TDi fuel economy?

[SneakyMcC]

Hey, you guys with TDi D3's. What do you really get around town from the different engines? When asked about the petrol engines in the past, many of the mileage/fuel figures given turn out that most of the miles are motorway/ fast A Roads... The 4ltr cars seem to have better spec's than the 3.0ltr cars.

Plus, as an aside, why did Audi do the 4.2 and then 4ltr TDi's? Also, where did all the sunroof's go?

[Mitchet]

05 plate 3.0TDI quattro: My usual commute to work is about 12 miles, of which 85% is on straight A-roads with the rest being town driving. During the summer I'll get on average 32mpg, but in the winter it drops to around 30mpg (both figures assume I'm having one of those "sensible" driving days and not attempting to overtake anything in my sight!).

On a longer journey (100+ miles), I can get up to 36mpg, but I've never seen it higher.

Must admit - I do wonder what improvement could be had with a good remap!?

I believe the 4.0TDI was the first engine, which was superseded by the 4.2TDI, which has better fuel economy and performance.

As for sunroofs - I've heard too many stories about leaks to be bothered about having one. The A8 is so roomy inside, it doesn't really need one IMO.

Edited January 7, 2011 by Mitchet

[SneakyMcC]

Thank you for your reply. Our motoring is trundling to Tesco's and the school run mainly. Our old 3.7ltr petrol really does need replacing and manages about 15-17mpg on our journeys (at 40mph it does 38-40mpg!). I'm doubting that a diesel is going to do very well for our motoring? With regard the sunroofs, in the warmer months I like to drive roof open/windows down...

[PsYcHe]

If you're not doing much in the way of miles then the diesel premium may not be worth it.. There's loads of 4.2 D3s out there pretty cheap. Some do have sunroofs in them, I think they were an option in the D3 and weren't in the D2 (at least I've never seen a D2 without one).

[SneakyMcC]

The 4.2 is where I would go, but MrS McC wont have another guzzler. We didn't LPG our current 8 cause we'd never have it long enough to recover the costs. We've had this car 10yrs/70k miles!

[PsYcHe]

Yeah.. but given the premium on diesels, the extra cost of diesel, etc. You could get a better 4.2 and LPG it for the same money, then be even better off.

[beemerboy9]

Look, if you're getting 15-17mpg around town on a 3.7l petrol D2 then that will improve to say 21-24 mpg on a 4.0 or 4.2TDi and maybe 23-27 on 3.0TDi. Any car that weighs almost 2 tonnes is going to guzzle fuel.

I hope this does not dispel the myth that is in your head!!

[RRH685]

I average circa 21mpg 'around town' in my 4.0TDi- and around 34 with mixed town / motorway usage.

[jules_1955]

I have just parted with my 2004 D3 3.0tdi at 138,000 mls. Whole life from new economy was 34.8 mpg. Long journeys cruising at 70mph on motorways would give over 40 mpg easily. Best ever journey 75 mls, country/urban either end, mostly motorway, 64 mph average @ 45 mpg. New car (D4 3.0tdi) looking to be very similar overall.

[mik2855]

My '08 3.0Tdi Sport has averaged 31.5mpg over its whole life. My driving consists of 7 mile commutes to my office and fairly regular motorway journeys. On motorway journeys I get 36-38mpg at 80-90mph cruising

[Engineered]

Reporting on my '07 3.0 Tdi, which has the optional 19" RS6 wheels. These, whilst not seeming to impact on ride quality, possibly have a detrimental affect on the fuel consumption.

I commute into North London daily, which impacts on fuel consumption which averages out at 32 overall, with 35+ or a bit more being easily achievable driving on dual carriageways and motorways (and not being too lead footed!). Although made of (lightweight?) aluminium - this is still a big car, with lots of (heavy) gadgets and the permanent four wheel drive results in both extra weight and extra mechanical losses - meaning "Mondeo/Vectra style" diesel economy (45+mpg) is always going to be out of reach.

I've only had mine for a couple of months now, and suspect that consumption might improve once the frosty starts become history (but before the A/C has to work hard).

I once managed 40.2MPG - on a fine (unfrosty) five AM run into to work, doing sixty max on the motorway, with all the North London traffic lights in my favour, but that is very much the exception.

Fantastic car, I'm delighted with it. The torque is superb, and all the family agree that it is far better built and finished than my last car ( a Mercedes Benz CLK350).

[Irfan a8]

hi mate ive had 4 d3 a8 tdis over the past few years, i have never got more than 35 out of any of them on a run, on average this is town and motorway driving i get 30/32 mpg. this figure can drop to 25-28 mpg if u are stuck in london traffic for a while. one of the cars had a otteinger remap for both engine and gearbox, this improved performance but the fuel economy was not any better than standard cars ive had. The best fuel consumption i had from an a8 was a d2 3.7 quattro which used to achieve 38 mpg or more on motorway journeys and average was 30-32mpg . if you dont do alot of miles i would prefer a petrol over a diesel. im a chauffeur and do mega miles hence try to got the diesel route.