sportwagen MPG

[tdi_assaultwagen]

So, as I'm sure we all did, got the TDI for it's gas mileage. I have a 2012 sportwagen 2.0 tdi cr140 with the 6 speed dsg. I made sure the tires were at 35psi as the door placard suggested, run biodiesel mix (all we have here), put diesel kleen with all my fill ups, don't run max ac, don't act like im Jesse from fast and the furious, and try to drive conservatively. Yet my average FE is only 31 mpg mix driving (50/50 highway city) and 36 highway. Is this common with the larger wagon?

 

[Conrad -JSW]

I don't know what's going on with your car but I have the same Jetta except I have the DSG and in mixed driving I get ~36 mpg and ~45 mpg on the highway. We rarely use the AC though.

 

[oilhammer]

Drive harder, and get the car broken in some. You'll likely never come ahead money wise if all you purchased the car for was fuel economy. There are less expensive options out there. A/C has little to do with it, since the car's HVAC system will use is variable displacement compressor to get the best most efficient use as it can, so once the cabin heat has been taken away, it uses very little energy to maintain that temp. The manuals would get better (and would save you an extra $1100 at purchase, plus another ~$1000 every 100k miles of use). However the DSG does an admirable job of maximizing fuel economy for an automatic. You really can't get any better in that respect.

 

[GAZNRN]

From my experience: If you can keep the RPM's under 2,000 with temp over 50F you will get your best economy. My commute is 33 miles each way... AM I get better MPG than the stop & go on the way home. Winter I avg 37-39 & summer 41-43. The VW MPG meter is fantasy...do the math for the real results.

 

[UberVW_TDI]

With 50city/50hwy you should still be ~36+ mpg.
I'd check to ensure the parking brake isn't slighty engaged even when 'off'.

If your trips tend to be very short...like less the 10 miles you'll see lower mpg's.

I average 39mph with 40% city/ 60% hwy. Lots of 80-85 mph due to Austin's 80/85 mph toll road speed limits.

 

[30Bones]

I also have a 2012 with the DSG and after 3 years and nearly 70K miles I am still only averaging 35-36 for the life of the car. I expected better now that it's "broken in" and maybe it will rise with temps warming.

 

[dmarsingill]

I only average 36 or so. On a trip I am lucky to get 42.

Donald

 

[n8tgc]

How many miles is your commute? With my 45 mile commute each way to work each day on my 2013 DSG JSW, I am getting 42 City and 50+ highway MPG. Tank averages are 45+. I've notices that until I surpass about 20 miles each way, the "average" is nothing to get excited about.

No fuel additives. 35 PSI in tires. That's it, other than an "Italian Tune Up" once or twice per tank to make sure the car can scoot when need be.

So, as I'm sure we all did, got the TDI for it's gas mileage. I have a 2012 sportwagen 2.0 tdi cr140 with the 6 speed dsg. I made sure the tires were at 35psi as the door placard suggested, run biodiesel mix (all we have here), put diesel kleen with all my fill ups, don't run max ac, don't act like im Jesse from fast and the furious, and try to drive conservatively. Yet my average FE is only 31 mpg mix driving (50/50 highway city) and 36 highway. Is this common with the larger wagon?

 

[kobrian85]

I'm between 36 and 41 per tank in my 2014 TDI 6MT. My commute to work is 60 miles round trip. Admittedly, I have a heavy foot on the highway...

 

[tdi_assaultwagen]

I have been driving 60 miles each way for the past few days to Austin and back. I did notice it kept going into regeneration mode when I first got it used a few months ago. I added some dpf cleaner additive and did a 100 mile trip to try to clean it out. Brakes are good with no handbrake issues. Just did the 40k service minus the dsg service I'm doing next week. It does putter a bit when I first take off. Might take it in to see if there is an issue im missing.

 

[30Bones]

The DSG at slow speeds can cause hesitation. I put it in S or manual mode and forget about it.

 

[S2000_guy]

I have a '14 JSW TDI 6MT with about 21k miles on it. I just completed a 1250 mile (total round trip) trip and got 40.88 mpg for the trip. I drove the way anyone looking at a 625-mile day (or night on the return) would. Getting there and off the road was more important than saving $6 on fuel...

 

[murphyslaw]

My 14 Wagen TDI 6MT averages 42 in the winter and 45-49 on summer fuel. I have a 108 round trip mile commute. 75% at 65mph, 20% at 55mph and the last 5% at 45 or less.

 

[cmeflibi]

man, you guys drive far far work lol

 

[wrpercival]

I have the same model/year as you. My driving is about 70% highway. Overall average is just over 40mpg. Strict highway driving at 65mph is about 45 mpg. City driving is about 32 mpg.

Check your tachometer when driving on the highway. 2000 rpms seems to be around the high end of the efficiency sweetspot for the TDi. Over that, efficiency appears to drop off fairly steeply.

I also use a cetane additive. It seems to help improve milage.

 

[autoxerwgn]

My commute is mostly stop and go, sometimes more stopping than going on the way home due to the traffic. Commuting mileage is usually around 29-31 mpg's. On longer highway trips going with the speed of traffic, I get about 40-42 ish.

I don't completely blame the car for my poor commuting mileage. I do accelerate quickly from a stop, and sitting in traffic equals 0 mpg so that doesn't help either. I also refuse to be a rolling road block at 55 on the highway. I'll just take the 5 mpg hit and go 70.

 

[kjclow]

At about 75k miles on the JSW, my lifetime average is around 40. Last couple of tanks, I've been around 44 with mixed driving mostly 45-50 mpg. My wife's golf is around 35k miles and she's getting about 34 mpg lifetime. Her mix is heavier city traffic. So traffic patterns have a large influence on the overall mileage.

 

[John Kuhn]

2014 JSW purchased July '14. Last fill was at 16203 miles, cumulative average mpg to date(calculated from actual fill) is 47.3 mpg. Worst tank 40.7 driving to Lincoln, NE against a headwind. Best tank 51 mpg driving to Kentucky in calm conditions. I rarely exceed 70 mph indicated on the speedometer. Around home, lots of rural two lane 55 mph or less, no short trips. It's an awesome car!

 

[pknopp]

Mine doesn't get the mpg I had hoped for but as noted above, I didn't buy it just for the mpg. I really like the way the TDI performs. I really haven't noticed an improvement as the miles rolled up but yes, it does quite a bit better in warm weather than in cold but I believe that is true of all engines.

On a long trip doing all the tricks I can get well into the 40's but I hate driving like that. I'm averaging about what others are noting here. Around 36.

 

[ihatespeed]

the only time I see low thirties is towing a trailer, mine gets much closer to 45 avg although my commute is pretty long 52 miles and off peak traffic hours. This is over 110000 miles of written fuel records. I have 16" wheels and no roof rack / sunroof.

since getting it tuned the mileage is about 3 mpg better, you will see better mileage as the engine breaks in, and you will want to drive it with purpose, if you baby it any fuel you save will be used to burn all the soot you are making out of your DPF

 

[ATR]

If you have a roof rack installed it will dramatically effect MPG in a negative way.
If you're not using it at all you can remove it and see a 3-5mpg increase.

DSG can also effect the MPG that you'd see on these cars since 6th is a bit shorter running about 200rpm higher at 70mph. That said I was torn on the DSG choice. Really came down to what was available when I got my car. The DSG is one of the only automatics that I can truely say I wouldn't mind owning.

 

[redbarron55]

Our lifetime composite mileage is around 36 with more highway miles than city. We do a little over 40 on the road.
With the city at 30 and highway at 40 on the 2009 JSW with DSG I am pretty satisfied.

 

[rcnaylor]

On the highway I get about 45. Last trip I averaged 49 heading off our caprock to lower elevations over about 180 miles. Also, 75+ mph most of the time.

Around town, I get about 35-36.

I am happy with the mileage.

 

[Diesl]

You could run the tires a bit higher (42psi; but check the side wall max.pressure rating). My average of 37 mpg is for 1/3 city 2/3 highway driving, 40 mile commute (one way). Same car.

 

[Solshd]

Sportwagen MPG

If I was geting mileage that poor, I would want to have my dealer go through the car. I have the same 2012 JSW TDI as you but with Manual 6sp. Over the past 3.5 years, I have averaged about 47 overall, winter/summer, city/highway. I do not push it too hard, but I do rev the turbo every now and again to keep things loose. I was harder on it earlier to break it in. That would include climbing hills in 2-3rd gear up to 4000 rpm just to work it some.
Good Luck. Go get it checked.

 

[iamatt]

Easily getting 52-53 on highway in my jsw 6mt. Stop and go have seen it get down to 36. Runs alot better minus the emission stuff.

 

[Dadskier]

13' 6MT with 50k+ on it now. This winter, which in our area was very cold and snowy, I was averaging 35 mpg. That is running snow tires and a roof box. Things have warmed up somewhat and the snow tires and box are off, so I'm up around 39-40 mpg again. Middle of the summer on a road trip I'll get 45-46mpg. I have a heavy foot and like the turbo, I also cruise the highway at 80mph. If I get stuck on back roads behind a slow driver I'll get 50+, but I usually find a place to pass ...

 

[ALBOB]

man, you guys drive far far work lol

That's why I got the TDI.

(160 mile daily commute. Luckily it's only four days a week.)

 

[tdi_assaultwagen]

Update. My mileage has dropped to 30/35. I took it into a certified vw mechanic that I trust. They spent two hours and went through the whole motor. Nothing. They even did a full scan and a hard reset. During their test drive the consumption meter read 48mpg. The moment I get in and drive it home (being very conservative) it dropped to 32mpg. Starting to get really annoyed. Plus I have burned through half a tank with only 200 miles to show for it. Looks like I'm off to the dealer to spend $200+ for a diagnostic.

 

[30Bones]

Can you make the font larger? I can't quite read it