22-23 mpg ... Help needed.

[madsb]

Hi guys.

My newly purchased 8v 1996 only averages around 22-23 mpg when driving around the city. I'm not especially heavy on the throttle, I go to fifth gear early, in the beginning of 30 mph. Other than that I usually change directly from 2nd to 4th or 3rd to 5th depending on the situation.. So actually I drive quite mindful of my mpg...

STILL I get 22-23 mpg drivin around the city. Sure there are roundabouts and intersections, but still... Seems way too low. With my driving, I feel like I should be able to get at least 30 mpg in the city..

So which maintenance steps can I take towards increasing the mpg? I've just bought a can of carb cleaner and I'm gonna clean the throttle body soon.. Anything else than that? The car doesn't drip fluids or anything, so hopefully there's no leaks.. Which hoses should I be mindful of in the engine bay? Any that can reduce mpg if cracked or the like?

Cheers.

[sharki786]

Check the breather hoses on the top for splits or oil seeps.
25mpg is tops for city driving.
Id do a full service on it. Oil, oil filter, air filter, sparkies, fuel filter & pollen filter.
It might increase slightly but nowere near 30mpg unless you get a long run to get 30-32mpg

[javalin]

does it come up to temperature - ie. 90c always?

[sharki786]

does it come up to temperature - ie. 90c always?

Oh yea. This too.
If it gets to 90 degs does it stay there with your heaters on full on a long road or does the temp drop? If it drops then you might need to change the thermo & renew the coolant with vws red/pink stuff (g12++)

[madsb]

It takes a while for it to get to 90-100 degrees, but it can get there. Compared to newer cars i'd say it takes quite a while.

Breather hose seems okay.

[tweed]

I think it's a old car, old injectors, old technology and your car is fine nothing wrong with it.

If you want good mpg don't buy a old gti 2.0 hatchback

Buy a diesel 

[javalin]

depends on "a while", newer do warm up faster I believe.  Might be a lazy thermostat, but most likely as tweed says, ~25mpg in stop start is average for these cars.

Good servicing will help maintain mpg, cause it can always get worse!

[itavaltalainen]

I get 23mpg with my 1.8 75PS in town traffic, pretty much twice that on the motorway. Nothing wrong with it....

Although my town driving is short distance, 3 miles in the morning, 3 in the evening....

[vwwvgolf]

being in the lowest gear possible isnt always the most economical way to drive

[Gti_Jamo]

You can switch your mpg display to show live readings which may help you achieve better mpg. To do this hold in the mfa button on the stalk, put on ignition, turn its back off then back on and start the car then release mfa button. My 8v when I had it would always average around 30mpg in the town and could do 45-47 on the motorway without too much difficulty but it was a low miler and everything on the engine had been stripped and cleaned.