A2 Jetta - what's the best gas-mileage?

Question

91Jetta GL/Wolfe with 253,000 miles.I get 31mpg city, and 34 HWY. Everyone seems to tell me I can't get better,and my O2 sensor is not bad.But the exhaust smells pretty rich, like a lot of unburned gas. Then I drovemy wife's full-size 95 Subaru all-wheel drive for two weeks to work, it got35mpg HWY !So I start to doubt what everyone told me about my Jetta's fuel economy. Itapparently weights less than 2/3 of the Subaru, smaller in size, yetconsumes more gas per gallon?Is there a website I can find expected gas-mileage for such Jetta when new?So I can figure out what I can do to improve it. I'll first try thehydro-magnetic gas-mileage booster.thanks,Ben

jimbehning · Accepted Answer

A new Passat wagon with a 1.8T and standard transmisson can gettbetter mileage than a 1984 GTI with a replacement economy 5th gear.The Passat weighs 50% more than the GTI. Well maybe not 50% but morethan a 1000 pounds heavier. More sophisticated fuel managementcontrols and better aerodynamics affect milage. My Dad's Intrepid gets30 mpg with V6 and it appears to be bigger than the VW line.If you think your car is running rich take it to a garage that has anexhaust sniffer probe. Have then sniff the car at the test port. Thetest port is in the engine compartment and is usually covered by ablue plug. You sniff before the catalytic onverter to see what isreally happening. You sniff after the converter to see how well it iscleaning things up. You cannot get 34 mpg if it is running rich. Youmay be smelling oil. Have you changed the valve stem seals?"BenjamJim B.

Peter Parker · Answer

This is why all of the below is happening. Your VW is working up to spec for a 1991.

I get a little less mileage than your A2. My A3 is a 1994 with 180,000 miles and it does 30mpg city, 33 HWY. If your sensor was bad, you would be getting

20 to 24 mpg. I know, mine had a bad wire at the male connector that I resoldered.

This is how my exhaust smells. It's really not as bad as you think. You would have to compare it to an engine that really does have problems.

VW engines never really were designed for top fuel savings back then and now. They still lag behind all the competition except for the TDI. This is where they are up front and ahead of the pack. Your engine is A-OKAY.

See last paragraph...

You are getting better mileage than expected...

formatting link

You can also try the Tornado intake insert. It looks "K00L". LOL!!! A Korean invented this gizmo and is getting rich off of people like you!!!

:0)

Timothy J. Lee · Answer

has US EPA estimates going back to 1985.

Jtkrush · Answer

I also have an A2 Golf, manual transmission, 1.8 L engine, 190k miles, and Iget about 30mpg around town and 34 HWY.  I attribute the relatively low MPG to the manual transmission.  AT 65 mph itsreving at 3000rpms.  My sister's 91 Camry 2.0L woth manual transmission at 70mph revs at 2650 rpmsand the car gets 40mpg on hwy.

Pencilneck · Answer

The 87 Jetta dog hauler got upwards of 37MPG during the trip to Waterfest when my wife drove. When I drove, it was around 34MPG. She did around 70MPH where as I drove 90MPH. And this was with the AC going and the car loaded up for the trip.

The car has 180K on the odometer.

A2 Jetta - what's the best gas-mileage?

Join the Discussion

Didn't find your answer?