Advice please re driving modes and Keyless Entry

[Ulysses31]

MPG is dependent on 4 main factors, with respect to a particular car:-

1. Driving style. You can have a heavy right foot and still drive economically if you read the road ahead well to preserve momentum and come off the throttle early rather than accelerating towards a situation that'll require you to brake.

2. Congestion. If you are in stop-start situations with a low average speed, your mpg will suffer. You'll see the difference between a normal working week and a week with the school holidays and lots of parents off work. Right now, with loads of people working from home or furloughed, the roads are much quieter and most still driving will have seen a mpg increase as a result.

3. Length of journey. A longer journey will give you better mpg. The car's economy is poor when cold and much better when hot. The longer the journey, the less that cold part of the journey has an influence on the overall trip. If you're doing a longer journey, it's more likely to be predominantly at a decent cruising speed with less gear changes.

4. Average speed for trip. Linked to congestion, if you are on mainly 50/60mph roads, you're going to be in the sweet spot for fuel economy. If you're crawling through 20mph roads littered with speed bumps, not so much.

When I had my 2013 GTD, I had an 8 mile commute through a split of urban crawl and dual carriageway 70mph roads. I did about 42mpg average on that commute.

In my Golf R on the same commute, it was about 32mpg.

Changing jobs, I had a 20 mile commute. I got 36mpg in the Golf R, but on occasion I took the wife's A1 1.6TDI and hammered it, getting 65mpg for the journey (the wife was lucky to see 40mpg on her 8 mile commute).

Fast forward to my Polo GTI+. A 13 mile commute with 3 miles of it within congestion prone areas. On a good day it was 37mpg, on a bad day it was 28mpg.

Still in the GTI+, but with a 32 mile drive at 70mph down the A19 on my current commute, I get about 44mpg.

In summary:

Unless you drive like a nun, you're unlikely to see 40mpg in a Golf GTI unless your journey length exceeds 25 miles on relatively uncongested roads.

Unless you drive like a nutter, you are unlikely to see less than 25mpg unless your journey length is under 5 miles or your journey is incredibly congested.

Buying a hot hatch and driving it in Eco all the time makes no sense to me. Relative to the journey you're doing, your mpg is unlikely to change appreciably between Eco and Sport - the free wheeling gains in Eco are very small, the other energy saving things like turning off cornering lights etc save very little, but you'll have a very much dulled throttle. Your car will lose thousands in depreciation every year. Driving like a nun to positive effect your fuel bill by maybe £150 a year is crazy. If you're looking to do that, you might as well've bought a well specced 1.0TSI variant.

I think it was Clarkson who said that brakes only exist for people who can't read the road ahead. My old commute used to contain a series of 6 roundabouts through a housing estate and every time the driver in front would brake at every roundabout, even when it was clear. Used to mildly amuse me when I could take the complete set without braking once, just coming off the throttle at the right times to control my speed.

[Lordie]

If you wanted to keep the keyless but block the signal when you don't need it you can buy key pouches or boxes that are lined to block the signal. A family member of mine has the new Subaru and they keep their keys in the pouches when in the house. It works really well and you can hold it right next to the door and the car won't unlock. I don't think there is a way to disable it on Subaru's as far as I know

Hope this helps.

[kmpowell]

If you wanted to keep the keyless but block the signal when you don't need it you can buy key pouches or boxes that are lined to block the signal.

I use one of these, as well as disabling the keyless. https://amzn.to/36XCYSF

Better to be safe than sorry IMO.

[SRGTD]

If you wanted to keep the keyless but block the signal when you don't need it you can buy key pouches or boxes that are lined to block the signal.

I use one of these, as well as disabling the keyless. https://amzn.to/36XCYSF

Better to be safe than sorry IMO.

If you use a Faraday pouch, be aware the pouch lining that blocks the signal can fail over time. Therefore, test the pouch periodically to ensure it’s still effective by standing next to your car with the key in the pouch and try to open your locked car. If it unlocks, its time to replace the pouch.

[Lordie]

If you use a Faraday pouch, be aware the pouch lining that blocks the signal can fail over time. Therefore, test the pouch periodically to ensure it’s still effective by standing next to your car with the key in the pouch and try to open your locked car. If it unlocks, its time to replace the pouch.

Good tip, thanks!. I assume that's probably from sliding the keys in and out of the pouch (control your dirty minds). If that is the case maybe one of the signal blocking boxes might be better and last longer

[mcmaddy]

I've used the same pouch for over three years and it still works perfectly.

[Kingy25]

Be careful to keep checking the faraday pouches if you go down that route. Generally with daily use they fracture (the shielding material breaks where it folds over) and stop working. I bought two through Amazon and after 2 months the pouch I used daily failed and I could open the car with the key in it. It’s a common issue due to the design with plenty of warnings in Amazon reviews and through google if you look. I bought one of the small faraday boxes (just big enough to take the vw key) to replace the pouch (a fair bit more expensive at £45 for one), but three months later and it still works perfectly so worth the expense.
The second faraday pouch which I put my spare key in (which doesn’t get used) still works perfectly, so it is just through use you may (like I did) find they fail.
I absolutely love the convenience of keyless, so it’s a small price to ensure the key shouldn’t be able to be scanned.

[monkeyhanger]

Doesn't the need to use a Faraday box or pouch negate the convenience of keyless?

If you need to get the key.out of the box or pouch to use it, how is that any more convenient than having a normal central locking key in your pocket and pressing a button on it to unlock?

I have keyless and it's occasionally flaky, like locking the car when its already locked rather than unlocking it - maybe 1 in 15 uses.

The convenience factor seems massively overplayed to me, unless you have the key with you but don't know exactly where it is (I'm thinking women with Mary Poppins bottomless carpet bags!).

[jv]

Absolutely. Total nonsense tech for the sake of it.

[Guzzle]

Anyone got keyless entry on their front door at home?