1.9 TDI worst MPGs

Jim B.

8.5L per 100kms when the MAF sensor died, and I had to floor the car just to drive it around town. With the winter as cold as it is I am sitting at around 6.9L per 100Kms doing my typical jackrabbit start city driving, and some small highway blasts. I typically sit around 6.1L per 100Kms when it's warmer, i've got 5.5L per 100Kms on pure highways. I have an automatic TDI, so that makes my fuel economy quite a bit worse then a standard.

That doesnt seem right, I can't imagine how you'd get such poor gas mileage. The lowest we've gotten is 42 in all city jack rabbit driving during cold winter driving. Got 48 doing 80-90 on the way to florida, down from 58mpg going 50-55mph driving around the midwest.

How low were the extremely low temperatures? We've been having temps in the teens.

There was an article somewhere in the past week that stated that big rigs use about a gallon an hour idling. Cummins says 1/2 gal to 1 gallon if the idle speed is higher. I would assume that a 1.9l engine is much smaller than what a Freightliner, Volvo, Kenworth has. With that information is it logical to guess that a VW idling would use much less than a gallon an hour?

The website states that about 250 hp will pull 80,000 lb rig. Well maybe I missread as the pdf was working quite slow. What the heck does a Ford, Dodge or Chevy pickup need 300 hp for when they usually are only rated to tow a trailer less than 20,000 lbs?

Interesting observations like the rig can get nearly 8 mpg in top gear which should be a highway speed. 8 mpg at 55 and 80,000 lbs. Why does my tdi only get 55 mpg at 60 mph and 3500 lbs? Well I am happy with

50+ mpg but the rigs have some pretty impressive mileage.

"Rob Guenther" wrote:

Jim B.

A freightliner has something like 1800 lbft of torque... This is what is actually doing the work, not the horsepower... Those Chevy/Ford/Dodge trucks can also accelerate to 100kph in like 8-10 seconds, and top out at something like 200kph+ if they had no governor. The big rig also has 18 or so gears to get up to speed. Think of the momentum 80000lb is generating, once as this is moving, and you factor in the drag coefficient, the fuel consumption wouldn't be too bad until it had to climb a hill.... the Engine isn't working super hard on a flat road.

Big rig engines can also run super lean and inject 100 parts air to 1 part fuel when idling... just enough to keep it running, I believe I read it's 20 parts air to 1 part fuel for our TDI's while running at idle.

About normal 3500 series pickups ONLY being able to tow 10000-15000lb, do you really want that much weight being towed by something that weighs

5000lbs? Big rigs have massive hitching systems and calibrated brakes to do the job. I'm sure a pickup COULD get something really heavy moving, but it wouldn't be safe, the frame might even get damaged.

My only observation about the pickups is the rediculous notion that a

20,000 rig has to win some drag race. See commercials now playing. It is a stinking tow truck not a race car. I would like my car to be fast but my frugal nature had me buy a tdi. I don't need to keep up with a WRX when driving my slug. It seems silly to keep making bigger and bigger for the consumer tow vehicles. Last brochure I looked at at least Dodge had two versions of the Cummins.

Back to the questi>A freightliner has something like 1800 lbft of torque... This is what is

Jim B.

No freaking clue, I am not about to idle my engine (aweful for it, the emissions equipment, and the environment) just to find out... Why do you care? My only reason for wanting to know how long I could keep my car idling is if it was cold enough to warrant some heat and I had the thing parked in some obscure location with a date.... Then again, I could just drive all the way home, possibly on less fuel, and have more room and a more desirable location for my fun then the back of a VW Golf (quite tight back there). It doesn't use much fuel to idle a car... But you are still wasting it, and it's not good for anything.

Your pickup truck thing... Well North America seems obsessed about getting strong 0-100kph times from cars that don't need it... I mean who really needs 250+hp from something like a front drive Nissan Altima, it's a family sedan, not a sports car. And those big trucks.... you see they must be able to keep pace with anything else on the road, but they have more weight to move around, so there you have it, the need for a 350hp engine.