Poor Gas Mileage, even for Winter...

[CoreyHarTT]

I just returned from a trip to NC and for kicks I calculated my MPG on the way home and was quite disappointed...

I averaged around 24.5 mpg on the highway which seems awfully low to me, even in the winter. I understand the TT weighs a good bit and the Quattro puts a damper on mileage, but I as expecting to see numbers in the 27-28 range on the highway in the winter and closer to 30 in the summer. Heck, my old BT GLI got 29-30 on the highway and it had the same engine (AWP).

Anyway, I'm pretty familiar with the 1.8T and I know most major causes of poor gas mileage... The car is not throwing any codes right now and I just changed my CTS before the trip and put on new tires (filled to 35-36 psi) while I was out of town. I'm gonna change my plugs, air filter and fuel filter here next weekend but other than that, I dunno what else to look into. Maybe cleaning the MAF? Anyway, I'd appreciate any input on the subject as I've never actually had gas mileage issues on any of my other 1.8Ts. Thanks.

[exTTreme]

my tt gets better gas mileage on the highway now then when it was stock.
your numbers dont seem to bad did you have alot of luggage or extra weight of some kind in the back?

[Cincy]

But Nick, how much were you ON it? Just to make you feel bad, my car fully loaded and with passenger got 33mpg with a 2.0 :P

You know it will go up with some tuning since it runs a bit leaner and your not on the gas as much.

[225ttroadster]

lead foot my friend.

If you have a boost gauge back out untill you can hold a confortable speed and keep the throttle right at the same vacuum. I use the combo of the boost gauge and the current MPG to get me at least in the 28mpg range

[JB_WELD_YO]

mafs will cause bad gas mileage. you can try cleaniing it
also try n keep your foot out of boost
i get like 30 around town and 33 on the highway

[CoreyHarTT]

Ok so I guess I forgot to mention the part about me driving like a grandma. I hardly ever hit boost when I drive on trips, in fact the car will very rarely go above 4000 RPMs... Plus, the car is a 180 Quattro, there is hardly any boost to begin with. And again, from experience with my last two 1.8Ts I know that my driving style has not changed and my MPG is low. I had two people in the car and two suitcases, but nothing too heavy, maybe an extra 300 pounds over normal. I need to clean the MAF, get new plugs, replace the air filter and fuel filter and see what that does for me. And yeah, I know it will change when I get it tuned, but it still seems awfully low to me. My GLI bone stock got almost 34 mpg on highway trips...

[Irish*TT*]

Over xmas I did a 3hr trip and got 32mpg on 89%.gas.! iv heard doin a performance chip will up the mpg's (kinda thinking you know that). Cant the 02 sensor cause some poor mileage ? Or a plugged up cat. But I guess you said no cel's.