real world mpg after the fix

As I've surpassed 100k miles, my mpg has gotten better, to the average of 46 or so. I do 80, 85 where it's legal, & typically 67 in 65 zones. Mostly highway driving. I've read that the "fix" will reduce mpg by 2. Thing is, my average mpg is higher than the posted highway mpg on the sticker. So are they saying 2mpg less than the average on the sticker? In other words, like 35mpg? Let us know what you get after the "fix"!

We're weeks or maybe months away from ANY real world experience with this.

2011tdiproject said:

As I've surpassed 100k miles, my mpg has gotten better, to the average of 46 or so. I do 80, 85 where it's legal, & typically 67 in 65 zones. ...

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Honestly, 46 mpg is hard to believe unless you're very good at hypermiling and that's not happening at 80 to 85 mph. That is unless maybe you have a delete and ecotune, in which case you'll be having an expensive go at getting the fix.

It's stock, no dpf delete or tune. It used to always be around 42. Yesterday it was right at 46 with the trip odometer at something like 3900 miles. It's like the car is telling me to not get rid of it. I do not drive it easy, every acceleration is full power shifting around 3k rpm, but I always get into the highest gear asap, & always coast as much as possible in the highest gear to keep the injectors off as long as I can. I also try to travel with packs of cars when doing 80+ to cut the wind resistance. But anyway, I just posted this thread for anyone when they do get the fix to let us know, guess I jumped the gun a little on that.

ksing44 said:

Honestly, 46 mpg is hard to believe unless you're very good at hypermiling and that's not happening at 80 to 85 mph.

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I agree. It's hard to average 46 mpg even at 70 - 75 mph.

You guys better be able to average 46 in a TDI
I'm driving a 2014 Golf (DSG too), that I picked up and put ~1800 miles on - haven't checked by "hand", but the ECU says I've averaged 46.6 over those miles.

Also: my 2016 Golf Sportwagen 1.8 TSI (gasser!) has averaged 37.6 over the 24k miles I've driven it ("hand" calculated). It can easily pull 40mpg tanks on road trips, at 74mph and fully loaded with gear.
EPA rated 25/35, btw.

If you can't get mid to upper 40's out of your TDI, you're not trying or are doing it wrong.

Anyone who goes off the dash (estimated) MPG readout, instead of hand calculating is only getting an estimate.

The TDI's I've owned tend to over estimate the MPG's 2-4 higher than a hand calculation.

Using hand calculations, I've got 54 MPG out of my 2013 Passat TDI doing 65 on the highway, but when I drive my normal 75-80 it gets right around 40 MPG.

duratitus said:

Anyone who goes off the dash (estimated) MPG readout, instead of hand calculating is only getting an estimate.

The TDI's I've owned tend to over estimate the MPG's 2-4 higher than a hand calculation.

Using hand calculations, I've got 54 MPG out of my 2013 Passat TDI doing 65 on the highway, but when I drive my normal 75-80 it gets right around 40 MPG.

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Senor, you are speaking my language. My 2013 JSW TDI 6M MFI has been 6-8 per cent optimistic for damn near 50k.

For Surfstar: what's the best ever (hand calc'd as you said) highway MPG you logged thus far? (GSW 5M on my short list)

all the best (and thanks)


ez sends

ezshift5 said:

For Surfstar: what's the best ever (hand calc'd as you said) highway MPG you logged thus far? (GSW 5M on my short list)
all the best (and thanks)
ez sends

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I've pulled a few tanks over 40 mpg. Even after throwing out outliers of 43 and 45 (likely underfilled at the pump, as the following tank was lower mpg than normal), I have two tanks of 42 mpg. Nearly all highway miles, of course (but not limited to 65, on long trips I set cruise at 74 mph).

IF you keep to 65mph AND you add the underbody aero panels (search golfmk7 and vortex for info), you can get mid 40s on the highway. I imagine a 2015 TDI would pull mid 50s easily under the same scenario. Which is impressive for Prius-like economy, but torque and fun to drive factor that can't be matched as efficiently.

surfstar said:

If you can't get mid to upper 40's out of your TDI, you're not trying or are doing it wrong.

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I don't really want to get involved with this, but I can't seem to help myself. That's got to be a joke, unless you have an older TDI car or a tune and delete. I've driven 150K+ miles in my 2010 Golf TDI. Believe me, I know how it operates. Sure, I can get mid 40s on a given trip, but not at 85 mph, or 75 mph, and not on a regular basis without serious effort at hypermiling. And no, that doesn't mean my car is broken. My car is amazing, just not so amazing that it gets mid 40s mpg on a regular basis.

I had a 2005.5 Jetta and I hit 48 - 52 MPG doing 75, hand calculated all the time, now have a 2015 Passat and it gets around 42 - 46 MPG on the same trip from Blaine Wa to Spokane. Why don't the cars between my old 2005.5 and my 2015 Passat get the better mileage? I would think a smaller, lighter Golf would get more than 40 MPG. Just curious.

Mark_J said:

I had a 2005.5 Jetta and I hit 48 - 52 MPG doing 75, hand calculated all the time, now have a 2015 Passat and it gets around 42 - 46 MPG on the same trip from Blaine Wa to Spokane. Why don't the cars between my old 2005.5 and my 2015 Passat get the better mileage? I would think a smaller, lighter Golf would get more than 40 MPG. Just curious.

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I would say that the difference is that you Passat has a DEF tank. They can tune the car to higher performance because the extras nitrogen compound that would be produced are taken care of by the DEF injection.

I agree, so I assume that the lesser emissions regulations explain why the 2005.5 got such better mileage. I should have remembered about the SCR system on the Passat. Also have it on my 6.7 pickup. Thanks

Hmm, curious about how different people's results seem to be.

Have had my 2010 Jetta since 2011, over 100 k now, and on a long highway trip can still regularly get 46-48mpg. Hand calculated tank. These being trips starting below Los Angeles, driving a couple hours of late morning traffic thru LA, up and over the Grapevine pass, then on the flat od the San Jaouquin Valley whch would be 80, 90, 100deg in the summer... with AC on full blast... 75-85mph... till I'm in the Gold country, or San Francisco, 400-450 mi later. Turn around after the convention or visit, drive till I need a refil, check my milage. Maybe it's the manual, I dont know. Always had stock sized tires/wheels, so no inaccurate mileage changing things.

Longest tank I've had was a bit over 635 mi, and I could have gone longer. Good price on GasBuddy lured me off early. Now, I used to have a commute 25mi one way, getting right on the fwy in a direction that had almost no traffic. 80-20% fast fwy. Got 40 a tank, regularly.

Nowadays, with a very short commute and more like 80% city, I get 30-32 tanks. It all depends. FWIW, my display has always been pretty close.

And... not sure what possessed me there with the milage rant, since I'm really interested in the OP topic. I just got a notice that the fix IS here, make an appointment and it should take 2-4hrs, and after a new NOX cat, DPF, and a few other odds and ends, you're done.

I havent been around for a while, anyone actually have gotten this yet?

DriverJon said:

And... not sure what possessed me there with the milage rant, since I'm really interested in the OP topic. I just got a notice that the fix IS here, make an appointment and it should take 2-4hrs, and after a new NOX cat, DPF, and a few other odds and ends, you're done.

I havent been around for a while, anyone actually have gotten this yet?

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No, if you're referring to the fix. The earliest appointment that I've seen here to get it done is the 15th. My dealership won't even begin making appointments until the 11th. Though I'm going to keep calling them every day just in case they change their minds

Also, I see you have a 2010. You only get a Cat, a ECM re-tune, and a DSG re-tune (for automatics). No new DPF or anything else....supposedly.

Why the rush to get the fix?
You'll lose 2+ mpg, and the warranty will start sooner. Seems better to delay it as long as possible?

Great question, and easy to answer....for my situation. Normally I don't rush in on things either, but my car is 117K miles. The HPFP expires at 120K. If I wait past 120K to get the fix and my HPFP consumes itself, I will have only two choices:
1. Have the dealership replace the HPFP and fix the fuel system....about $8,000 out of pocket, or...
2. Change my option to Buyback, and let them have the car.

Since we want to keep the car, neither option is acceptable. And you can't have an upgraded HPFP or filter system installed before the fix, or they won't do it.

StayPuff said:

Also, I see you have a 2010. You only get a Cat, a ECM re-tune, and a DSG re-tune (for automatics). No new DPF or anything else....supposedly.

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So if a 2010 has a DSG retune, does that apply to a 2015 too? I just had the Phase 1 software done 4 weeks ago but the dealer tells you nothing about what was really done.

And BTW: So far it seems that my mileage has not changed after the fix.

2015's got a ECU reprogramming, DSG reprogramming in phase I. Phase 2 (next year) will change/replace a bunch of aftertreatment and some DEF sensors and maybe some more ECU reprogramming. Money - 2/3 upon completion of phase 1, 1/3 upon completion of phase 2.

When our Jetta was new, I used to get avg readouts at times , on somewhat level roads, going down the GSP , reaching over 50 mpg. Then when in for the free maintenance dealer visits, I found out that they also performed Ecu updates. After that was done I never saw the 50's ever again.

surfstar said:

Why the rush to get the fix?
You'll lose 2+ mpg, and the warranty will start sooner. Seems better to delay it as long as possible?

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Q: Will a properly maintained 2009 Jetta TDI pass California smog certification without being "fixed" ? In addition to the extended warranty starting with the fix date, the compensation payment appears to increase with a later fix date.

If you would bother to read the settlement documents, all would be revealed.

The short version - it doesn't matter if you get it fixed or not as far as California emissions testing is concerned. However, considering what comes with the fix, you would be a fool not to do the fix or do the buyback (your choice on buyback or fix).

It'll take a couple of months before there's enough data on the effect on drivability/mpg after the fix. Because of the added reprogramming of the DSG (probably remapping of shift points), I'm curious to find out if there's any difference in results between 6M and DSG trans.

My wife has a '12 Jetta sedan with manual. We get mid 40's mpg on the highway driving between 75-80. My '12 JSW with DSG usually got around 35 mpg in the same situation. This was calculated by hand.

I sold mine back but she's keeping hers. Waiting to see how the fix affects things before she decides on whether to fix it or leave as is. Our daughter will probably wind up with it in a few years anyway.

StayPuff said:

And you can't have an upgraded HPFP or filter system installed before the fix, or they won't do it.

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That's the first I heard anything about not fixing a car with an upgraded HPFP. I'm not sure that's correct. Of course it's possible, but I never heard that before.

My God people are nitpicky and off topic. all you have to do is say I got one or 2 miles more or less than I used to. how you did it is of no real importance

New 2015 Passat TDI SEL

We just purchased a new 2015 Passat TDI SEL which had phase one completed. This enabled the dealer to sell the vehicle. Returning from Maryland where we purchased it we got 51.5 MPG at highway speeds in some traffic. Averaging about 65 MPH on the trip. We covered about 175 miles door to door. I do notice this one up shifts quicker than our 2012 Passat TDI SEL we turned in. Other than that it is the same performance all the way around.

Turbopower4 said:

We just purchased a new 2015 Passat TDI SEL which had phase one completed. This enabled the dealer to sell the vehicle. Returning from Maryland where we purchased it we got 51.5 MPG at highway speeds in some traffic. Averaging about 65 MPH on the trip. We covered about 175 miles door to door. I do notice this one up shifts quicker than our 2012 Passat TDI SEL we turned in. Other than that it is the same performance all the way around.

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I find that mpg and speed quite unbelievable. Is 65 mpg average in Maryland really normal? Or are you just in the right lane going slower than traffic? How do you know 65 mph was your average? Is that the computer indicator? Is 175 miles also indicated on the dash computer? You set the computer at the start of the trip and don't touch it till the end?

I barely get 40 mpg total, computer indicated on my A3 TDI, 149 miles, door to door in Bay Area CA, driving 78 to 82 average, usually cruise control, and some traffic situations. About 1% of cars on CA freeways drives 65 when traffic around them, hopefully to their left, goes 80.

I just did 1385 miles at a hand calculated 46MPG or so, running typically between 70 and 80 . . . MFD read high by two to three. Not only is it possible, it's not that hard. And 'stomp and release' driving styles are the best way I know to *NOT* get it . . .