Gas Mileage on a 2003 New Beetle GL 2.0

[stephysykotik]

Okay so on the highway i've driven about an hour and 10 minutes away .. about 65.6 miles. I've used about a 1/4 tank from full... i noticed the car struggling when i give it gas. Replaced the air filter on it (it was beyond dirty) ... anyways going up a hill it seems to lose power, i've taken a look at the motor and i seen no cracks or melted tubes, pipes etc anywhere. What can be causing my car power to drain and the gas sucking completely.

Please help!!

[VDubYah]

If the filter was that dirty my 1st thing would be clean maf sensor (Use MAF cleaner only. Then get it scanned for codes. Other things plugs, wires, coil, o2 sensors, catalytic converter, vaccuum leak. Hence the scan to see if it can be narrowed down.

[Burke]

I made the huge mistake (oversite) in the fuel filter. $10 and 10min later, i had a massive improvement in power again on mine. heh. oops.
For the intake i use K&N of course. been on there for 6years.

[geniushanbiao]

Originally Posted by stephysykotik

Okay so on the highway i've driven about an hour and 10 minutes away .. about 65.6 miles. I've used about a 1/4 tank from full... i noticed the car struggling when i give it gas. Replaced the air filter on it (it was beyond dirty) ... anyways going up a hill it seems to lose power, i've taken a look at the motor and i seen no cracks or melted tubes, pipes etc anywhere. What can be causing my car power to drain and the gas sucking completely.

Please help!!

There're a lot of things related to power and fuel economy. I'd suggest you check from out to in. First see whether your check engine light is on. If it's on then you have to get it scanned and it could tell you what's going on with the engine and correct the problem first. Then I would check tires and brakes. Make sure tires are with proper inflation and proper size, brakes are not dragging including hand brake. If these have been done and no improvement, I'd do a fuel filter change.

By the way, my '99 2.0 automatic only gets 28-30mpg on highway which means a full tank can go at most 350 miles. 65.6 miles is 1/5 of this and should use 1/5 of gas. Yes 1/4 on fuel gauge usually means more than 1/4 gas so your NB is eating gas.

[D2Beetle]

All of my NB's are manuals and I get on average 350-400 miles to a tank and I use only 93 octane in all of them.

[stephysykotik]

hmm that's odd because there's no check engine light on and when we scanned for codes, it came up with nothing.

Do you think changing the spark plugs, and getting new wires could do it?

I've went about 200miles... just a little over a half tank of gas ... i also used STP Super Concentrated Fuel Injector Cleaner ... and it seemed to improve the performance in the car.

:/

I guess it's typical to get the mpg that im getting?

Thank you all for answering!

[Smileybug]

Sounds about right to me. And you won't know your true mpg until you fill up. I've learned (its been difficult though haha) to stop staring at the gas gauge and use it as a mpg calculator. I figure out my mileage when I fill up. I reset the odo after every fill-up. Much better than guesstimating from the gauge.

My 2.0 would get about that. But it all depends on driving and such too. Auto or manual? Auto will get a few mpg less than a manual.

[nitroman]

Originally Posted by Smileybug

... I've learned (its been difficult though haha) to stop staring at the gas gauge and use it as a mpg calculator. I figure out my mileage when I fill up. I reset the odo after every fill-up. Much better than guesstimating from the gauge.

I also do it this way because my gas gauge is not accurate, it doesn't seem to drop consistently. I find that when tank is full, the gauge drops slower but when it gets to about 1/2 to 1/3 full it drops a lot faster. Calculating when I fill up is a lot more accurate.

[Smileybug]

Yup. My NB was the same way. My GTI seems to be a bit more accurate, but if you stop on a hill for a light or something the gauge will read lower and slowly come back to the right level. I freaked out a lot when I first got my GTI (I really wanted to get some good mileage around town) but when I fill up, even when I think the tank is crap for mileage, its always about the same.

[janitz]

Originally Posted by nitroman

I also do it this way because my gas gauge is not accurate, it doesn't seem to drop consistently. I find that when tank is full, the gauge drops slower but when it gets to about 1/2 to 1/3 full it drops a lot faster. Calculating when I fill up is a lot more accurate.

I noticed on the TDI that the first 1/2 of the tank is only good for 300-400KM, and then the bottom half is good for another 600-700KM.

Gets about 1000km in the summer, drops quite a bit in the winter, down to 850km. Damn cold weather and low cetane winter diesel.

[D2Beetle]

Originally Posted by stephysykotik

... i also used STP Super Concentrated Fuel Injector Cleaner ... and it seemed to improve the performance in the car. ...

My owners manual says not to use fuel additives.

[stephysykotik]

The cleaner i used improved my mileage
Pretty happy....letting my car go close to e to find out

[Bratgirl]

I use gas buddy to track my mileage. If you go to this link
GasBuddy.com - Find Low Gas Prices in the USA and Canada, enter your city, and from there you can create a user profile and under the tab "Fuel Logbook", you can enter every gas purchase and your mileage and it calculates everything for you. It figures it from your cars acutal mileage, not the odometer, so it is a little more accurate in case you forget to reset the odo, like I do a LOT.
Eazy Peezy Lemon Squeezy...
Barb

[Smileybug]

I use Fuelly...you can use the trip meter or the odo.

[Bratgirl]

Originally Posted by Smileybug

I use Fuelly...you can use the trip meter or the odo.

I've not heard of that one. I will have to check it out.

[HudsonValleyVDub]

I'm using 87 octane and getting about 30 to 32 MPG. Spark plugs and wires would be my 1st change...especially if not done in 30k miles. It's possible for them to be going bad and not trip the MIL.

[ltlbeetle]

Ultra-gauge will tell you instantly what MPG you get. Got it in my truck now and will check it in NB next trip. Will prob. get another for the bug soon. $70 after rebate