MPG impressions on 2015 Golf so far

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
Wow, I am glad most others are getting this mileage. However I have not been so lucky.
My GSW 6m had 193 miles on it and presumably a full tank of diesel when I picked it up in El Paso.
For a week or so I drove it my usual commute which is about 60% city and 40 highway. I go early enough that I rarely hit more than two or three lights.
In my 2010 Jetta I averaged 42 mpg in this scenario.

I drove the Golf on a road trip, 1020 miles each way.
All interstate, varying speed between 75 and 82.
It was windy but I don't believe that would kill my mileage down to 39. I had two adults, two children and my wagon was stuffed full of cargo. AC on.

Last year we did this same trip, same weather and load factor, and our average in the Jetta was 41.
Now the car has 3072 miles and today I calculated 39 mpg when the car said 46 since last fueling.
I expected this kind of mileage until it's broken in more, but I am disappointed in my numbers compared to others.
I am happy however that it's better than most petrol burners. I'll see what happens with this tank, under my normal driving conditions.

Why is my car's mpg calculator so far off?
The lie-o-meter is always optimistic. If you want more accurate real-time numbers, get a Scangauge II and calibrate it to your car.

My lie-o-meter, through six fill-ups, has been 3.5 mpg (6.5%) optimistic.
 

marcusku

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2003
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
TDI
Golf Sportwagen, 15', red
Wow, I am glad most others are getting this mileage. However I have not been so lucky.
My GSW 6m had 193 miles on it and presumably a full tank of diesel when I picked it up in El Paso.
For a week or so I drove it my usual commute which is about 60% city and 40 highway. I go early enough that I rarely hit more than two or three lights.
In my 2010 Jetta I averaged 42 mpg in this scenario.

I drove the Golf on a road trip, 1020 miles each way.
All interstate, varying speed between 75 and 82.
It was windy but I don't believe that would kill my mileage down to 39. I had two adults, two children and my wagon was stuffed full of cargo. AC on.

Last year we did this same trip, same weather and load factor, and our average in the Jetta was 41.
Now the car has 3072 miles and today I calculated 39 mpg when the car said 46 since last fueling.
I expected this kind of mileage until it's broken in more, but I am disappointed in my numbers compared to others.
I am happy however that it's better than most petrol burners. I'll see what happens with this tank, under my normal driving conditions.

Why is my car's mpg calculator so far off?
If it was windy and it was not in your favor that will really knock down your mileage, especially if you were going 80 mph. I find my gauge is 5-6 mpg high. One of these days I'd like to use VAG-COM to get it a little closer.
 

amitsekhon

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Location
Langley,BC (Canada)
TDI
2015 Golf TDI,,,,,, 2010 X535D Diesel ,,,,,,,,,,,, 2002 Jetta manual TDI ALH (Sold)
My brand-new 2015 Golf TDI DSG has only 1000 kms(600 miles) on the odo and just did a 327 km(203 miles) round trip (almost all hwy miles)with 2 adults+2 kids+luggage +A/C on all the time and got 47.56 MPG(hand calculated) but on board computer was displaying(48.68 MPG).Filled at same station before leaving and filled back again at same station after finishing the trip.Terrain was hilly but i followed the same route back so hilly terrain doesn't really matter.
 
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jason0423

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Location
Ohio
TDI
2015 gsw tdi
Did my first fill up yesterday at 636 miles. (Car had 121 when I bought it) just over 500 miles on a tank that had some two year old diesel mixed in with it. I ran it as empty as I could and got it refilled at a BP station right off the highway. I'm at 815 now and still showing 7/8 tank and 460 range. I'm happy, especially coming from my 2014 Ford Fusion that got 26 mpg average.
 

b757236

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2014
Location
Greenville, SC
TDI
2011 JSW 2015 GSW SEL
I can only get 500 miles out of my new 15 SportWagen TDI. I just filled up and calculated 41 miles to the gallon the computer shows calculated 46 miles to the gallon but I am not coming anywhere near that. Granted I could have gone a little farther but still that only brings me to about 520 miles per tank. I'm very disappointed so far. My 2011 Jetta SportWagen TDI which I still own I can get 600 miles out of it. Granted the tank is a little bigger but my best-ever in that car was 710 miles. With my 1000 mile a week commute I miss the range. About 950 miles is highway doing between 70 and 75 mph
 
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Beanie

Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2017
Location
Ohio
TDI
2012 jetta
I can only get 500 miles out of my new 15 SportWagen TDI. I just filled up and calculated 41 miles to the gallon the computer shows calculated 46 miles to the gallon but I am not coming anywhere near that. Granted I could have gone a little farther but still that only brings me to about 520 miles per tank. I'm very disappointed so far. My 2011 Jetta SportWagen TDI which I still own I can get 600 miles out of it. Granted the tank is a little bigger but my best-ever in that car was 710 miles. With my 1000 mile a week commute I miss the range. About 950 miles is highway doing between 70 and 75 mph

i feel you there. I'm lucky to get 400 miles a tank!
 

b757236

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2014
Location
Greenville, SC
TDI
2011 JSW 2015 GSW SEL
I have to try hard to get less than 600. :p
Ok so the tank, if I remember, is rated at 12.5 us gal. I always fill up the filler neck which is about another .75 gal. So if we run it all the way down to .25 Gal left in tank. (not great for the fuel pumps if you go dry) 600/13=46.15 mpg. Not to bad. But how are people getting 600-650 miles out of tank?

I just did 585 miles yesterday and I was on vapor and it took 13.02 gal. 44.9 MPG. Columbia SC to Hilton Head a couple of times, 70 MPH average using a very conservative foot and 95% highway and flat near the coast. I was trying to max my MPG and still don't come close to most on this board.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
You can see all my fill ups in my Fuelly link. I generally refill about 11 gallons and get just over 600 miles.

It's all about driving style and conditions. I could trade cars with you and I'd get 55 mpg with yours and you'd probably get 40-something with mine.

The rated capacity of the GSW is 13.2 gal, btw. And I'd also venture to say that mileage on the EA288 engine is better than the older JSW engine. This is my fourth TDI and by far the most fuel efficient.
 

giuseppe_b

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Location
Albuquerque, NewMexico
TDI
2015 Golf SportWagen SE 6MT
More observations from my GSW:

Recent fill-up, car estimating 25 miles to empty, 539 miles driven since last fuelling. The MFD said 46.6 mpg since fuelling, my calculations yielded 41.5 mpg. This is right where my 2010 Jetta sedan was. I think that I do too much street / town driving to achieve the 600 miles / tank at 55 mpg. I also realise that I do not often drive it for sole economy purposes. On this tank I am going to alter my style to see if it makes a difference.
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
Just filled up in Barre VT after driving up from DE. Hit tons of traffic in N NJ, Bronx, all along the Merritt Pkwy in VT. Never drove under the speed limit, and thrashed it in both the White Mountains yesterday and Green Mountains today.

Still got 54.5 mpg on the tank. The EA288 is just incredible!
 

davidlp

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2001
Location
Suffolk, VA
TDI
Golf Sportwagen 2015 Blue Silk
Well I'm feeling pretty bummed. My 2015 GSW 6m consistently got "only" 48-49mpg. It broke 50mpg only 3-4 times in 49k miles. I heard the DSGs actually do better, and I recently picked up a 2015 GSW DSG stop-sale car. After four tanks it's been only 42-45mpg! WTH! Not in my happy place.
 

rotarykid

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Piedmont of N.C. & the plains of Colorado
TDI
1997 Passat TDI White,99.5 Blue Jetta TDI
You were told one of those fictions,.....

Well I'm feeling pretty bummed. My 2015 GSW 6m consistently got "only" 48-49mpg. It broke 50mpg only 3-4 times in 49k miles. I heard the DSGs actually do better, and I recently picked up a 2015 GSW DSG stop-sale car. After four tanks it's been only 42-45mpg! WTH! Not in my happy place.

You were told one of those fictions,.....

Some drivers who are not as well trained in efficiency driving "might" see better numbers with the DSG due to the fact the ECU can react to the driver's bad habits when it comes to fuel use....

But, no automatic, even the fancy double clutch automatic manual VWAG uses will ever exceed or even equal what can be seen with the same car with a manual trans in the hands of a well trained manual driver......
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
You were told one of those fictions,.....

Some drivers who are not as well trained in efficiency driving "might" see better numbers with the DSG due to the fact the ECU can react to the driver's bad habits when it comes to fuel use....

But, no automatic, even the fancy double clutch automatic manual VWAG uses will ever exceed or even equal what can be seen with the same car with a manual trans in the hands of a well trained manual driver......
I agree, though the DSG penalty, at least on the 15, is very, very low. I've had no problem getting several tanks over 57 mpg now with my DSG on my regular commute. I never saw numbers like this with my previous TDIs (2 of 3 of which were manual). I was just driving through the mountains of the Finger Lakes region of NY and down through the Tioga region of Central PA yesterday and MFD when I got to Delaware said 57.5 mpg (I'd guess that's probably 53-54 actual, though I haven't had to fill the tank yet to verify). This current iteration of the DSG is very smart. It downshifted and upshifted at the appropriate times to keep RPMs in the sweet spot (1,800-2,200 rpm) when I had cruise set at 70 mph going up and down some pretty wild grades, especially in N Central PA. It really anticipates where it needs to be. I never found it shifting after it had lost momentum transitioning to an uphill or running away after cresting a hill and starting downhill. It was always on. Very impressive tuning by the VW engineers.

I couldn't be any happier with the EA288/DSG combo. It's a real winner.
 

davidlp

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2001
Location
Suffolk, VA
TDI
Golf Sportwagen 2015 Blue Silk
I've met several people with DSGs who get in the fifties, one with a Passat, so it's not a fiction. In the old days sticks definitely beat slush boxes for mileage and acceleration, but it seems the DSGs do in fact win out in many cases, depending on driving habits.
 

Lostyankee

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Location
S. E. Wisconsin
TDI
2003 1.9L Golf, 2015 Sportwagen, 1979 300 SD
I've had the magic meter post 65 mpg but at the fill up calculated to 56 mpg. 650 mile trip @ 80 mpg, air on, stick. 30K on the car. I believe if I drove to drive other drivers crazy ... I could get low 60's.
I fastest & cheapest mileage improvement, proven over many years, is to adjust the big nut behind the big wheel. Dancing feet kill mpg.
I think the magic # meter is about as accurate as the last 1/4 tank on the fuelie gauge.
 

jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
Follow semis, let them bust the wind.

MI to st Lois, Carbondale IL, then back to MI.

Did 690 miles on 12 gallons somewhere in that route.

Sent from my One using Tapatalk
 

Blue_Hen_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
Location
Slower, DE
TDI
owned: 96 B4V, 06 Golf, 12 NMS, 15 GSW
Follow semis, let them bust the wind.

MI to st Lois, Carbondale IL, then back to MI.

Did 690 miles on 12 gallons somewhere in that route.

Sent from my One using Tapatalk
Drafting is real for sure, even off regular cars. I get better mileage around D.C. (as long as the traffic doesn't stop) than I do driving alone in rural areas. Sometimes I'll drive 5 mph faster than I normally would just to stay with the pack and draft.
 

rotarykid

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Piedmont of N.C. & the plains of Colorado
TDI
1997 Passat TDI White,99.5 Blue Jetta TDI
Drafting is real for sure, even off regular cars. I get better mileage around D.C. (as long as the traffic doesn't stop) than I do driving alone in rural areas. Sometimes I'll drive 5 mph faster than I normally would just to stay with the pack and draft.
Also, consider terrain is useful in saving fuel.

If you drive right using the changes in elevation as fuel, letting the car slow going upgrade and use the downgrade for speed going down within reason you can increase mileage, similarly or more than you would from drafting........

But in flat areas like Kansas and Nebraska and eastern Colorado, you really cant get see the improvement short of drafting because there's no hills to use as fuel.....

I have a lifetime of documentation showing how fuel economy can be improved significantly by just slowing down a bit going up the grade and then going down the grade at speeds within reason using the grade to hold speed.

But when driving in areas like the flat plains, theres not much you can do other than the adjustments to the engine, which make it more fuel efficient,

my mileage drops significantly over those high speed jumps across the plans compared to the same speed over the roads from the the east end of Kansas back home.
.....
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
When drafting though you get sandblasted by the vehicles in front of you. I prefer not to be that close to anyone if I can help it.
 

davidlp

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2001
Location
Suffolk, VA
TDI
Golf Sportwagen 2015 Blue Silk
Amen. I had five windshields in my last Jetta, and my 2015 got a new one at about 25k.
 

jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
Well, no Nascar stuff. 150-200ft back is plenty. Don't follow trucks that carry anything with an open tarp. Boxed trucks are preferred.

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amitsekhon

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Location
Langley,BC (Canada)
TDI
2015 Golf TDI,,,,,, 2010 X535D Diesel ,,,,,,,,,,,, 2002 Jetta manual TDI ALH (Sold)
Another thing i found on CRUA engine on my 2015 Golf TDI is post-injection 1 phenomenon.Engine does it all the time under partial engine loads,even if your engine,dpf are fully warmed up and at normal operating temperature. I believe its an emission thing but sure fuel economy killer.I was under impression that post injections are done only during engine warmup phase or during regens.
 

jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
It's noticeable.

Stick your hand out the window before, during and after a lane change 150ft behind a semi. Roughly a semi and a half worth,. Give or take.

Assuming you're using 53footers as a measuring stick.

How much noticeable? I don't know. But it's something.


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Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
It's noticeable.

Stick your hand out the window before, during and after a lane change 150ft behind a semi. Roughly a semi and a half worth,. Give or take.

Assuming you're using 53footers as a measuring stick.

How much noticeable? I don't know. But it's something.
Yeah - I have to agree. When I'm out riding my bike, I can hold probably 10% more speed after a semi goes by for at least 10sec (and I'm 50m behind them behind them in less than a second). Even if a string of cars/pickups go by (and I'm not even right behind them), I can get that same kind of "free" ride.
 

jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
Another thing i found on CRUA engine on my 2015 Golf TDI is post-injection 1 phenomenon.Engine does it all the time under partial engine loads,even if your engine,dpf are fully warmed up and at normal operating temperature. I believe its an emission thing but sure fuel economy killer.I was under impression that post injections are done only during engine warmup phase or during regens.
Any links to this? Not doubting you, just interested in something to read.

I wasn't aware it's dumping fuel all the time...

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amitsekhon

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Location
Langley,BC (Canada)
TDI
2015 Golf TDI,,,,,, 2010 X535D Diesel ,,,,,,,,,,,, 2002 Jetta manual TDI ALH (Sold)
Any links to this? Not doubting you, just interested in something to read.
I wasn't aware it's dumping fuel all the time...
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Sorry i don't have any links.I am just describing what i am seeing in the data i collected.:) Maybe some tuner can shed some more light on it.
Post injections can be viewed in real time by using Vagcom or ODIS-S(vw factory diagnostic software) or with vw specific app.I used VAGDPF app.

As you can see in the above posted screen-shot,engine was just started in the morning and was in warmup phase.You can see all 3 post injections were active to warmup emissions components faster(economy killer).
Now in the following screenshot,Engine and DPF are fully warmed up and you can see post injection 1 was still active.This is the post injection-1 i am talking about.But i noticed that its greatly dependent on your throttle position.I could see my MPG display dropping a little as soon as i see post injection-1 under normal driving conditions.Also on under hard acceleration,this post injection -1 phenomenon doesn't happen.
 
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jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
What module? There's oodles on the web. I'm sure there's Chinese junk using the elm327 chip.

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