Real World MPG with DSG

[suprnice]

I live in Toronto, Canada, not sure if it has to do with the cold weather, my passat TDI DSG first tank average mileage is average 7.3L/km = 32mpg, only 1/3 highway with bad traffic often times

 

[waydeki]

i think it's lame that there's no ski pass thru with the manual transmission. are they worried that we'll hit our elbow on the ski tips while shifting?

 

[MyAvocation]

Just a cost reduction issue. Is no different than SEL models that have it, but now it's a cheap door that removes into the trunk side -- as opposed to older models having a hinged pass-through.

 

[kjclow]

Check the monthly mileage posts. You can easily see comparisons of same year vehicles with dsg or manual and also see different years with the same type of tranny. I think that my 2011 Golf gets slightly better mileage than my 2010 JSW, both are dsg. However, with only 4000 miles on the golf, there have not been enough fills to get a clear picture.

 

[rotarykid]

i think it's lame that there's no ski pass thru with the manual transmission. are they worried that we'll hit our elbow on the ski tips while shifting?

Once these things start to fill the road and salvage yard the pass through should be easy enough to find from a crashed gasser automatic to transplant in..........

 

[MyAvocation]

Someone already reported a totalled SEL in TX.

 

[RoadRunnerTR21]

I went in for my second fill up today. I drove 706.2 miles on this tank. I put 16.0 gallons in it so my fuel mileage was 44.13 MPG. I checked the Range value prior to filling up and it said I had 20 miles left.

 

[strongtm]

Getting 39 combined. My commute is 40 miles of back roads and 18 miles of interstate. I have about 2300 miles on it.

 

[2500hd2]

I am getting a difference of 10mpgs with my dash and scangauge II.

The dash says 45 and the scangauge is at 55. This is what I get while traveling 75 mph on the highway.

 

[kjclow]

What is the calcualted mileage?

 

[Papachristou]

Next if the car will ever be “tuned” I would think at least 1 maybe 2 clutches in the lifetime of the car ($2500.00 or so?) so there goes much of the savings of the manual over the DSG.

$2500 for two clutches? How much are these d@mn things? after the dealer quoted me over $2500 for a stock clutch in my a4, I put a dual feramic puck clutch, had my flywheel resurfaced and bought some tools i needed for the job for $600. forgot to add 30pk of beer and some bandaids though. That clutch held for another 70k miles with many many a launch at 6k rpm spinning all four and snatching them again in second... ah i miss that naughty girl so much!

If you cant DYI, i could see that but with the help of the forum, DYI is very, well DYIable.

I don't understand the attraction of the 6 mt over the DGS. The Passat is not a sports car that would benefit from the stick tranny. The DGS is a joy to drive and if you feel macho and want to be in control of your gear you can still do it. I can see where someone can't afford the $1,200 or so cost upcharge (no sure what it really is but I think thats what is was for my 2009 JSW TDI). Big deal you have to change the oil every 40k miles, clutches don't last for ever especially is you do a lot of city driving. Buy what you like but I think the DGS is the way to go.

why does 90% of europe drive stickshifts in those little putt putts? a stickshift doesnt mean it has to be a sports car. I taught my wife to drive one many years ago and she constantly tells me that she feels it has made her a better driver by keeping her more involved in the driving process. It reduces distractions and allows more control, not to mention the obvious longevity of a properly driven stickshift and increased safety of being able to grab a gear. The DSG is a big improvement over the traditional automatic as it vastly closes the MPG loss and allows for some of the safety too but without a clutch pedal, it is still an automatic and doesnt allow for driver control.

all this being said, stickshifts will be all but gone in the next few decades im sure save sports cars and diesels possibly.

 

[tdiatlast]

...it is still an automatic and doesnt allow for driver control....

Gee....I've got a great deal of "driver control" with my DSG, using Tip mode, and my shifts are quicker than any manual...

I still miss my manual GTI, 4000k, S-4...but the DSG is pretty cool.

 

[abctdi]

Driver control...like the sweet sound of grinding gears.

 

[kjclow]

The DSG is a big improvement over the traditional automatic as it vastly closes the MPG loss

If you look around at the EPA ratings on car that are available with a manual or an automatic, you'll find that most have the automatic getting higher mpg ratings. Not sure how they work out in real world. I think it has to do with more speeds and taller grearing being offered in the automatics while the manuals haven't changed much in years.

 

[Papachristou]

Gee....I've got a great deal of "driver control" with my DSG, using Tip mode, and my shifts are quicker than any manual...

I still miss my manual GTI, 4000k, S-4...but the DSG is pretty cool.

i agree that dsg does potentially offer most of that benefit however because it is automatic, you are still more disengaged from the driving process that if you were driving a stickshift. no one who has a dsg shifts every single gear themselves. sure, you may grab a gear once in awhile but on the whole, most people leave them in auto mode.

i did point out that DSG negates just about every point the stickshift used to get in the old auto/manual comparison (shifts quicker, almost same economy etc). when i get old though (no personal attack intended), dsg will be for me. best of both worlds.

 

[TomB]

why does 90% of europe drive stickshifts in those little putt putts?

Because Germans are control freaks.

 

[TomB]

when i get old though (no personal attack intended), dsg will be for me. best of both worlds.

LOL! For me it was TRAFFIC. Got tired of leg/back strain from all the clutching.

 

[RoadRunnerTR21]

Any other reports?

 

[tdiatlast]

Ambient temps between 35-55f...gentle hills (suburban DC)...mostly city, with occasional 12-15 mile sustained hwy. Lots of cold starts...
Best tank: 38.2mpg
Worse tank: 34.5 mpg

I took a 60 mile 65mph cruise, moderate traffic, from cold start to finish: 52.7mpg.

After break-in, I predict sustained highway cruising in the 62-65 mph range, will return much better than the EPA 43mpg...maybe even break 50mpg.

I love the legs on this car, and the road manners, quiet ride (except concrete makes the Hankooks grumble and sing)

 

[Turtherlips]

2500 miles to date
60 miles r/t commute (90% highway) @ 75-80mph
Avg = 42.1 mpg
Most miles btw fill ups = 725

 

[Mmhs19]

3,000 miles logged so far in a 50/50 mix of city and freeway driving. I'm averaging about 34MPG. Best mileage recorded: 46MPG.

 

[pogo]

SE DSG 1900 miles to date.

First three tanks were 41.5, 39.7 and 45.4 mpg. With all 3 the MFD consumption for trip 2 (which we reset at each fill-up), was within 1 mpg of the manually calculated value.

The last tankful was 2- 50 mile commutes a day, mostly highway, with about 5 minutes of city driving on either end, at about 75 mph.

BTW. The tire fill from the dealer was pretty high: 42 psi cold. Based on the 2 mpg drop we saw when we put new tires on the Golf, mileage may improve on the Passat as the tires wear down a bit.

 

[Rico567]

Some good real world reporting on the 2012 Passat TDI mileage here. It would be nice to see some people report back in 6 months and a year to see how break-in has changed these figures. On the 2012 Passat TDI.

 

[jumpinjoe]

Some good real world reporting on the 2012 Passat TDI mileage here. It would be nice to see some people report back in 6 months and a year to see how break-in has changed these figures. On the 2012 Passat TDI.

Link not working

 

[abctdi]

What link, it's just underlined and italisized...

 

[MarkB]

Just filled up this evening, third fill-up but the first time I calculated the mileage. Calculated 42.5 mpg, MFD showed 42.3. Mostly highway driving including 2 200 mile round trip trips.

Also, when I filled up, gauge was just into the red. Filled up completely with 15.887 gals, gauge on full. So, if the reserve of 2.5 gals starts at the red, then mine shows pretty close to the 18.5 gal tank to empty.

 

[flyboybob]

fuel mileage getting better

just over 10,000 miles on the clock now. the fuel mileage just keeps getting better.

had a problem with the AddBlue injection system earlier that seemed to reduce the fuel mileage for a while. fixed on warranty a couple thousand miles ago, fuel mileage has improved since then.

you can click on the link in the sig block to see the Fuelly stats. averaging almost 43 mpg for the last approx 7000 miles.

most of that is for trips approx 25 miles or less (daily commute). i haven't taken a trip of more than 100 miles yet. 75% of my daily commute is fairly flat open road without traffic controls (few traffic lights or stop signs).

hoping fuel economy will improve even more as the average daily temps increase this spring.

 

[RoadRunnerTR21]

I filled up yesterday. I had 457.5 miles on the tank and it took 11.3 gallons for a 40.48 MPG. It is the worst MPG so far but I'm still happy to be in the 40's. I went ahead and filled up yesterday because I have 2 airport trips to make (176 miles round trip) and I knew I wasn't going to be able to make both trips on the current tank.

 

[Tragick]

8K miles in

I have an admittedly heavy foot, I travel 55 miles each way to work, 5 or 6 days a week, while going 80-85 mphs for 3/4 of that distance. I have been averaging 39.4 mpgs. Last tank I drove like a normal human being, going the 65 mph speed limit and jumped upto 42.23 mpgs. Fuel by me has now hit $4.29/gallon, having jumped from $4.05 on January 2, so I'm now trying to be a little easier on the gas pedal because its $70 to fillup now....

 

[AstroEng]

Trip Report

The family and I went for a trip to see the grandparents in Phoenix this weekend (from Albuquerque). For the way down, we took some state highways through El Malpais and Quemado to US 60. On the way back we went through Payson and caught I-40.

To Phoenix:
Ambient Mid 30's (until we came down out of the mountains in Apache Junction)
Speed around 70 most of the way
LOTS of up and down climbing
~40 MPH Headwind
Stuck in traffic for about an hour just outside of ABQ (engine off most of that time, just sitting there)

42.4 MPG

To ABQ:
Ambient in the 60s (warmer near Phoenix, where we had the A/C on)
70 till we hit I-40, then 80
Lots of up and down climbing

43.6 MPG
(It was running 56-60 MPG at 70MPH on AZ-377, the one flat part of the trip)


Much nicer than the last trip which we did in my Golf (2 carseats in the back, one rear-facing). This car loves the switchbacks in the mountains and it's not nearly the workout steering the Golf is. The Triptronic was nice for engine braking on the really big hills, though on the smaller ones a light tap on the brakes was enough to end the freewheeling and apply a little engine braking.

We are definitely happy we got the Passat for family road trips!

P.S. On a funny side note: When we got stuck in the traffic jam outside of ABQ, it was in a construction zone and one lane was blocked off with concrete barriers. When traffic started moving, we got to a section where the barrier was pushed in and the crew was trying to straighten it back out. We figured this was the likely site of the accident (state patrol was parked right there too). As we drove by, we saw some graffiti on the out of place barrier that read "F%^&!" in large letters. Ironically appropriate