MK7 GTD - Real Life MPG

[Sootchucker]

Well this weekend the car had only it's second decent run. Went from home (in Cheshire) to Cardiff, saw our nephew for a few hours then on to some friends in Swansea for the rest of the weekend.

I had the ACC set to 70-73mph for pretty much the whole journey (M6, M5, M50, A40, A449, M4). Had about 40 minutes of standing traffic in Cardiff city centre (due to the big rugby match on Saturday - Wales vs S. Africa), then onto Swansea and about 50 miles of various tootling around over the weekend. Then on the way back had a fairly good run until we got to within 5 miles of the M6 whilst on the M5, where it crawled for the 5 miles then for the next 15 miles due to the roadworks - 50mph average speed camera section (is this road ever not busy - even at 9.00pm on a Sunday ?).

So, what did I get for my 497 mile round trip. Well the computer said 58.4mpg since fill up, and on going a brim to brim fill, I calculated it at 57.9mpg (so the computer is pretty accurate).

Car had 10,500 miles on it (now at 11,000), and for a DSG, I don't think that's too bad ?

[mcmaddy]

Excellent results Andrew

[fredgroves]

I'm quite surprised that those what with the ambient temp right down this weekend and you've also got the winter mix derv now too...

I've gone from easy 48-50 mpg over the summer down to 40-42 mpg in recent weeks.

Pretty much the same journey every day too..

[monkeyhanger]

In the last 2 days i've gone from 42mpg to 48mpg on my commute - driving like a nun (not quite, but holding back) right now as my neck is pretty achy from Sunday's accident with the GTD, despite the ambient temp dropping from 10C to 5C on my way to work.

[corgi]

I've not noticed any change in fuel consumption in recent weeks... It is resolutely the same...

I suspect the winter difference may be because on shorter journeys a greater percentage of them are spent warming up..?

[Sootchucker]

I've noticed a slight drop in MPG on my usual commute to work as the temperatures have dropped below 10°C (some mornings it's been only 2°C). To be fair though I've just put this down to a) Having the heated seat on (love it), b) Having lights, heated rear windows / mirrors etc on, and c) with the climate control temperatures set at around 27-28°C to heat the car up quickly, the 1kw ancillary PET heater is probably activating for the first part of my journey.

For my trip down to South Wales, my fuel was BP's regular Diesel (not premium), as it' the cheapest around here, and ambient temperatures were actually not too bad at around 11-12°C for both days.

[fredgroves]

I still think that unless you are traveling a reasonable distance (say 50 miles) the biggest thing thats going to hurt is the warm up from cold, which when the ambient is less obviously takes longer.

One thing is for sure, the sub-optimal consumption on "from cold" trips combined with DPF regens certainly means that this car is not for people with short urban commutes!

[mcmaddy]

I do 3 miles to work and 3 miles home and don't have any problems at all. Mpg during the summer 40ish, mpgs now during the cold 35.

[monkeyhanger]

Wow! A new low for my GTD - the roads are empty this morning - zero congestion, reasonable ambient temp for the time of the year (7C), wind blowing from behind be 90% of the way and the car does an indicated 37.2mpg, a likely actual 35.5-36mpg. What do they put into winter diesel to "water it down" so much? It would not surprise me in the least to find that winter diesel has only 85-90% of the stored chemical energy that regular has.

[monkeyhanger]

What a surprise. Driving to the Metrocentre after work and a spirited drive back (someone in an Audi A4 170TDI trying very hard to undertake me) and I realise i'm approaching 50mpg for the trip, what is going on? 14C ambient temp, I could hardly believe it for early January. Just goes to show what a difference ambient temp can make.