2015 Polo GTI - Fuel consumption/range

[vgti]

Hey guys!

VW newbie here.

I bought a new 2015 polo gti about a month ago. Absolutely loving it! However, it's nearing the end of its second tank of petrol and I feel like the consumption is very high.

I am getting for both the first and second tanks an average of 10L/100km or in other words 400km range. Monday to Friday is a 12km return trip to and back from work in medium traffic in the inner west of sydney. Friday night and weekends are also short trips around the inner west during the day and night. So no highway kms yet so far, a bit of hard run in on the first tank, but other than that probably hit 4000rpms twice a day max.

Been following posts from other 2015 polo gti owners on this forum and keen to hear what they think of this and what figures they are getting themselves.

Thanks

V!

[NuffNuff]

i drive on the freeway a lot, getting to work downhill is 5.5L per 100km but my return trip changes it to average to about 8L per 100km with some stop start but creeping up to boost

to do under 6L you have to keep it under 1800rpm all the time, change your dash to show you the actual fuel usage at the time and not the average, it will help you learn when to ease up to save fuel

i get abut 520km a tank, worst was 400

[bullsta]

Wow that fuel usage is high.
I have the old 1.8t flashed on the mk4 and if I nurse on 98 I get well over 650 a tank in mild to moderate traffic.

[bullsta]

I fill up every fri fortnight right on the 600 km mark and the fuel light is usually just coming on and that is after giving it the odd squirt

[car_nut]

I've been giving mine a 'hard' run in for 2000ks and never using a gear higher than 4th around town and have still averaged 8.2 l/100k since new (displayed as 'long term'). Just starting to ease up on it now and low 6s are possible with very gentle driving eg from the golf club 12ks down the hill to home.

If you like we can do a comparison by both of us recording our instantaneous consumption (displayed as 'consumption l/h' I think) at say 2000rpm in 4th gear?? This MAY give an indication as to whether there is/is not a problem with your car.

[Mi16 Man]

Grab a proper app such as "Road Trip" to accurately record it....... Attached is a screen shot of my 2.5T Family Barge.....can't wait for my GTI to arrive!!




MY13 Kluger KX-S AWD / MY15 Polo GTI (Being built!)

[Bokchoi]

I've had mine for 6 weeks / 7 tanks and averaging 7.8L / 100k and now up to 3400k. It is a daily commuter so often stuck in traffic but as soon as I'm free it's generally given a good squirt up to the limit, and I don't often touch 5/6th unless on the freeway. Mine was up around 10L / 100k for the first tank only, then dipped after that. A month at that level seems high...

[vgti]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the all the replies and feedback.

@car_nut We've finally gotten around to recording the instantaneous fuel consumption tonight. Please excuse the poor quality.

First video is just driving in a straight line on D auto - light foot: https://vid.me/X9xE

Second video is similar - a bit better quality: https://vid.me/fg6i

Third video is in D but manually changing gears - tried to hold it at 2000rpm in 4th for a bit: https://vid.me/U1zU

What do you guys think of it. Sorry the videos hardly show anything.

I'm not sure if the high fuel consumption is due to most of the time driving short trips. For example, tonight after doing the recording, as you can see even barely accelerating, the car showed 3km travelled at 14L/100km.

Maybe I should wait until I take it for a run on the freeway before saying any further?

V!

[car_nut]

Hi V, I realised my suggestion to record instantaneous l/100k at 2000 rpm in 4th was a dumb one when I tried it myself, so hard to hold a steady 2000 rpm.

I will try with cruise control, 4th gear in manual mode, in next few days to see if that gives a steadier reading. Meanwhile as you suggested a country trip will be the best indicator.

[brad]

WTF is a tank? "How many km do you get to a tank" is the most inaccurate measure of fuel consumption ever.

As the MFD readout also varies greatly, the only (close to) accurate way of measuring consumption is a tank to tank fill measuring litres added and kilometres traveled. You should also note your average speed for comparison purposes.

My wife gets lousy consumption out of her 2.4L people mover (worse than the Kluger up above) but her average speed is only 27kph due to inner city driving.

To the OP: Don't even think about economy until you've done about 5000km. Until then, drive it quite briskly so that you bed it in properly.

Short trips and inner city driving will never give good economy. Buy an e-bike for the short trips

As a comparison, I have the gen1 1.8tsi in a 1400kg Octavia (Polo is about 1000kg??). I average 6.6l/100km but 80% of my driving is motorway. Average speed on the MFD is 55kph.

[Sydneykid]

Keep in mind that cold start and run enrichment is around 12% to 15% depending on temperature. So when doing shorts runs, it may take the engine some time to reach operating temperature, especially in winter, which will affect the overall fuel economy.


Cheers
Gary

[seangti]

Yeah what Brad said. Difficult/irrelevant to benchmark on such a new engine and with your commute, it'd barely be beyond it's cold start cycle and turned off. Get out on the highway for 50+km of steady driving and see what you get, even than, I'd be waiting till 3000+kms travelled before getting a gauge of efficiency as I'd expect it to run a bit richer when new.

[brad]

They are as tight as a fishes butt.

Mine improved significantly at 5000km and continued to improve right through to ~20,000km.