Best DPF delete exaust and economy tune for 2.0 TDI

Hello,

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI that I am looking to do a complete exhaust overhaul with DPF delete to gain more fuel economy along with an eco tune. Right now I get about 38MPG but want to try and get around 50MPG. Any thoughts on what is the best exhaust and tune to buy for the 2.0 TDI?

I am also looking at the high pressure fuel pump filter due the know issue of the pump disintegrating. I have already had this happen and would like to prevent the having to replace the whole fuel system!

Thanks in advance!

Many threads on this already if you search a little. No tune is going to net you a 12 mpg increase. Search on 2microns filter setup for your car. He has a thread in the vendor for sale forum. The cost of removing and replacing the exhaust components and tuning will eat any economy you get for a very long while as well. Emissions inspections may also prove troublesome if you have them.

If you have a manual, getting a Malone stage 2 with dpf delete can get you your 50mpg if you know how to drive well. If you beat on it you will get low 40's probably. If you have a dsg, then getting 50mpg is very hard to do even with dpf delete. I have consistently maintained 41-44mpg avg with mixed driving every tank. When it's cold outside I get 40 per tank up to 41. On seasons where weather is nice, no ac needed I get 44 easily. That was with stage 2., dsg.

Since I've had my stage 3 with new turbo, during the very cold times since mid January, I've had 43in the cold cold tanks. Currently waiting for consistent good temps to see what my new setup gets with good weather.

38 seems very low for a Jetta. Typically I only see the wagons with that low of mpg. You do a lot of stop and go driving?

Even Green Diesel only claims a 4-7 mpg gain. Changing how, where, when and how fast will probably make as much difference. I made this trip when I had mine just to test it.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=134473&highlight=make

Unless you are doing a lot of highway driving, I don't see 50 mpg in your future even with a tune and deletes. Assuming your driving and situation stays the same.

azthegame said:

If you have a dsg, then getting 50mpg is very hard to do even with dpf delete.

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But it can be done - in the summer I consistently get 50+ mpg hwy if I keep it under 65 mph. (car is bone stock btw)

hybridkiller said:

But it can be done - in the summer I consistently get 50+ mpg hwy if I keep it under 65 mph. (car is bone stock btw)

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Where can you run "under 65" on the hwy and not get ran over?

If I try to stay under 75 I am holding up traffic in the slow lane.

Lots of places. Speed limit on the toll road here is 85 mph. No problem doing 65 mph in the right lane. But getting 50 mpg on a "tank" of fuel usually means long, slow highway road trips.

psrumors said:

Where can you run "under 65" on the hwy and not get ran over?
If I try to stay under 75 I am holding up traffic in the slow lane.

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I drive I-75 between Tampa and Atlanta several times a year, also I-81 in VA frequently, and sure I get passed a lot but I'm never "holding up traffic". I try to be considerate of truckers and if I'm in front of a faster moving one going downhill I either speed up or get out of his way.
I've found that driving at or slightly below the limit is actually much easier and less tiring than constantly having to negotiate faster AND slower traffic and the constant lane changing that goes with it (this after 20+ years of always driving as fast as I thought I could get away with).

psrumors said:

Where can you run "under 65" on the hwy and not get ran over?

If I try to stay under 75 I am holding up traffic in the slow lane.

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Man up and F'em. Let them pass you in the fast lane like they're supposed to. They'll just have to wait for an opening to move over to pass you.

I drive 65/70 all the time, occasionally 60 on the e-way. I like 42-45mpg trips, not 35mpg bucking and pushing wind @ 80. And I could care less what they think. I'm within the legal limits. If a car doing 80 rear ends me who's doing 65, who wins in the court of law? Me!

Lower speeds are always the quickest, easiest, and cheapest route to better mpg's. Most anytime I hear people complain about not getting the mileage results they would like, it's usually a pretty easy guess that they drive 90mph everywhere they go. But going slower means leaving earlier and above all else.........having patience. Something that many, many, many people nowadays do not have.

gamnam12 said:

Hello,

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI that I am looking to do a complete exhaust overhaul with DPF delete to gain more fuel economy along with an eco tune. Right now I get about 38MPG but want to try and get around 50MPG. Any thoughts on what is the best exhaust and tune to buy for the 2.0 TDI?

I am also looking at the high pressure fuel pump filter due the know issue of the pump disintegrating. I have already had this happen and would like to prevent the having to replace the whole fuel system!

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Before tuning, my fuelly average for my JSW with DSG was around 34 MPG. It's now 39.8. Assuming your driving habits remain the same, it's reasonable to expect a 10-15% bump in FE. Malone is the recognized leader in the field, and I'm absolutely satisfied with the results, but as others have mentioned; check local laws before tampering / modifying the emissions system on your car. I've written a review of my tune; you'll also find all the information you need (along with everything HPFP) by searching this site.

hybridkiller said:

But it can be done - in the summer I consistently get 50+ mpg hwy if I keep it under 65 mph. (car is bone stock btw)

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I'm not talking about individual hwy runs. I get 51-53mpg on my daily trip to work every morning. But the combined tank avg is what I'm talking about being hard to get 50.

I've had my TDI since December 10th, 2014. I was driving about 800-900 miles a week and averaged 45mpg with a best of 50.5mpg on a trip to Memphis. During that trip I set the cruise to 70mph and my radio to some Led Zeppelin and Derek Trucks.

My work commute is about 36 miles one way, with 2.4 miles from my driveway to the interstate and 1.6 miles from the interstate to where I park at work. Most of the interstate has a speed limit of 70mph so I set the cruise at 68mph, there is about a 5 mile stretch that is 55mph so I drop her down to 56mph on the cruise control. With my bone stock car (6 speed manual) this would net me mid 40's mpg wise very consistently.

In April 1st I took my car to Dax at Skunkwerx Performance and had him install a 3" straight pipe exhaust, DPF & EGR delete as well as a Malone Stage II tune. I filled up on the 10th and got a pretty noticeable increase in mpg. I changed nothing about my driving style and while there were a few warmer days, there were some days below freezing as well. The car went 702.4 miles and took 13.6 gallons of fuel to fill her up. The only other time I've had a 700 mile tank is on my trip to Memphis.

So, yes you should see a slight increase in mileage but don't expect it to pay for itself. I spent right at $2K ($2,054 to be exact) for everything done to my car (it would've been cheaper if I went with a 2.5" exhaust) but I didn't modify it just for mileage. I modified it firstly because I wanted to and secondly because I will never have the dreaded intercooler icing issue again. The better mileage is just the icing an on already sweet sounding cake.

The way you drive is the best way to better mileage. I have a 110 mile commute each way and average 54-58 mpg if I keep the cruise set at 68mph. The warmer the temperature is, the better the mileage. I got as high as 62.8mpg indicated (60.5 actual) on a 95 degree day. My highest calculated on paper mileage was between 53 and 54 mpg.

Heck, just today, I got 38.7 in the 5 cylinder passat loner I drove today. Again, I drove it at 68mph.

I run from tampa to Sarasota on i75 BTW

I have gotten to about 52 mpg in my wife's dsg passat. She can't get to 48 because of her lead foot and driving habits.

I made the best of 62.4 mpg with a full exhaust upgrade from rawtex and a stage 2 Malone tune. Granted my average speed for the entire tank was 40 mph with a top speed of 55.

diesel_fan77 said:

Lower speeds are always the quickest, easiest, and cheapest route to better mpg's. Most anytime I hear people complain about not getting the mileage results they would like, it's usually a pretty easy guess that they drive 90mph everywhere they go. But going slower means leaving earlier and above all else.........having patience. Something that many, many, many people nowadays do not have.

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Ain't that the truth. I get 50-52 mpg on my 2010 Jetta in the summer driving about 60mph, drops down to 47-48 in the winter. I drive over the coast range in OR every day for work so its not flat road all the way. Tillamook to Vancouver a 95 miles run one way. My wifes 2009 is a DSG and she gets way less MPG like the low 40's but she is a masher. Oh by the way they are both stock. Now her rig throws the P0401 code every now and then and will eventually do a DPF delete on it as it has 138000 on it and don't want to go through all the hassle with troubleshooting and throwing money at it. Will probably wait until the "fix" is out from VW and see what they are going to come up with, might get lucky and have a redesign of the DPF/EGR system.

azthegame said:

If you have a manual, getting a Malone stage 2 with dpf delete can get you your 50mpg if you know how to drive well. If you beat on it you will get low 40's probably. If you have a dsg, then getting 50mpg is very hard to do even with dpf delete. I have consistently maintained 41-44mpg avg with mixed driving every tank. When it's cold outside I get 40 per tank up to 41. On seasons where weather is nice, no ac needed I get 44 easily. That was with stage 2., dsg.

Since I've had my stage 3 with new turbo, during the very cold times since mid January, I've had 43in the cold cold tanks. Currently waiting for consistent good temps to see what my new setup gets with good weather.

38 seems very low for a Jetta. Typically I only see the wagons with that low of mpg. You do a lot of stop and go driving?

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Are the wagons supposed to get this low of mpg? I've noticed recently that my trips net around 31-34mpg, and it's mostly highway (backcountry roads in central and north Texas for agricultural business). I've also noticed my car has been doing more regens than usual, so I'm contemplating a DPF delete, now that registration is in TX.

Lightflyer1 said:

Lots of places. Speed limit on the toll road here is 85 mph. No problem doing 65 mph in the right lane. But getting 50 mpg on a "tank" of fuel usually means long, slow highway road trips.

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I'm quite jealous. Been wanting to drive on that toll road for months now. I usually stick with 87 or 16 when I need to go north and avoid I-35 at all costs.

So if I do the DPF delete and get a Malone stage 2, would I at least be able to see 38-44MPG average? When I do my trips, they range anywhere from 35 miles one way to about 400 miles one way, with the speed limit usually being 70-75. I usually set cruise control about 3-4mph over.

psrumors said:

Where can you run "under 65" on the hwy and not get ran over?
If I try to stay under 75 I am holding up traffic in the slow lane.

Click to expand...

Funny, when I drive through and around the belt loop in Atlanta I do @60MPH. Have been doing that for years and I run into slower drivers as much as faster drivers.

Jason

So I'm going to throw out the obligatory "Emissions equipment removal is illegal" warning. There, done.

I had a discussion with a customer in Nashville that is a big truck mechanic. He was lamenting the emissions "crap" on the semis and how much of a headache it is to keep them running. So he wanted to take his new (<2000 miles) Jetta and delete the DPF, DOC, EGR, all of it, to get better mileage. He already researched cost and was asking me about it. I pointed out that first the whole system is under warranty for a long time, and second his argument for MPG was false as he would have to drive it for the next 10 years at the most optimistic fuel savings to BREAK EVEN. This is based on what he was getting at the time.

Only way my Beetle is losing its DPF is if it fails and cost to replace is not covered under some warranty. At that time we will weigh the costs/benefits of keeping DPF vs removing. Since my wife lost her dad to cancer she has gone on a crusade to remove harmful chemicals from our life. I bet I know where see will land on this debate. For me I was debating on the DPF retrofit (VW dealer item in Europe) for my Golf before it met its demise.

In the end it comes down to whether cost or my health (and my family's) is more important.

Jason

I did the whole Stage 2 Malone Tune and DPF/Cat/EGR delete a few months ago. On the average I picked up about a 10% mpg gain.

But the hp/tq gain is where it makes the upgrade worthwhile, plus never have to worry about the emission stuff breaking.

PeteZ06 said:

I did the whole Stage 2 Malone Tune and DPF/Cat/EGR delete a few months ago. On the average I picked up about a 10% mpg gain.

But the hp/tq gain is where it makes the upgrade worthwhile, plus never have to worry about the emission stuff breaking.

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I did the same a few weeks ago and am already noticing a difference in fuel economy overall. And same thing here - less stuff to break - my second DPF failed (first was under warranty) and I've had countless O2 sensors go south. I figure if it helps me get another 300-400K out of my car (I'm at 152K now), it's worth it in the long run.

I read some fantastic MPG's here and wish I was in that range. My car has a DSG is bone stock and I drive 66 mile commute each day. I have taken some long road trips and found an average 39 MPG running 65-75 MPH. In the mornings if I can keep it between 40-60 MPH (dictated by traffic flow) the MDF can show 51 by the time I stop. Rides home in traffic range between 33-39 on the MDF. When I changed to Michelin Pilot 3 sport tires last month I was greeted with a 2 MPG drop. I hand calculate MPG each fill up and have been using 1/4 ounce Optilube per gallon since new. I expect to be in the 37-39 MPG range as I run thru this set of tires. So far at 63,000 miles with only regular scheduled service my only other expense has been a set of wiper blades. When my DPF goes I will look at the DPF/EGR & tune vs cost of straight up replacement. I would like to get 200-300,000 miles out of this car but if it becomes a troublesome money eater I will change to a new car sooner.

just my .02

I just got back from a 1,000 mile round trip up almost 2,000 ft. into the mountains. My first tank included several 6 mile trips 1,175 ft rise up the side of the mountain, lots off rain and average speed around 70mph. I still made an average of 49.5mpg. I have yet to fuel up from the trip back but my readout shows 2 MPG higher then my previous tank readout. All my posted mpg are hand calculated.

I noticed almost a 5% increase in mileage when I installed these tires from the max summer tires I was running. Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus 235/45r17

I also always run 4oz of Amsoil Cetane Booster per tank and have seen around 10% increase in mileage vs no cetane.

UFO (under fueled oiler) said:

I also always run 4oz of Amsoil Cetane Booster per tank and have seen
around 10% increase in mileage vs no cetane.

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Please no offense but I don't believe that. I would have to see an
independent double blind controlled repeatable test to verify that claim.

OK I'll bite. How much for this magical mystery additive. Lets say 10% is
true. Then I would save about 1.4gal a fillup. Which at the current low
price, is about $3.00 savings. If the additive per tank was say $0.50 or
even a buck it would be a no braner winner. The no free lunch thing
applies.

Send me a bottle and I'll test it...

I am aggressively tuned with a big turbo so..... idk if it makes any difference on a stock vehicle. Thats why I make no promises. You may or may not see any change I just know for me my car smokes like a freight train and feels like a slug when I don't run it. Smokes only mildly at wot when running the cetane booster. Also I think over time the computer learns how well the diesel burns and adjusts accordingly so over time say 10 tank test it may not make as much difference. Just my 2 cents... can't prove its worth anything for anyone else.

And yes I know at today's fuel prices it may not save much but hey who don't want to boast higher MPG number plus a better running car.

Its $8 per 16oz bottle + shipping.

I never understand how people get under 40 mpg in these cars. Unless you have a lead foot. I have had 4 tdis in last year and all get 50+. Driving like a dad not a teen

holeintheice said:

I never understand how people get under 40 mpg in these cars. Unless you have a lead foot. I have had 4 tdis in last year and all get 50+. Driving like a dad not a teen

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Many factors really. Most is throttle input and speed. If I have cruise set at 75 and accelerate hard all the time I get 35. Set at 65 with east throttle I get 43. You must drive 55. Also this thread has been dead since 2015.