tdi gas mileage/ 1/4 tank..

Ichance405

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Location
NORCAL
TDI
2012 tdi GOLF 2009 silverado 1500 6.0
couldnt think of a good title.. anyway, I get about 430 a tank and its usually right on a quarter tank and takes 11 gallons. people who get 600 a tank. where is your gage when you fill up? also how accurate does your consumption seem to be? so far mine seems to be reading about 2 mpg better than what it show when I do the math. I just hit 2,000 miles today and have about 3 days left before its considered 1 month of ownership.
 

StaceyS

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Location
Bend, Oregon
TDI
2011 JSW 6MT
My MFI is showing a bit better than my calculated.

The 700+ mile tank I drove a while back I knew the route and where I could get fuel. I kept putting it off for cost and ended up filling up with about 10 miles of range left. The needle was on empty and the light had been boring a hole in my eye for miles... Not something I planned to do, or would choose to do again.
 

bvencil

Veteran Member
Joined
May 12, 2011
Location
Virginia
TDI
2011 JSW TDI (6MT)
I usually fill-up a little under a quarter tank, maybe 3/16. I am usually in the low 500s.

Also, I don't worry about how many miles I get to a tank. The metric that is of more interest to me is MPG. Tank miles seems a bit meaningless, other than the novelty of it.
 

scottisha

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Location
Oviedo Fl
TDI
2014 Golf TDI 4dr
Use Fuelly.com to track your mileage. I've used it for quite some time and it helped me rationalize, easily, the purchase of an additional car (my golf TDI)

I averaged $630.00 per month in gas in my Genesis V8, the first five months of this year. My cost per mile, in fuel, was $0.203.
I now spend 1/2 of that in fuel, which nearly makes the car payment.

On topic....I try to get 500+ miles per tank. I take a break from "slow" driving every other tank or so, as you can see by looking at my Fuelly profile.
I typically fill up within the 20-30 miles till empty range.

Scott
 

Seacoaster

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Location
Seacoast of NH
TDI
2011 JSW TDI DSG
i would have to say my tank is weighed heavily toward the top. I tend to run it low before filling and almost always take 14-14.5 gallons. As for the MFI, mine will usually read 44 mpg on any trip over 20 minutes, and my mpg when calculated by hand ends up at 40-42 mpg. So my MFI is consistantly off 5-10%.
 

scottisha

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Location
Oviedo Fl
TDI
2014 Golf TDI 4dr
My MFI is slightly more positive than my actual results, using Fuelly's calculated MPG. Typically though, the MFI is within 1/2 a mpg avg.

Scott
 

fujii13

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Location
Albany, NY
TDI
2011 VW JSW
Wow, you guys are really doing a disservice to your fuel range if you're filling up around a quarter of a tank. Let the thing go to 0 miles at least. On cross country road trips I regularly go 40-50 miles past "0 range" with no issues.
 

scottisha

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Location
Oviedo Fl
TDI
2014 Golf TDI 4dr
I'm not risking running this car out of fuel. In my other cars, I regulary go past the "0 miles till empty" point; however, with all the HPFP fear I'm not running this thing bone dry, except by complete accident.
 

5harkology

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Location
Ellicott City, MD
TDI
2011 JSW DSG
I'm not risking running this car out of fuel. In my other cars, I regulary go past the "0 miles till empty" point; however, with all the HPFP fear I'm not running this thing bone dry, except by complete accident.
I have a tendency to push the range pretty far, but keep in mind all the junk you're picking up off the floor of the tank when running it near dry.
 

fujii13

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Location
Albany, NY
TDI
2011 VW JSW
1) E isn't at empty on these cars. It just isn't.
2) Fill up until you see diesel in the filler neck. With how foamy diesel is when the pump cuts off you are NOT at a full tank.
 

meowguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Location
Saco, ME
TDI
2010 JSW, 2012 Passat TDI SE
I get about 430 a tank and its usually right on a quarter tank and takes 11 gallons. people who get 600 a tank. where is your gage when you fill up?
Your question appears simple, the answer is complicated. You want to know how people get the highest range? The range you can expect depends on your average MPG and that depends on the following:

1. Your mix of city/highway driving.
2. How you use the accelerator.
3. How broken-in your engine is.
4. What type of transmission you have.
5. What is the outside air temperature.
6. How your tires are inflated.
7. Do you drive with Cruise Control.
8. How much you use the brakes. (The more you brake the more fuel you waste)
9. Do you want to play "chicken" with your fuel gauge to get High Range which is a meaningless number and will take care of itself with high MPG.

Having to refuel a CR diesel that has run completely dry is something you will only want to do once in a life-time. So when the yellow light comes on and says "Fuel Low" you have about 50 miles left at your current consumption rate before you are sucking air. You better stop and get some fuel quick.

Personally, I don't care if I fill up at 400 miles or 630 miles. The number you need to try to achieve is the highest average MPG. That's why we bought a car with this engine. :D
 
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Rutch

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Location
Seneca Falls, NY
TDI
2011 JSW TDI
Wow, you guys are really doing a disservice to your fuel range if you're filling up around a quarter of a tank. Let the thing go to 0 miles at least. On cross country road trips I regularly go 40-50 miles past "0 range" with no issues.
lol, it's not like filling up at a 1/4 tank is going to make the fuel range go down over time and never come back. You could still use that 1/4 tank if you need it sometime.

On the other hand, isn't the fuel pump lubed/cooled by the diesel? I wouldn't want to make a habit of running on the ragged edge all the time...
 

dajo

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Location
Noblesville, IN
TDI
2012 JSW sun/nav DSG
Just got 1700 miles on mine, it seems the MPG is off by 2-3 MPG on MFI. I don't really care about range just MPG. So far overall avr 39 MPG very happy with car, power, MPG
 

bvencil

Veteran Member
Joined
May 12, 2011
Location
Virginia
TDI
2011 JSW TDI (6MT)
Wow, you guys are really doing a disservice to your fuel range if you're filling up around a quarter of a tank. Let the thing go to 0 miles at least. On cross country road trips I regularly go 40-50 miles past "0 range" with no issues.
Don't see how the fuel range is being "disserviced" It is what it is regardless of when you fill up.

I guess what I was alluding to earlier (or at least thinking about) are the many comments on this forum that seem to equate fuel range with fuel economy, when in fact they are 2 different things.
 

fujii13

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Location
Albany, NY
TDI
2011 VW JSW
The difference between me driving my S4 as a daily driver and my JSW TDI as a daily driver is filling up twice a week compared to filling up twice a month. Fuel range, to me, is just as important. If we only had 2 gallon tanks, but still got 40 MPG would the MPG even matter?
 

Pathy01

Active member
Joined
Aug 14, 2011
Location
Long Island, NY
TDI
2012 Golf TDI
The difference between me driving my S4 as a daily driver and my JSW TDI as a daily driver is filling up twice a week compared to filling up twice a month. Fuel range, to me, is just as important. If we only had 2 gallon tanks, but still got 40 MPG would the MPG even matter?
I think the 2 gallon tank hyperbole is a bit ridiculous, but MPG is very important. Say you go to the opposite extreme and have a 40 gallon tank. Would it matter that you have a 600 mile range if you're getting 15mpg? You'd only have to fill up twice a month, you'd just pay $150+ to do so. Regardless of what mileage a vehicle gets, I fill up when I get down around 1/4 tank. It's not really a big effort for me.

All things being equal, if you fill up after 600 miles and I fill up after 500, I'll have filled up a whopping 4 more times in a year given 12,000 miles, 5 @ 15,000, etc. If you think those 20 minutes of time a year filling up are worth sucking more debris into the fuel system and risking damage to the HPFP then more power to you.
 

bvencil

Veteran Member
Joined
May 12, 2011
Location
Virginia
TDI
2011 JSW TDI (6MT)
The difference between me driving my S4 as a daily driver and my JSW TDI as a daily driver is filling up twice a week compared to filling up twice a month. Fuel range, to me, is just as important. If we only had 2 gallon tanks, but still got 40 MPG would the MPG even matter?
Well, I guess we could turn it around by thinking about a 100 gallon tank in a car that gets 10 MPG. You would get a range of 1000 miles. That's good, right? :)

That obviously is an extreme example, but I guess the real question is what is more important, MPG or fuel range? As long as the tank is reasonably sized, I am much more interested in MPG, as this equates to less cost. Running the tank out to the last mile is just not of great interest to me.
 

PlaneCrazy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 3, 2000
Location
Province of Quebec, Canada
TDI
Gone...
Well, I guess we could turn it around by thinking about a 100 gallon tank in a car that gets 10 MPG. You would get a range of 1000 miles. That's good, right? :)

That obviously is an extreme example, but I guess the real question is what is more important, MPG or fuel range? As long as the tank is reasonably sized, I am much more interested in MPG, as this equates to less cost. Running the tank out to the last mile is just not of great interest to me.
Well I'm interested in both! Cost obviously because I have a 90+ km commute each way each day, but also range. Because I spend nearly 3 hours a day in my car as it is and would rather avoid spending any more time than that on the road. As it is with my current range (about 700 miles per tank/just over 11100 km) I can do my entire week of commuting plus weekend driving on a single tank.

I looked at the Lexus CT200h when I got my TDI. It's highway number was very close to the TDI (4.8 L/100 km vs 4.6 for the TDI), but its ridiculous 42 liter tank would give me at best 800 km range. I can get a full 300 km more than that out of the TDI.
 

TDiSkater

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Location
Northern Suburbs Chicago
TDI
2011 JSW DSG Salsa Red
couldnt think of a good title.. anyway, I get about 430 a tank and its usually right on a quarter tank and takes 11 gallons. people who get 600 a tank. where is your gage when you fill up? also how accurate does your consumption seem to be? so far mine seems to be reading about 2 mpg better than what it show when I do the math. I just hit 2,000 miles today and have about 3 days left before its considered 1 month of ownership.
405, meowguy gave you your answer.

Be careful as others warn. It's not a game when the bill could be over 7k.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,


notice the trip mileage and the fuel gage, not what the MFD is spitting out while i was coasting.

I hit 49mpg after filling up with exactly 5 gallons before irene, then later that week topping up with 8.2 gallons and doing 652 miles. The trips were long around around 170 miles each.

This past weekend I also did around 550 miles on 3/4 tank, getting 49mpg. The weather for these two tanks was pefect, little ac, no rain, coupled with cruising around 65-70 on the highway, and doing 50 on back roads for about half the tank.
 
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DavidNJCPA

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Location
New Jersey
TDI
Jetta
MPG Range

I am interested in MPG as well as range as well.

I used to fill up every 3 days when I had the Rogue and it is now every 5 days with my 2010 Jetta TDI. It is a bit less stressful having to fill up less.

I generally drive until the range left is 0-50 miles depending on if I know a gas station I trust will be coming up and I wont run out of diesel.

I have gotten at best about 630 miles to a tank (seems it broke in at about 45k miles when I started getting 3-4 MPG more than previously), but lately with all the traffic on the highway related to flooding and not being able to really use cruise control I am getting 560 or so.

No complaints for me on MPG or range.

On a side note I always make sure I watch when I fill up that they actually put diesel in the tank and not gas because I dont want major issues with my TDI. Last weekend I ordered "full diesel" and the guy was texting and had music in his ears. I know he heard me but he was maybe 1 second away from putting regular in and stopped only when I was screaming. SCARY.

David
 

runningDoc

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Location
Brooklyn NY
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen
On a side note I always make sure I watch when I fill up that they actually put diesel in the tank and not gas because I dont want major issues with my TDI. Last weekend I ordered "full diesel" and the guy was texting and had music in his ears. I know he heard me but he was maybe 1 second away from putting regular in and stopped only when I was screaming. SCARY.
David
^spoiled full service low priced diesel New Jersey TDI owner rant:p

I've only filled up here in NYC once... Its always out of state for me... damn diesel is up to $4.50 at some local stations here in brooklyn...

i understand the argument of the range per tank being moot... but in my case its important because I really only wait for out of state trips to do fill ups. It'll usually be a road trip where I'll fill the tank up in NJ/PA/MA/CT going somewhere then fill up before going back into NY.

that said I never let the tank get below 1/4... i'll just bite the cost and do a partial fill up here in NYC if I have to.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
you can pump your own diesel in Jersey you know, it's just gas there's laws against it.
 

sway162

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Location
Lakewood, WA
TDI
2012 JSW TDI DSG
Can't say much for my mpg because I've just done 2 fill ups so far. With the break in period and all I am getting around 37mpg and filling up 13.6 gallons each time. The JSW is a 14.5 gallon tank right? So with that I have a gallon to spare.....is this a bad thing waiting this long to fill up?
 

FrankTR

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Location
League City, Texas
TDI
2011 Sport Wagon
I let my tank get to 10 miles remaining the other day and it took 14.4 gallons. I think it is a 14.5 gallon tank. Way too close for me, got about 30 miles with the red light on before I got fuel.
 
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DavidNJCPA

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Location
New Jersey
TDI
Jetta
740gle

740GLE,

You can pump your own diesel in NJ from what I understand.

But that doesnt mean the stations understand or let you. From what I have seen at many stations, you cant just start filling up (so pumping to pay cash is not going to happen) and even with credit cards I see them swipe what looks to be an electronic key before it will let you put the card in and pump.

I may try it with a credit card sometime soon and see if I can do it.

David
 

Daniel L

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Location
Los Angeles
TDI
2012 Golf TDI
I let my tank get to 10 miles remaining the other day and it took 14.4 gallons. I think it is a 14.5 gallon tank. Way too close for me, got about 30 miles with the red light on before I got fuel.
Perhaps the pump isn't metering correctly
 

meowguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Location
Saco, ME
TDI
2010 JSW, 2012 Passat TDI SE
I watch when I fill up that they actually put diesel in the tank and not gas because I dont want major issues with my TDI.
More like a catastrophic, take off the tires and throw the rest of the car away type of issue.:(
 

ksing44

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Location
Southeast PA
TDI
2010 Golf TDI
I looked at the Lexus CT200h when I got my TDI. It's highway number was very close to the TDI (4.8 L/100 km vs 4.6 for the TDI), but its ridiculous 42 liter tank would give me at best 800 km range. I can get a full 300 km more than that out of the TDI.
Just the other day I happened to see the small tank volume on the Lexus. That would bother me after owning this TDI. I love not having to stop for fuel as often! The good news, I guess the Lexus uses regular gas. You wouldn't even need premium.


My story from a different thread
On the way home from work one night, the warning came on to say I needed fuel. The estimated range was 50 miles and I was at 599 miles on the tank. I could have pulled off the highway in a mile to get some good fuel, but it was less than 20 miles to home and I thought I would get fuel in the morning. By the time I got off the highway and made one stop for beer, I had driven less than 20 miles and the new estimated range was only 10 miles. The needle on the gauge had also moved very quickly from the top of the red range to very close to the bottom. I decided to fill the tank before going home. I ended with 621 miles on the tank and added 14.845 gallons! This was with watching my fill, giving time to let the foam settle, and then being able to see the fuel at the top of the neck of the tank. Previously, my best tank was 642 miles and I added 14.30 gallons for that fill. My last fill was 14.46 gallons after 618 miles. This last time, I still had about half of the reserve.

I don't really intend to try to run to zero, but the gauge sure drops in a hurry. That one night was cruising at 65 to 72 mph, with an average for the trip home of over 45 mpg. It seems the reserve may actually be less than 1 gallon. Don't get me wrong, I love my car, but in general it bugs me a little how fast the second half of the tank goes down. The first half of the tank makes it look like I should get 750 miles or more per tank, but then I generally need fuel at just under 600 miles per tank (this is in warm weather).

All of this happens because of my very regular commuting routine. It seems to go like clockwork and I have a favorite two stations, one very near my home and one in the middle of the trip home. Of my two favorites, I prefer the nozzle on the one near home. I'm also lucky to be in Pennsylvania, with 2% biodiesel mandated by law. I have only used fuel from Sunoco and only two different stations, except for 2 odd fill-ups when traveling. Even the two odd fill-ups were still Sunoco.
 
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