Real World MPG - 6 speed Manual

jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
Mix matched half bald baloonies. Who knows what psi on 16s.

44mpg on paper easily. 52 if I draft a semi or some other idiot trying to bust wind @ 60mph.

09 jetta wagon with 230k miles.

Sent from my s-off'ed m7 with cm11!
 

PaulB

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2000
Location
Oregon, USA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE M6
I'm guessing flow of traffic is probably 80MPH, so you were going 15MPH slower than about everyone else? At least 10MPH.
Well, it's not as bad as it seems. Where I drive, the traffic is very light and the sight distances are long; any half-way intelligent driver coming up behind me is going to have plenty of time to safely move to the passing lane. Also I'm often behind a big truck, which means they have to move over anyway to pass the truck. When traffic gets heavy I always keep up with the traffic.

It's just that not all drivers are half-way intelligent. It's irritating how often they will sit on your bumper when it is easy to pass. Especially at night - what am I supposed to do if a deer runs out in front of me?
 
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psd1

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Location
OR
TDI
2006 Jetta 2013 Passat SE 6Man
Winter weather MPG...

Just recorded my 5th worst tank in 57K miles. 46.2 MPG. Lots of snow/ice and some rain. Guess a guy can't complain too much. ;)
 

pedorro

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Location
Simi Valley, CA
TDI
2013 Touareg Sport
Last tank at 54.11 MPG pushed me over 20K miles of ownership (44.8K miles total).

Running average now just over 52 MPG at 52.05.

:D
 

Lincoln

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE 6 Speed MT
Last tank at 54.11 MPG pushed me over 20K miles of ownership (44.8K miles total).
Running average now just over 52 MPG at 52.05.
:D
Nice. Long commute? I used to get good numbers (49.5 MPG average) driving 40 miles each way, but my current 11 mile commute has me down closer to 40 MPG the past ~10000 miles. Still not bad, but I miss those awesome days hitting 58 MPG under perfect conditions (that number based on MFI; all others based on hand calculation).
 

pedorro

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Location
Simi Valley, CA
TDI
2013 Touareg Sport
Hey Lincoln - My commute is 60 miles freeway round trip and I try to drive off-peak as much as possible. I'm fortunate in that we have other cars so I'm able to pick and choose when I drive the Passat to best avoid traffic.
 

psd1

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Location
OR
TDI
2006 Jetta 2013 Passat SE 6Man
Hey Lincoln - My commute is 60 miles freeway round trip and I try to drive off-peak as much as possible. I'm fortunate in that we have other cars so I'm able to pick and choose when I drive the Passat to best avoid traffic.
What tires are you running and PSI, please?
 

Skoal

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Location
S. Maryland
TDI
Passat TDI SE 2014
Mpg drop

Has any one dropped MPG since the dealership did their 23N5 recall? I was getting 49 MPG now I only get 42 and that makes me:mad:
 

pedorro

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Location
Simi Valley, CA
TDI
2013 Touareg Sport
Has any one dropped MPG since the dealership did their 23N5 recall? I was getting 49 MPG now I only get 42 and that makes me:mad:
I have not experienced a decrease. Are you using the MFD to determine your mileage or calculating at fill-ups?
 

Skoal

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Location
S. Maryland
TDI
Passat TDI SE 2014
I use Fuelly. I know my mpg has dropped I feel like my proformance has too, that's harder to measure without mixing emotion in it.
 

LeeM

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2003
Location
Hagerstown,MD
TDI
2015 Passat SE, 2002 Jetta Reflex Silver
Fuel economy goes down when the air temperature decreases. Are you sure that is not the issue?
 
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pkforbes87

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2015
Location
Missouri
TDI
2013 Passat 6M
I've seen no noticeable decrease in fuel economy due to 23N5. It shouldn't have had a big effect on anything but DEF usage. Jettas/Golfs got recall 23O6 as the equivalent of our Passats getting 23N5 - the goal of each was to decrease NOx emissions. Those models need to use extra fuel to decrease NOx, so their fuel economy suffered, our 13+ (or is it 12+?) Passat models have the luxury of just using more DEF to achieve the same thing.

Attached is my fuel economy over the time I've owned the car. I moved from Missouri to California in February of 2015, so the dip in the middle was winter in the midwest. I got 23N5 performed in January of 2015 and as you can see, there's no lasting decrease in fuel economy following that date.

 

4thvwdiesel

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Location
Southern Maryland
TDI
99 Beetle, 12 Jetta Sportwagon
Just bought my 2014 6-M 10 days ago - just under 22K miles on the odo. On the 650 mile drive back to home in MD I got 57.0, GPS moving avg MPH was 63.5. Trip to NYC and back last weekend with three of us and our gear, including driving in the city, averaged 51.3

I'm satisfied!
 
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pkforbes87

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2015
Location
Missouri
TDI
2013 Passat 6M
Let me start by saying this is not "real world mpg", but it is possible on a bone stock 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M.

I filled up at a Sinclair in Idaho Falls, ID - with winter blended diesel of all things. This trip included two overnight stops in Layton, UT and St. George, UT, and two stops at job sites lasting throughout a normal workday, so a total of four stops long enough to allow the engine to cool completely. As most of you probably know, driving non-stop through an entire tank would net better results as fuel efficiency is much greater at operating temperature than any other time. My route was I-15 south through Salt Lake City and Vegas, then Highway 58 to Bakersfield, CA and eventually Wasco, CA - which means this tank was, overall, >4000' downhill. I was also driving with cruise at 60mph except for a few short stints up to 70-75mph where 60mph would have been unsafe because traffic was moving so much faster.

I usually drive at much more reasonable speeds, but knew from past experience that this was going to be a perfect opportunity to squeeze 1000 miles out of a tank.

Edit: Just for reference, my MFI calculated MPG was 60.0 for this tank. That margin of optimistic error is perfectly in line with what I see out of this car.

 
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16vjohn

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
TDI
EA288 CVCA 6MT
Let me start by saying this is not "real world mpg", but it is possible on a bone stock 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M.
I have no problem getting high 40's and breaking 50 on my 2013 Passat 6M. But, the city driving just kills this car. I think my fuelly average is around 43 average, which is nothing to shake a stick at. Best road trip car I've ever owned though. Absolute pleasure to drive and will return 48mpg at 75mph. Great car.
 

pkforbes87

Active member
Joined
Aug 20, 2015
Location
Missouri
TDI
2013 Passat 6M
Best road trip car I've ever owned though. Absolute pleasure to drive and will return 48mpg at 75mph. Great car.
I agree 100%. Mine spends its life averaging a little over 1000 miles/week on the interstate and it performs exponentially better than any other vehicle I can imagine driving in the same way.

FYI, I've seen slowly but consistently improving fuel economy since passing 100k miles with a noticeable jump after 130k. I'm guessing most of that slow increase is due to continued break-in of an engine built to minutely-precise tolerances, and the jump after 130k was due to the new timing belt. The small amount of slack in the old belt may have allowed timing to be inaccurate by some fractional degree.
 

16vjohn

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
TDI
EA288 CVCA 6MT
I just got my best tank ever on the 2015.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/volkswagen/jetta/2015/16vjohn/353642

I paid careful attention to the way I was driving it... I didn't change my driving style too much, but I did pay attention to throttle position going up hills and such. The tank average was 50.5mpg. My commute is about 20 miles one way and it's mostly flat. A few inclines and then equal declines. The MFA read just under 55mpg. That's consistent with what I observe that the MFA overreports by about 5mpg.

I decided to try something new the last few days. I changed the MFA to "instant MPG" and I set a goal of not letting go under 50mpg. This isn't hard to do, but does require slowing down 5-7 mph on the highway when gaining a little altitude. I got home and changed it to the daily average and was absolutely shocked to see that my 20 mile commute had average 67MPG :eek::eek::eek:. If my observations are true, this should net me in the high 50's real world mpg. I've got 300 miles left to go on this tank, with a MFA tank average of 55.5. So, we'll see what happens.

Anybody have similar observations with the MFA readout?
 

atc98002

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Location
Auburn WA
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium (sold back), 2009 Jetta (sold back), 80 Rabbit diesel (long gone)
I've used VCDS to tweak my MFD display. I can't remember the setting, but default was 100% and I changed it to 105%. Now my MFD actually reads low by 1-3 MPG. I keep meaning to change it to 104% to see if it gets closer. Right now, when I fill up the MFD is usually around 37 MPG, while my Fuelly calculation will be closer to 39-40. It's been consistent for months, so I know it's not me not filling up completely on some tanks. I'm only about 25% freeway driving overall. Of course, I have the DSG as well, not the manual.

I'll have to try your trick about using the instant readout, but traffic may not permit me to keep it that high. I don't want to be one of "those" people driving too slowly and impeding the flow.
 
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IXLR8

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2003
Location
Cushing, ME
TDI
12 Passat Platinum Gray, 02 Golf Black, 01 Jetta Black
Both the odometer reading and the MFD fuel economy are off from factory, both read high, and can be calibrated using VCDS. After recalibrating them both, I find my MFD fuel economy is usually off by no more than 2mpg, typically 1mpg. My best tank, calculated, is just over 58mpg, my average since day one is about 52mpg. I have had a few trips where my MFD fuel economy was 63mpg. For the size of the vehicle... it is about impossible to be the FE of the Passat TDI. If you look at my fuelly graph, my winter averages are off due to different sized snow tires.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Location
Huntsville AL
TDI
2015 Passat 6M
Trip from Huntsville, AL to Wash DC

I was in Washington DC last week for a conference. I wanted to check out my '15 Passat as a highway vehicle and so I drove. It was 700 miles or so to DC and about 1600 total for the trip. The display mileage up there was over 55 and the display showed 51.2 for the entire trip when I got home. No A/C on the way up there. Some on the way back. Probably half the way back was I-64 through the mountains.
 

aullein

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Location
Melbourne Fl
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE 6Speed Manual
'12 6speed manual sitting on 19x9.5's. Went from Melbourne Fl to Franklin TN ( just outside of Nashville) on one tank. 780 miles. 75-80 mph whole way with AC set at 72 just a couple clicks on. Cant beat that.
 

psd1

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Location
OR
TDI
2006 Jetta 2013 Passat SE 6Man
Been a while since anyone posted here, I guess Dieselgate is on everyone's minds.

Last tank, 48.3. I will miss the stellar MPG this car provided and the cavernous rear seat but will have to do with the new to me Touareg TDI I suppose.
 

16vjohn

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
TDI
EA288 CVCA 6MT
Where I live and drive in Utah valley is pretty flat, with a few exceptions. I think where you drive makes the biggest difference. My Passat will usually max out at around 47mpg, but I have had a few 51mpg tanks. I drive the speed limit (70mph), and make a reasonable effort to coast, such as when getting off the interstate ramp. On a recent roadtrip to the Northwest, I thought this was my chance for a 1,000 mile tank. As soon as I hit the hills of eastern Oregon, the average started to drop and never recovered. Easy on the pedal, and 98% highway, and the average wouldn't go above 50.

Not complaining at 50, but judging by fuelly logs from many others, and my own experience tells me not to expect more than 48-50 unless you have very special circumstances or drive very slowly. Both are statistical outliers and should be disregarded in any logical analysis.
 

ZootsAlures

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2013
Location
Windsor, CT
TDI
2012Passat SE TDI
I just hit 115,500 today. 85 mile round trip today where 80 was all highway. Hit 55mpg at 65-69mph.Mid 30's off highway- light to light. My 6SpM provokes me every time. My overall mpg' when I got home were 48. I have been using AMSOIL Cetane Booster- about 4oz per tank.
 

Bob u

Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Location
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
TDI
Passat TDI SE 6M
Tires?
Hankook are shot, time to replace them.
I am trying to decide between Michelin Premiers A/S or Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus.
Looking for a smoother and quieter ride but maintain my MPG.
What do you all think?
 
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