Car MPG - Bluemotion Golf

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

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Being a sad old b***** I've been keeping a spreadsheet for working out my mileage on my "ultra-economical" 1.6 TDi Golf Bluemotion. PMSL

September I got 54mpg. fair enough.
October 49, ok.
November 50.
December 42. What!!

Is the colder weather enough to cause me to be dropping that low? Calculation are based on about 450 miles each time so averaged out fairly well.

Any input gratefully received.
 
Remember that the composition of diesel fuel is changed for the winter months so I would expect some impact on economy from this. December has been, for most, a much colder month so I'd also expect a hit from this.

Has the mix of trips changed?
 
42?! I can get that on a long motorway run (say London and back, about a 400 mile round trip) and my car is far from "ultra-economical"!

Not sure how much difference "toys" like heaters, heated rear screens etc use but I wouldn't expect it to be that different if the average trips were similar across the sample months.
 
Should be much better I would have thought. I drive a 2.0L Tdi Scirocco which according to the on-board computer gives me 49mpg and I've found when I've tried to drive more economically it tells me I'm getting about 55mpg.

I must admit to not working it out myself and relying on what the car tells me. I don't know how accurate the 'computer' is but I do know I drive round for a bit when it tells me I have 0 miles in the tank!
 
I drive a Skoda Octavia Greenline 1.6D which is very efficient and I'm also a very sad b*****d that keeps a spreadsheet.

Last summer (May-Aug '13) I averaged 59.0mpg over 6,500 miles
Last winter (Nov '13 - Feb '14) I averaged 58mpg over 6,000 miles
This summer (May-Aug '14) I averaged 62.1mpg over 6,500 miles
So far this winter (Nov & Dec) I have averaged 58.1mpg over 2,000 miles

Wow, it felt good to such a massive geek and quote stats like that :) :)

So to answer your question, it seems a small drop in mpg over the winter is normal but only by a few miles per gallon.
 
Cartus said:
I don't know how accurate the 'computer' is but I do know I drive round for a bit when it tells me I have 0 miles in the tank!
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The only time I've let my car run down to 0 miles left on the trip computer I drove another couple of miles to get to the petrol station and put 56 litres of diesel in my 55 litre tank. God knows how far I could have actually gone.
 
-Rob- said:
The only time I've let my car run down to 0 miles left on the trip computer I drove another couple of miles to get to the petrol station and put 56 litres of diesel in my 55 litre tank. God knows how far I could have actually gone.
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I've been driving diesel Golfs etc for quite a few years now and as soon as the fuel warning light comes on I know I can easily cover 50 miles regardless of the computer. (I had one or two cars in the past that didn't have the 'mileage remaining' function)

It calculates miles remaining based on average consumption but it does tend to err on the side of caution!
 
Cartus said:
Should be much better I would have thought. I drive a 2.0L Tdi Scirocco which according to the on-board computer gives me 49mpg and I've found when I've tried to drive more economically it tells me I'm getting about 55mpg.

I must admit to not working it out myself and relying on what the car tells me. I don't know how accurate the 'computer' is but I do know I drive round for a bit when it tells me I have 0 miles in the tank!
Click to expand...

Try working it out next time you fill up, you'd be surprised how optimistic the VW computers are

They are generally at least 10% (if not 15%) over egging the MPG readings from my own (and close friends) experience

I use an app called Fuelly to track my MPG, works really well and gives realistic figures

I recently traded in my Golf GTTDi for a Mini Cooper, and using the fuelly app i am getting within + 1 mpg according to the on board computer, much more realistic figures from the Mini than from the Golf
 
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I have a mk7 GTD, I'm not sure that all the extras ( heated seats on, aircon on etc ) make as much difference as they used to in times gone by.

My average since April over 17000 miles is 47mpg which I guess is OK for 181bhp. Nowhere near the official quoted figure but I can get 63mpg driving with helium slippers on....
 
IIRC the 2.2 Sportbrake I had as a loaner was reporting 45 after a day trotting around 3 up and getting stuck in traffic. If the computer in that is as accurate as the one in mine, that's quite impressive when compared to Keith's Golf. (Mine is within an MPG or so when compared to the calculated figure over a tankful.)
 
-Rob- said:
I drive a Skoda Octavia Greenline 1.6D which is very efficient and I'm also a very sad b*****d that keeps a spreadsheet.

Last summer (May-Aug '13) I averaged 59.0mpg over 6,500 miles
Last winter (Nov '13 - Feb '14) I averaged 58mpg over 6,000 miles
This summer (May-Aug '14) I averaged 62.1mpg over 6,500 miles
So far this winter (Nov & Dec) I have averaged 58.1mpg over 2,000 miles

Wow, it felt good to such a massive geek and quote stats like that :) :)

So to answer your question, it seems a small drop in mpg over the winter is normal but only by a few miles per gallon.
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I wouldn't call that "very efficient" my Mondeo ST TDCi (2.2) did 60mpg
 
Cartus said:
I've been driving diesel Golfs etc for quite a few years now and as soon as the fuel warning light comes on I know I can easily cover 50 miles regardless of the computer. (I had one or two cars in the past that didn't have the 'mileage remaining' function)

It calculates miles remaining based on average consumption but it does tend to err on the side of caution!
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I had a golf estate 1.6 blue motion and did 50 miles after the mileage remaining said 0
 
I have an Octavia vRS TDI, & it consistantly does 51mpg.

It always drops two or three MPG when the weather gets cold.

Incidentally, the computer always underestimates the true figure. :thumbs:
 
1.3 diesel punto here 105 donkeys, and being a spreadhseet geek, over the last 6 yrs have averaged about 66mpg which is about 1/3 urban to 2/3 rural, hardly any DC/ Mway.
 
nilagin said:
I wouldn't call that "very efficient" my Mondeo ST TDCi (2.2) did 60mpg
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It's all relative. I don't drive carefully, do mainly short journey's to work and back and have averaged over 60mpg for 35,000 miles. Was your 60mpg an average or a peak when you drove carefully? I can get well over 80mpg when I drive carefully on the motorway.
 
I have a diesel Audi and it does about 32mpg on a tank used mostly for commuting (10 miles each way). The trip computer under-estimates by about 2mpg average, working on the basis that the odometer is accurate and the petrol pump is accurate, I calculate the real mpg in my head after filling up.

I do not keep a spreadsheet, but fuel consumption definitely increases when the weather turns cold as the engine takes longer to reach the correct operating temperature.
 
-Rob- said:
It's all relative. I don't drive carefully, do mainly short journey's to work and back and have averaged over 60mpg for 35,000 miles. Was your 60mpg an average or a peak when you drove carefully? I can get well over 80mpg when I drive carefully on the motorway.
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Average per tank on a mixture of roads.
 
-Rob- said:
In that case you must drive like an old lady!! :sneaky:
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Not before the larger intercooler, performance exhaust, decat, remap, uprated brakes and eibach springs and most definitely not after.
 
I get around same from 1.9 TDI in much bigger car than the little golf. I reckon a new 2.0TDI Tiguan can be even better on fuel. It goes to say all that small engine green and blue b*****ks is marketing nonsesnse and simply translates to cheaper car when buying new.
 
How are you "filling" it up. Are you proper brimming it or stopping when it clicks off
 
Blimey

I stuck £130 of fuel in my car the other day and its gone :whistle:
 
We have a 1.6 blue motion golf at work, no matter how much you trash it, it refuses to drop below 44mpg. The gentle drivers say it can easily do 55mpg.
 
More waxing agent in winter diesel, cooler air so it's more dense so more power used to move the car at the same speed, greater loadings on the heating system. I've seen with diesel cars a 10-20% drop in fuel consumption. My E320cdi would attain around 40mpg driving to work, in winter around 33mpg
 
I drive a Volvo. Get about 27mpg. :)

I suspect the computers in cars are a little optimistic.
 
The colder weather will result in an economy drop, particularly if you're doing fairly short journeys as then the increased time required to warm the engine up will be a more significant proportion of the journey.

Have you checked your tyre pressures recently as that will drop in colder weather and have an adverse effect on economy.
 
I drive a 407 SW 2.0 hdi and have no clue as to the mpg but Peugeot did tell me the computer will make a fancy noise when i hit reserve, a small picture of a petrol pump will appear in the dash and if you ignore these the car will eventually stop running, they also informed me if this occures it's not covered under the warranty for some reason :eek:

Whats a spread sheet as i didn't get one with the car :rolleyes:
 
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daugirdas said:
I get around same from 1.9 TDI in much bigger car than the little golf. I reckon a new 2.0TDI Tiguan can be even better on fuel. It goes to say all that small engine green and blue b*****ks is marketing nonsesnse and simply translates to cheaper car when buying new.
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When I had a 40 year old 875cc Hillman Imp it would do 50mpg on the dreadul Solex carburettor fitted as standard that only deserved to used on a lawnmower, it was so rubbish. Using something decent like an SU would push it towards 60mpg. I'm sure with fuel injection and engine management it could go quite a bit higher than that.

Who says you need a big engine to be fuel efficient?
 
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Returning from the West Country on Wednesday my 360Hp Petrol 4wd DSG equipped Golf hit an average of 41mpg. And that included a number of spirited drives.
 
nilagin said:
I wouldn't call that "very efficient" my Mondeo ST TDCi (2.2) did 60mpg
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Parkers give an MPG figure for your car as 46MPG, so you must have been very lucky or very careful, because the ST Mondeo diesel 2.2 is not known for being an economic car - 150+ BHP on a largeish car.
 
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