2.5L & 6 Speed Automatic - Fuel Economy

[digifant_gli]

Hey Guys;

I was just wondering, but for those of you with 2.5L Beetle Convertibles, how long did it take before you noticed an increase in your fuel efficiency? We are at about 17,500km and the car is still drinking fuel like a sailor...I was wondering if the 2.5 is a gas guzzler or if it is slow to break in...I know with our 2003 Beetle, the 2.0L took almost 24,000km before it "loosened up" and returned better mileage.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks;

Peter

[Maggadog]

Mine went to 30 mpg within 5000 miles, and has stayed in that range ever since.

[boogety boogety]

~800 miles Dallas-Austin for SXSW and back, on regular gas, with highway speeds of 75-85mph and city traffic headaches in town (will Austin city leaders ever synchronize the stoopid lights on Congress Avenue?!?), using cruise on the highways, 44 lbs. air in all 4 tires, no racing starts from stops, but passing spiritedly when required (dropping to S or using the Tip manually to downshift like I like to do), and with ~4800 miles on the clock (well, ~5600 now)...

31.5 mpg overall.

[overlander64]

I was really a little worried when my first two tanks of fuel only averaged 28 MPG. By the third tank (1,450 miles), my average was up to 30 MPG. My most recent two tanks have been 31 MPG and 33 MPG. The 33 MPG was on an extended Interstate trip with the cruise set at 62 MPH. I have been utilizing premium fuel as recommended in the owner's manual.

My New Beetle was my dealer's local promotions car -- was used by local celebrity's wife in return for his being their spokesperson on local television and radio advertising -- so it had 924 miles on the odometer when I purchased it as a "demonstrator".

Kevin

[dasmurph]

I have NEVER seen over 27mpg in either of my 2.5's. I took a trip to Seattle, WA from Vancouver, WA and back with the cruise set about 90% of the time and it has never gone above 27mpg...Phoebe has over 16k on her now and I was extra careful in breaking it in. You may be one of the unlucky ones like me that gets one of the lame MPG engines

[07harvestmoon88]

I have actually seen 38-40 MPG out of my bug. I know it sounds crazy but I have done it. It was on the interstate and I had cruise on 65 the whole way. I didn't get over 25 when I first got my bug, But now I have 14,000 and a high flow filter and get high 30's when my foots out of it.

[CLOTAGAMES]

Around 4000 miles-25 mpg is all i'm getting. Hope it gets better.

[digifant_gli]

Thanks for the replies. Today I drove a 110km round trip to see my friends in Hamilton...I had the cruise control on the whole way at 110 km/h. I left home with exactly 1/2 tank of fuel and burned a quarter tank on the round trip....that seems like an awful lot of fuel to go through in a short span of time. I checked with my VAG COM and couldn't find any faults or anything out of the ordinary.....so truth be told...I'm stumped.

[boogety boogety]

That's because you're not measuring your use accurately. The gauge is set up so if you fill it to the fill-stop, you can drive a good 300-350 miles on the top half of the gauge, then it drops a lot faster. I usually fill up (and I always fill up, I never do part tanks) when the fill-up light glares at me, usually with around 430-450 miles on the odo. If you're measuring from the half-way point, you're getting an apparent different rate of consumption.

Do this:

Go to your bank and get a line of credit.
Use new-found fortune to fill up your tank to fill-stop.
Push in the odo to zero it out.
Drive normally.
When near empty, access line of credit again and fill to stop.
Use handy-dandy calculator. Enter miles driven since last fill-up and divide by gallons/fraction used.
Voilá! Your MPG appears.

BTW, the 2.5 runs fine on 87 octane regular gas. I started to put 91 premium in ours for a while, just out of habit from the 1.8T in the '03, but both the label on the gas lid and the OM calls for 87 octane. I lost absolutely no mileage when I switched to regular and there is no knocking or loss of performance... so, FYI... save a few bucks!

[digifant_gli]

Originally Posted by boogety boogety

That's because you're not measuring your use accurately. The gauge is set up so if you fill it to the fill-stop, you can drive a good 300-350 miles on the top half of the gauge, then it drops a lot faster. I usually fill up (and I always fill up, I never do part tanks) when the fill-up light glares at me, usually with around 430-450 miles on the odo. If you're measuring from the half-way point, you're getting an apparent different rate of consumption.

Do this:

Go to your bank and get a line of credit.
Use new-found fortune to fill up your tank to fill-stop.
Push in the odo to zero it out.
Drive normally.
When near empty, access line of credit again and fill to stop.
Use handy-dandy calculator. Enter miles driven since last fill-up and divide by gallons/fraction used.
Voilá! Your MPG appears.

BTW, the 2.5 runs fine on 87 octane regular gas. I started to put 91 premium in ours for a while, just out of habit from the 1.8T in the '03, but both the label on the gas lid and the OM calls for 87 octane. I lost absolutely no mileage when I switched to regular and there is no knocking or loss of performance... so, FYI... save a few bucks!

Well, I'm in the process of taking out a second mortgage so I can fuel the car...I will fill the tank to full and monitor the mileage from there.

[buckeev]

Line of Credit!!! Ain't it the truth!???

Lookin' at a 2007 now...hopin' to go strike a deal tomorrow.

[boogety boogety]

Weep openly for our TDI cousins, for they are now pumping $4.00+ a gallon fuel into their admittedly less thirsty cars... and before you chuckle quietly and heartlessly at their predicament, my oil-bidness friends say (and they're pretty trustworthy with stuff like this) we gas burners will be peaking out at somewhere near $4.50 a gallon by Labor Day (and that's without the Iranians getting their panties in a wad or something equally dire happening between now and then)...

[DoucheBug]

My '06 Vert is only getting about 26 mpg. Frustrating!! Just got 4 new tires and it made it worse!! The car has 20,000 miles on it so I'm sure it's broken in. It's mostly city driving but very few stop lights. Just back roads to work with maybe 2 stop lights.
Maybe I should try premium fuel? Just putting in the regular stuff 87 octane.

[pasadenagrand]

Originally Posted by DoucheBug

My '06 Vert is only getting about 26 mpg. Frustrating!! Just got 4 new tires and it made it worse!! The car has 20,000 miles on it so I'm sure it's broken in. It's mostly city driving but very few stop lights. Just back roads to work with maybe 2 stop lights.
Maybe I should try premium fuel? Just putting in the regular stuff 87 octane.

Might your mileage be a bit lower cuz of the extra weight of the vert top? My tin top is getting about 28mpg with about 3000 miles on it...and I have been known to have a heavy foot! Also, I'm not a small man...over 6ft and over 250lb.

From what I hear and have read, the newer NBs w/ the 2.5 are designed to use regular 87 octane, so I doubt that using a higher grade would do it...maybe a higher quality gas??

[amrharrymac]

Hi Everybody;
I'm getting 25.3 average with 93 octane and 4755 miles.
This is my 1st tank; next time it's 87 octane.

NewBeetle.org website forums are righteous!

[Maggadog]

I tried 93 octane to see if it really had any advantage over the 87 octane the 2.5 liter is designed to use. No differrence, except in the pocketbook.

[redoodlebug]

I daily commute, mostly interstate and as often as possible I set the cruise, normally between 70-75. My 07 just turned 10k miles, and I am consistently getting between 30, and more often 32 mpg.

[boogety boogety]

Better mileage? No sweat. Here's what you doooo:

87 octane. Premium is a waste for the 2.5L engines.
Tires at 44# all around. Forget what the sticker says. trust me.
The biggest factor: Drive sensibly (look ahead... if you see a red light coming up, get off the throttle and coast instead of driving right up to the light and slamming on the brakes; no speedy starts; no accelerating as much as possible, just cruuuuuuuise, etc.). To augment the above and to prove it to you: Get yourself a ScanGageII or equivalent, or borrow one from a buddy. Plug the thing in and set the display to see what your instant mileage is as you drive normally for a week. You'll be surprised at what a waste of gas it is how you drive now. Adapt your driving to get the highest instant mileage readout. After a week, you'll be so good at driving with the highest gas mileage possible, you'll be beside yourself with joy.

I'll betcha a donut... if you're now getting 18 MPG, do the above and you'll get 25.
If 25, 30.
If 30, 32.
If 32, man, you're doing great, but I bet you'll eke out 33-34 once in a while.

I didn't believe my habits had such an effect on mileage either, but one of the cars in our fleet is an Insight, with a instant fuel consumption meter right on the dash. I got so used to driving the little bugger, the mileage on all our cars went up when I drove (not when My Beloved drives, but that's another story). Even our Big Ass Van (a Dodge Ram Conversion Van) went from 13 to 17 MPG... just from bumping up the tires' air pressure and driving more intelligently...

[JonK]

Hi,

On my Trip to KY, My first stop was WV, on first tank I got 34 MPG, and from WV to KY I got 31 MPG I didn't see the MPG go up until I was over 10K miles!!! And Around my home I Ave. 28 MPG!


I just love my 2.5 Auto Bug,


Happy Driving,


JonK

[Topless Forever]

Drove from Nova Scotia to Florida and return.I managed a best of 37mpg cdn(imp) on my return.All interstate@ 75-80 mph.Averaged 35 on most fillups and yes on some days,3 fill ups.06/2.5 auto convert.And yes I enjoyed every mile.