TDI owners MPG

[MrBiscuit]

Has anyone run bio dieael in a 3cylinder TDi yet? Can you comment on what ratio mix you use please as i have a filling station right near me!

Many thanks,

Matt.

Running a 2/3rds Bio 1/3rd mineral diesel at the moment on a trial.

Not much difference when the engine is warm performance wise.

Starting seems a little bit reluctant, sometimes takes a couple of goes if i forget.

Glow plugs seem to energise for less time on a cold start?

If I go for two glow cycles , then no problem.

A bit slow until engine is warm.

It looks a lot more viscous than ordinary diesel.

Can get it for 70p a litre here though (Exeter).

Company making it , Linky , say it meets EN 14214, & have it tested every month.

Some later VAG user manuals say BioDiesel is a No No.

Anyone know what the position is?

Gonna keep a check on the MPG, as Bio is supposed to have a lower calorific value so may reduce MPG.

Though on the other hand lubricates the engine better & keeps it cleaner.

Edited December 10, 2007 by MrBiscuit

[cardaft]

I did 330 miles yesterday, sat at 70 most of the way and in a bit off traffic and some town work too. I got 57MPG, im again dissapointed

Surely on a run it should do more than that, i used to be able to get 57MPG average never mind on a good run

Its either broken, or it doesnt like winter

[Muska]

Thanks Mr biscuit, i'll be enquiring on price tomorrow, think i might try a 50/fifty split for my next tank.

Cardaft, thought things were on the up since you used an engine flush? I should think you'd be getting more than that on a good run out for definate.

Have you changed the fuel filter lately, i've heard this can get a bit clogged up after a while.

Matt.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Muska

[r44my_k]

Cardaft, im the same, i only drive on the motorways, and i take it easy most of the time and get really crap mpg. What petrol do you use? I think i do better with esso than with morissons, but still nothing near what i expected.

[cardaft]

Cardaft, thought things were on the up since you used an engine flush? I should think you'd be getting more than that on a good run out for definate.

Have you changed the fuel filter lately, i've heard this can get a bit clogged up after a while.

Matt.

Hmm i thought so too, but it seems not.

I was getting 100 miles to a quater yesterday which at a push i can get from my 1.0 Arosa! taking into account that petrol here is 99.9p and diesel is 105.9p i carnt imagine my 1.0 would have been any more costly to do the same run.

My air filter was changed about a month ago, it also had an oil and filter change at the same time.

I am dissapointed with the MPG lately, i used to get a lot more on a good run, the best i have had lately is 62 and last time i did that same run i got 74 MPG.

it still drives fine and pulls like a train but i just carnt get good MPG.

What could i do, check or get checked to try and improve it, im sure its not just the weather

Cardaft, im the same, i only drive on the motorways, and i take it easy most of the time and get really crap mpg. What petrol do you use? I think i do better with esso than with morissons, but still nothing near what i expected.

Well i actually find it runs slightly better on diesel

I aways use shell diesel extra, not really tried other fuesl as thats close to me and is still the cheapest for fuel in my area.

Well i used to get about 58MPG average, lots of mixed driving, lots of fast driving and hard driving. That was when i was commuting to uni, so motorway, town and lots of jams.

Now i struggle to get that MPg on a really good long drive taking it easy.

I mean its not right surely, ive had 60 MPg from an Atleat Tdi with mixed driving and also similar from our scenic 1.9 DCi. So why is my little 1.4 diesel so bad on fuel now

Edited December 10, 2007 by cardaft

[r44my_k]

god damn it, i alays tell people off for calling it petrol as well!shame on me

[rajmirch]

Guys how do the 1.4/1.7 non turbo Diesels match up to the TDis is there much of a difference between power and mpg?

[rajmirch]

Guys how do the 1.4/1.7 non turbo Diesels match up to the TDis is there much of a difference between power and mpg?

oops what happenede there!

Edited December 28, 2007 by rajmirch

[Muska]

Filled up just before xmas... Fuel light came on at 302miles and filled it at 335 with a little more to go but i bottled it!

That was 28litres again, so i guess it makes about 60ish to the gallon again?

To answer the above question i believe that is quite a difference in power between the two engine types but not much in mpg.

[cardaft]

Im sure there is a recent thread on SDi vs TDi, i remember posting in it, so it might be worth haveing a search about.

MPG is about the same, although the TDi is much quicker so often its driven faster, therby giving less MPG.

Well it looks my cars MPg is on a slight increase again, so thats good, 55MPG from the last tank.

[nuttinnew]

23 mile trip home from work yesterday

1999 Passat tdi

[cardaft]

Thats pretty impressive MPG from a Passat, did you even tough the accelerater?

I once got 85MPG from the lowest powered 1.5DCi Modus, and that was trying really really hard.

Although i dont understand why the little 1.4TDi never does as good as it says on the tin

I mean even a 1.5DCi Megane does better!

[nuttinnew]

Update;

That was from Maidstone Kent to Ringwood in Hampshire using a-roads.

I didn't expect that to last;

ended up being the figure over a total of

Mfa now showed

over an overall total of

using

poor pic, that's 50.42 litres at £1.069/litre.

http://www.expletia.co.uk/mpgcalculator.html

so the mfa is about 7.74% optimistic....

Next tankful will be rather less I expect. After reading good things about it I'm going to give some Miller's additive a go in the hope of freeing up the throttle response (I did similar in an Audi 100 tdi (2.5 5 cylinder ) and it had the desired effect but the mpg over that tankful was lower than usual).

I quite fancy Bluemotioning it; longer gearing, aero tweaks, suspension tweaks. It's never very loaded so it'd definitely pull longer gearing, like a 6th on top of the 5th gear it's got and the 3b5 had a Cd of .27 compared to .3 for the 3b so there's room for improvement (which would help it pull a longer top gear). Ho hum

Edited January 2, 2008 by nuttinnew

[cardaft]

Thats amasing! Get your MPG read out checked

Only joking, really good going that, i wish my car had an MPG read out, would be easier to acheive hight MPG as i could tell where my driving style is using more fuel.

I always just drive like i want to and not with MPG in mind, so that would help a little.

Just filled up today, got 52.5MPG its not bad, but it aint great either!

[Lupo Loopy]

Hello,

1.4 TDI Sport. Even being careful I only get 55mpg can't get it any higher than that. It sounds to me like my Turbo starts to spin up around 1000 - 1200 rpm which from some others posts on here sounds too early? Is it possible a previous owner has done some crazy remap. Is there a way to check myself with some software and a cable to my PC or something like it? What remap do you guys have with the xtra toruqe and still a decent mpg?

Cheers

LL

Edited January 9, 2008 by Lupo Loopy

[northwick]

i wish my car had an MPG read out, would be easier to acheive hight MPG as i could tell where my driving style is using more fuel.

I have this problem too. Circumstances mean I can't do a whole tank shifting at certain times etc. to see what gives me best economy. I'm invariably late for something (or a bit bored!) and have to nail it from A to B, ruining any testing across a whole tank.

I used Shell V-Power diesel recently. I was brisk on that tank (not nailing it) but it gave shocking economy but might have performed as described (cleaning injectors etc.) because it seems quicker since even with normal diesel and economy has returned if not improved. So its a tentative thumbs up for V Power diesel for me so far except availability isnt great. On a seperate note the diesel is also a funny colour - spilled a bit inside the filler cap and it looks like that blue powerade drink!

Edited January 9, 2008 by northwick

[cardaft]

Hello,

1.4 TDI Sport. Even being careful I only get 55mpg can't get it any higher than that. It sounds to me like my Turbo starts to spin up around 1000 - 1200 rpm which from some others posts on here sounds too early? Is it possible a previous owner has done some crazy remap. Is there a way to check myself with some software and a cable to my PC or something like it? What remap do you guys have with the xtra toruqe and still a decent mpg?

Cheers

LL

Does it feel quicker than it should do?

A remap souldnt make the turbo cut in earlier than normal though, maybe there is a sensor amiss or something.

Are you sure thats when it cuts in?

Its hard to tell if a car has been remapped, usually its not recognised by computer.

I get about the same MPG, sometimes worse, although on a run i do get better, towards 60MPG somtimes over. Im not totally impressed with its MPG at the moment!

What kind of driving style and routes is the 55MPG at?

I have this problem too. Circumstances mean I can't do a whole tank shifting at certain times etc. to see what gives me best economy. I'm invariably late for something (or a bit bored!) and have to nail it from A to B, ruining any testing across a whole tank.

I used Shell V-Power diesel recently. I was brisk on that tank (not nailing it) but it gave shocking economy but might have performed as described (cleaning injectors etc.) because it seems quicker since even with normal diesel and economy has returned if not improved. So its a tentative thumbs up for V Power diesel for me so far except availability isnt great. On a seperate note the diesel is also a funny colour - spilled a bit inside the filler cap and it looks like that blue powerade drink!

I know exactly what you mean! Im the same, often get bored and just go quicker, its hard not to Although even driving fast doesnt us a tone more fuel than driving normally.

I may try a few tanks of shell v power diesel then, although i dont want to think how much per litre that is!

Mine sometimes does well sometimes it doesnt, im on nearly a quater of a tank doing about 260 miles from full! thats bad i think.

Roll on spring when i can see it it really is just the weather making it worse.

[Picola]

I'm in the process of working mine out. Hopefully will be a good result!

[g-man85]

With regards to turbo spin, 1200rpm is about right. If driving around 1200rpm in 3rd then slowly press the pedal, i can clearly hear the turbo whistle and my boost gauge shows the pressure building up so that is correct.

I cannot get lower than 44mpg, but on average it depends how I drive. I know driving a TDI like a granny isn't actually all that good for a TDI as lots of fuel doesn't get burnt and often TDI's are prone to clogged EGR valves and alike, hence a lot of TDI's fail smoke emissions because they aren't rev'd much at all.

Just changed the fuel filter and oil which does make a slight difference in the 'pick up'.

But I'm going down the induction filter route of my next mod, but wanting to see how that affects the MAF readings and MPG.

As for knowing if the car is re-map,d, its hard to tell. Unless you know the place that has re-map'd it, its difficult to tell as Revo/Custom code and alike encrypt the data for the values to change/software. I had an invoice with mine and had JBS to look at my mapping so i know it on there. But as for checking, I drove a standard 1.4 TDI A2 and I noticed the difference clearly. Best thing is to drive another TDI if you can that is standard or remap'd to see the difference. If you ask nicely i'm sure if there's a nearby 1.4 TDI owner in your area they can help. So where abouts are you located??

Edited January 10, 2008 by g-man85

[cardaft]

Ive just put shell v power diesel in mine (flipping 114.9p a litre!!!!).

So ill see if it does anything at all, probably nothing but we shall see

[northwick]

Ive just put shell v power diesel in mine (flipping 114.9p a litre!!!!).

So ill see if it does anything at all, probably nothing but we shall see

Hope you get the same results as me! I paid 116.9 I think!

[Lupo Loopy]

Oops!

Edited January 10, 2008 by Lupo Loopy

[Lupo Loopy]

With regards to turbo spin, 1200rpm is about right. If driving around 1200rpm in 3rd then slowly press the pedal, i can clearly hear the turbo whistle and my boost gauge shows the pressure building up so that is correct.

I cannot get lower than 44mpg, but on average it depends how I drive. I know driving a TDI like a granny isn't actually all that good for a TDI as lots of fuel doesn't get burnt and often TDI's are prone to clogged EGR valves and alike, hence a lot of TDI's fail smoke emissions because they aren't rev'd much at all.

Just changed the fuel filter and oil which does make a slight difference in the 'pick up'.

But I'm going down the induction filter route of my next mod, but wanting to see how that affects the MAF readings and MPG.

As for knowing if the car is re-map,d, its hard to tell. Unless you know the place that has re-map'd it, its difficult to tell as Revo/Custom code and alike encrypt the data for the values to change/software. I had an invoice with mine and had JBS to look at my mapping so i know it on there. But as for checking, I drove a standard 1.4 TDI A2 and I noticed the difference clearly. Best thing is to drive another TDI if you can that is standard or remap'd to see the difference. If you ask nicely i'm sure if there's a nearby 1.4 TDI owner in your area they can help. So where abouts are you located??

Hi G-Man,

Thanks for the info. good to know my Turbo is kicking in when it should. I have the service book but no reciepts from prev owners

, so no idea what's been before. Maybe it hasn't been mapped, but i like you idea of a compare to a definite standard or map.

I'm in Holmfirth out in the sticks. Couple of people at work have loops, but all petrol.

Cheers

LL

[g-man85]

Ive just put shell v power diesel in mine (flipping 114.9p a litre!!!!).

So ill see if it does anything at all, probably nothing but we shall see

I tired using the Total Excellium Diesel which is basically Vpower/bp ultimate diesel. However this is only 108.9p a litre which is the same price as normal shell around her. Sadly I didn't notice that much difference in MPG, and still think I get more benefit from using Millers power sport + additive (Yellow label with certane booster).

I can't justify spending 115p a litre of fuel as worked out the so called claimed benefits of better MPG is offset by the additional cost of getting the fuel, but obviously the fuel has better properties.

One thing that bugs me is I wonder if V-power/BP Ultimate are secretely just B5 fuel (5% biodiesel mixed in) as i know that fuel suppliers often can mix 5% bio diesel. This alone gives the claimed benefits of higher certane rating and better lubricity properties.....

So i just mix in about 5-10% of bio diesel in my fuel at the moment, not wanting to run 50% in the cold.

[cardaft]

I was actually expecting to get less from the v-power! We will see how it goes.

Im not going to use it every time, just wanted to try it. Plus i had to go about 25 miles to the closest shell that sells vpower deisel. The two near me dont, so i wont be using it much