Fuel mileage question

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
I just bought my Jetta 2005.5 and checked my first partial tank of fuel. I went 215 miles and filled up with 6.5 gallons of fuel. That's 33 MPG. I don't like that at all, but there are a couples factors that are in play here.
  1. The tank I used was full from the dealer I purchased from (who knows how full it really was).
  2. I spent a couple hours teaching my Son to drive a manual trans for the first time. 2 hours of stop and go and stalling the engine. We practiced many times over and over starting on an incline pretending there is a car behind us at a stop sign and he needed to get going without rolling backwards.
So I hope by eliminating these 2 senarios in the future, I will get better mileage. My computer says I got 46.7 since I bought it. I know the only way to really know is figure it out on paper starting with a full tank.

But, do some of you get that poor of mileage in the 2005.5-2006 TDI's? I am really hoping the tank wasn't full from the dealer, but if it was I'll be very disappointed.:(

So, due to my unsureness, I am not going to enter these figures on my first "Fuelly" figures.:D
 

abarns

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Location
Killeen, TX
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Pkg 1
Studies where sample size (n=1) are of little use. You've identified several reasons why your mileage is either wrong (unknown fuel level from dealer, partial tank) or skewed (lots of self-imposed stop and go). 33 mpg would not be unheard of for severe stop and go, but if I were you I'd start Fuelly in odo mode with the odo reading of your first known full fill-up (i.e. this most recent one).
 

Thunderstruck

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Location
Chicago
TDI
2015 GTI SE 6M
Ripping the guts out of the filler (search for venting) will help ensure consistent fill ups. As for proceeding up an incline, that's what the parking brake is for. I have stopped on a couple of real steep hills in Peoria, and it's not a big thing with the brake. I don't roll backwards at all.
 

MyAvocation

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Location
Hoffman Estates, IL
TDI
2017 Passat SEL TSI
What are your outside temps lately in MN? Below 50° is where I notice maximum fuel economy starts to drop off. My assumption is motor begins to take longer to warm up... ideal fuel economy requires full operating temp.I noticed a sweet spot range between 50-70°, and lose 4-5 MPG in winter.
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
TDI
NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
Thunderstruck said:
.. As for proceeding up an incline, that's what the parking brake is for. I have stopped on a couple of real steep hills in Peoria, and it's not a big thing with the brake. I don't roll backwards at all.
It is a good idea for all new drivers to learn that technique. Practice makes it easy and safe.
 

srptdi

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Location
nj
TDI
2005.5 jetta black
I usually average 630 miles per tank with 1\8 left every week mostly highway. When the temps drop below 50 I lose 4-5 mpg.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
MyAvocation said:
What are your outside temps lately in MN? Below 50° is where I notice maximum fuel economy starts to drop off. My assumption is motor begins to take longer to warm up... ideal fuel economy requires full operating temp.I noticed a sweet spot range between 50-70°, and lose 4-5 MPG in winter.
This last weekend and week so far have been in the 60's. I can't complain about that.

Joe_Meehan- I think it is important too, but hind site tells me I maybe should get him more comfortable with just driving the car (starting, shifting, etc.) before I have him do the tough stuff. I think I'll step into phase 2 later on this week. :D
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
OK I've got 240 miles and a quarter tank gone. Does this sound normal. It will take me another week to use up the whole tank and I'm getting anxious as to my MPG. I have a bad feeling that I won't be happy about it.:eek:

I really want to use a full tank for my first fuelly log.:D
 

apaterso

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Location
Livermore, CA
TDI
Jetta 2009
dae06 said:
OK I've got 240 miles and a quarter tank gone. Does this sound normal. It will take me another week to use up the whole tank and I'm getting anxious as to my MPG. I have a bad feeling that I won't be happy about it.:eek:

I really want to use a full tank for my first fuelly log.:D

Well it would seem to me that if you gone 240 miles on 1/4 of a tank that works out to 960 miles/tank. I can almost assure you, you won't get that kind of mileage. However you ARE driving a 2005.5 better milage than my 2009. I usually get 200 miles per 1/4 tank of gas. But the gas gauge is not exactly an accurate gauge. Seems to drop faster half a tank, gravity?

Though I think if you are driving reasonable you should be able to pull over 40mpg without too much trouble. Also try to fill up the same way each time. You'll get the hang of it.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
I heard that my tank will go very fast during the second half. I was just curious as to what is normal at a quarter gone.

I have no idea if the 2009 tanks are shaped differently than the 2005.5's though.

If you go 200 miles on the first quarter tank, what kind of MPG's do you get overall?
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
dae06 said:
I just bought my Jetta 2005.5 and checked my first partial tank of fuel. I went 215 miles and filled up with 6.5 gallons of fuel.


So, due to my unsureness, I am not going to enter these figures on my first "Fuelly" figures.:D
Your sample size is way too small, error way too high. There's no reason you can't enter it...just call it a partial fill-up.

Keep in mind, this error fades away as you enter more data points and you will ulitmately have the correct calculation of your long-term fuel consumption. No big deal.

Welcome aboard, Dae!!
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
I didn't record the fill up you quoted because I am unsure of how full the tank really was from the dealer. My current tank will be completely full from the start. I just hope I'm in the 40's.:confused:

MFD says 46.5 right now. If it really is ~10-15% off I'll be close to low 40's.
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
From what I've been reading the 2005.5 and 2006 models do better than the 2009's, but if you knew my luck, you wouldn't be as opimistic. ;)
 

F250_JR

Veteran Member
Joined
May 13, 2008
Location
Birmingham
TDI
2005.5 Jetta TDI Special Edition
I don't know man, I have gotten the impression that the PD engines can't get quite the fuel economy that the CR engines can. Numbers I have seen for PD's are in the high 30's to low 40's, while I have noticed quite a few members with CR engines reporting slightly higher figures (low to mid 40's). Of course, your specific numbers will rely heavily on your specific driving style.


If you are working to get the max mpg possible, I would just not worry about it while you are teaching your son to drive a manual, then focus on mpg afterwards. If you really want to, you should be able to average 40+ if you just stick with mostly highway driving. I have found that cruising at or below 65 mph can really up the mpg's. Good luck!
 

dae06

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Rushford, Minnesota
TDI
Jetta 2005.5 1.9
F250_JR said:
I don't know man, I have gotten the impression that the PD engines can't get quite the fuel economy that the CR engines can. Numbers I have seen for PD's are in the high 30's to low 40's, while I have noticed quite a few members with CR engines reporting slightly higher figures (low to mid 40's). Of course, your specific numbers will rely heavily on your specific driving style.
You could be right. Many 2009's that have posted mpg's may not be broken in yet due to thier age.
 

guitarandy

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Location
SE Texas
TDI
06 Jetta
srptdi said:
I usually average 630 miles per tank with 1\8 left every week mostly highway. When the temps drop below 50 I lose 4-5 mpg.
Wow ! Thats really good. I just filled up at 504 miles and bought 12.5 gallons. Thats just over 40 mpg. This is typical for my 06 5sp with mostly city driving. Highway mileage is around 43-44.
 

Mach1

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Location
Spicewood, Tx.
TDI
05.5 Jetta 5 spd, 06 Jetta DE DSG, 04 F250 6L, 2000 F250 7.3L
I get 300 miles to the first 1/4 tank, I then get over 700 miles to the tank and get 46-47mpg..every tank.
 

Joester

Vendor
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Location
St. Louis
TDI
2002 Golf TDI
my 2002 gets ~ 600 miles/tank driving agressively stop and go. i get 130 miles before my guage shows any signs of movement (with venting of course) and then i make it a goal to get 50-60 miles per every 1/8 tank for a total goal of 530-610 miles/ tank. a fill up for me is usually 14.5 gallons.
 

jayreading

Active member
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Location
St. Charles, IL
TDI
Jetta, 2006, Black
I just achieved a new personal best on my 2006 with a 5 speed manual. 47 mpg by mileage and topping off the tank at the beginning and end of the tank. The car went 667 miles on 14.1 gallons with the cruise set at 75 mph (by GPS). Temperature was about 50 outside and there was no wind. The road was flat most of the way - highway 44 and 55 in Illinois and Missouri and about 40 miles of stop and go driving. I'm am not going to go much slower to improve the mileage - I am sure I could get well over 50 mpg if I went 65.

The car has 107,000 miles on it and I just did the timing belt. It is running very smooth - as good as new. Only things I have done to the car besides the timing belt and other regular maintenance is replaced lights, repaired broken wires in the driver door, rear brakes twice and the clutch. This car has been outstanding for the past 4 years.
 

berks_tom

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Location
West Chester, PA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL
With my 2006 TDI w/DSG (102K miles) I've been averaging about 43-44 mpg over the last 2 months. I tend to hit 240-250 miles at 3/4 tank, 350 miles at 1/2 tank, and close to 480 at 1/4 tank. I've gotten as high as 625 out of a tank, but most of the time I fill up between 500 and 550. I've got a 65 mile commute (round trip) and it's more convenient and cheaper to fill up near home.
 
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