Euro rental TDI wagon much better mileage, why??

Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Location
Central Alaska
TDI
011 Sport Wagen manual
We rented a TDI wagon in Germany and after converting the mileage we were getting almost 60 mpg on the autobahn with some village driving added in.
On one long trip I think it was over 62mpg.
Meanwhile back here the 2011 Jetta sportwagen gets 42 to 45 on the hwy....

What gives??
 

Dieselducky

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Location
Dunnville
TDI
88 Jetta Diesel - 2000 Jetta TDI - 04 BMW M3 - 06 Kia Rio - F350 Superduty - 87 Buick GNX - Mobile Cranes
Better gearing!
 

3waygeek

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2010
Location
Duluth GA
TDI
2010 Audi A3 2.0 TDI
How were you measuring the MPG? If you were using the MFD's MPG display, it may have been displaying miles per imperial (UK) gallon. The UK gallon is about 20% more than the US gallon, so the MPG will go up accordingly.
 

wonneber

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Monroe, NY, USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
I wonder about the quality of the fuel.
My milage went down a bit around 2004 or so. (in the US)
I wish they posted the cetane value lick they have to post the octane of gas.
Rich W.
 

psd1

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Location
OR
TDI
2006 Jetta 2013 Passat SE 6Man
Great question. I had a V-12 BMW in Germany that I could pull down 28 MPG with...
 

Padrino

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Location
Western US
TDI
2002 / Golf 1.9 TDI 5-speed
We rented a TDI wagon in Germany and after converting the mileage we were getting almost 60 mpg on the autobahn with some village driving added in.
On one long trip I think it was over 62mpg.
Meanwhile back here the 2011 Jetta sportwagen gets 42 to 45 on the hwy....

What gives??
Big part of this is the cetane value of the diesel in Europe as a whole. Here in the US it is about 40/42 in the UK for example BP Ultimate diesel is with cetane value of 55 and this make a HUGE difference. In Europe the minimum cetane level by law is 50 or the gas company cannot sell it. Yes by law.....in the US the minimum number needs to be 40 so almost everyone producing diesel stay with the minimum requirements and making more money
 
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n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
We rented a TDI wagon in Germany and after converting the mileage we were getting almost 60 mpg on the autobahn with some village driving added in.
On one long trip I think it was over 62mpg.
Meanwhile back here the 2011 Jetta sportwagen gets 42 to 45 on the hwy....

What gives??
Absense of MPG-robbing emission controls on the Euro Wagen rental? :confused:
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Higher tolerance of NOx means less fuel consumption, as the engine can run "leaner". Thank your EPA for this. (but you can buy a perfectly legal 5.7L V8 here...as many as you want).
 

Scott_DeWitt

Vendor
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Location
Texas USA
TDI
2000 Audi A4 1.9TDI quattro
We rented a TDI wagon in Germany and after converting the mileage we were getting almost 60 mpg on the autobahn with some village driving added in.
On one long trip I think it was over 62mpg.
Meanwhile back here the 2011 Jetta sportwagen gets 42 to 45 on the hwy....

What gives??
Better fuel, less emissions bull****, and less weight due to different equipment! Fuel efficiency is not in Big Oil's best interest.
 

heidelberger75

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Location
Heidelberg
TDI
2010 Golf Variant (wagon) 1.6 TDI, 5sp
2.0?

No offense but might the car have had a 1.6l instead of the 2.0? I have a 2010 1.6 TDI that we regularly drive 5-6 hours a stretch on the autobahn.

My best tank was 4.9l/100km (49mpg) going to switzerland and back. This winter so far it's averaging around 5.8 (~40mpg). Speeds are much higher here so I imagine if this engine was in the states you'd regularly see high 50s.
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
it may have been displaying miles per imperial (UK) gallon. The UK gallon is about 20% more than the US gallon, so the MPG will go up accordingly.
+1.

Your perceived 60 mpg is ~50 mpg. Probably less if you were to perform a manual calculation.
 

MikeMars

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Location
UK
TDI
Vento 1.9 TDi (retired), A4 1.9 TDi (rear end collision), VW Passat 1.9 TDi (retired), Audi A2 1.4 TDi
+1.

Your perceived 60 mpg is ~50 mpg. Probably less if you were to perform a manual calculation.
The OP did say
... after converting the mileage ...
and also
Pencil, paper, conversion from liters to US gallons.
which implies that he was already doing a manual calculation (probably from litres/km since that is what the computer will normally display on a car hired from Germany.
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
The OP did say and also which implies that he was already doing a manual calculation (probably from litres/km since that is what the computer will normally display on a car hired from Germany.
If so, I'd luv to see the math and how many times he achieved in excess of 60USmpg.
 
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