1.6 tdi mpg = rubbish!!

trebor737

Guest
Hi all,

I have had my Ibiza 1.6 TDI since beginning of august and have done about 1300 miles and am abit worried by my mpg i am getting especially round town. I have noticed that the mpg can go as low as 12mpg, and for me commute to work i am getting just over 50mpg. The drive to the motorway is abount 2 miles and the average mpg is around 25mpg, is this normal? Before i had a Mini One 1.4D and i was easily getting 60mpg and that is a mix of driving quick and steady, whereas the Ibiza i am driving steady between 65-70mph.

I know the engine has to settle in but still is shocking! Especially compared to the Seat book figures?! :censored:

Can anyone help?
 

Biker

Full Member
Oct 6, 2003
1,593
12
Northumberland
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Here we go again ..........

I have to say I am happy with my 1.6tdi. The best I have averaged for a journey is 77mpg but even pushing the boundries of whats legal on the motorway, it still returns over 55mpg.

Guess I must be one of the lucky ones :p
 

trebor737

Guest
Has yours always been that good? Or has it got better the more miles you have put on the clock?
 

BaldyDave

Mildly Deranged...
Aug 12, 2011
782
0
Central Belt Scotland
I would take official manufacturer fuel consumption figures with a pinch of salt, I think they are done in lab conditions and the cars are set up by the manufacturers to do well under these "false" test conditions. Good for sales! Some manufacturers seem to be better than others at setting up their cars for these official tests....

Hmmm, 12MPG seems like an awfully low figure, but if that is at the start of your journey the engine will be stone-cold, and if the first couple of miles is full of start-stop driving then maybe this figure might JUST be expected. Cold engines always consume more fuel as the fuel mixture is rich to help its cold running.

However I would also say that your overall consumption figures should rise after you have a few thousand miles under your belt. My last 2 oil-burners noticeably "freed-off" after they had done 5.000+ miles and their fuel consumption rose by around 6MPG. Also things like Air Conditioning can affect your consumption (I found by about 2-3MPG), and you'll probably find that when the official fuel consumption tests were done, air con would be off.

I will leave more precise comments on what economy you should realistically expect to achieve with your engine to folk that have the same engine as you in their Seats. I have a FR 2.0 TDI and at present I am averaging around 47MPG urban, 52MPG overall. In general driving I have had up to 58MPG when I drove it like a Granny and 39MPG when I drove it like I stole it! Car is just over a year old and has 11,000 miles on the clock. I have only had the car for a couple of weeks though...
 

adamb87

cupra gone :(
Feb 13, 2011
1,472
0
Preston
I would take official manufacturer fuel consumption figures with a pinch of salt, I think they are done in lab conditions and the cars are set up by the manufacturers to do well under these "false" test conditions. Good for sales! Some manufacturers seem to be better than others at setting up their cars for these official tests....

I too had the 1.6tdi and.was worried about mpg. And also agreed manufacturers tests are pants. But then I bought a cupra and can achieve the mpg figures which are quoted. Surely its the same test so somebody is telling porkies me thinks trying to big there engines up to be super efficient.
 

Octane2097

Naturally Aspirated
Jan 20, 2007
792
0
South Yorkshire
I must say the figures posted on here by diesel owners seems pretty low compared to my old FR TDI (70+mpg driven carefully and over 50mpg wen booting it)
I dont think the new CR diesels are as eco as the old PD engines.
That said i have only driven a VAG CR diesel once on a 30min test drive.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
 

BaldyDave

Mildly Deranged...
Aug 12, 2011
782
0
Central Belt Scotland
I must say the figures posted on here by diesel owners seems pretty low compared to my old FR TDI (70+mpg driven carefully and over 50mpg wen booting it)
I dont think the new CR diesels are as eco as the old PD engines.
That said i have only driven a VAG CR diesel once on a 30min test drive.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

Yep, I would agree. I had a MK4 Ibiza FR which had a 1.9PD engine and it was definitely more economical than the Common Rail engine in the current car. Difficult to make an exact comparison though as the engine capacities are slightly different, as are the power outputs.

My instincts are though that the PD engine, whilst slightly rougher and noiser in character, would still be the more economical engine even if it was a level playing field.

I bet the DPF in the current car saps economy too!
 

product

Active Member
Nov 6, 2007
94
0
...I have noticed that the mpg can go as low as 12mpg, and for me commute to work i am getting just over 50mpg...
I'm guessing the 12mpg only comes up for a few seconds on the instant consumption display, and only when you absolutely boot it. I wouldn't say that's anything unusual or indicative of the average mpg.

I've seen 4 or 5 mpg on fast petrol Leons, but only for a second or two when flooring it, so the impact on the average consumption display is negligible.
 

Theowls88

Active Member
Feb 17, 2011
93
0
Doncaster
I'll add my two penneth in. My car has now done 22K miles and been fully serviced. I can safely say (after the initial reality that it wont avereage 65mpg+) I am happy with the car. I average around 55mpg, but have achieved over 60mpg when driving steadily. I would say I have a heavy left foot so 55mpg seems really good to me when compared with my last car, a C2 VTR which averaged about 30mpg or less.
Once you realise the consuption is more like 55 than 65 you will start to enjoy the car. Even the regens have got better and less noticable with age, partly down to the dpf clean out I got with my last service.
 

nightflight

Active Member
May 18, 2009
2,677
12
Sheffield
Oh i wish my consumption was more like 55mpg,
it tends to be 38-40 over the week driving round town, and 45-55 on the motorway depending whether i drive at 60 or 80
 
Apr 23, 2010
914
0
Here
I have noticed that the mpg can go as low as 12mpg, and for me commute to work i am getting just over 50mpg.

Which mpg read out are you using? To see 12mpg, it sounds like your using the 'current' figure which will fluctuate wildly whilst town driving.
 

GazEP3

Missing the vtec yo :(
Nov 27, 2009
665
0
Northern Ireland
Think there may be something wrong with your gauge dude. Even my old 300bhp M3 did 17mpg at worst and that was me hoking the complete crap out of it
 

JonnyT30

Active Member
Jul 18, 2009
55
0
Tell you what, I know its a different car, but have just driven back from Burnley in my golf 1.6tdi, a journey of 140 miles at speeds of around 70 ish (on my sat nav) and the average mpg was 62 mpg. To get the same in my Ibiza I would have had to do around 60 mph for most of the journey. I have calculated time and again that the computer is reasonably accurate and it costs me about 10p per mile in fuel.
 

GazEP3

Missing the vtec yo :(
Nov 27, 2009
665
0
Northern Ireland
Tell you what, I know its a different car, but have just driven back from Burnley in my golf 1.6tdi, a journey of 140 miles at speeds of around 70 ish (on my sat nav) and the average mpg was 62 mpg. To get the same in my Ibiza I would have had to do around 60 mph for most of the journey. I have calculated time and again that the computer is reasonably accurate and it costs me about 10p per mile in fuel.

You can always expect a slight difference between models. Around 60pmg seems about right for a modern tdi engine when driven sensibly.

OP, are you reading your trip computers average mpg? The other mpg one will change erratically as you're driving along and you shouldn't really go by that. There's no way you should be averaging 25mpg, that's the kinda mpg I would get in my old M3 if I was being half sensible.

Even my old 1.9tdi beeth that was running 180bhp would return about 35mpg at worst case and usually close to 55-60 if driven sensibly
 

Sergio

Active Member
Jul 27, 2011
224
0
Leeds and/or London
Collected it with 2k on it, got 42mpg. Now has 20k on it, get 52mpg. In for an engine fault at the moment though (which in hindsight has been present for most of the time I've had it), be interesting to see what happens when it's repaired.
 

Hellhound

Guest
Engine Faults

My Ibiza FR diesel has done 20k just less than a year old, average 60mpg - but reliability is a shocker![:@] Just looking at other posters problems, and the JD power survey means I am not alone. It has just gone in for another 3 days worth of testing. Worse Ibiza I have ever bought from new, and do not intend to get another - readers be warned!

Seat Technical - will you ever get these reliability problems resolved!!!!!!!
 
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