Real World MPG with DSG

[TomB]

Second tank results:

561.4 miles driven 16.208 gallons to almost overflowing in the filler neck. 34.63 MPG. This was pen and paper method. The MFA stated 36.4 MPG.

Gauge is all the way to covering F. Drove 10 miles after fill light came on. 40 miles remaining when I filled.

 

[TomB]

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.

Doesn't downshift for me when I tap. Occasional a hard brake and decrease of 5 mph gets a single downshift, but 6-5 is not that much braking. I have to manually tip it to 4th to get the braking.

Can someone have a passenger film with the dash during this downhill and tapping of the brake showing the speed, the downshift and the result? I need something to show the techies when I take it in to prove it is NOT "working as designed."

 

[AstroEng]

How fast were you going? I was at highway speeds (65 or so) and less than an inch of travel on the pedal (held for a second or two) would drop it into 5th and keep engine braking (lightly) until I hit the gas again...

 

[Niner]

TomB,

I am beginning to think you got someone else's built to order SEL that wanted lots of freewheeling. I would think there is something in the programming option that could change how the DSG behaves based on the flash you got on your ECU. You might want to see if there are earlier flash versions for the DSG that engage the freewheel feature not as frequently as what ever version you have on yours. Either that, or you have a loose electrical connection or bad sensor somewhere not functioning as it is supposed to? Or you already have a funky mechatronix? What is the build date on the sticker that came in the glovebox?

 

[TomB]

TomB,

I am beginning to think you got someone else's built to order SEL that wanted lots of freewheeling. I would think there is something in the programming option that could change how the DSG behaves based on the flash you got on your ECU. You might want to see if there are earlier flash versions for the DSG that engage the freewheel feature not as frequently as what ever version you have on yours. Either that, or you have a loose electrical connection or bad sensor somewhere not functioning as it is supposed to? Or you already have a funky mechatronix? What is the build date on the sticker that came in the glovebox?

12/12/2011 build date.

 

[TomB]

How fast were you going? I was at highway speeds (65 or so) and less than an inch of travel on the pedal (held for a second or two) would drop it into 5th and keep engine braking (lightly) until I hit the gas again...

40 MPH. In 6th, when I apply the brake at 45 it only blips on the tach. It seems to shift only 5th. I then tip over and down it to 4th. If I shift back to D and do not touch the pedal it now stays in 4th and brakes.

I am starting to wonder about the brake switch. We had issues with then in the 2002 Jettas and it would cause weird stuff like this.

 

[tdiatlast]

Tom, for what it's worth, both my tech and the SA (both of them rather savvy, IMO) claim that what I'm experiencing, like you, is normal. They both contend that there's no hill around here that I could descend fast enough, or that's steep enough, and with a tap of the brake, re-engage the DSG. In order to test it (I'm not making this up!) I'd have to drive toward the Blue Ridge and find a longer hill.

Not gonna happen for some time...As for you, sounds like the hill is steep enough, but I'll wager you need to be above 40mph.

Hope this helps...not sure how, though...

 

[Niner]

I will say this... My 6M has really limited engine braking in 6th, 5th, and a limited amount even in 4th gear. The car is just really really long legged compared to every other TDI with a manual that I've driven. And heavy... even with big brakes... maybe my brakes are still bedding in, but it just doesn't slow down well compared to my jetta.

 

[tdiatlast]

I think you're right, Niner...it's the "long-leggedness" that's preventing any noticeable engine braking at or near 40mph.
My JSW engine braking is much stronger, on a hill that the Passat DSG doesn't even notice...

 

[TomB]

I think you're right, Niner...it's the "long-leggedness" that's preventing any noticeable engine braking at or near 40mph.
My JSW engine braking is much stronger, on a hill that the Passat DSG doesn't even notice...

I have to agree with this too since 3rd is the gear that really gives me a lot of braking. 4th is only minor but enough for the hill I am on.

 

[Derik]

32mpg first tank but I suspect the dealer didn't fill it all the way up when I purchased it.

39 mpg second tank, one 120 mile freeway trip most other driving was city/town freeway with a lot of traffic.

Not sure about the Climatic or whatever it's called seems my ac is on all the time when I use the auto feature. I leave it set at 70-75 most of the time, I am not sure how this affects MPG since it's a black interior and the ac runs cold when I first get in.

 

[tdiatlast]

Derik: In Auto, the A/C light stays on. Whether or not your A/C is ON is up to the temp you're requesting.
Also, if you've got erratic cabin temps when in "auto", check to make sure the square button (sunlight sensor) on the TOP of your dash isn't covered by anything, especially an inspection sticker shadow (from the windshield sticker). VA requires inspection stickers on all cars in the center of the windshield. If it's blocking the direct sunlight, the A/C system gets confused and has a problem regulating temps.

 

[4Jake]

Yesterday, I toped off my new 2012 Passat TDI SE (890 miles) and drove 160 highway miles. Upon my return, I toped off the tank again and I’m happy to report, I got 48.7 miles per gallon.

 

[Niner]

Yesterday, I toped off my new 2012 Passat TDI SE (890 miles) and drove 160 highway miles. Upon my return, I toped off the tank again and I’m happy to report, I got 48.7 miles per gallon.

It's a really bad idea to run this HPFP that low on the tank of fuel... the fuel gets heated up more and more, the lower the tank gets. Seriously, try to stay out of reserve and top up ASAP if the light comes on for fuel, or better yet, before it comes on. Just saying... when you pump fuel up to 2000 bar pressure, it gets hot, loses viscosity, breaks down, and what little lubrication is in the fuel has even less protection for your HPFP's sensitive guts to stay lubed safely with. heat from fuel is your pumps worst enemy, having some volume of fuel in the tank means there is more fuel to cool things off.

Just a suggestion, your car, your money, no one knows whether the HPFP's in these will fail and cost $8000 in repair like the 2009-2012 jettas, golfs, JSW's or even the 2013 Beetle TDI's we may see.

 

[tdiatlast]

Niner: READ his post. He did NOT say he ran it dry.

Have you seen 2013 Beetle TDI HPFP failures? Your statement is misleading..."we may see"...

 

[Niner]

Niner: READ his post. He did NOT say he ran it dry.
Have you seen 2013 Beetle TDI HPFP failures? Your statement is misleading..."we may see"...

Where did I say he ran it dry? I said run it low. READ my post. No mention was made of any fill up before 890 miles on the vehicle, or mpg calculations from a previous fill up. What does that tell you? That this was the first time he topped the tank off, drove, then topped the tank off again. Or does it imply this was his first fillup since bought with whatever the dealership deemed was a full fuel tank? Lets ask the OP, rather than assume. I'd think if at 890 miles and it was his second fillup, he'd have calculated the mpg, at least by pencil and paper if he was curious enough.

 

[Niner]

32mpg first tank but I suspect the dealer didn't fill it all the way up when I purchased it.
39 mpg second tank, one 120 mile freeway trip most other driving was city/town freeway with a lot of traffic.
Not sure about the Climatic or whatever it's called seems my ac is on all the time when I use the auto feature. I leave it set at 70-75 most of the time, I am not sure how this affects MPG since it's a black interior and the ac runs cold when I first get in.

As a guess, since we bought from the same dealership, I was showing 51 MPG driving back from the dealership. I drove 135 miles before I topped it off, brimmed it, and it took 5.2 gallons. My next fillup was same type of driving, 650 miles or thereabouts and, if I remember correctly, not even 12.5 gallons?
By my estimate, I was about 2.5 gallons short on the dealership fill up. As a suggestion, subtract 2.5 gallons from your first fillup, and recalculate your MPG on the dealership fill up to get a more accurate MPG number on the dealership fillup.

As for climatronic... here is what I choose to do. I push the vent button, just at 11 oclock from the fan speed button, so it's lit up and open. I then set the climatronic temp to either lower than the external temp gauge on my dash if it's hotter outside than what I want, within reason, or set climatronic at 68 to 72 degrees if it's colder outside than the internal cab temperature. I will then click the A/C button, the lower half button on the far right, so that the screen on the radio reads "A/C off" . That way, the A/C is off almost all of the time. That may change as things get hotter around here.

I too have a black interior, the dash gets hot already and heats up the cab... I plan on maybe getting a tan colored dashmate to keep the heat down inside, I also drive the first 3 or 4 minutes with both front windows down to get the heat out with cross ventilation.

 

[tdiatlast]

Yesterday, I toped off my new 2012 Passat TDI SE (890 miles) and drove 160 highway miles. Upon my return, I toped off the tank again and I’m happy to report, I got 48.7 miles per gallon.

He topped of his car, which had 890 miles on the odometer, drove 160 miles, toped [sic] off the tank again, and "got 48.7 miles per gallon".

Fuel in, (at 890 miles), drove 160 miles, fuel in again, 48.7.

 

[tdiatlast]

Where did I say he ran it dry? I said run it low. READ my post. No mention was made of any fill up before 890 miles on the vehicle, or mpg calculations from a previous fill up. What does that tell you? That this was the first time he topped the tank off, drove, then topped the tank off again. Or does it imply this was his first fillup since bought with whatever the dealership deemed was a full fuel tank? Lets ask the OP, rather than assume. I'd think if at 890 miles and it was his second fillup, he'd have calculated the mpg, at least by pencil and paper if he was curious enough.

He topped off his car, which had 890 miles on the odometer, drove 160 miles, topped off the tank again, and "got 48.7 miles per gallon".


Fuel in, (at 890 miles), drove 160 miles, fuel in again, 48.7.

I'm making no assumptions at all, just reading what he wrote.

 

[kjclow]

Still wondering about the HPFP in the 2013 Beetles...

Can we worry about those when they finally show up?

 

[TomB]

Can we worry about those when they finally show up?

IF they show up. Hoping for the best.

 

[Niner]

IF they show up. Hoping for the best.

Lot's of "if's" with VW of America. The Beetle sure does look nice, though. MPG's though, not so good compared to the Passat, Jetta and Golf.

 

[AlmondFarmer]

Well, I'm finally driving my own and can answer my own question; SE DSG, purchase last week for invoice price . The next day, my wife and daughter took it to LA for a 700mile round trip. I was sure to carefully fill it up and re-fill when they returned. I calculated 42.6mpg while the computer showed 43.5. Not too bad for the computer and for the car, and for my wife -- no dents...haha

 

[Niner]

Your wife was hauling azz, up and down the Grapevine, for that kind of MPG. Teach them to get in the 2nd to right lane and do 55mph up the major grades, and for that kind of drive, I will assure you, the mpg per tank will be somewhere between 1 to 2 mpg better. Ripping up that grade fast is really hard on the car and the MPG.

The polished concrete on I-5 is way more conducive to max MPG than the junk asphalt pavement and truck damage on highway 99.

 

[WFL]

My Passat TDI DSG so far gets 5% better mileage than my 2009 Manual Wagon. At 65MPH with winter fuel I am getting 44 USMPG hwy on the Passat with approx 8000 miles so far. The wagon never got that good. I am waiting for summer fuel to see what that brings.

 

[geraldvol426]

I am getting39-40 mpg in my 2012 Passat DGS around town. Drops to 35 in heavy stop and go.

 

[RoadRunnerTR21]

I filled up today. I had 530.8 miles on the tank and it took 11.8 gallons for 44.98 mpg.

 

[TomB]

Third tank. 550.6 miles. 15.628 gallons so 35.2 mpg. This was over 15 days of around town commute, with 4 cold starts per day.

 

[pogo]

Added a fuelly page for my wife's DSG Passat, and added the MFD consumption to the notes for each fill. On our car the MFD is tracking about 1.5 - 2 mpg higher than calculated. Still, you can't argue with 46+ mpg on a DSG for the last 1100 miles.

The driving mix is a daily 100 mi total commute at about 70-75 mph, with about 5 minutes of local driving on either end in the morning, and traffic with 50% side roads, alternate routes, in the afternoon. The MFD reads around 53 mpg for the morning trip, and around 43 mpg for the return.

 

[APT]

Your wife was hauling azz, up and down the Grapevine, for that kind of MPG. Teach them to get in the 2nd to right lane and do 55mph up the major grades, and for that kind of drive, I will assure you, the mpg per tank will be somewhere between 1 to 2 mpg better.

15mph over 700 miles is 3.5 hours longer. Let's say 42mpg at 75mph vs. 50mpg at 55mph. $4.50/gallon. $12 savings at a cost of 3.5h. No thank you!