VW Polo Bluemotion low mpg

Loganfire

I just bought my new Polo BlueMotion as you may have guessed I got it for the great mpg VW says it can do. They quote it can do 80.7 mpg on the combined cycle. This grants the Polo BlueMotion a theoretical range of over 800 miles on one tank of diesel. Even taking into account that all car manufactures over state the mpg on there cars the worst thing of all is I am getting about 51mpg on a combined cycle which is well below what i was excepting.

I have had the car for a week and followed all the instructions the car came with so far I have done 358 miles, so I spoken to the dealers yesterday and told them off my concerns they said that the engine need to be bedded in for a few thousand miles before I would see a mpg increase close to the manufactures quote, I did say to them are you sure your not just Bull Sh

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g me they said no. So what I am trying to find out is the VW dealer telling me the truth or was he given me some BS?

Hintza

You should expect between 60-72mpg once te car is bedded in.

But there are a couple of points you need to be aware of:-

1. Manufacturers don't overstate the mpg that is taken from the EU tests, which bear no resemblance to real life driving.

2 How have you calculated your current consumption? Unless you are using the brim to brim method then the figures will not be very accurate. Looks like you haven't even used a tank of fuel yet.

3. How good is your driving? How do you use the gears? I you drive and use the brakes then you are driving inefficiently and the more you use the brakes the worse it will be.

Loganfire

so a new engine does need to be bedded in then? and if so how many miles would you say this takes

peter_the_piper

Don't forget that in town motoring uses a lot more fuel than motorway. More motorway and less town will get you nearer the mpg.

Hintza

Diesel engines can take a few thousand miles. You should notice it improve over time.

Other points

It is currently winter and I can loose up to 20% on my consumption.

If you are frequently doing short journeys you will also get nothing close to average.

anotherbaldrick

Your interpretation of a combined cycle may not be the same as the official test cycle

mikey72

It'll certainly improve after the first couple of thouand miles, but most reviews put the best mpg in the mid sixties, even so.

fatbelly

On Honest John people are reporting an average of 66mpg in real life, which is very good.

Weird_Nev

Work on your driving style. Driving to the cars strength will yield the biggest MPg improvments. Correct gear, smooth driving, good anticipation, minimal start-stopping and heavy acceleration.

As already stated the 'combined cycle' is a very specific test, they run the car on a rolling road through a defined series of speeds, accelerations, decellerations. It should be treated as a mere indication of a cars efficiency. Guess what? Car makers design their cars to give best possible results in that test! Sometimes to the detriment of the car overall.

Give it time, use brim to brim, and be very happy with real world results over 60mpg in general use.

Re 'bedding in' - it's a bit of a myth. Modern engines don't need 'bedding in' and come from the factory fine to be driven as normal. They do tend to loosen up a bit over the first few thousand miles though, and may increase mpg slightly in that time. (Not from me - a good friend designs ford's diesel engines.)

Trebor16

I have a Golf Plus Bluemotion with the 1.6TDi engine and since buying it I have seen the economy improve bit by bit. I always reckon on getting 10mpg less than the stated combined cycle as realistically attainable and this has proven to be the case.

You will also find the fuel consumption in winter is not as good as in summer due to a variety of factors.

vax2002

Urban myth, no engine needs to be "bedded in" these days.
The only thing that can improve economy is the ECU adapting to your style and how you drive.
These tests are done in laboratories on rolling roads, they dont tell you how long they spent getting the car to the average speed, for in the real world, when you run an underpowered car you have to screw it just to keep up and that wipes out any economy gain.