VW lies cause the US gov can't take it?

[ivyTDI]

Ok - I wasn't going to believe it but then, there it was in black and white - a mileage correction on the NB TDI. There are picts attached if you don't believe it - I didn't.

Now, here's what I found out (correct me if I'm wrong):
Apparently the US gov made them 'revamp' the mileage to a more realistic number so as to make the market more even for the consumer. Any reports of mileages over what the new offical mileages list are simply flukes of good driving and excellent engine maintenance.

I really thought they could leave our little bugs alone.
oh well.

Has anyone else heard of this? The dealership that I got the brochure from wasn't the one who filled me in, it was a friend of mine from another dealership who's brochures were retrofitted the same way.

[Whitacre]

You know, i noticed those 58MPG on the booklet thing awhile back before i bought my tdi. I thought, DAMN that has to be a misprint. Im not really sure what the deal is, or how you could prove anything. But it'd be nice if the mileage was that high from the get go.

I have yet to see a correction sticker.

[CGK]

I agree that 58 mpg is a bit over the top. My wife's 04 TDI now has 56k on it and with cruise set to 70, two passengers, no load and tires at 38 psi all around, we have gotten 51.3 mpg travelling from NC to CT. BTW - I always use Power Service fuel additive in every tank of fuel.

[Metal Man]

Obviously a misprint. Has anyone seen a window sticker with 58mpg on it? I doubt it. My 99NB was rated 41(?)/ 49 and I get low 40's.

[kcfoxie]

58... not unless it's the 3cyl turbo charged ecoracer.

[jpdeuce]

There are people getting that kind of mileage...but it takes specific conditions. Conditions much like the EPA tests them in. For instance...if you drive alot of highway miles and you keep the cruise set to 55mph, you would get pretty close to that number. But no one drives that slow...which furthers my point that the EPA numbers and testing are worthless. But if that's the same test every car goes through then the numbers should not be changed unless all of them are going to change. It's just arbitrary.

I agree though that 58 isn't realistic. But the EPA numbers on the car are only good for comparing cars...not an expectation of what you will actually get. And for that purpose they should have left the numbers alone.

Just my opinion. Probably worth what you paid for it.

[ivyTDI]

Ok, while I agree that 58 is a little high, 37/44 is incredibly low for what I've been getting. In town, I'm getting closer to 40/42 and on the highway closer to 52/55. Perhaps 37/44 is the average but still - on a diesel? Just seems a little low to me. I do a lot of highway driving, along the PA turnpike, NJ turnpike and off onto little state highways to get to the photoshoot locations and at my best I got from Wilmington, Delaware to Niagara Falls and 1/3 of the way back (with 4 days of driving around up there) before I had to fuel up.

I guess they're going for the 'aim low so when it's better they're happy' approach.

[Deserion]

Originally Posted by ivyTDI

Ok, while I agree that 58 is a little high, 37/44 is incredibly low for what I've been getting. In town, I'm getting closer to 40/42 and on the highway closer to 52/55. Perhaps 37/44 is the average but still - on a diesel? Just seems a little low to me. I do a lot of highway driving, along the PA turnpike, NJ turnpike and off onto little state highways to get to the photoshoot locations and at my best I got from Wilmington, Delaware to Niagara Falls and 1/3 of the way back (with 4 days of driving around up there) before I had to fuel up.

I guess they're going for the 'aim low so when it's better they're happy' approach.

A: The PD-TDI in 2004+ VWs did take a mileage hit. The 1998-2003 TDIs did get better economy.

B: The MPG figures on the correction sticker are what they have been, and the figures listed on the window sticker and on VW.com

-Des

[larryziegler]

Originally Posted by jpdeuce

There are people getting that kind of mileage...but it takes specific conditions. Conditions much like the EPA tests them in. For instance...if you drive alot of highway miles and you keep the cruise set to 55mph, you would get pretty close to that number. But no one drives that slow...which furthers my point that the EPA numbers and testing are worthless. But if that's the same test every car goes through then the numbers should not be changed unless all of them are going to change. It's just arbitrary.

The EPA numbers on Hondas driven in real world conditions are pretty darn accurate, especially the highway mileage figures. Having owned 3 Hondas in the last year and my parents have a Honda Accord and had an Acura Legend. It is/was very VERY easy to meet the EPA rated highway numbers driving at 75080mph on the freeway for any of these cars. Driven much slower, the EPA highway numbewrs were beat by 10-15%. As an example, my 99 Civic AT I had, taken on a trip where I was driving around 72 mph, got 39 mpg (rated at 35mpg hwy) on flat ground with A/C on. I alwasy got at least 34 mpg out of it, usually driving between 80-85mph on the hwy. 2 years ago, my wife following me down to San Diego in our CR-V AWD AT got 30 mpg (rated at 25mpg hwy) at a speed between 68-70mph. Again, the way I drive it, it gets 24-26mpg depending on load and speed (shoebox shape you know). City driving is a much bigger challenge, I will admit. You have to drive VERY VERY conservatively to get the EPA city mileage. I have achieved it acouple of times, but it took much restraint in my driving habits to do. Even past Chevy trucks I had, had no problem meeting or exceeding the EPA mileage....but that was back when the double nickel speed limit was in force and typical freeway speeds were no higher than 65 mph...usually closer to 60. As far as my "real world" experience goes, the EPA numbers for city are tough to meet, but very easy to meet with the hwy figures they use. In Calif, we have a more air friendly fuel we must use, which lowers fuel mileage by 1-2 mpg. Our real life experience with the Beetle (2.0) has been slightly lower than EPA ratings, though I know some of you exceed it, so I'll chalk up our data to the individual car itself and our driving habits.

[GalinHdz]

If the NB TDI brochure is from England, then the 54+ MPG will be correct. They measure fuel in IMPERIAL Galons which is about 1.2 times more than a US Galon. So simple math shows if you can go 45 miles on one US galon, you will go 54 miles on one Imperial Galon.

45 * 1.2 = 54

[macdave]

Originally Posted by GalinHdz

If the NB TDI brochure is from England, then the 54+ MPG will be correct. They measure fuel in IMPERIAL Galons which is about 1.2 times more than a US Galon. So simple math shows if you can go 45 miles on one US galon, you will go 54 miles on one Imperial Galon.

45 * 1.2 = 54

That makes a lot more sense. I don't think anyone gets 40mpg with the 2.5l engine. With the convertion it would be 33mpg

[DR.billZ]

Probably the same person that rated the Prius

[GalinHdz]

Originally Posted by macdave

That makes a lot more sense. I don't think anyone gets 40mpg with the 2.5l engine. With the convertion it would be 33mpg

My NB TDI's (I have 3 of them) get between 40-43MPG depending on how much highway travel I do. City MPG will depend on your particular city and how bad the traffic was during your measurements. I am lucky I don't have real bad city traffic so I still average in the high 30's low 40's.

I got 45MPG a few times but this was flat highway, 55MPH, cruise control on, no A/C, no stops and no traffic. NOT how I typically drive.

Like the old Sammy Hagar song goes, "I Can't Dive 55!".

[Benny Beetle]

To confirm what Des said.... Our maual TDI gets 60 on the highway. And about 48 city.

[GalinHdz]

Originally Posted by Benny Beetle

To confirm what Des said.... Our maual TDI gets 60 on the highway. And about 48 city.

WOW! 60MPH is incredible. I am curious to find out how are you measuring this. Are you compensating for filling errors by using the exact same pump and letting the nozzle click off by itself every time you fill up? I assume you are resetting the trip odometer when you fill up and make the calculations at the pump before moving the car. Have you done any modifications from stock VW? Do you get these numbers out of every fillup or do the numbers vary? What kind of traffic patterns and speeds do you encounter on the "Highway" and in the "City"?

I want to do whatever it is that you are doing to get that kind of mileage. Best I have ever gotten was 47MPG.

[GalinHdz]

Originally Posted by Benny Beetle

To confirm what Des said.... Our maual TDI gets 60 on the highway. And about 48 city.

WOW! 60MPH is incredible. I am curious to find out how are you measuring this. Are you compensating for filling errors by using the exact same pump and letting the nozzle click off by itself every time you fill up? I assume you are resetting the trip odometer when you fill up and make the calculations at the pump before moving the car. Have you done any modifications from stock VW? Do you get these numbers out of every fillup or do the numbers vary? What kind of traffic patterns and speeds do you encounter on the "Highway" and in the "City"?

I want to do whatever it is that you are doing to get that kind of mileage. Best I have ever gotten was 47MPG and that was only once!