800 Mile Club

Boy, you guys talking about 800 mpt. I am shooting for 600 mpt, right now. That is 60 highway 40 city. Problem is I am at 560 right now and the low fuel light came on. How much is left ballpark. Will I make my way of appr 30mi home on that. In other words, how much is left, when the light comes on?

12.9 gals at fill

BioThomas said:

In other words, how much is left, when the light comes on?

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dont take my word for it, i'd hate to be responsible for you having to walk home from somewhere. but my light came on last time, and i drove another 15 miles or so. then i filled up and got only 12.9gals in. i did not top off at all, and i did not vent. i'm trying to keep my filling style as constant as possible while i get an idea of what MPG i'm getting.

also, i believe you can adjust when your low fuel light comes on thru the use of a VagCom... but you'll have to read through the forums some more to find out for sure. just seems like i read that somewhere.

Thanks for you prompt reply. I guess I am not the only one watching this board like a hawk.

MrErlo said:

also, i believe you can adjust when your low fuel light comes on thru the use of a VagCom... but you'll have to read through the forums some more to find out for sure. just seems like i read that somewhere.

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Yeah, I've read that too somewhere.

But I always thought there would be at least one gallon left, when it comes on, giving me another 42miles, no? Just in case I run out, I put my canister with BD in my trunk. The only problem might be that this is likely to happen in 5 o'clock traffic on 59 in Houston.

Along those lines, if / when I run out, can I just put my automatic tranny on N and coast to a stop?

MrErlo, I took the chance and I made it. I got home with 607 miles on the clock, while driving on 'fumes'. I had done some yahoo, not evil google searching and they talked about 1.8 gal, when the light comes on. FWIW, I know now for sure that there is at least 0.71 gal in there, when the light comes on. - at least in my tank !

I have put as much as 15.1 gallons in the tank. I have driven as far as 40 miles after the light came on. Depends on what kind of drivng you are doing though. at 1.8 gallons left and 40 mpg you should be able to go 60 miles on the highway if needed. If you are close to fuel just stop and fill.

BigT,

congrats on making it. after a few more tanks so i have a good idea of what MPG i'm getting, before my IM cleaning, Sprints, Elf506.01 and maybe OMI. then i'll check again with all those in for about 5 tanks or so... only problem is that'll take me like 3 months. afterwards, i plan to start venting and try to make some clubs... 700 mile, 800 mile, perhaps put in a .681 5th and shoot for bigger.

i don't know if you can roll to a stop in N with an automatic, maybe a TDI automatic guru can weigh in on that. seems like that shouldn't cause any problems. i DO know that you wanna watch out for what i call "crazy a*hole driving" which was prevelant while i was going to school at Rice in Houston. it's nice to be back in the midwest where no one is in a hurry and people stop when the light turns red.

And I thought I pulled off a miracle getting 701.4 today. I see now that I was going a little too fast with the cruise set to 77mph.

Oh - and I ran that sucker dry. I drove 36 miles AFTER THE MFI said 0-till-empty! I may have set a TDI Club record... I'm looking at the receipt now... I put in 15.450 gallons!

I probably could have squeezed more in there, but I wasn't sticking around for the foam to settle.
I was desperate for fuel so I pulled off at the first exit I saw... and ended up in a neighborhood where while I was at the pump, a guy was showing me his tattoos, talking about doing 8 years in prison to pay his debt to society, and he just wanted a few bucks for dinner He said he doesn't hurt people anymore, he just wants $6 for a burger at Sonic!

For future reference, what is the impact of using the AC vs the vent only? I tried to keep the AC off as much as possible, but it was hot and muggy-as-hell in south Georgia yesterday.

JJTDI,

A/C will hurt you milage some b/c the belt has to spend power to drive it. if you only use it while going down hill, it shouldn't be noticable though.

did you vent when you filled up? i've seen posts of people getting over 16 gals in there by being patient and venting.

MrErlo said:

JJTDI,

did you vent when you filled up? i've seen posts of people getting over 16 gals in there by being patient and venting.

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He has an A5, there is no way to vent.

im already there

81 rabbit diesel pu with altermarket fuel tank of 20 us gallons that gets 45 mpg hwy (900)

15.45 gallons is dang good, I have put some 15.25 in mine, but I knew I had alot left. I did 740-couple miles on that tank. Road trip will get you 800 mpt. Especially at 60mph.

Did my first fillup yesterday. 13.5 gallons on 452 miles ... DBW break-in technique used ~80% of that mileage.

I don't think the dealer comlpletely filled-er-up, though. Nice little gal who brought me to the showroom from the big airport ... she was tasked with toppin it off while I signed papers.

I probably had the advantage, too, in the roll of the concrete slab away from the pump here @ my hometown station. Of course, will continue to monitor the "situation."

Al

I made it today. 809.4 miles on the tank as I pulled into work.
The light came on at roughly the 780-790 mile mark. Boy it sure drops fast from there. Wish someone would fix that. Seems to be the case in every car I've ever driven. I filled up last Thursday morning [06/01]before the drive to work ad put 15.003 gallons in it. I'm going to fill up at lunch time and get the exact MPG rating but It should be around 54.

I'll check back in then.

Bill K.

So sorry, totally wrong forum.
I did a search for 800 mile club and found this.
Didn't even notice what area it was in 'til later.
I will try to find the right place to put this.

Bill K.

klufkee said:

So sorry, totally wrong forum.
I did a search for 800 mile club and found this.
Didn't even notice what area it was in 'til later.
I will try to find the right place to put this.

Bill K.

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That's OK. I was a little curious when you said 15 gallons ( not easy to do in an A5), so I checked you profile.
Aahhh, if we could only vent!

I did it again 801miles 15.037 gallons.
2 for me.

Has any one else got more than 2 800 plus tanks?

I burn too much BIO and run too much AC , and dont run enough roadtrips/highway trips...So I have to settle for my 45-47mpg every tank. Maybe some COOl day, I will run a roadtrip and pull down 50+mpg though.

I think it is an oddity for most of us. With my normally short trips for daily driving, there is no way I can achieve this. I am happy with the regular 45 mpg or so. It is four times the mileage my Tahoe got.

I do love to travel in it though. $40 for 800 miles range is great. Trips to New Orleans $60, Dallas or Houston (twice) $40, Florida panhandle $80.

i'm planning a trip up to the BioD convention on July 14-16th. i figure if i leave thusday after work at 4pm or so, i can roll at 65pmph with the windows up, no A/C and non-stop all the way to Denver. that'll push me up to 600 miles pretty quickly. only problem is... i'll have to fill, and the only B99 dealer between on the trip will be in Denver. maybe i'll put on some miles before i leave, or take the really really long way up to Denver, thru South Dakota or something.... that'd be fun too

I am jealous....still.

I've only seen over 600 once! But I don't run mine dry either...I fill up pretty regularly.

DavidG said:

I did it again 801miles 15.037 gallons.
2 for me.

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David

How fast are you driving to get this mileage of ~53.3??

Do you use the cruse? 5 speed or DSG?

Mine and others mileage has been dropping for the past 4-6 months. Mine has dropped 3-4 mpg. I was getting 46-48 and my last was 42-43.

I use the air but with so much torque I don't think the air would effect it that much.

Here 's a link to that forum http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=141060

Let us know how you do it.

quartermeter1999 said:

...
How fast are you driving to get this mileage of ~53.3??

Do you use the cruse? 5 speed or DSG?
...

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On the highway I drive just under the speed limit. If the posted speed is 65, I drive 64. I do this so I'm not speeding up to pass or slowing down for slower traffic. I set the cruise and go.
I engine brake when possible. It has been said that when you over run the engine, the ECU stop injecting fuel. I don't know if it's true, but from the MFD reading the IQ is definitely reduced.
I have a 5 speed, see my sig below.

quartermeter1999 said:

...
Mine and others mileage has been dropping for the past 4-6 months. Mine has dropped 3-4 mpg. I was getting 46-48 and my last was 42-43.
...

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My last 5 tanks
Date Miles MPGs
5/3 703 50.10
5/23 818 54.86
6/2 772 52.06
6/15 801 53.09
6/29 751 52.95

quartermeter1999 said:

..
I use the air but with so much torque I don't think the air would effect it that much.
...

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From my MFD, the air drop the mileage ~3-5 MPG or about 10%. I use it rarely.

quartermeter1999 said:

...
Here 's a link to that forum http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=141060
...

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I've posted to this thread IIRC #57ish

quartermeter1999 said:

...
Let us know how you do it.

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I think the big thing is to look down the road, know what you need to do long before you need to do it. Anticipate what traffic is doing. Coast, brake as little as possible ( this goes with anticipate). Coast in gear.
I ship at 2500 to 3000 RPM *always* in first and second. Third and forth are traffic allowing i.e. if you going to 65 shift at the higher revs to get to 5th. Basically get to the highest *reasonable* gear as quickly as possible.
I'll drive around at 1600 RPM, but I'm ready to down shift if I need to accelerate. Don't lug the engine. You want to drive in the torque curve as much as possible.

I am by no means an expert. This is what does it for me. But most of my mileage is from my daily commute, I've driven this route for over 10 years. So I know what the road is going to do ( see anticipate). I get less mileage when I'm driving on unfamiliar roads.

I have not exceeded 800 miles on a tank of diesel yet. Computing the fuel economy myself, my best so far is 660.7 miles on a tank. But when I filled up after 660.7 miles I could only put in 13.725 gallons into the tank, so I certainly could have traveled further before refueling - but I wouldn't have been able to go another 140+ miles (and exceed 800 miles).

My driving style is very similar to DavidG's. My overall average fuel economy seems to be in the mid 40s more or less, which is not quite as good. This is because for me traffic in the afternoons is highly unpredictable with lots of varying speeds, braking, accelerating, and so on which negatively affect my fuel economy.

Over the course of a few full tanks I should adjust my work hours to avoid the afternoon traffic headaches and see how my average fuel economy improves...

DieselDavid said:

...
Over the course of a few full tanks I should adjust my work hours to avoid the afternoon traffic headaches and see how my average fuel economy improves...

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I am out of a lot of traffic because of the hours I work. In the morning, I leave the house just before 5:00 AM virtually no traffic. At night, I leave work about 6:00 PM, so the majority of the traffic has passed.

Sneaking up on it!!

This morning I had 717 total miles, put in 13.9 gallons and the display showed about 30-35 miles left. I WILL get 800mpt.

05.5 Jetta five speed, no mods other than a bunch of kid stuff in the car, toys, papers stuff like that. Maybe if I clean my trunk out I can finally hit 800. This was my best tank so far and this mileage was obtained with quite a few days of hard rain and the snarls that go with it.

Regards,

Bryan

I leave home for work (in DC) at 5:30 AM. Traffic moves at a good rate. It is a 38 mile trip and I can do it in 45 to 50 minutes.

I leave work for home between 3:15 PM and 3:30 PM. Traffic is heavy for the first 5 miles or so, moving at a decent rate for the next 10 miles or so, and then very heavy for the remainder of the commute. Most afternoons it takes anywhere from 55 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes. Of course if something unusual is happening then going home can exceed 2 hours.

Shifting my hours so I can leave work for home before 2:45 PM should allow me to deal with more reasonable traffic, drive at a more constant speed, and boost my fuel economy. I'll try to do it after the next time I fill up the tank with diesel.

I forgot to point out that I am using Motul 5W40 505.01 spec oil.

I did it for the third time. 800.5 miles 14.616 gallons 54.77 MPG
Surprisingly I've had better tanks.

David, you have the majic recipe...I live in Texas and have to use alot of AC, I pull down 44mpg every tank, If I drop the Bio and dont use the AC, with my comute I could pull down 50+ as well. In the winter, I see 48-49mpg.

The AC pulls the FE down big time..like 5mpg...

Mach1 said:

David, you have the majic recipe...I live in Texas and have to use alot of AC, I pull down 44mpg every tank, If I drop the Bio and dont use the AC, with my comute I could pull down 50+ as well. In the winter, I see 48-49mpg.

The AC pulls the FE down big time..like 5mpg...

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I use the A/C sparingly. This tank I did use it several days it was in the 90's.