MK7 GTD - Real Life MPG

[mike_f]

I have put in a request/complaint to Volkswagen and asked them what range of MPG should be achievable in real world driving scenarios..

Not sure how they would answer - the woman kept asking me to take the car to a retailer so that it could get checked...  I don't think there is any fault with it - just would like VW to provide an expected range of what can be achieved in real driving..

Would be very disappointing if the engineers could not provide some basic info on a basic operational parameter of something they have designed and extensively tested.

My conclusion is on this car you are going to be hitting max 45-50 mpg on motor way runs/mixed driving and between 35-45 round the town and in traffic...

Considerably less than the advertised....

[corgi]

Advertised..?

VW are required to quote the official figures... It is widely known that the official figures are most likely I obtainable in real life... I've posted the AA report on this where they said to expect significantly worse MPG than the official tests would indicate - work on 30% less any you're likely to be pleasantly surprised... The same goes for most other (especially) diesel hatches... My g/f's BMW 120d averages about 48-49 overall...

It's the test that's unrepresentative... Because of the conditions and the number of stops etc...

I would expect an average of between 45 and 55 in general driving depending on driving style and mix of driving...

[monkeyhanger]

The issue is that they've recently moved the goalposts. They're still misadvertising when they say the MK7 Golf is 20% more efficient that it's predecessor. That is a boast they have made in the brochure and in adverts. That's complete bullsh!t. If they applied the current tests to the MK6 GTD or 170TDI Scirocco/Passat, I very much doubt there'd be more than 5% in it between them and the MK7 GTD, or between the 210PS 2.0TSI MK6 GTI/Scirocco and the 220PS 2.0TSI MK7 GTI.

I'm now expecting a true 40mpg on my commute in the winter and 45mpg in the summer. For longer journeys maybe 48mpg in the winter and 55mpg in the Summer. These figs are worse than my Scirocco by about 5%.

According to brochure information (i''d consider that advertisement), they sold these 20% savings on low friction bearings, faster engine warm up times, standard start-stop and brake energy recuperation tech as well as weight savings of up to 100kg(the weight savings have proved pretty insignificant on any model that retained the multilink rear suspension). Most of those savings have been "achieved" with a different testing regime. We have been sold a lie as far as fuel economy is concerned. Those technical advances appear to have had little impact to improved fuel economy in real world situations.

[Sootchucker]

Whilst I 100% agree with you MH, that VW's advertising was at best "creative" and at worst a damn right lie, TBH, I came into the GTD with my eyes wide open. Despite the lofty claims made for over 60mpg combined and nearly 70mpg extra urban (DSG Model), I never for one second ever thought I would get anywhere near that.

My yardstick so to speak was my previous 140 CR Scirocco (like you using your 170 CR Scirocco). Whilst it seems it wasn't as frugal as yours (but that could just be down to my journeys as my trip to work is only 10 miles ish), it averaged about 46mpg over it's 20k lifetime. I always said if the GTD could get that (or very near it), I would be pleased, especially as it's much more powerful than the older car. Well, over the first 1300 miles, the MFD is showing 46.2 for the lifetime (which equates to a real average of 45.3 working it out brim to brim), which is pretty close. Bearing in mind the car is still running in and feels tight, and my Scirocco did improve by 3-4 mpg once it went over about 5-6k miles.

The way I look at is that for a car with 184ps, capable of over 140mph and 0-60 in around 7 seconds, to get that and get mid forties MPG (though obviously not at the same time) is still doing pretty well. The GTI boys were promised mid forties and most of them are struggling to crack 30-35mpg, and in the real world (and I'm going to be shot for saying this), if you are not doing traffic light standing 0-60 drags, the performance difference between a GTI and GTD isn't that huge.

We could analyse this all day - is it tyres, drag coefficient, engine map, the fuel type etc, but my guess is that the 170 CR in the Rocco and the Passat probably over specified in HP, whereas the 184 CR in the GTD, probably only just meets those figures (of course I could be totally wrong  ), and is probably more to do with new Euro Emission Laws and the newer cars needing to be greener and emit less CO2 etc.  I'd probably bet that if you had a stock 170CR Scirocco and a Stock 184ps GTD on an identical rolling road, they would produce very similar power figures ?

[corgi]

If you look at this: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/volkswagen it would suggest that VW are better than the industry average, BMW, for example, according to this are significantly worse... Is it a coincidence that in sectors of the market where fuel consumption would be a significant factor in the buying decision that the results of normal driving offers fuel consumption farthest away from the official figures?

As I said previously, the issue is with the validity of the tests. The manufacturers use them in advertisements because that is the only official comparison available.

Make the official test more relevant and the issue goes away. At the moment manufacturers are, at least, designing and building cars to maximise their performance in tests for emissions and fuel consumption (in certain sectors of the market)...

[monkeyhanger]

Norbreck 21a:

Power – there’s another way they may have moved the goalposts. Now I’m on regular Diesel, my GTD has picked up on power and responsiveness. I’m no better off on mpg right now for my commute to work (but I am on my commute home) – I suspect that’s because ambient temp at 7am locally (when I am on my way to work)  has dropped from 9 - 10C to 2 - 4C in the space of a week. I’d now say my GTD is around the same power as my Scirocco (but with crap grip due to a poor choice of OEM tyres affecting my lower end performance potential) and a smidge thirstier. For 15PS more (on paper) and slightly worse fuel economy right now, my biggest benefit in the car change is a nicer interior, the feeling that the GTD is a little better put together (smaller panels gaps, nicer interior materials etc) and some significant extra equipment. Oh, and a £20 tax disc in future – at least they’re robbing the treasury as well as us.

I honestly thought I would see half of the 20% gains boasted in the real world, I didn’t expect to get none of them. It meets or exceeds all my other expectations, especially ride quality improvement.

[monkeyhanger]

Well I would think more of us bought a GTD for mpg considerations than bought a GTI, yet the reality to official disparity figures are pretty much the same for both – around 30%. I think the disparity is pretty big across the board. Every car manufacturer is trying to outdo the next one – on paper at least. That’s usually where the buying decision is made on a new car, poring over the specs. Yes have a test drive, the car drives great, gave it a bit of welly, but you don’t really get any gauge of mpg on a test drive.

The current tests are a joke, they don’t represent normal driving at all. I’m surprised the government and/or the EU haven’t jumped all over this mass deception.

[linc-dub]

38.90 mpg on first fill and 230 miles - although I'm not sure that the dealer tank full was right to the brim and with the new filler its not so easy to ensure that if you stop when the pump clicks off initially.  Plus my longest journeys have only been 20 miles and the weather is colder.  Hopefully I will improve upon this at the next fill!

[corgi]

Well I would think more of us bought a GTD for mpg considerations than bought a GTI, yet the reality to official disparity figures are pretty much the same for both – around 30%. I think the disparity is pretty big across the board. Every car manufacturer is trying to outdo the next one – on paper at least. That’s usually where the buying decision is made on a new car, poring over the specs. Yes have a test drive, the car drives great, gave it a bit of welly, but you don’t really get any gauge of mpg on a test drive.

The current tests are a joke, they don’t represent normal driving at all. I’m surprised the government and/or the EU haven’t jumped all over this mass deception.

So we agree, violently 

In reality, when I was researching cars I look not at the official figures but look for what is likely to be achievable as, for me at least, it is well know that the official figures are not-representative... it a bigger issue if you compare your current car's real world fuel consumption with the official figures of a new one...

In the end the official figures are only useful for comparison... and even then only in general terms and need to be correlated with some other data. I expect my Golf (when it arrives) will be a little more economical than my g/f's 120d... Official (67.3 v 65.7)... I would correlate that with the emissions (109 v 118 iirc). With the same driving profile I would expect to see the mpg on my Golf at very high 40's to low 50's as the g/f's 1er is averaging about 48 (indicated)...

[Misterp]

I have put in a request/complaint to Volkswagen and asked them what range of MPG should be achievable in real world driving scenarios..

Not sure how they would answer - the woman kept asking me to take the car to a retailer so that it could get checked...  I don't think there is any fault with it - just would like VW to provide an expected range of what can be achieved in real driving..

Would be very disappointing if the engineers could not provide some basic info on a basic operational parameter of something they have designed and extensively tested.

My conclusion is on this car you are going to be hitting max 45-50 mpg on motor way runs/mixed driving and between 35-45 round the town and in traffic...

Considerably less than the advertised....

I had my car in for a knocking sound to the rear and I had em look at the economy as it was on average 13 mpg less than the quoted. The 'master technician' looked at it and said the from start mpg reading shouldn't be hitting the higher end of the quoted range but no technical explanation. I thought f*ck this I will leave it till 5k miles and see.