2012 DSG tricks for better mpg?

Plus 3 Golfer said:

The oldest trick in the book works on old and new TDIs - drive slower.

You do understand that when coasting in N, the engine is idling (using fuel) so rpm are around 850 ish no matter what the speed of your car is and when coasting in gear, the rpm of the engine depends on the speed you are going when removing your foot from the go pedal and the gear you are in.

Thus, coasting in gear is not limited to 1000-1500 rpm above coasting in N and does not use fuel as long as the car is moving slightly above "idle rpm" (the ECM completely stops injecting fuel when coasting in gear above idle rpm).

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Yes I know driving slower works. I said that early on and everyone hung me for that. Told me to drive hard during brake in. Which I was told by top engine builders that that is not the correct way to break in an engine but that is not the topic here.

So I change my driving to what people recommended for break in. No fuel numbers but just things I notice. I drive the car 22 miles to work and 22 miles home. I go about 3 or 4 miles through a town where it is 4 lanes and 35mph. I know people who have gotten pulled for going 37mph. So you go 35 not any faster. Then spend 5-10mins in line at the gate. Once I get on site it is 10 miles of 55mph. Some nice hills that are not too steep but steep enough to keep your speed constant. I was doing it in neutral then yall said don't do that so now doing it in gear. What I noticed is with my driving the rpms are around 1000 rpms different from in gear compared to N. I understand it depends on when you come off the pedal when in gear. I was referring to my driving. I also noticed that you coast a good bit further when in N compared to when in D. Some say if you do it correctly there is no damage to the DSG. Some say it will explode the first time you do it.

I guess my post in the beginning was meant for mods to the car once it is broken in. I read the post about down pipes, tunes, bigger turbos, and so on for gas mileage on the old models was wondering if any worked for the new cars. Don't care as much about power just wondering if any of these will add mpg.


Again thanks everyone for discussing these things with me to help me learn.

SVTSkippy said:

Yes I know driving slower works. I said that early on and everyone hung me for that. Told me to drive hard during brake in. Which I was told by top engine builders that that is not the correct way to break in an engine but that is not the topic here.

So I change my driving to what people recommended for break in. No fuel numbers but just things I notice. I drive the car 22 miles to work and 22 miles home. I go about 3 or 4 miles through a town where it is 4 lanes and 35mph. I know people who have gotten pulled for going 37mph. So you go 35 not any faster. Then spend 5-10mins in line at the gate. Once I get on site it is 10 miles of 55mph. Some nice hills that are not too steep but steep enough to keep your speed constant. I was doing it in neutral then yall said don't do that so now doing it in gear. What I noticed is with my driving the rpms are around 1000 rpms different from in gear compared to N. I understand it depends on when you come off the pedal when in gear. I was referring to my driving. I also noticed that you coast a good bit further when in N compared to when in D. Some say if you do it correctly there is no damage to the DSG. Some say it will explode the first time you do it.

I guess my post in the beginning was meant for mods to the car once it is broken in. I read the post about down pipes, tunes, bigger turbos, and so on for gas mileage on the old models was wondering if any worked for the new cars. Don't care as much about power just wondering if any of these will add mpg.


Again thanks everyone for discussing these things with me to help me learn.

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Did you read the owner's manual on break-in? You can't believe everything you read on the internet (Told me to drive hard during brake in).

Per the owner's manual you do not want to use full throttle and you want to avoid high engine rpm during break-in. Keep up with the flow of traffic during your 22 mile commute, let the DSG do the shifting, and don't mash the pedal to the floor and you'll be fine. As they say drive more, worry less.

Also, you are likely not going to find any "proven" mods that will be cost effective in increasing fuel mileage. I know of none that are legal for on-road use. A DPF delete and tune (not legal) will likely be cost effective if one has to replace their DPF due to the high cost of replacing the DPF.

A trick I use for coaxing the most out of a tank with mine is to reset the trip meter at each fill up. I then set the MFD to DTE and add the two to try to get more miles out of every tank. If at 3/4 of a tank the two dont add up to at least a 1000 km I drive slower on the highway portion of my commute. You can at any portion of a tank know whether your on target for that total mileage figure.
Give it a try.

opticalmike said:

A trick I use for coaxing the most out of a tank with mine is to reset the trip meter at each fill up. I then set the MFD to DTE and add the two to try to get more miles out of every tank. If at 3/4 of a tank the two dont add up to at least a 1000 km I drive slower on the highway portion of my commute. You can at any portion of a tank know whether your on target for that total mileage figure.
Give it a try.

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Nice I will try that. Thanks.

2012 Golf DSG

I get just under 40 and I don't pay attention to driving, other than it accelerates like my Saab Aero, My god. What a fun car to drive. I don't care if I get 35-40 mpg the way I'm driving it, and just knowing that if armageddon arrives and diesel jumps to $25/gallon I'll be driving something that can get good MPG if I drive really slowly, carefully. But for sure the newer ones, 11-12, seem to get less MPG but it's relative...aren't they bigger faster engines?

S in Santa Fe

Plus 3 Golfer said:

Did you read the owner's manual on break-in? You can't believe everything you read on the internet (Told me to drive hard during brake in).

Per the owner's manual you do not want to use full throttle and you want to avoid high engine rpm during break-in. Keep up with the flow of traffic during your 22 mile commute, let the DSG do the shifting, and don't mash the pedal to the floor and you'll be fine. As they say drive more, worry less.

Also, you are likely not going to find any "proven" mods that will be cost effective in increasing fuel mileage. I know of none that are legal for on-road use. A DPF delete and tune (not legal) will likely be cost effective if one has to replace their DPF due to the high cost of replacing the DPF.

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Driving hard is not the same at revving it high. Just use a heavy foot and build boost - this helps seal the rings more uniformly and should help with the engine life and oil consumption.

Just leave it in D. Best thing you can do is drive with a very gentle touch on the accelerator and drive the speed limit or even 5 mph under. Try not to use the brakes, leave a lot of room in front of you.

I saw 59 mpg on a commute home once (50 miles almost all highway)...

Any suggestions on mods?

Back to one of the original questions - does anyone have any suggestions on mods?
I've got an '09 DSG, love the car, but not the mileage compared to my '03 Sedan (manual).
I've got 55K now and the mileage has gotten somewhat better over time but has never gotten much better than 40-42 mpg on a tank.
If there were any tweaks/tune ups that would help get better highway mileage, I'd be open to it.
I've had to resort to driving 58-60 mph on the expressway to maximize the mileage.

No

The 09 weights more, has more HP the killer is DPF.

dzl_lvr_in_MI said:

Back to one of the original questions - does anyone have any suggestions on mods?
I've got an '09 DSG, love the car, but not the mileage compared to my '03 Sedan (manual).
I've got 55K now and the mileage has gotten somewhat better over time but has never gotten much better than 40-42 mpg on a tank.
If there were any tweaks/tune ups that would help get better highway mileage, I'd be open to it.
I've had to resort to driving 58-60 mph on the expressway to maximize the mileage.

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Yes, inflate your tires to the max pressure on the sidewalk and work on aerodynamics. There are things that can be done to reduce drag and improve highway mpg but few owners are willing make their new car look different.

BarnyardsTDI said:

Let it warm up before romping on it. Put miles on the engine. Stretch its legs frequently.

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Agreed. Mine is older, but i learned this the first time i hit 50+ mpg.... I was doing all kinds of stuff... Dropped my hwy speeds from 60 and 70 to 55 and 65. Light throttle when accelerating, shifting around 2k, coasting in gear when possible, etc.

I got 2 tanks in a row of between 50 and 51.5. The next tank was like 48. All three tanks had very identical weather/traffic conditions with identical routes. So on the following tank, in the first say, 50 miles of filling up, i floored it once a day and went through the lower 3 and 4 gears at full throttle and shifting at around 4k. The very first time i did that.... wow, you shoulda seen the soot cloud that I left! My mileage also went back up, to about 49-50 on that tank.

Moral of the story, you cant just drive like a granny all of the time. Every few tanks you gotta give it the beans a few times and clean out all of that soot or you will be just working against yourself.

Oh, and my tires are wider than stock(MORE rolling resistance) 215/60-15's inflated at merely 32psi. They are wearing perfectly normally and I'm still getting good mileage. Over 80 tanks and my average is 45MPG. I'm due for new tires and I'll be going back to stock 195/65-15's. I expect 50 MPG will be cake after that. Mileage has dropped from 47-48 average MPG to 45MPG as these tires are wearing.

I'll try to add my cents into this coin jar.

I am about to head back down to SC tomorrow morning but one the way up I got some good mileage. The beginning was horrible at 38-39 but I was cruising at 80mph. I finally wised up and reset trip number two, as I nestled behind a transfer truck at 69-70mph. I netted 54mpg for the rest of the trip up to PA. 584mi on the trip odo and 45mi on the DTG.

I'll fill up before I head out and post an update when I get back home.

As far as tips. Lay off the cruise and take it slow. Let gravity work for you. DSG specific tip would be to stop your *****ing about popping it into neutral. If you wanted to idle the engine you should have got a Prius. They'll even shut off for you.


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Got better mileage on the way back! 53.9mpg


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