Real World MPG with DSG

atc98002

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Location
Auburn WA
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium (sold back), 2009 Jetta (sold back), 80 Rabbit diesel (long gone)
Just remember that the MFD in the dash is optimistic, usually about 4% high. I've altered mine with VCDS by 5%, and now it's a touch low. Just filled up an hour ago and the dash said 35.8 while Fuelly calculated 37.3.

I don't do long stretches on the freeway, which is the only reason my average is under 40. It wouldn't take much for me to break that. I've seen over 53 (calculated) on a trip to my parents, about 65 miles each way, almost all freeway.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
I find the mfd on my JSW to be 1-2 mpg high per tank. It is worse on mostly city driving than highway driving. On my wife's golf, it seems to usually be within about 0.5 mpg regardless of driving conditions.
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
If I want to know if the car is getting a "normal" mileage on a given route that I'm used to, I'll check the MFD. For a reliable indicator of average mpg over a lot of miles, no way. It's pencil & paper all the way. Fuelly indicator below shows our real mileage over 35K miles since new, and it corresponds rather closely with the Fuelly averages for the NMS Passat TDI.
 

Sinner

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2002
Location
Greenville, NC
TDI
none
I just use the Fuelly app, and I believe only once in +41,000 Milles has matched the MFD figure.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Bobmws

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2013
Location
Central Florida
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE DSG
I just use the Fuelly app, and I believe only once in +41,000 Milles has matched the MFD figure.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The MFD guesstimate can be adjusted using VCDS. I think I went from the standard 100 setting to 105. I was 2-3 mpg high, now I'm usually within 0.5 mpg on a long highway run tank.
 

atc98002

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Location
Auburn WA
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium (sold back), 2009 Jetta (sold back), 80 Rabbit diesel (long gone)
The MFD guesstimate can be adjusted using VCDS. I think I went from the standard 100 setting to 105. I was 2-3 mpg high, now I'm usually within 0.5 mpg on a long highway run tank.
I also used 105%, but I think I need to drop back to 104%, as now I'm consistently low. I'm usually off by 1 MPG or more, but in the opposite direction from default.
 

asolo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Location
AZ
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium
FWIW...three years and 60,000 miles....have taken several multi-thousand mile trips in the last 18 months...maybe total miles 10-12,000 for those. Tank-to-tank average for those trips including all the around-town stuff was between 44-46mpg.

Tank-to-tank mpg when I'm just normal driving around residence in town has been 33-37.

I have DSG tranny and drive normally: no aggression or hyper-miling behaviors. Car is well-maintained at all times. Use diesel-kleen in the tank and pro-long with the oil. (may be all snake-oil but I do it.) Measured tank-to-tank corresponds exactly with indication on the dash.
 

LogicBomb

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Location
SoCal
TDI
2014 Passat
The family and I did a road trip up to Seattle for Thanksgiving.

Did 3,343 miles on 83.026 gallons of fuel. Comes out to 40.26MPG, which isn't bad considering we spent most of the freeway time at 80-85MPH and we did a lot of city driving in Seattle.
 

mikew85120

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Location
Arizona
TDI
2014 Passat SE TDI
We drove our 2014 VW Passat TDI to New Jersey from Apache Junction AZ. We use 1oz of Opti-Lube Summer+ per 8 - 10 gal fill up and 2oz Opti-Lube XL Extreme Lube per 8 - 10 gal fill up. We drove approx 5000 miles and averaged 43.15 MPG at 68 miles per hour on cruise control.
 

Dcwhybrew

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2014
Location
Oklahoma
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
My last two tanks of fuel averaged 40.3 mpg (hand calculated) 573 and 593 miles per tank. Both were mostly highway driving. My last tank, from Tulsa to Nashville (single tank of fuel) had approximately 135 miles left or the DIC computer.
 

scottysize

Active member
Joined
Apr 28, 2014
Location
Sanger, TX
TDI
Passat SE/Sunroof
Real world MPG is in my sign below. That's not the true question. The true question is what happens to that once VW comes up with a fix for our software?
 

atc98002

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Location
Auburn WA
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium (sold back), 2009 Jetta (sold back), 80 Rabbit diesel (long gone)
Real world MPG is in my sign below. That's not the true question. The true question is what happens to that once VW comes up with a fix for our software?
We have no idea until VW gets something approved by CARB/EPA. The general opinion is that urea consumption will increase, but not much else. For the non-SCR cars, it's completely unknown. These are the models that might end up being bought back. We just have to wait and see.
 

Flyboy777

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2016
Location
Huntsville, Ontario
TDI
2012 VW Passat TDI W DSG
90% highway number

I drive 90 percent highway driving on my 2012 Passat TDI W DSG. I set cruise at 110km/h (115 indicated) and regularly get 49-50( winter) granted that is Miles per IMPERIAL gallon which is 4.55litres vs roughly 4 litres for a us gallon so that would roughly equate to what say 45 us mpg.
 

1892 Rudolf

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Location
Oregon
TDI
2015 Passat
As of this writing 44.5 mpg calculated long term using Fuelly. Could have been a little better had my son not borrowed my Passat for 4 full tanks at 36 mpg average. My last four tank average was 46.2 mpg. Looking forward to comparing the mileage from MFD to Fuelly now that I've adjusted the "display correction of consumption and operating range". MFD was a few mpg overstated so I went from 100 to 105.
 

ezshift5

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Location
West Coast
TDI
2013 JSW TDI (Enroute BB).......2017 Jetta 1.4 turbo 5M ....................
...that is better than my 6M JSW hombre.

I think the diesel in Oregon differs from that of the Golden State.....................

......... the fuel efficiency of our diesels has really impressed this sailor.

Wish I could be impressed with how our emissions situation is moving along.............

ez
 

atc98002

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Location
Auburn WA
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium (sold back), 2009 Jetta (sold back), 80 Rabbit diesel (long gone)
I changed mine to 105 and found it was a little too far. I was usually about 1.5 to 2 MPG low. I just dropped it to 104, but haven't run a full tank on it yet. The partial tank, plus what I'm seeing in the MFD, makes me feel I'm pretty close now.
 

Den

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2001
Location
Central Fla.
TDI
2001 Jetta Baltic Green & 2015 Passat SE TDI 6 spd. auto.
well on my 2014 Passat with DSG i average between 41 and 45 mpg. Now i live 10 miles from town and the speed limit is between 35 and 50 mph and only have three red light to contend with so most of the time there is no stopping and idling.

Long trips on the four lanes run all over the place depending on my speed. Have gotten a low of 43 and once a high of 50, pretty rare and i wonder if the fuel pump at the station was calibrated correctly.

That's my story and i'm sticking to it.

No where as good as the Jetta 5 speed but no complaints.
 

alma

Active member
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Location
Floridastan
TDI
2013 Passat SE DSG
Recent trip (July 22), from Gainesville, FL, to Richmond, VA, 4 adults (my brother alone weighs about 265 lbs), 1 child, and about 80 lbs in luggage, AC on all the time (10+ hours): 47.7 mpg (MFI) and 45.8614 real mpg (calculated). Shell diesel and 1 can of Liqui Moly Super Diesel Additive (300 ml). Most of the trip was on I-95 at 75-79 mph.
Very happy!

Note: Edited to correct my brother's weight, from 235 to 265 lbs.
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
This weekend, Champaign IL to Columbus IN and back, pretty good load going, not much returning, speed going mostly 75mph Interstate, returning mostly 60-65*. About 49 going, 50.2 returning (MFI). No special fuel, Opti-Lube additive used according to package directions.

*NB: A lot of the return trip was through hilly south central Indiana. When negotiating a lot of fairly steep hills, it's helpful to just put the DSG lever in the manual mode (to the right), that way the transmission stays in 6th gear and powers over the hills using the turbocharger. The CKRA has plenty of power for this, and that way never a downshift.
 

jck66

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
TDI
12 Passat SE / 14 BMW 535d
I noticed that I'm having trouble breaking 40 mpg lately, which is unusual for the warmer months (in my vast 3-year experience with this car). Trying to track down a change but no luck so far. :(
 

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
Now my 2015 is not even broken in, but I just returned from a 5,375Km (3,339 miles) trip to Prince Edward Island on Canada's east coast.
My average for that trip is 55.8 Mpg Imperial or 4.2 L/100. This is measured by the amount of fuel used and distance traveled, not the MFD readout.

I now have 16,816km on the odometer, or just a tad over 10,000 miles.
 

Desertdude

New member
Joined
Jun 15, 2015
Location
Gilbert, AZ
TDI
2012 Passat TDI Manual, 2014 Passat TDI DSG Trans
I own a 2012 Passat 6M, and a 2014 Passat DSG. I get about 10% better Highway mileage in the 6M....50 vs 46. When driving at a speed of 70mph, the RPM's in the DSG is around 2200 and in the 6M around 2000, maybe a pinch less. Maybe that is part of the reason. I don't rely on the mileage computer, I check it myself. Those computers lie! With mostly city driving, I think the 6M out performs the DSM a few percentage pts more.
 

ezshift5

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Location
West Coast
TDI
2013 JSW TDI (Enroute BB).......2017 Jetta 1.4 turbo 5M ....................
Now my 2015 is not even broken in, but I just returned from a 5,375Km (3,339 miles) trip to Prince Edward Island on Canada's east coast.
My average for that trip is 55.8 Mpg Imperial or 4.2 L/100. This is measured by the amount of fuel used and distance traveled, not the MFD readout.
I now have 16,816km on the odometer, or just a tad over 10,000 miles.

Readout on my ISP et al very accurate (however CCI has superseded (corp buyout) SureWest)..........ez
 

uscnoklahoma

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2016
Location
SC
TDI
Passat
40.5 running 80-85 up the Appalachains from SC to Ft. Knox KY this past week. Gonna miss her when they finally cough up the cash to buy her back. Not another car out there that could do that. I-26,40, and 75 are all pretty hilly lol.
 

mejpassat

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2014
Location
California
TDI
2015 Passat TDi (NOS), 2014 passat TDI (Buy back), 2001 Tdi Golf (Gifted to Son)
From Petaluma, CA to San Luis Obispo, CA 576 miles.
Trip average for the the drive back was 48.1.
Tank average was 44 mpg.
Had a headwind going up and a tailwind back.
 

Skimax

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2001
Location
White mts, NH
TDI
97 B4 variant(retired at 330K), 2000 B5 1.8T passat retired, 2013 SE (buyback5/17) 2015 SEL, 2015 E-Golf SEL sold March 2019, 2018 Volt LT and a 2007 PRHT MX5 for fun
selling back 2013 SE/sunroof 35K miles, averaged 44.5 mpg tracked on fuelly
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
At just around 58K miles, on our Passat bought new in July '13, the average for ALL fuel consumed is shown in the Fuelly below. That number is entirely derived from pencil & paper, NO MFD numbers were used. This number is pretty consistent with the "fleet average" found for this vehicle on Fuelly.
 

Skimax

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2001
Location
White mts, NH
TDI
97 B4 variant(retired at 330K), 2000 B5 1.8T passat retired, 2013 SE (buyback5/17) 2015 SEL, 2015 E-Golf SEL sold March 2019, 2018 Volt LT and a 2007 PRHT MX5 for fun
Sorry I was off by.1mpg

We do a lot of 2 lane rural driving and highway usually< 70mph very little city driving.
looking forward to seeing how it compares to the new 2015 SEL we're getting in a couple weeks.
 
Last edited:

New Mickey

The user formerly known as mickey
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
Location
Utah
TDI
2015 Passat
Personally, I can't imagine a reason why the DSG's fuel economy would be inherently lower than the 6M since it's not a slushbox. No doubt you can force earlier shifts with the stick and save a bit, if that's your goal. (As tends to the be case with a TDI.) But by the same token you can manually shift the DSG and achieve the same purpose.

I don't much care. It uses a whole lot less fuel than a truck. And I'm too old and tired to shift for myself. I just want to relax and listen to my Liberace 8-track.

-mickey
 
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