2L A6 S Line Ultra TDI Black edition - Newbie question ?

[Wisp13]

Hi Folks

Newbie here, and 1st post so hope you'll be gentle.................Recently picked up my ( 9 month old )  2L A6 S line Ultra TDI Black edition Auto with 7k on the clock, and I'm delighted with it, lots of toys and drives really nice, but need to pick your brains. I'm covering mostly motorway miles ( 1,500 in 1st month of ownership ), and although I'm driving like Miss Dairy at around constant 65mph, I'm only getting 44mpg - I've checked brim to brim, and the numbers are correct. Is this about right for this 2L car, as I'm quite disappointed by the low mpg return in relation to the manufacturers claimed figures ( I know they just think of a number & double it most of the time, and it usually bears no relation to real life ! )? Im just out a 3 year old BMW 520d M sport Auto, and was enjoying easily 56mpg on average on exactly the same journey, so the A6 is returning 12 mpg less ( - 20% or so ). In your experience, does this sound "normal" for this car ?  I've tried it up both on comfort & also Auto mode ,and there's very little difference on the mileage. 

Is this MPG about right, or is there possibly an issue I should be aware of ?

Hope to hear from you guys soon......and thanks !

 

[Trevor]

I would say that 44mpg is not too bad overall but way short of manufacturer claims.

The manufacturer claims have recently been proved as inaccurate as they were carried out on a rolling road simulation...so I wouldn't worry too much about what they claim.

Several A7 owners have complained of even lower mpg figures.

Remapping may increase economy so possibly worth looking into.

Cheers  Trevor

 

 

 

[Wisp13]

Hi Trevor thanks for the reply, and I know that manufacturers claims are myth & legend lol

I'm a bit concerned as the MGP does seem very low compare to my previous car, and also when I had an identical A6 from the dealership as a courtesy car a couple weeks ago, I was into the high 50's MPG for exactly the same journey, with no traffic jams etc to affect the figures.

Any ideas what I should be looking out for, or maybe best to get it booked in for inspection and see if anything is amiss ?  I know what you say about remapping, but I don't fancy buying an expensive car ,to go and spend a few hundred more to get the MPG up to where an identical car is performing ?  Any ideas gratefully accepted.....  :-) 

[Trevor]

I can see your point...getting it checked over is definitely a good place to start though.

Keep us informed of progress

[Lons]

Manufacturer figures ar pie in the sky.

I had a 2011 A6 saloon which returned mid to high 40s then a 2014 A4 avant quatro black ed manual which was low 40s and changed a couple of weeks ago to a 4 month old A6 avant quatro black ed S-tronic which I'm lucky to get 40 mpg out of around the doors. I'm a low mileage user so not so important but it's annoying that the stated mpg figures are completely useless.

I love the car btw but was disappointed the mirrors didn't fold when locking the car. There's no fix available yet from Audi but my dealer did a manual fix for me yesterday

Bob

[Magnet]

Hello Wilson,

I can understand your disappointment, but you really have to forget about comparing the economy with that of your previous  BMW car. There isn't any scope there for a like for like comparison. 

I don't think you can realistically compare your on-road mpg with that which the manufacturers claim during bench testing etc. I think it's common knowledge that such figures are seldom achieved. 

Where I think you can reasonably compare, is what you managed to achieve in the same model driven in the same manner and conditions over the same journey, and by what you say, your current car is not as economical, and that is real.

If it were mine, I would go back to basics and check the tyre pressures are as recommended ( you may or maynot be surprised how many people just don't check tyre pressures on a regular basis). Refill with non supermarket fuel ( to be sure) and reassess your mpg over the same journey conditions. 

If still the same and you have proof that the other same-model car was much more economical then I would be returning it for checks.

Good luck.

Gareth.

[Trevor]

I recently witnessed a drop in mpg in my Honda CRV cdti and this was due to two things.

Firstly, the clutch has started slipping slightly (common fault on these) which is contributing to the lower mpg (was 48 then started dropping to around 39).

Secondly, just changed the oil and the mpg has increased slightly to around a constant 42 mpg which is acceptable until I replace the clutch.

As Gareth has suggested, all factors such as tyre pressures, quality of fuel, etc all contribute to the overall mpg obtained.

 

[Whizzbang]

Morning all,  I've read this with a degree of interest as I too can relate to the issue of MPG on the A6 however I can throw a little light on the subject, not much but a little.  It's very very common for manufacturers to manipulate their mpg figures so to return the best taxation brackets for the class of vehicle along with and as you know this bit.... to bolster their averages when officially releasing vehicle performance figures, I've witnessed this first hand with some of the manufacturers I have worked for, it certainly happens and as much of a let down as it can be it's the reality of using the car and working it all out that ultimately gets it right,   good query by Wilson though as I think most of us blokes tend to wander this when considering and buying cars (heaven forbid had I wandered a question like this to my wife!)

As Gareth mentioned checking the tyres,fuel, mechanical components that are effecting this area is key, It's also quite easy to influence the mpg when it comes to tyre tempurature.

Having seen a number of wheels and tyres being put in the freezers prior to testing tells me that given the recent weather and the chill we have had this could be effecting some of your results, I'm no expert so really know if they increased or decreased the fuel consumption, I just recall seeing loads going via the freezers and heater units we had.

incidentally I have a 3.0 Quattro and I cover at times 1000miles per week and have seen the following results...

Drive like miss daisy... >50mpg. Drive like normal... > 45 ish. Drive it like I just stole it..... >29-30mpg but great fun!!! 

I'm surprised the 2.0 ultra is retuning these type of figures though so getting it check like Trevor says maybe worth considering... bang in that warranty Wilson!  Wish I had it on mine still.

 

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend A6 fans!🙄

[Trevor]

I beleive the manufacturers have many tricks up their sleeves for manipulating the figures to suit them.

Don't even get me started on Carbon Footprinting where the manufacturers all sell a range of electric/hybrid cars to lower the averages/statistics, solely to enable them to sell top end, environment unfriendly gas guzzlers (couldn't live without them though!).

[Wesley949]

HI there,

My new A6 isn't proving to be within the manufacturers claims also but again, I'm not that fussed as I'm still getting a great furl return and can easily clear over 600-miles before filling up.  My car to date, has only covered 2000 miles so its still breaking but every time I fill up, the Miles to Empty figure is over 700-miles with the highest display being 795 Miles to empty....of course I could not achieve that.

I mainly do 12-mile round trips to and from work but every fortnight, I travel up to the West Midlands which pending on my route is a round trip of 320-miles.

I picked the car up, unregistered with 21-miles on the clock and a full tank of fuel.  I use a Road Trip APP on my phone and below are what is giving me between filling-up;

Filled Up - At 21 Miles / Cost Unknown as was done by Dealer.

Filled up - At 666 Miles / £79.47 / 44.83 MPG

Filled up - At 1366 Miles / £87.98 (BP Ultimate Diesel) / 48.44 MPG

Filled up - At 1995 Miles / £80.93 / 43.07 MPG

[Wisp13]

Interesting updates from Whizzbang & Wesley.....happy to say that the A6 is now booked into the local dealer for a diagnostic. Can anyone give an idea of what they will be checking ? The car has only covered 11k or so miles, and in the last few weeks & fill ups, the MPG has fallen to 43mpg, and I'm now struggling to get over 600 miles out a full tank. The temp has dropped a few days to well below freezing up here in sunny Scotland, so that will certainly have a detrimental effect on the MPG, but I'm now getting fully OCD watching the wee fuel LED's dropping down when on full ECO mode. .

So, any thoughts as to what checks / diagnostics the dealer will be carrying out will be great to hear ?

[Wesley949]

With my vehicle, although to date has just covered over 2000 miles, I still think my engine is wearing in and to be fair, I drive like Miss Daisy and I do second-guess myself that diesel was the wrong choice as I'm still a petrol fan, but the diesel aspect was because of the MPG and Miles to Empty figures.

I believe that this cold weather is the main reason affecting the MPG output.  I did manage to achieve 61.2 on a drive to the West Midlands, then remained stable around the 56.6 mark but overall, between filling-up, the phone APP suggests I range around the mid-40's MPG but I am hoping that upon the warmer weather, these figures will go up.

[SimonP]

Hi Wisp,

I also have an A6 2L Ultra (Quattro) Black Edition, brand new in October 2016.  I too am seeing the same sort of MPG figures you are, I recently drove from Birmingham to Plymouth, then to north Brittany and back.  I was purposely driving 'economically' but still with radio, climate control etc all on.  I got an average of 45.3mpg for the entire journey.  I was expecting well over 50 if i'm honest.  

I did do a 2 hour motorway journey the other week in Eco mode (drive select thingy ma bob) with heated seats off, climate control off (except when the windscreen misted up - but don't get me started on that!), just the radio on... and I got 52mpg.  Seems that the Eco mode really does work although..... the power is terrible even for the smallest of overtaking and when the rev's drop to idle when you lift off you think you have broken something lol.

Looking into it a bit more and speaking to my local main dealer, it seems with Drive Select in anythign above 'Eco' the figures you are seeing are normal.  Granted it's a big car with alot of equipment but as you stated, I too had a 520D M Sport for a few months and saw well over 55mpg regularly... but... i suppose thats the price you pay for a car that looks so good.... 

I compare it to having a high maintenance supermodel as a girlfriend to a fat ugly slob of a woman that licks the smeg from between your toes whenever you feel the need! hehe

[rbdazza]

comparisons are difficult, tyre sizes/pressures affect mpg as does the weather, massively. the hard cold truth is that modern diesels are no longer the economical reliable beasts they used to be. and its all down to emissions. 

if you want economy buy an old early naughties PD or even better a pre-PD direct injection diesel, you;ll even get the reliability we once had, although try finding one with less than 150k on the clock and with all the creature comforts that you are used to in your modern audi. 

 

 EGR valves, DPFs, etc. all impact on MPG. if you want your economy back get rid of them pain in the !Removed! optional extras ;)