highway. I was travelling at approx 110 (according to GPS) the majority of the way. I used cruise control the majority of the way. No air con running, just fan on economy mode.

When I was in Canberra midway in the trip and I tried to start the car one morning from cold, without pushing the accellerator it started and stopped about 4 times before i really had to give it a pump to get the engine going, never had that problem before though.


Also, on another note when flicking through the trip computer, from time to time it stalled (didnt change to next reading) or a different thing came up to what should have come up in that spot if that makes sense (eg kms travelled instead of litres uses per 100) but then after a few more clicks it corrected itself and worked fine again. Anyone else had a similar problem?

And, last but least, one of my rear parking sensors got pushed in a bit and now beeps rapidly whenever I put it in reverse and Im damned if I can work out how to get it back out again as there is no way that I can see to reach in behind the bumper and push it back out, hopefully I can get it fixed under warranty.


All feedback and assistance is greatly appreciated.

Johnny

[neil]

Definitely something not right especially if you were traveling at only 110km/h.
I think the first thing you need to do is manually check your fuel consumption.
And by doing this you will know how accurate your MFD is.

Do you know how many k's your getting out of a tank of fuel, especially when
you were on the HWY.

[brad]

i have the 1.8TSI 6m.

Fuel exonomy noticeably improved at the 5000km mark (for no particular reason) and impoved again after the 15,000km service (Castrol Edge Sport 5w-30)

The MFD(2) reading is currently 6.2L/100km - which is 6.4L/100km actual.

I'd be concerned if my diesel was only getting similar economy.

edit: running 36F/34R in (narrower than RS) CSC2

[wombatoutofhell]

I have a 07 build RS with the TFSI engine and 6 speed manual. I drove from Cranbourne in the outer south east of Melbourne to Canberra in March on a tank of fuel-although it was running on fumes when I filled up. I think that was about 7.1 l/100km. Cruise control and climate control were both on. There was a fair but of stop/start driving due to roadworks, but alot of 80km zones as well which would have helped a bit. The trip home was similar economy.

[WEDEL.1]

Thanks for all the info and sorry for late reply, I'll provide some more trip info for you guys as I have return trip details too.

I travelled Melbourne to Canberra - Avg 6.1

Canberra to Melbourne - Avg 6.0

I had my wife in the car with me and overnight bags and a set of golf clubs in the boot. I have skoda 17" factory alloys with pirelli rosso tyres which were inflated to 36 all round for both trips. On the trip down I used Mobil and on the trip back I filled up with BP.

Fuel economy improved whenever I went through any towns and slowed to 60 and then went the opposite way when I got up to cruising speed on the highway. I was travelling at approx 110 (according to GPS) the majority of the way. I used cruise control the majority of the way. No air con running, just fan on economy mode.

All feedback and assistance is greatly appreciated.

Johnny

Under similar conditions, our 1.9 TDI DSG Golf got about the same (6.1-6.2 L/100). So far we have 12,200 kms on it.

[Johnny_dust]

Under similar conditions, our 1.9 TDI DSG Golf got about the same (6.1-6.2 L/100). So far we have 12,200 kms on it.


Pretty close then, but I'm still dissapointed with my figures, I really expected to be able to get 1000kms out of a tank on the highway but that just won't be possible.

[WEDEL.1]

Pretty close then, but I'm still dissapointed with my figures, I really expected to be able to get 1000kms out of a tank on the highway but that just won't be possible.

I too am a bit dissapointed, especially as my friend Keith used only 5.4 L/100kms from Brisbane to Bendigo in a brand new Passat CC.

I am also aware that it may get better after/from about 20,000kms.

Maris

[neil]

Guy's just another thought.
Were you both using airconditioning ?

When I quoted my figures this was without aircon, I hardly ever use it.
I have worked out it uses around 0.8 Litres every 100km
But even if you take this figure off your fuel figure I still think its a bit high.

[dazag]

When i pick up my 2.0 TDI vRS next week, I'll be checking the tyre pressures. I use the rule of thumb - what ever the highest pressure rating the tyres fitted are, I run about 10% below that pressure. So if it has a 44PSI Max rating, I'll run around 39-40 PSI, Better wear and better economy as advised by some of my local tyre dealerships. It may make the ride a little harsh with the new vRS suspension, but will have to see how that feels and adjust if needed.

Also have you looked at maybe sourcing a K&N air filter for it, so the engine can breath a little better?? Especially with a turbo engine it might help. Also have a look at the cold air induction path for the air box, make sure it's not obstructed in any way.

I'm kind of expecting to get around 6L/100km from my car anyway, so if i get any lower then that I'll be happy. What ever you do, dont run Bio-deisel, it's crap, make sure you run good quality deisel if you can, from BP etc.

[brad]

Also have you looked at maybe sourcing a K&N air filter for it, so the engine can breath a little better??

Allways a discussion provoking statement.

The reason K&N flow better is because they filter worse. If you're happy to accept that It might reduce your engine life (plucks figures out of bum: maybe by 10%) then go for it.

I've tried FinerFilter & Pipercross oiled foam (not oiled cotton like K&N) and decided I'll stick with OEM paper & change it more often.

The Skodas are on a 60,000km change cycle which seems an awfully long time. I had a look at my air filter last week (29,000km) and it was remarkably free of gross debris. I think I'll change it at 45,000km.

[spellbound]

re economy and johnny's tdi

My rs manual tfsi consistently gets 8.6l /100km city driving in adelaide , light traffic can use 5th gear .

Adelaide to melb 100km/110km per got 6.3l /100km and thats with some fanging .

There must be a problem somewhere

[WEDEL.1]

re economy and johnny's tdi

My rs manual tfsi consistently gets 8.6l /100km city driving in adelaide , light traffic can use 5th gear .

Adelaide to melb 100km/110km per got 6.3l /100km and thats with some fanging .

There must be a problem somewhere

Your getting the same as me on Adel/Melb trip. But is your 110 speed taken off the speedo, if so, you're about 8km/h slower than johnny & I. I run the speed off the sat nav. when doing 110 my speedo shows 118-9km/h.

Around town I get down to 4.3 to 5.2L/100km.

[JP_Aircooled_TDi]

I've got the Elegance 2TDI manual with the Oettinger re-flash.

Some interesting stuff to report on average fuel consumption with the Octavia after having a couple of trips from Canberra to Sydney...

A day trip with a weekends worth of stuff/luggage (for 2 adults, 1 toddler and 1 baby) returns 5.6 Litres per 100km.
Same trip, but fully loaded with the roof pod returns 6.6 litres per 100km.
Same trip, with a large square box attached to the roof returns 7.2 litres per 100km :shock:
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/09/20090609SV300115resized600-2.jpg
I've never seen fuel consumption that high before with the 2TDI :shock: (Looks like the roof pod is a bit aerodynamic after all :P )

Around 'town' (in Canberra) we get average 6.8

Good news is that I am expcting the fuel consumption to improve later on as the engine continues to bed in, as she only has 10k on the clock at the moment :cool:

[spellbound]

Your getting the same as me on Adel/Melb trip. But is your 110 speed taken off the speedo, if so, you're about 8km/h slower than johnny & I. I run the speed off the sat nav. when doing 110 my speedo shows 118-9km/h.

Around town I get down to 4.3 to 5.2L/100km.


speedo variance that much , i was told they are optimistic 3 to 4 % , have to crank the cruise up then , maybe not, cant trust those vic cops.

[WEDEL.1]

When we have our T4 Transporter our speed check at the radar near Melb was Speedo 100km/h, Radar 92km/h.

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

Driving around Melbourne in peak hour every weekday I'm averaging 6.9l/100km - this is over 5 tanks. This is driving from Blackburn to St Kilda Rd & back, medium to heavy traffic, approx 45km round trip with at least 10 minutes idling time one way. I'm not gentle with the car either.

Interesting I drove from St Kilda Rd to Knox City via Citylink, Monash Fwy & Eastlink and got 4.7l/100km without trying. Due to the roadworks on the Monash and cops everywhere the average speed was less than 70km/h.

I originally was expecting less than 5.0l/100km on constant highway running (like Melb to Mildura) when I first got it, but 5.6l/100km at an average speed of 109km/h with less than 7000km on the clock is good with me. Sounds like this will improve after 15k too.

Just on a side note we've got a current model Chrysler Grand Voyager (read 7 seater people mover/bus) with the 2.8 turbo diesel motor and 6 speed auto. It weighs 2.2 tonne and following the Octavia on a trip from Melb to Mildura and back recently it returned 7.8l/100km. Did the same trip with a pod on the roof and 8l/100km. Bloody impressive for such a big comfortable bus!

Cheers

[dazag]

Allways a discussion provoking statement.

The reason K&N flow better is because they filter worse. If you're happy to accept that It might reduce your engine life (plucks figures out of bum: maybe by 10%) then go for it.

I've tried FinerFilter & Pipercross oiled foam (not oiled cotton like K&N) and decided I'll stick with OEM paper & change it more often.

The Skodas are on a 60,000km change cycle which seems an awfully long time. I had a look at my air filter last week (29,000km) and it was remarkably free of gross debris. I think I'll change it at 45,000km.

Interesting - why do you think K&N are crap?? What testing have you done??I've run them on multiple vehicles with no problems, but it all comes down to how you service them. I service them regularly so have never had any indication of any fine dust particles are any other crap or water even getting by any K&N filter I've fitted.

But each to their own.

For me i race dirt bikes and work on multi million dollar aircraft and am very particular about my maintenance, so for me it's no drama, but maybe for the less mechanical minded it's more of a hassle??

[Johnny_dust]

It's quite strange with my fuel economy, as sometimes I get really good economy...eg when I was in Canberra last week I drove from Gungahlin to Queanbeyan and averaged 4.8 doing around 90km/h alot of the way. But driving around melbourne I usually get around 6.5 and occaisionaly high 5's but I have never gotten below 5 before.

Are there factory updates to the ECU which the dealer can provide which may improve fuel economy?

As for the speed, yes, when I was on the highway, 110km/h on my gps read around 118km/h on the speedo, if I go down to 100km/h on the gps fuel economy improved some.

Does anyone reccommend a diesel fuel additive to help clean injectors or are they are waste of money?

[dazag]

Does anyone log what fuel brand or servo they buy their fuel from to aid in their fuel economy calculations??

Aussie fuel is considered to be somewhat dogdy at the best of times, so depending on where you buy your fuel can be the difference in some of the varying numbers being quoted.
I know generally i think canberra has better quality fuel - I always get better economy from my vehicles when i fuel up in Canberra when visiting family/friends down there. Also some area's in Sydney are better for getting better quality fuel too.
Do people realise that government legislation allows servo's to "suppliment" their fuel by adding some additives during the weekly cycle to hopefully maintain the quality??

Just food for thought............

[brad]

Interesting - why do you think K&N are crap?? What testing have you done??I've run them on multiple vehicles with no problems, but it all comes down to how you service them. I service them regularly so have never had any indication of any fine dust particles are any other crap or water even getting by any K&N filter I've fitted.

But each to their own.

For me i race dirt bikes and work on multi million dollar aircraft and am very particular about my maintenance, so for me it's no drama, but maybe for the less mechanical minded it's more of a hassle??
ex motor mech. ex Aircraft Maint Engineer, qualified Mech Eng, so I think I'm mechanically minded enough:P

I didn't say they were crap. I said that the reason they flow more air is because they filter less. K&N filter best when they are dirty because the air galleries are clogged up a bit.

How much difference this makes to engine life depends on where you use your car. For the driving I do, it would be negligible but if it were in dusty conditions then I'm not so sure.

I just think there's a trade off for the poofteenth (1-2 kw) of performance that the K&Ns give you.

I wouldn't tell anyone not to use them but wouldn't recommend them either.

Are you at Williamtown on the RAAF contract? Boeing were the lead on that weren't they? Are they still cnuts to work for (I never heard a good thing about them when I was in the trade)? Is their OHS still crap? Have you got this dumpy little fat chick working for you? She'd be late 20s, ex QF apprentice Sydney, did a lot of work in the battery room. I remember she was pretty excited when she got the job up there in about 2006.

[brad]

Does anyone log what fuel brand or servo they buy their fuel from to aid in their fuel economy calculations??
Don't log the servo but do log the brand. Generally I just buy local as it's the nearly the cheapest in Sydney.

So far, much to my surprise, the dreaded Shell V-Power gives the best economy. I've tried the others but keep drifting back to Shell. My two local Shells are very busy so I assume the additives don't go stale (I believe Shell uses octane boosters rather than refining a true 98ron). It's certainly a better fuel than the old Optimax which my motorbike hated - air cooled, no O2 sensors, so I think it ran a bit lean on the Optimax.

Performance differences from fuel - butt dyno doesn't register a few kw difference between the different 98s but you can tell when there is 95 in it.

[gregozedobe]

speedo variance that much , i was told they are optimistic 3 to 4 % , have to crank the cruise up then , maybe not, cant trust those vic cops.

If you have climatronic a/c there is a digital speedo in that that is pretty accurate (there are a few threads around showing all the diagnostic info available from the climatronic), if not you can get a pretty good idea by using the av speed display in the mfd:

1 Find a road that is pretty level and with no sharp bends for a couple of Km.

2 Set the cruise control to what speed you want to check (eg speedo reading 117 for a "real" 110).

3 Reset the memory (1).

4 Cruise along at "117" for a Km or two.

5 Have a look at the memory (1) Average Speed, that will be very close to your actual speed (typically 4-9% less than the speedo).

Note that the Average Fuel Consumption displayed by the MFD is also optimistic on many VAG vehicles (just a coincidence that helps with marketing I suppose :rolleyes: )

[dazag]

ex motor mech. ex Aircraft Maint Engineer, qualified Mech Eng, so I think I'm mechanically minded enough:P

I didn't say they were crap. I said that the reason they flow more air is because they filter less. K&N filter best when they are dirty because the air galleries are clogged up a bit.

How much difference this makes to engine life depends on where you use your car. For the driving I do, it would be negligible but if it were in dusty conditions then I'm not so sure.

I just think there's a trade off for the poofteenth (1-2 kw) of performance that the K&Ns give you.

I wouldn't tell anyone not to use them but wouldn't recommend them either.

Are you at Williamtown on the RAAF contract? Boeing were the lead on that weren't they? Are they still cnuts to work for (I never heard a good thing about them when I was in the trade)? Is their OHS still crap? Have you got this dumpy little fat chick working for you? She'd be late 20s, ex QF apprentice Sydney, did a lot of work in the battery room. I remember she was pretty excited when she got the job up there in about 2006.

Ahh fair call Brad, never can tell on these forums who has done what etc, but definatly sounds you know your stuff. I guess I shouldn't recommend K&N as such, but just suggest it as an option. I'm happy to use them for the driving i do etc and the maintenance regime i carry out, but that's what I'm willing to accept. Although I was looking at possibly trialing a BMC CDA Air Filter but not sure if they make one of the 2.0 TDI's.

No I'm not contracted to BOEING or BAE, I am a RAAFie, and yes i work at WLM as an ATECH. Been doing this stuff for 20 plus years.
Also been a race mechanic for a couple of people with the Shell Advance series ( road racing - Aussie 250 GP bikes, and production class ) and love getting my hands dirty on project cars etc, be it helping mates or car club members etc.

My Uncle is a mad VW enthusiest - he owns VW performance/Korsch Auto Re-cyclers on the Central Coast and he's always wanted me to buy a VW. I guess buying the Skoda is a step closer........ha ha ha

[TuNeS]

Not sure about diesel, but I am quite fussy with the fuel I fill up with. I always fill up with BP Ultimate (even my previous 2000 model corolla). I race go-karts which are very fussy on fuel and BP ultimate is the only fuel I have been recommended. Apparently Caltex Vortex is good too.

I have heard soooo many stories about dodgy fuels and servo's where water has been discovered. Its more common than you realise. I also try not to buy from privately owned servo's as they can be known to cut corners to increase profits (not all i know!, but i dont risk it) and buy from the the ridgy didge BP's with a high turnover.

[aarondc]

Left for Montrose today (from Richmond) and the car said range : 410km. Got to Montrose and it said range: 450km. Still said 440km when I got home. Averaged 6.4l/100km for the trip to Montrose and back. I estimate 6 hard accelerations in the trip, where I enjoyed the turbo-charged thrust of the 2lt diesel engine and the cars disappearing in the rear vision mirror. :-D

That's 38km of highway / freeway, ~15km inner CBD suburbia (40-60km/hr) and ~40km of outer city suburbia (50-80 km/hr).

Pretty pleased with that considering the car has 500km on the clock.

[K1W1]

I have heard soooo many stories about dodgy fuels and servo's where water has been discovered. Its more common than you realise.

Every service station in the world has water in their fuel tanks.
Water gets in through condensation, rainwater entering when the tanks are being refuelled or through osmosis through worn pipe work or tank bodies.
Service station fuel pick ups in the tanks do not float like aviation pick ups (too expensive) but they are set at a level that means the water should most of the time be under the level of the pick up so there is no issue. Problems only occur when the water level rises unexpectedly to the level of the pick up.
If you get water in your car petrol tank the problem is simple to fix. Tip in about half a litre of meths and the water molecules will break up, mix with the petrol and pass harmlessly through the engine and exit the exhaust as steam.

[jacob_1987]

I'm not sure but I find when I use the cruise control it does use more diesel. I got a 1.9 TDi and on freeway driving I average from 4.9-5.3L depending on hills etc