Just bought 2015 Jetta TDI. MPG is lacking

CowboyCVW

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Location
Texas
TDI
2015 Jetta SE TDI
So before buying this 2015 Jetta TDI i read a lot on this forum and saw lots of people were getting beyond the advertised 46 mpg even after the phase 1 fix. I bought my Jetta with 10K on the clock and a 6 speed manual which i had to fly to a dealership and drive it 7 hours home after buying. Im on my 3rd tank as my daily commute is at 100 miles round trip. Im pulling 40-41 mpg on all three tanks, with the first one being all highway. No way this is normal. Optilube XPD gives me a gain in my super duty truck but had no effect on the TDI. I have verified trie pressure at 38psi. I have to admit this car will coast long distances with significantly less resistance and more rolling than my old civic. Im just disappointed by this mileage and seeing other people on the fourms doing 20% + better performance.
 

Lightflyer1

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Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg

SoTxBill

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Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Location
its not the base, its the additives!!
TDI
13 passatdsg 10 jetdsg, 09 jetdsg, 2006 jetdsg, 2001Jet, 96passat, 86jet, 81 jet, 78pickup all vw diesel.
my jetta's did not improve till around 15k... and bumped up about 3 mpg's.. you should see the same.

driving style also had EVERYTHING to do with mpg.. If you do any idling, or lots of stop lights, forget it. If you do city driving, forget it.

I do rural or light suburban driving, lots of it between 40 and 65 mph... and the car will over excel at these speeds. Most of my jettas start out around 39 and slowly ease up to 42.5 mpg lifetime average. But again, the combo driving, some at 46 mpg, and some lower. The trips at 75 and 85 mph push the average down to the lower side, while trips at 65 and lower push it way up. New 2015 passat is now at 43.5 lifetime with around 7k on the clock. BUt it seems to be geared higher, and the speedo is a bit more optimistic when checking against actual. But the 2015 passat did start out much higher in the brand new mode, so we will see how it fares. I expected it to start out around 39 to 40 mpg and work its way up. Ironically my passats have done a bit better than my jettas?????

Lots of highway driving, but a head wind or tail wind will add or subtract 3mpg easily.

Heavy city traffic can push me down to 37mpg.. and doing warm ups in the morning will push it much lower, so simply DONT sit and idle before or after a trip.
 

CowboyCVW

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Location
Texas
TDI
2015 Jetta SE TDI
These responses make me feel a bit better about it. I live in a rural area so its nothing more than a stop sign and one stop light on my way to work. That being said rural highway in Texas is 75 mph speed limit and sometimes i will push it to 85mph. I just set up a fuelly profile and got my last two fill ups logged. One reply mentioned MPG increasing after 15k and TX Bill mentioned new mode on his Passat. So do people see MPGs increase after a break in? If so, what is the cause of that?
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
On older TDIs I've found FE improved significantly at around the 60K mile mark. I'm seeing about 42 in my GSW manual, but it only has 2,500 miles on it. The 6-speed in the new cars helps on the highway. I'd not worry about running at 85 when you want to. TDIs love to work.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Your best mileage is achieved at about 60Mph. Go faster and your mileage drops. At 85Mph just keep filling your tank.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
Anything above 60 mph and wind resistance becomes a big factor. Driving habits and route count for a lot too. If you were able to travel 60 mph on the highway for a whole tank you would probably be amazed.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
What were you driving before you got the '15? What FE did it get under the same conditiona? I'm betting the TDI is significantly better.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I think one of the best things about these cars in general is that they will still get stellar fuel economy even when driven hard and fast, and they love to do that. TDIs that get grannied around never run as good overall.

The newer cars' gearing is such that the hit that takes place at higher sustained speeds is less than it was in the earlier cars, and even they were (are) not all that bad.

You may find that the fuel economy will improve some over time, though.
 

turbobrick240

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Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
I wouldn't be disappointed with 40-41 mpg tanks. I had my worst tank driving west across Texas at 80-85 mph with the a.c. on. It was 37 mpg. I can hit 50 mpg on a tank if I maintain <65 mph on the highway in nice weather. I almost never do that though.
 

tdi54

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2010
Location
California
TDI
1981 Rabbit Diesel(sold), 2009 Jetta TDI MT(sold)2010 Jetta TDI MT, 2015 Jetta TDI SEL, DSG, 99 Ford F 350 PSD Dually, 2016 BMW X5 xDrive35d, 2016 535d
CowboyCVW,
Try to keep your speed if possible at around 70 mph with steady speed during your commute, doing so I am expecting that you should see more than 46 mpg on your car.
I try this from time to time, and my car gets close to 50 mpg, and mine is gen 1 engine with 187K on the odometer, so you should do much better.
 

Graham Line

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Location
Pacific Northwest
TDI
'12 Golf TDI 6M
Think some people see "52 mpg" on the display while they're cruising down a freeway at 60 mph and think that's their per-tank number.

My '12 Golf is closing in on 70K miles, and averages 41-42 mpg with a mix of 30% city, 70% interstate running. Summer the a/c is on and winter it takes longer to warm up, but I still get around 42. Mileage and drivability are better with Chevron or Cenex than with no-name brands.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Also watch out for people who might be talking about imperial gallons. Crazy Canadians and their UK gallons.


I really don't understand liters per hundred km as well as I understand Mpg.

For information
A US gallon is 3.78 liters
A UK gallon is 4.54 liters
 
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jerrymander

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Location
ur mum
TDI
f
Im pulling 40-41 mpg on all three tanks, with the first one being all highway. No way this is normal.
Yeah, this is normal. You can mitigate it by turning the A/C off, which will bump your mileage up to 42-44 mpg.

I drove my stock car consistently from Florida to South Carolina for work, and would get 40 mpg tanks when highway cruising from 70-80 MPH.

If I took backroad highways and drove 55 MPH, I would get 45 mpg tanks.
 

Growler

Got Soot Vendor
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Location
Millersport, Ohio
TDI
Schmutz, 2015 Golf Sportwagen DSG & Schnurren, 2001 Golf GL 2 door 5M
I've got about 11k on my new bought 2015 GSW since April and my tank over tank average is 43.5 averaged over 21 tanks according to Fuelly with my DSG.
 

Scoutx

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Location
Virginia
TDI
2012 Jetta (6MT) - 1000 Mile Club (retired)___ 2015 Jetta SEL (6MT)
Just recently got my 2015 TDI to replace the 2012 that decided to get into an argument with a semi----

But moving on. According to the dream gauge, my mileage has actually picked up a bit and despite the cooler temperatures I'm still running about 52mpg. Fuel gauge and odometer would seem to collaborate this, but don't have enough tanks to make a definitive statement yet.

I do notice that the acceleration is a bit 'mushier' than the 2012 and certainly doesn't have the surge in 2/3 that would push you back into the seat. Of course the motor just passed 10K miles so it's not even broke in good yet.
 

RedHawk

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2017
Location
Lubbock, Texas
TDI
2015 Jetta EA288
New 2015 Jetta EA288 Engine

Hi,
Brand new here and thought I'd post my two cents......

I just purchased one of the "new" 2015 Jetta TDIs with the EA288 engine. First trip was a 900 mile round trip Lubbock, TX to Pueblo, CO. I got 50.6 MPG with the 6 speed auto, running 75 mph roughly. A/C was on about 1/2 the time. Totally pleased with the mileage.......Dave
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
These are my fuel mileage readings, not in one tank or 2 tanks but every tank of diesel I put in. My car has the DSG tranny and I have NEVER got into the high 50 Mpg as well as I seldom go faster than 75 Mph. I have had 55 Mpg driving strictly on Interstates with cruise on.
My readings are averaged over city and highway driving.

In my opinion there are a lot of dreamers around here.:eek:

I did a quick check and since I had the Phase 1 (Software) done on June 19th my mileage has not changed, unless you want to quibble over a very minor per mile difference.

I fill my tank until not one more drop can be put in !!!!

My mileage from the day I got my car before the Phase 1 (NOT MFD readings) taken over 12 month converted to US gallons is 40.6.
Since June 19th after the Phase 1 software fix my Mpg is 40.04 (Almost 3 months) Imp gal. is 50.05 now.
 

Scongiundi

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2017
Location
Texas
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI (6spd manual), 2015 Jetta TDI SE (6spd manual)
I got just over 50 mpg on my last tank...2015 Jetta TDI 6MT. See signature below. Will easily average over 50mpg consistently it's looking like.
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Location
Hilliard, OH
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI
Three days ago, I picked up a 2015 Golf Sportwagen w/6 speed manual and drove it 600 miles home from Atlanta to Columbus. I ran into a couple pockets of Irma evacuation traffic and one 10 minute stop/go accident traffic, but the rest of the time, I was flying along with the flow of traffic around 80-90MPH.

I've only fuelled up once, but that tank was a surprising 46.7MPG. I can only hope that will be the norm, if not improve as I drive it with less haste going forward.

I did a trip across town and back where both directions, the dash displayed 51MPG "since start" by the time I reached my destination. I'm taking the onboard readings with a grain of salt, but I am looking forward to collecting more data and saving fuel costs as I travel more in this car. All around, really happy with finally buying my first TDI. I hope the OP sees some improvement in the next few thousand miles.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Although the FE on these cars is very good, take those readings with a big grain of salt. The cluster in my car reads at least 4 MPG high. Others have reported similar errors.
 

TTaM

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2015
Location
Olympia, WA
TDI
'15 GSW TDI
41 mpg at 85 mph sounds pretty good to me.

That being said, I was averaging in the low 40's per tank (hand calculated), until recently I've seen a good bump, now averaging high 40's (even saw one tank at 55.5). I don't know if its because I moved and the fuel is better here, or if its because I'm about to turn 50K miles, therefore is finally "broken in"
 

RedHawk

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2017
Location
Lubbock, Texas
TDI
2015 Jetta EA288
I just made another trip to Colorado from Texas. This time I was cruising at about 72. I got right at 53 mpg and that was gauge measured, not tank / mileage measured. I have the EA288 engine with about 1500 miles on it.....Dave
 

Growler

Got Soot Vendor
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Location
Millersport, Ohio
TDI
Schmutz, 2015 Golf Sportwagen DSG & Schnurren, 2001 Golf GL 2 door 5M
Three days ago, I picked up a 2015 Golf Sportwagen w/6 speed manual and drove it 600 miles home from Atlanta to Columbus. I ran into a couple pockets of Irma evacuation traffic and one 10 minute stop/go accident traffic, but the rest of the time, I was flying along with the flow of traffic around 80-90MPH.

I've only fuelled up once, but that tank was a surprising 46.7MPG. I can only hope that will be the norm, if not improve as I drive it with less haste going forward.

I did a trip across town and back where both directions, the dash displayed 51MPG "since start" by the time I reached my destination. I'm taking the onboard readings with a grain of salt, but I am looking forward to collecting more data and saving fuel costs as I travel more in this car. All around, really happy with finally buying my first TDI. I hope the OP sees some improvement in the next few thousand miles.

I have been driving my DSG Sportwagen In Central Ohio from Buckeye Lake to Gahanna daily and since april ove rthe last 11k miles I have averaged 43.6 mpg according to Fuelly, my MFA reads consistently 4-5mpg high since fillup and I assume since start.
 

unique_name

Active member
Joined
Aug 8, 2017
Location
ny
TDI
2012 jetta 6sp (sold back with 151k miles) 2015 jetta sel 6sp (purchased with 15k miles)
my 2012 over its life averaged 42-43 a tank, using mental math, the mfa was always around 3 high. mostly highway with traffic and some stop and go, not a lot of city, probably 85%-15%. the highway was 70-75 if traffic allowed but usually 65-70. my 2015 with 19k on the clock, 4 of which is mine in the last 2 months, with the same type of driving seems better. granted, not a lot of tanks so far, but 47-48 all in so far. 650 is usual and i had a 700. the 2012 could not approach 700 and 650 was a stretch and that is in no way a complaint. just my observation so far.
 

Ronner

Active member
Joined
Jul 4, 2017
Location
ontario
TDI
New 2015 Golf TDI dsg
I just made another trip to Colorado from Texas. This time I was cruising at about 72. I got right at 53 mpg and that was gauge measured, not tank / mileage measured. I have the EA288 engine with about 1500 miles on it.....Dave
2015 Golf Trend DSG 12,000KM first service done early(the car is a keeper)...

This was my finding too (53 MPG) on a recent trip from Toronto to Ottawa and back. In normal daily driving with 15-20% stop and go city I seem to get around 48.

Take off 3 mpg for the optimistic cpu and I figger I get 45-50 mpg not even trying to conserve. Air conditioning doesn't seem to make a whole lotta difference. It may cost me all of .25 cents an hour to stay comfortable in the heat. A price I'm very willing to pay for comfort.

Comparing running costs(fuel) to my 2012 Focus(which was giving excellent 7l/100km) I've kept about 250.00 in my pocket over my first 12,000 Km with this new TDI of mine. "I like it"!!!
 

badnews

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Location
Colorado
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen, FWD, Manual6
Hi, I'm new here and this is my first post. I bought a used 2015 Golf TDI Sportwagon w/ 6-speed manual, FWD. I'm in Colorado and have done 4 or 5 round trips from the Front Range to the Western Slope via I70. So we're talking two big steep climbs and lotsa little ones; 6000ft gain to the Tunnel at 11K, and later Vail Pass at 10.6K.

Anyway, I'm getting 56mpg round trip. 55 on the way out (2,000ft gain) and 57 on the way home. I use the cruise control as much as possible but don't hesitate to pass tourists with my foot to the floor in 5th. It's four hours one way, my average speed is 60+.

So from the sounds of it, this is pretty exceptional. The mileage traveled seems right on the money, so the calculated MPG should be right too. So I'm pretty impressed.
 
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