Anyone notice poor mileage on their TDI cold weather

[20ValveT]

I've noticed that the mileage on my Mk 3 TDI has gone to hell since the temp droped below -15. It seems to be consuming fuel more like its gasoline counterpart. I thought this might be a result of the engine taking alot longer to warm up, therefore causing it to pull more fuel when its warming up. Any thoughts?

 

[landrumdh]

You will be using winterized fuel which will reduce milage as well as the cold reducing your mileage more.

What are you getting?

 

[mcwig]

My mileage on my daily commute dropped from 47 down to 45 when the winterized fuel first showed up. In the recent cold snap it's dropped a little more to 44.
Of course, I also put a tuning box in about the same time the winter fuel came along, and I haven't exactly been driving for mileage since.

 

[chopchop]

Yes, everyone does.

 

[dieseldorf]

Originally posted by VeeDubb:
Anyone notice poor mileage on their TDI cold weather?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't think I could describe the dip in fuel economy as "poor"...maybe "less good"...but not poor.

 

[Toronto_Vento]

I have an MKIII jetta, and haven't had many problems with fuel milage. I just bought it a little over a month ago, but I have been getting 800+ km on a tank before filling (this is not including the gas left in the tank). So, I would say somewhere around the 900-950 km/tank right now. This is on winter fuel with 4 snow tires on the car.

I can't wait to see what my kms will be when summer diesel comes back and I get summer tires on this car!

 

[Variant TDI]

In summer, my VR6 could get 22-23 mpg in the city. In winter... I'm lucky to see 17. My trips were short, so I was affected more by the low temps, and warmup. Long winter trips yielded similar numbers as I'd get in summer.

It's all relative.

 

[20ValveT]

I'm still searching for a donor car. Until I find one I will survive with the diesel engine, which I'm sure will be dead soon anyways. Shes not looking too good.

 

[karlkoenig]

I don't know if it's if I drive differently in the winter or something else, but I actually see better mileage in the winter.

I use Koch Arctic Diesel consistently during the winter, maybe that is why...?

http://www.premiumdiesel.com/

Karl

 

[mcwig]

Karl,

Thanks for the link. I found a station that carries the Artic Diesel on my way to work. I'll definitely give it a try.

 

[master cylinder]

Yeah - dropped from 47 avg. down to 46.

 

[karlkoenig]

Great! E-mail me with your results. I get mine from Bill's just off of Boone Ave. just south of 694 in Brooklyn Park or Brooklyn Center.

Karl

 

[boostedhatch]

I was getting 900-950 km's on 50-53 liters now that winter is here and I have winter tires its more like 800-850 km's

 

[PackRat]

Originally posted by VeeDubb:
I've noticed that the mileage on my Mk 3 TDI has gone to hell since the temp droped below -15. It seems to be consuming fuel more like its gasoline counterpart. I thought this might be a result of the engine taking alot longer to warm up, therefore causing it to pull more fuel when its warming up. Any thoughts?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What happened to that VR6 swap you were talking about?

 

[Alster]

I have not notice a drop in mileage yet on my 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI/5-speed,
Of course here in the Northwest its rather mild with 50+ degree afternoons and cool
30 degree or so nights.

I did notice a drop in mileage with my Honda Civic VX during the winter. Mileage went
from 52 or so to about 48mpg.

Alster

 

[Whitecloud1]

My mileage has actually gone up too! I was running at a 46.5MPG and the last 2 tanks are up to 50MPG. Do you thing that last speeding ticket and slowing down had anything to do with it?

PS-Cruise control now stays locked in at 70.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

 

[SwimmerDave]

Originally posted by VeeDubb:
I'm still searching for a donor car. Until I find one I will survive with the diesel engine, which I'm sure will be dead soon anyways. Shes not looking too good.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Arghh !! This is the exact same VeeDubb who claims to be trying to swap a VR6 into a TDI and who also claims that out of 15 VWs in his "family", all of them are POS that require constant maintenance.

*sniff* *sniff* - what's that smell ? It's the smell of a troll !!

 

[SwimmerDave]

Drops in winter fuel economy can be contributed to 2 major factors:

1) #1 diesel (winter fuel) contains a high percentage of kerosene, which has a much lower energy density than does straight diesel. Thus, you get less energy per gallon from winter diesel. If you have a true Amoco/BP Premier pump in your area, hit that. I *believe* they use no kerosene in the winter and instead rely upon superior additives.

2) Many (most) people drive enough short enough trips that extended warm-ups play a large factor in fuel economy. A cold engine does not run nearly as efficiently as a fully warmed-up one does. There's really no way around this one, other than drastically altering your commuting/driving patterns.

 

[20ValveT]

SwimmerDave......hmmmmmm.....seems the name says it all. Its seems swimmer dave you might want to get your head out of the water dave, not enough oxygen is going to your head. It is you who is trolling not me. I asked a ligitimate question in this thread and you now are trying to start the problems. Swimmerdave you are a Volkswagen rookie. When you take a Volkswagen more than 300,000K then open your mouth. You obviously have zero experience with these cars.....surprise surprise

. If you have nothing productive to add DON'T REPLY. Is that easy enough for you to understand.
On a lighter note thank you every one for your input it is much appreciated

 

[SwimmerDave]

Originally posted by VeeDubb:
SwimmerDave......hmmmmmm.....seems the name says it all. Its seems swimmer dave you might want to get your head out of the water dave, not enough oxygen is going to your head. It is you who is trolling not me. I asked a ligitimate question in this thread and you now are trying to start the problems. Swimmerdave you are a Volkswagen rookie. When you take a Volkswagen more than 300,000K then open your mouth. You obviously have zero experience with these cars.....surprise surprise

. If you have nothing productive to add DON'T REPLY. Is that easy enough for you to understand.
On a lighter note thank you every one for your input it is much appreciated

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">300k and you're *****ing about VW's ? You seem to be quite an oxymoron.

 

[TDIBrian]

My mileage has gotten pretty crappy with the winter fuel, snow tires, and not getting up to proper operating temps very often; i'm usually only driving for 30 mins or so.

I'm going to to take a piece of plexiglass or something, and make a small shield to block the lower third or half of the rad. I imagine my injector timing could use a little tweaking as well.

Brian
A3 Jetta 145km