First tank down

Well def like driving the Passat over the Jetta... Put just over 900 miles on it so far and it runs well. Taking it to the dealer for an open recall on glow plugs and a reflash before getting my Malone stage 2 tune downloaded. I got 38 mpg on this tank, is that normal for these? Basically all interstate very little idle time and nothing over 75mph.... it has used a qt of oil and I’m pretty sure it’s the turbo leaking as it has an oil smell to the exhaust like you spilled it on the manifold, sounds like a vacuum leak when spooled down low before the whistle takes over, and I pulled the block off plate from the manifold and it’s dusty dry pre turbo! I’m looking at a PD170 turbo and swapping both stock mufflers for 1 aftermarket muffler to try to get some more mpg, any other tips for economy and small power?? Also gonna swap the 17” wheels for stock 15’s as that helped a good amount on my ALH. Thanks guys!!!

38 mpg with 17s is probably pretty good. I'm mostly city traffic with some stretches of rural highway. I get a little over 500 miles between fill ups which is usually 34 or so miles to the gallon. Ive yet to verify my speedo with GPS so it may be off a few %

I keep saying im going to play with the torsion value to see if i can get more but I've yet to try.

35 to 40 is about average. These have taller gearing than the ALH cars, so they actually suffer less at higher speeds. There seems to be a 1-3 MPG hit people report with wheels... the 17" Bistars are HEAVY, the 15" Michigans are much lighter, and the tires are narrower, less expensive, ride smoother, and last longer.

Ours is rarely driven in what I would consider "city" settings exclusively, but it has averaged with mixed but mostly higher speed highway driving about 38 MPG. I can get it over 40 on a long trip if I keep my foot out of it. But even running it hard it still gets 35+, so I am fine with that. For comparison, since I have owned a few, the same car with the AWM 1.8t engine (a FWD automatic version), struggles to get to 30, and if you drive it harder it'll be around 25. My AWD 1.8t gets 23 to maybe 25 at best. And they require premium. The V6 is even worse. So the fact that the TDI can get close to 40, saddled with the mandatory slushbox and all, is pretty good. And they obviously run and drive far better than the ALH cars do. 100 MPH in a TDI B5 feels like you could get out and walk, they just cruise along so nice.

Just don't drive a TDI Audi A8L.... seriously.... it is like a Passat x10. And it STILL will tag 38 MPG.

With my DVZ V6 transmission i can get the lie o meter to over 42 mpgs at 80mph. I also did the bsm delete during the swap. At 80 mph the slush box had a hard time hitting 40. I know its not accurate but there was a noticeable jump in my road trips to the lake as well as my averages on my daily commute. Once the kinks were worked out to take some engineering goofs out of the car its by far the best commuter car/dd I've ever owner from a cost/costmetics/mpg/comfort standpoint.

Go lightening and golden knights. Vegas and Tampa for Lord Stanley's cup!

I get consistent 36-37 mpg with a manual, city driving.

I should probably also add that my commute consists of lots of stop and go idle time in my kids school line.

BlackBHW said:

Taking it to the dealer for an open recall on glow plugs and a reflash before getting my Malone stage 2 tune downloaded.

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The glow plug recall is not "come and get it" type. The car has to be exhibiting cold start issues and overall performance problems. I took mine in a few times for them to replace it and the shop refused to perform the work unless I was actually having a problem. At that point I figured I might as well put aftermarket plugs in and do it myself... still haven't done it but that is what I figured.

Also, you are about average on the consumption. I range between 32 in city to 42 on the freeway. City is stop and go or short distances so the engine is idling more than doing anything else, and on the freeway I go 75mpg. That's with no alterations to the engine other than an EGR delete kit.

How sensitive are these di bhws to the cold? I never used the glow plugs on my 4bd1t unless it was single didgets. The 4bd2t idi was used on 70 degree days

Do yourself a favor and check which glow plugs are in the car and report back here.
If Bosch 7V or 5V, then just buy the NGK 7V (part # N10591609) and have the tune updated to the "T" ECU program version.

The only open recall is for the first glow plug recall. The second recall has been closed for a while now. Plus, the dealer is going to give you flack about the Christmas tree of lights on the dash which they will mot be able to clear now that you have a manual in the car.

Does your local vw dealer give free estimates? If so i highly recommend dropping by to ask them to check why all the cels are on.


My 86 land cruiser was diesel converted. It had a fuel tank recall and when i got wind there were only half a dozen or so tanks left in the US i took it in for replacement. They would honor it as a saftey recall while inventory was available. They were not happy taking it in but had no choice. Coming from a company that should know the land cruiser came as a diesel hj60 everywhere else in the world i would have expected less flack. They didn't like the 3 inch mandrel exhaust with no muffler. They didn't like the lift. They didnt like ranger overdrive torque splitter and didnt like the Isuzu 3.9 liter turbo diesel. They returned it to me with barely enough fuel to make it to the fuel station. I did bring it in with a 1/4 tank but it had a drain plug for easy drainage. I don't have faith in any dealerships.

Thanks for the input guys. Hoping to pick up 2mpg with stock wheels and the splash pans underneath. Time will tell, I’m broke right now so a little at a time...