800 miles on one tank?

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Saw this today,
These guys were trying to get 800 miles out of one tank in a Honda Insight. When I saw the premise of the video I had to smile: I have two, possibly 3 TDIs that can easily do this (admittedly with more fuel) without any mods or hypermiling techniques.

I like the Insight. But TDIs, especially rotary pump ones, are pretty hard to beat when it comes to range. And spoiler alert: they failed.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
With their "snacks" fuel addition they had 15 gallons. My wagon will go 800 miles on 15 gallons if I keep it under 70 MPH.
 

DonL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Location
Kingman, Arizona
TDI
2005 Jetta TDI wagon (BEW)
My best is 955 miles on one tank a few years ago. A vented tank is 16.5 gallons. Unless you are going for a record, going slow enough to get that kind of mileage is not worth the time wasted.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
I’ve had a handful of 800+ mile tanks on my 05 Golf, without hypermilling.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
I think 817 was my best, not on a trip just country 2 lane roads where 60mph about does it unless you get behind a farm tractor hauling a spreader then it's traffic jam time.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Someone swapped a 3 cyl TDI into a first gen Insight... and I think it can tag something crazy like 90 MPGs. And this is with PD era tech.

Those Insights are AWFUL cars (and I like Hondas a lot). They were a compromise to literally EVERYTHING to make them fuel efficient. And they did succeed with that. But the result was a car that feels like a mild breeze will blow it off the road. Difficult for normal sized humans to fit in let alone get in and out of. Horrible visibility out the back. The narrower rear track of an already tiny car means the rear axle is constantly wandering on the "hump" of many Interstate lanes which makes steering correcting almost a constant necessity. And as I recall they were equipped with some goofball one off tires that nobody else had which made them super expensive and they wore fairly quickly.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yep, only I think when those first came out they were actually even more. I just remember the George Costanza types getting their buttholes professionally unpuckered after finding out how much a set of tires was (and how quickly they tore through them) on their new whizbang car they bought to save money. Seems like those tires were north of $200 each early on.
 

MukGyver

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
Location
Sierra Ca
TDI
2004 Jetta PD
I think this is my best: headed to 2016 Fest, drifted across Ontario at 55-60 MPH on 2 lane roads. Made it from Albany to a town near the UP on one tank.
That's awesome indigo. I don't think I could ever hit 800 unless I ran it dry. I can fit 15.5gal and I've only hit 700 at the light coming on.

That particular Insight with the skirts is pushing tops of the ugliest car ever list too :LOL:
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
I've never been able to hit even 700 in either of my MKIVs. :( On a recent road trip from Atlanta to Boston, I literally ran out of fuel going up a hill, but was able to coast over the top, the engine caught on the way down and was able to make it to the exit and fill up: 17.017 gallons, 657 miles. That tank did include some city miles, but based on what other people are reporting for mpg, I should be able to do better.
 

MukGyver

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
Location
Sierra Ca
TDI
2004 Jetta PD
I've never been able to hit even 700 in either of my MKIVs. :( On a recent road trip from Atlanta to Boston, I literally ran out of fuel going up a hill, but was able to coast over the top, the engine caught on the way down and was able to make it to the exit and fill up: 17.017 gallons, 657 miles. That tank did include some city miles, but based on what other people are reporting for mpg, I should be able to do better.
Is this the Tdi conversion? tranny manual and not a gls trans? and wheel size stock tdi also?
 

gmenounos

Vendor
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Watertown, MA, USA
TDI
'99.5 Golf GLS, '01 Jetta GLX Wagon (TDI conversion)
Is this the Tdi conversion? tranny manual and not a gls trans? and wheel size stock tdi also?
No, it's the 99.5 MKIV Golf, 5-speed, brakes not dragging, Malone Stage 3, Bosio DLC520 nozzles professionally mounted and balanced, newish VNT15 turbo, all new vacuum hoses, 16" wheels with VR6 front brakes, empty roof rack with fairing, tires inflated to 35psi, recently aligned, driven at 65-70 miles/hour on the highway. Last year I checked the timing and IQ via VCDS and tweaked them a bit. The timing belt was last replaced by me, but the crank seal was replaced later by a trusted mechanic and I never double-checked after that the mechanical timing was set perfectly. The intake manifold was cleaned 34k miles ago but I did not try to clean out the ports in the head. Replaced the injection pump with a used one 40k miles ago when I botched replacing the head seal. Replaced the MAF around the same time when the original failed. I haven't put many miles on it the last 5ish years and it's been mostly city miles. I supposed I should double-check the intake just to make sure it's not plugged again, but again, it was cleaned only 34k miles ago. Car seems to run well except not getting great mpg. I've been watching a few of the low mpg threads to see if someone else finds the magic solution, but so far haven't learned anything.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Range is not really a good way to measure fuel efficiency, just because of how well you vent the tank when filling, if you vent it at all.

I have a sticky in the Fuel Economy section for some helpful tips, but I can tell a few things already that are not helping: "stage 3" anything, 16" wheels, roof rack. Those items alone could collectively cost 5 MPG easily.
 

rhinorear

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Lost Causes NM
TDI
2014 JSW
Sorry to de-rail (kind of) this thread -

My Jeep has me in the practice of not adding any more fuel after the initial nozzle shut off. If you add you stand the chance of filling the C canister and going into limp mode.

Am I missing a full tank by not adding any more after the initial shut off when fueling my 2014 GSW? How many additional squeezes do you guys give the nozzle before you feel your tank is full? Does adding more harm anything?

Thanks!
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Lots of us vent the tank. The little nubbin on the left side of the filler hole (that gets depressed when the cap gets screwed on). If you press that in with the tip of the nozzle, you'll hear a "pffff" and then you can pump some more fuel in. If you do it multiple times you may be able to squeeze another gallon or more into the tank.

A "ventectomy" used to be a popular mod, as then it would just vent as it filled and allow it completely to fill up. However you run the risk of splashback with certain pumps. Manual venting is more controlled. One of my cars has had its vent nubbin removed, and I don't like it because of that. So I just listen as it is filling, and when it starts "pffff"ing I know to stop the pump. My other cars I just manually vent it.

Diesel does not expand and vent off volatiles like gasoline does (and there is no evaporative system to deal with) so you can get away with venting them with no harm.
 

Fahrvegnugen

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2017
Location
Burlington Vt
TDI
01 golf 1.9 alh gls silver
gmenounos I wouldn’t worry about the fuel mileage mine has averaged 38 mpg, and it has new nearly everything except fuel pump and it has gotten 38 mpg all along. When my fuel tank has 600 miles driven I’m looking for a refill. I manually vent. I’d say it’s cheaper to fill up the tank than replace stuff for higher mpg.
 

MukGyver

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
Location
Sierra Ca
TDI
2004 Jetta PD
generally speaking purchasing parts to replace already functional (edit: still good) parts to gain mpgs is not worthwhile. Sometimes it's better to sell what you have and buy one that's already got what you're looking for. Kind of the same idea as how upgrading something yourself usually costs a lot more time and $$ than buying one from someone who has already done the upgraded. Unless that's your love affair. You've got some nice mods there gmenounos... drive and enjoy! not sure the fight for mor e mpgs would be worth it.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I dunno, I bought a very used ALH car once from someone that decided it was not worth the cost to replace the timing belt the second time around. I did all its scheduled PM, drove it for a couple weeks to get it all dialed in before I sold it, and noticed it was slower to get up to temp than it should have been AND was consuming more fuel than my other ALHs... put a new thermostat and neck in, and not only did the temp come up to normal at the usual pace, but the fuel economy jumped about 7 MPG. New Behr thermostat, new genuine neck, and some G12, and about 10 minutes worth of work. I'd say that was worth it to gain 7 MPG.
 

MukGyver

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
Location
Sierra Ca
TDI
2004 Jetta PD
I dunno, I bought a very used ALH car once from someone that decided it was not worth the cost to replace the timing belt the second time around. I did all its scheduled PM, drove it for a couple weeks to get it all dialed in before I sold it, and noticed it was slower to get up to temp than it should have been AND was consuming more fuel than my other ALHs... put a new thermostat and neck in, and not only did the temp come up to normal at the usual pace, but the fuel economy jumped about 7 MPG. New Behr thermostat, new genuine neck, and some G12, and about 10 minutes worth of work. I'd say that was worth it to gain 7 MPG.
and no extra purchases to replace "still good parts" to get there. nice!! and some parts are inexpensive enough to throw some $ at.
 

2002_auto_tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2020
Location
Virginia
TDI
03 5spd wagon and 02 01m sedan
I get 750 in my worthless Auto MK4 TDI. The one that is supposed to give up a huge MPG difference to the manual. If my manual gets 50 on the highway I'd be shocked.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
That's the difference between autos and manuals. I have to drive 85-90 MPH on the highway to get my FE to drop to 47 MPG.
 
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