Fastbird
Veteran Member
Fix was completed on Monday. Only drove the car about 3 miles home from the dealership, and it was immediately apparent it drove differently. More throttle needed, hanging before shifts, staying in gear longer. Didn't drive it again until Wednesday night going to work (and that was a wash due to an accident and complete gridlock the entire way there). Left thursday morning from work in Fort Wayne IN for southern NJ.
Trip there I was coaxing it as best I could. No A/C, windows up, no cruise, working with any inclines or declines, speed held to 60-65 for 95% of the time. Trip out was 645 miles, and the last 50 was philly highway rush hour. Did some driving on Friday, all highway, no stop and go, again, being VERY mindful of economy. Filled up at 716 miles with 15.124 gallons, BUT, being filled up in NJ this morning, I couldn't pump it myself and the attendant didn't get me topped up all the way. Calculates to 47.34 but I think it could have taken more. Fuel light was NOT on, still had a bit of needle room on the gauge between the needle and red even.
Route taken: 30-71-76-80-322-76 (PA/TPK) through Philly where it turns into 42 in NJ.
Going home today, trip was same route, only backwards, with one spot I took an alternate highway vs. rural detour which made it a little longer. 658 miles when I pulled into my garage and I'm right on hitting the red, 80 to empty showing. Trip home use a little cruise due to some knee pain, A/C was used, had some wind in OH, and speed was mostly 65-70.
Using the GPS in the Nav, crossing PA there were some pretty good elevation swings, but after hitting harrisburg, it was only about 200-300 feet at a time, and once in Ohio leveled out with never more than about a 100 foot elevation change. I figure this tank is only 42-43 MPG.
Using the trip fuel economy average, going out I never got above 49.2 MPG. Coming home, I hit 47.1 early on and that was it. Normally after an hour or two on the highway, before I was easily in the 50's. Just running around my local area (runs up to Michigan, Chicago area, etc.....highway driving locally) I've pushed MANY tanks in excess of 800 miles with a solid mix of city thrown in. Now it seems I'll be lucky to see that with exclusive highway mileage. My normal work commute is mostly highway, but deals with a bit of early drive stop and go traffic going in during the afternoon rush. I'd still normally pull around 700 miles per tank give or take even using the A/C and what not. I absolutely do NOT forsee that happening now.
I don't like accelerating from a stop now. It hangs in gear too long, slow shifts with the flare, and is just irritating to the point that I am using auto stick to upshift during acceleration. My muscle memory is telling me that I'm using FAR more throttle to get it moving, keep it moving, and to maintain speed. I drive with a light foot and when maintaining speed I used to be able to lightly flare the pedal and hold it. Now, if I try that, the car literally tries to decel, I can feel it pitching me forward, and I have to throw heavier on the pedal just to hold speed.
VW and the EPA are NUTS thinking a 1 mpg impact is all that's happening. I have lost a LOT more than that, to the point where I'm questioning if the car was even flashed with the right tune because of it's economy and driving characteristics now. I'm going to look into options for returning to the stock tunes from before or aftermarket tunes and the likelihood of those being looked at if something needs servicing under warranty. I came to expect a certain fuel economy out of the car, and 1MPG would have been acceptable, that's only a less than 20 mile per tank difference. The impact I'm seeing here is more like a ~100 mile per tank difference (if this trip was before I had the fix, I have no doubts that the first tank I'd have coaxed up to close to 900 miles based off of previous partial tank trips I've done), or roughly 5-7 MPG depending on conditions. Yes, it still seems to be meeting the "EPA estimates" for economy of 30/40, but realistically, it's not in the ball park.
Trip there I was coaxing it as best I could. No A/C, windows up, no cruise, working with any inclines or declines, speed held to 60-65 for 95% of the time. Trip out was 645 miles, and the last 50 was philly highway rush hour. Did some driving on Friday, all highway, no stop and go, again, being VERY mindful of economy. Filled up at 716 miles with 15.124 gallons, BUT, being filled up in NJ this morning, I couldn't pump it myself and the attendant didn't get me topped up all the way. Calculates to 47.34 but I think it could have taken more. Fuel light was NOT on, still had a bit of needle room on the gauge between the needle and red even.
Route taken: 30-71-76-80-322-76 (PA/TPK) through Philly where it turns into 42 in NJ.
Going home today, trip was same route, only backwards, with one spot I took an alternate highway vs. rural detour which made it a little longer. 658 miles when I pulled into my garage and I'm right on hitting the red, 80 to empty showing. Trip home use a little cruise due to some knee pain, A/C was used, had some wind in OH, and speed was mostly 65-70.
Using the GPS in the Nav, crossing PA there were some pretty good elevation swings, but after hitting harrisburg, it was only about 200-300 feet at a time, and once in Ohio leveled out with never more than about a 100 foot elevation change. I figure this tank is only 42-43 MPG.
Using the trip fuel economy average, going out I never got above 49.2 MPG. Coming home, I hit 47.1 early on and that was it. Normally after an hour or two on the highway, before I was easily in the 50's. Just running around my local area (runs up to Michigan, Chicago area, etc.....highway driving locally) I've pushed MANY tanks in excess of 800 miles with a solid mix of city thrown in. Now it seems I'll be lucky to see that with exclusive highway mileage. My normal work commute is mostly highway, but deals with a bit of early drive stop and go traffic going in during the afternoon rush. I'd still normally pull around 700 miles per tank give or take even using the A/C and what not. I absolutely do NOT forsee that happening now.
I don't like accelerating from a stop now. It hangs in gear too long, slow shifts with the flare, and is just irritating to the point that I am using auto stick to upshift during acceleration. My muscle memory is telling me that I'm using FAR more throttle to get it moving, keep it moving, and to maintain speed. I drive with a light foot and when maintaining speed I used to be able to lightly flare the pedal and hold it. Now, if I try that, the car literally tries to decel, I can feel it pitching me forward, and I have to throw heavier on the pedal just to hold speed.
VW and the EPA are NUTS thinking a 1 mpg impact is all that's happening. I have lost a LOT more than that, to the point where I'm questioning if the car was even flashed with the right tune because of it's economy and driving characteristics now. I'm going to look into options for returning to the stock tunes from before or aftermarket tunes and the likelihood of those being looked at if something needs servicing under warranty. I came to expect a certain fuel economy out of the car, and 1MPG would have been acceptable, that's only a less than 20 mile per tank difference. The impact I'm seeing here is more like a ~100 mile per tank difference (if this trip was before I had the fix, I have no doubts that the first tank I'd have coaxed up to close to 900 miles based off of previous partial tank trips I've done), or roughly 5-7 MPG depending on conditions. Yes, it still seems to be meeting the "EPA estimates" for economy of 30/40, but realistically, it's not in the ball park.
