Why Did VW Make The Golf Fuel Tank Smaller?

gmcjetpilot · Jul 4, 2015

The 2015 Golf TDI has a 13.2 Gal tank.
The 2014 Golf TDI has a 14.5 Gal tank.

The 2015 Jetta TDI Sedan is still 14.5 Gal tank.
The 2015 Passat TDI Sedan is still 18.5 Gal tank.

Why did VW TDI make the tank smaller? Marketing? I am sure they had room for another 1.5 Gal.

tditom · Jul 4, 2015

To make room for the DEF tank?

JSWTDI09 · Jul 4, 2015

tditom said:
To make room for the DEF tank?

Bingo, we have a winner! The next time you are under your car have a look. The had to make room for the DEF tank right next to the fuel tank.

Have Fun!

Don

P.S. The Passat is a little bigger car, so there was a little more room for the DEF tank. Plus the Passat TDI has had a DEF tank since it was released, so there was no change for 2015 in that regard. Apparently the Jetta also has a little more space too.

jpulls11 · Jul 4, 2015

tditom said:
To make room for the DEF tank?

Wasn't this the same reasoning for not making one 4-motion?

Borsig · Jul 4, 2015

And irs.......

I wonder if the def tank is why I couldn't get tungsten silver with grey seats.

gmcjetpilot · Jul 4, 2015

Borsig said:
And irs.......I wonder if the def tank is why I couldn't get tungsten silver with grey seats.

No not really wise guy... By limiting options, limiting combinations to either A, B or C... they save money in manufacturing, sales & support. Same reason Henry Ford said customers can have any color they want, as long as it is black.

gmcjetpilot · Jul 4, 2015

JSWTDI09 said:
P.S. The Passat is a little bigger car, so there was a little more room for the DEF tank. Plus the Passat TDI has had a DEF tank since it was released, so there was no change for 2015 in that regard. Apparently the Jetta also has a little more space too.

Jetta Sedan has added DEF? Did not know. So no more clean diesel with out DEF.....

IndigoBlueWagon · Jul 5, 2015

Adding DEF along with the filler in the fuel door seemed to be the issue. It also caused them to ditch the IRS on the North American market Golf and Sportwagen.

This is a big disappointment to me. Range is part of what I love about TDIs. I was already unhappy with the 600 mile range I typically got in my '12, compared to an easy 700 in my wagon and over 800 in the Passat. The new car will probably do about 500.

rcracer · Jul 5, 2015

It's smaller on the gassers too!

IndigoBlueWagon · Jul 5, 2015

No, it's not. 14.5 gallons on the gasoline MKVII.

acrossthepond · Jul 5, 2015

Thats interesting because both Gas and Diesel have 50 litre tanks here apart from the Golf R (55 litres).

The reason given at the launch a few years ago for the smaller tank was to reduce assembly costs on the line for torsion beam rear suspension.

Bikebits · Jul 5, 2015

acrossthepond said:
Thats interesting because both Gas and Diesel have 50 litre tanks here apart from the Golf R (55 litres).

The reason given at the launch a few years ago for the smaller tank was to reduce assembly costs on the line for torsion beam rear suspension.

Both tanks are 50 litres in Canada as well.

badufay · Jul 5, 2015

The 15' Jetta and the 15' Golf are two very different cars now. I have both TDIs and seem to find differences in weird areas all the time (aside from one being an MK6 and the other MK7). Just yesterday I discovered the coolant tank in the Jetta says G12, but the Golf says G13... They are identical motors...hmmmmm? Point being, until the Jetta becomes the an MQB it can't be compared...

Ben

JBizz · Jul 5, 2015

What about the GSW? Its longer but what stopped them?

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tomo366 · Jul 5, 2015

I put 14.913 Gallons in my 2015 Jetta Yesterday......love this car!

Borsig · Jul 6, 2015

JBizz said:
What about the GSW? Its longer but what stopped them?

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Not wanting more part#'s etc?

I was under the back of my new GSW last night and there is PLENTY of room under there for more fuel tank. Theres also plenty of room for a full size spare. Looks like a lot of wasted space back there. But Im not an engineer.

They probably wanted weight savings too.

SpecialTest · Jul 6, 2015

IndigoBlueWagon said:
This is a big disappointment to me. Range is part of what I love about TDIs. I was already unhappy with the 600 mile range I typically got in my '12, compared to an easy 700 in my wagon and over 800 in the Passat. The new car will probably do about 500.

500 miles on a tank is pretty regular, normally I'm 500-550... which is a huge improvement over my previous vehicle where I only got over 400 once, and usually struggled get get over 360.

andyrooski17 · Jul 6, 2015

SpecialTest said:
500 miles on a tank is pretty regular, normally I'm 500-550... which is a huge improvement over my previous vehicle where I only got over 400 once, and usually struggled get get over 360.

Agreed. Not surprising the strategy by VW seems to be growing sales of TDIs in the US to first-time owners (like me) who are more than happy with the 500+ miles.

It sucks for you long-time enthusiasts who are used to better, but again, not surprised that VW isn't catering to that market.

JBizz · Jul 6, 2015

You can always add new fuel cell under the GSW. Lol i know a company that makes legal ones for trucks.

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joesmoe3 · Jul 10, 2015

Silly question . . . what is DEF ?

Jmartz · Jul 10, 2015

I get around 450 to a tank. But I have a roof rack on the car and every weekend run around with a bike or two on the roof. Still pretty damn good compared to my Jeep Wrangler that had a 22 gallon gas tank.

That being said, I usually fill up when the light comes on and even after topping off the tank I've never been able to put more than 11 gallons of diesel in. Maybe I should spend more time topping off, I usually stop once I can see the foam trying to come out from around the nozzle.

If I don't top it off I get considerably less mileage...

JSWTDI09 · Jul 10, 2015

joesmoe3 said:
Silly question . . . what is DEF ?

Diesel Exhaust Fluid, aka Adblue, aka Urea solution. It is used by the emissions system to control oxides of nitrogen using a process called SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction). It's all just a bunch of acronyms associated with emissions equipment.

Have Fun!

Don

meerschm · Jul 19, 2015

joesmoe3 said:
Silly question . . . what is DEF ?

it needs to be added when you have the oil changed every ten thousand miles.

sapgar · Jul 19, 2015

IndigoBlueWagon said:
No, it's not. 14.5 gallons on the gasoline MKVII.

My Golf TSI had a 13 gallon fuel tank

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IndigoBlueWagon · Jul 19, 2015

I stand corrected. I did a little digging after writing that and it seems the 1.8T MKVII cars have 13.2 gallon tanks. The 2.0T cars have 14.5. Perhaps the tank size is dictated by the rear suspension, Adblue or not.

Bob_Fout · Jul 20, 2015

IndigoBlueWagon said:
I stand corrected. I did a little digging after writing that and it seems the 1.8T MKVII cars have 13.2 gallon tanks. The 2.0T cars have 14.5. Perhaps the tank size is dictated by the rear suspension, Adblue or not.

My 15 GTI is 13.2 gallons / 50L also. It's somewhat annoying.

IndigoBlueWagon · Jul 20, 2015

So much for that thoery. VW's site is pretty misleading on this topic. I love how it lists all GSWs as having 18" wheels. They need an editor.

squeegee_boy · Jul 20, 2015

Audi A3 Quattro and Golf R have 14.5 gallon tanks, which would compensate for their fuel consumption penalty. All FWD models have 13.2 gallon tanks. Obviously, there is plenty of room back there if they can add the AWD hardware and make the tank larger.
At one point, I recall VW stating that the fuel tank was marginally smaller, but the better fuel economy made the range equivalent to the Golf VI. The most logical reason for the smaller tank is weight savings. GM does this on their Eco-Cruze.

Bob_Fout · Jul 20, 2015

squeegee_boy said:
Audi A3 Quattro and Golf R have 14.5 gallon tanks, which would compensate for their fuel consumption penalty. All FWD models have 13.2 gallon tanks. Obviously, there is plenty of room back there if they can add the AWD hardware and make the tank larger.
At one point, I recall VW stating that the fuel tank was marginally smaller, but the better fuel economy made the range equivalent to the Golf VI. The most logical reason for the smaller tank is weight savings. GM does this on their Eco-Cruze.

That's a savings of 10 pounds...

squeegee_boy · Jul 20, 2015

10 pounds is about right. It's not worth it in my mind, but no one sought my opinion when they designed the car. Overall they managed to knock roughly 200# off the weight of a MKVI

Why Did VW Make The Golf Fuel Tank Smaller?

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