2.0 TDi140 When does fuel cons improve ?

[Roley140]

Can any other 2.0 TDI drivers comment on how many miles it took for their fuel economy to improve. I am at 3500K miles so far and still struggle to get 42 MPG cruising at 80 on the motorway. The car drives fine and no black smoke as far as I know.

[audiowner]

Patience my friend.
Both my diesel B5 & B6 took time to improve on mpg
May depend on the bhp you now have.

[john from Staffs]

Just been out and checked the computer on my 2.0 TDI 140.

• 16210 miles
• 57.2 mpg coming home from work
• 51.8 mpg on the long distance recorder which says 6211 miles so I assume it reset at 10,000

Bearing in mind that the car weighs 1500kg, it seems quite economical. My last car was a Golf Variant TDI 115, which average about 50 mpg over 110,000 miles so the 2.0L engine seems more efficient than the 1.9 PD. Both cars have the six speed box but the Golf seemed to be higher geared at 37 mph/1000rpm.

best regards and stay away from the pumps

john from Staffs

[Roley140]

Thanks for the replies, I now have some hope !
However I think I may have found part of the problem myself. I have noticed recently that the computer trip mileometer is significantly under-reading on journeys I have done 100's of times in other cars. I estimate by about 7%. I think this may tie in with the ECU having the wrong diameter wheels programmed in. When I bought my car, they came with 16" wheels, whereas mine has 17" wheels fitted as a special offer. I am getting this investigated tomorrow.
My feeling is that this may be affecting other A4's that seem to have low fuel consumption.

[happy as larry]

Roley - surley if they fitted larger diameter wheels these would be fitted with lower profile tyres to keep the rollling cercumferance of the tyre this same otherwise it would alter the gearing of the car

as far as fuel consumption - i've got a 2.0 170bhp done 8K it has just started to loosen up a bit to the extent u can notice more power and the fuel consumption has deffinatly improved. experience in the past seems to indicate that modern diesels seem to take up to 12K to reach their potential. it also seems to be true that if a diesel is driven hard after the first few hundred miles(obviouslt not abused) it ends up been a better engine in the long run feeling more powerful and more ecanomical. - just keep an eye on the dipstick till everything is bedded in

[Roley140]

Again thanks for the reply. My local Audi dealer pointed out the same fact about the rolling diameter of the wheels sa you have. So I guess I'll have to see how it pans out.

[Roley140]

Just completed a 1600 mile continental road-trip, and fuel consumption is still what I would call crap really. On virtually all motorway driving albeit at speeds around 85 mph generally, my average was only 36 MPG. I still struggle to get up to mid 40's MPG even if I drive very gently. Comparing this to my old 1.9 TDI this is terrible, when does this end on this engine ? I have now done 8500 miles, should I be looking at a possible fault ?

[happy as larry]

i always think diesel engines are better if they are driven hard (not abused) when they new (after the first few hundred miles) - they seem to open up better. i have a 2.0 170 tdi and when it was new it was doing about 35 mpg. between 7000 and 8000 miles there was a noticable improvement in performance and consumption and now it does about 45mpg which is what i got out of a 1.9 tdi . i think if you are getting between 45 and 50 maybe that is about its mark . maybe because you drive it steady it will just take a bit longer to open up. the other thing is that driving 'steady' may not be the most ecanomical way of driving - you need to be using the engine in its most efficient rev range and not changing up gear to early.

[sukrw]

I must admit I was expecting "more" on teh mpg ...

I recently purchased a 6 month old A3 Sportback s-line 2.0 TDI (140) with 9,000 miles.

Round town/dual carriage ways the trip fuel computer tells me I am getting between 45-50 mpg on my journey to work (approx 15 miles). This I thought was very good.

But, and there is always a but, I did some motorway driving yesterday and it stuggled to get 42mpg on the motorways (not driving hard). I was expecting to see it soar over the 50mpg on the motorways as I was getting almost this on town/dual track.

But all said and done my previous car only managed 22 mpg on a good day !

Hey ho.

[Roley140]

The latest news :- I've just had it in the dealer for an intermittant ECU light, and they have diagnosed an intermittant MAF sensor, which I hope will cure the erratic MPG. Although I would of expected this part to have been in stock. Guess you cant have everything !