Just Bought A4 and having really LOW MPG
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Just Bought A4 and having really LOW MPG
Hey all, I just bought a CPO 2011 A4 2.0T Quattro w/Tiptronic with 6500 miles and after just over a week (less than 300 miles driven) I'm only getting 14.5 mpg. I don't think it's my driving, I went from driving a Saab 2.0T to this so I'm used to the turbo. I got the car with a full tank of gas that lasted about 200 miles, filled up and drove 70 miles and the fuel gauge is midway between half and 3/4. My driving normal commute is 25 miles, about 70% rural roads speed limit 45-55 and the rest stop and go city traffic.
Should I take the car back to have checked or is it me??? I bought this instead of a pickup because of the high mpg so now I'm really doubting my decision!
Should I take the car back to have checked or is it me??? I bought this instead of a pickup because of the high mpg so now I'm really doubting my decision!
AudiWorld Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 226
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From: Urbana, IL
Poor mileage
This low mileage does not seem correct to me. I have a 2009 Prestige with a 6 MT and when I do road trips on secondary roads (55 mph) I can get 34 mpg. True, in town my mileage drops to the mid 20s. Are you using 91 octane gasoline? Look at your tail pipes, are they very black? Could you be running rich? Perhaps you are getting poor combustion. Lighten up on your acceleration and learn to coast to a stop. But if this low mileage persists I would bring it up with the dealer.
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Yes I put 91 in and I don't drive with a lead foot (my wife says I drive like grandpa). My Saab 9-3 was getting 24-26 MPG doing the same route, sure it's a different car but I think they're similar enough where there shouldn't be a 10+ mpg difference.
I do plan on going through a few tanks before calling the dealer and looking like a fool but wanted to ask around to see if anyone else is in a similar situation.
I do plan on going through a few tanks before calling the dealer and looking like a fool but wanted to ask around to see if anyone else is in a similar situation.
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Maybe you should wait a few thousand more miles for things to settle down, but honestly your numbers only slightly surprise me.
I don't drive extremely aggressively, but in my 2.0T A4 I get low 20's in sparse city traffic (e.g. not stop and go). If your trip is a mix of rural and stop-and-go, it might be worse than my route.
Definitely be careful about how much you dig into the boost when driving. Audi seems to have tuned the 2.0T well for performance -- even using half throttle at 3000-ish RPM to climb up to the speed limit TANKS your fuel economy compared to taking it slow and easy at around 2100rpm.
BTW, you might be close to breaking my unofficial low record for a tank at around 13mpg. I decided to drive aggressively to and from work for a week to see what happens. Not good
I don't drive extremely aggressively, but in my 2.0T A4 I get low 20's in sparse city traffic (e.g. not stop and go). If your trip is a mix of rural and stop-and-go, it might be worse than my route.
Definitely be careful about how much you dig into the boost when driving. Audi seems to have tuned the 2.0T well for performance -- even using half throttle at 3000-ish RPM to climb up to the speed limit TANKS your fuel economy compared to taking it slow and easy at around 2100rpm.
BTW, you might be close to breaking my unofficial low record for a tank at around 13mpg. I decided to drive aggressively to and from work for a week to see what happens. Not good
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AudiWorld Senior Member
Joined: May 2009
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From: Raleigh, NC
How are you calculating this? From the DIS? DIS isn't that accurate.
If you're getting 200 miles to a tank, then something is wrong. I get an average of 335-350miles to the tank (16 gal each fillup). My commute is similar, except I average 42MPH with a little stop & go.
...I got the car with a full tank of gas that lasted about 200 miles, filled up and drove 70 miles and the fuel gauge is midway between half and 3/4. My driving normal commute is 25 miles, about 70% rural roads speed limit 45-55 and the rest stop and go city traffic. ...
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From: OC, CA
14.5 seems a bit too low for a 6500 miles A4. Brand new B8 normally makes 12-17/Slow-City (not your case) in first about 2K miles. My B8 A4/S4x2 all start low (17/21) then, after about 2K miles, suddenly do 21-24/city (also seen on a 1500miles 2012 A4 loaner) & 27-32/highway (A4) or 25-28 (S4). - I'd suggest to test with pure highway at 60-70mph for 20 miles (better if use cruise control). If it's lower than 21MPG, see dealer. I guess the abnormal low MPG in your case might be somehow caused by previous owner's driving style, since it's only 6500 miles, you still have chance to "correct" and "teach" the car do better.
Oh, driving like a careful grandpa (hits break very often or constantly foot on the gas) may cause such low MPG. Speed plays a role in resulting MPG. B8 (compared to, say, BMW-3) is the kind of car that you hit the gas once then it can take much longer (time & distance) than you think to slow down to 20mph before you hit the gas again. Plus, road conditions (dry, wet, snow) obviously make different on MPG - the efforts for the car to move at same speed are different.
Oh, driving like a careful grandpa (hits break very often or constantly foot on the gas) may cause such low MPG. Speed plays a role in resulting MPG. B8 (compared to, say, BMW-3) is the kind of car that you hit the gas once then it can take much longer (time & distance) than you think to slow down to 20mph before you hit the gas again. Plus, road conditions (dry, wet, snow) obviously make different on MPG - the efforts for the car to move at same speed are different.
Last edited by bimmers2; Mar 17, 2012 at 11:04 AM.
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I just checked and the tail pipes are black and completely covered in soot, came off easily when I touched it. I take it that's not normal? Man I always wanted an Audi and now I'm starting to regret it!!