Poor fuel mileage

[zx5go]

Has anyone had poor fuel mileage prior to their car being broken in? My TSI 1.8t has just over 800 miles on it and I'm experiencing fuel mileage well below what I expected and below sticker rating (hwy). My commute is almost ideal for topping out mpg and with every previous vehicle I've been able to meet or exceed its rated highway mileage on my commute.

On my first full tank the computer calculated 32.4 and I actually had 28.4mpg. I'm a couple hundred miles into my second tank and the computer is showing 32.2mpg.

I am disappointed in both how far off the computer's calculation is and at overall mpg at this point. I'll continue to track.

 

[BxGTI]

How many miles is your commute ? I always reset my computer if i need to get a better reading of mpg's. What was your previews mpg in other cars?. Also sticker mpg's are very hard to replicate, at least the city mileage, normally the highway mpg could go over the advertise number under the right conditions. Lastly short highway commutes will not Yield the best mpg. Also having passengers and a lot of stuff in your trunk won't help.

 

[zx5go]

My commute is 22.5 miles each way.

If the computer isn't able to accurately track mpg since refuel then they don't really need to have that function. I've had other cars that were off 1-2mpg but displaying a mpg since refuel that is 4mpg over what the car is actually achieving isn't acceptable.

Let me clarify some of my earlier statements; I've had 14 cars in the last 12 years and I drive the same route to work. I've always been able to meet or exceed the rated highway mileage with every other vehicle when I drive conservatively. This has been the case with small cars, trucks, Jeeps, and even my performance cars. I drive alone...it is just me, the clothes on my back, and the stuff in my pockets.

I get the normal dip of mileage in the winter when the vehicles are running rich longer to warm up. I track every tank in fuelly and I don't put gas in my vehicle unless I'm filling the tank so I have every mile tracked in fuelly for all of my most recent vehicles.

If I'd known mileage was going to be closer to the city rating I would have gotten a GTI.

 

[BxGTI]

Thanks for that extra info. 20 + miles should be enough to get the expected mpg. To be honest I never go by the computer when calculating mpg. My commute is 10 NYC miles that translate to 1 solid hour worth of driving in rush hour, my GTI is not my DD so I don't really calculate consumption but when I use my GTI for longer trips I get 34 to 36 MPG easy with just the driver in the car, results will vary with passengers and crap in the trunk/boot

 

[zx5go]

Thanks for the input, BxGTI. I don't rely on the computer either as few are correct. Which always perplexes me as the car has to have very accurate data on distance driven and fuel used. My Porsche is either right on or within a couple of tenths of being accurate so I know it is possible!

I'm sure I'll get over it but I'm just disappointed in what looks like will be my normal mpg since I bought this as my DD and the car I was comparing against (Mazda3) not only was rated higher but also many people report getting better than rated. A few years back I owned a Mazdaspeed3 so I decided to go with the Golf to try something different.

 

[BxGTI]

Hopefully it gets better after the break in period. Good luck

 

[Gibberoni]

It will get better. When I first got my GTI I was getting in the low 30's on my way to and from work. I drive a pretty flat, and no traffic 100 miles round trip. After about 2000 (1 month) miles, it started to creep up. Now (6mo/15,000miles) I get about 40-41 mpg on the drive. Of course a 36-38 on the way home, because who doesn't drive faster going home??

 

[2015WhiteGTI]

Fuel mileage will definitely get better. When I had my 1.8T at about the 3,000 mile mark the fuel mileage definitely went up (over 40mpg on my weekly commute to a client).

With the GTI, I recent loaded up the entire family and all our stuff for vacation and drove 287 miles to Virginia Beach. We averaged 36.3mpg on the way down and 37.2mpg on the way home. That was with the AC on and a pretty loaded up car.

 

[fudsey]

Question for OP:

Is the computer set on "Since Refuel", "Extended" or "Since Start"?

I never use Since Refuel except to glance at it. Mine is normally set on Since Start to get my Trip mileage.

My last 4 months avg. is 31-34 mpg per tank

 

[zx5go]

Fudsey, I've been tracking all three and computing myself when I refuel. Since my commute is the same all three are usually within. A few tenth of each other. I've even been using the instant mpg to squeeze ever last bit out and driving extra conservative.

I appreciate all the feedback. Sounds like I just need to drive it a few months and a few thousand miles before I worry...but I wanted to get an accurate 'before' mpg before the apr stage 1 (I'll be using the 87 octane tune) and I'm ready to tune now. The before picture may just have to be scraped so I can tune now!

 

[buyingconstant7]

Has anyone had poor fuel mileage prior to their car being broken in? My TSI 1.8t has just over 800 miles on it and I'm experiencing fuel mileage well below what I expected and below sticker rating (hwy). My commute is almost ideal for topping out mpg and with every previous vehicle I've been able to meet or exceed its rated highway mileage on my commute.

On my first full tank the computer calculated 32.4 and I actually had 28.4mpg. I'm a couple hundred miles into my second tank and the computer is showing 32.2mpg.

I am disappointed in both how far off the computer's calculation is and at overall mpg at this point. I'll continue to track.

I have pretty much the exact same car as you. My gas mileage is in the low 40's with mainly highway driving. Best advice: Fill up, go on a long highway trip and return and fill up again. If your hand calculated mileage isn't in the high 30's or higher, then you have a problem. It's all about how you treat it too. I don't let my car idle for 5 seconds in the coldest of weather, so I don't waste fuel. I sometimes hammer on it, but generally drive at a moderate pace doing 5 over at most times. Things like that, they add up. I have over 10,000 miles now but when I had under 1,000, my average mpg was in the high 20's, mind you that was in winter time.

 

[marnie]

Did a 149 mile run yesterday on a mix of roads and traffic, including a lot of slow moving queues. 42.9 mpg.

 

[2015WhiteGTI]

Did a 149 mile run yesterday on a mix of roads and traffic, including a lot of slow moving queues. 42.9 mpg.

Guys from the UK, is MPG calculated differently, i.e. Imperial gallons?
If so, you'd be getting about .83 of your total or 35.6mpg here in the US.

 

[GOLF NUTT]

I'm at 11XX miles on the Golf 1.8T auto. since new 33.7 in mixed driving this is pen and paper gallons / miles traveled. On a 100+ road trip over the weekend just over 40 US MPG. by the MFD or what ever it's called. So very happy with the millage delivered by the TSI.

 

[marnie]

Guys from the UK, is MPG calculated differently, i.e. Imperial gallons?
If so, you'd be getting about .83 of your total or 35.6mpg here in the US.

You are correct.