Poor fuel economy from a diesel – does this sound right to you?

How slowly do you drive?

I’m not saying anything that could be used in a court of law 😉 The biggest saver on the motorway is to use cruise control.

reading this thread is making me regret ordering a 170bhp passat estate… if it does 40 MPG ish then I should have just gone for the Golf GTI, or the 210bhp petrol passat. fuel economy would have been comparable..I got 35 MPG out of teh test golf I borrowed and ragged the tail off of that! I get 32 MPG in my civic type r driving normally and diesel is more expensive!!! Grrrrr. 🙁

The biggest saver on the motorway is to use cruise control.

I get more MPG up teh motorway driving my car myslef than letting the computer do it!

I get more MPG up teh motorway driving my car myslef than letting the computer do it!

I agree. Cruise holds at steady speed. When I drive, I hold at steady throttle position or lift off a bit.

Trying not to willy wave too much (mainly as it’s impossible to willy wave when you drive a polo) but most of those figures quoted above look a bit rubbish to me.
Admittedly most of my miles are accumulated on my commute which is virtually all dual carriageway. but my 2000 Polo 1.4tdi does an annual average of 65mpg with a high of nearly 71mpg in August last year (although its down to ~63mpg in this cold.) All tracked on fuelly.com with as accurate brim to brim fills as I can (even down to almost exclusevely using the same petrol station – not because I’m anal, I’m just lazy and its the closest one to my house).
Now I’ve learned to drive a bit more economically I fully expect the average to go up a bit this year.
Now, where did I put my pipe and slippers…

BMW 520D M Sport 2008 model and I have got 63mpg on some long trips just cruising along at 55 to 60 mph (all dual carriageway or motorway) Average overall is 55mpg, very impressive for a car of that type, even a years road tax is only £115. Cheap motoring indeed.

if it does 40 MPG ish then I should have just gone for the Golf GTI, or the 210bhp petrol passat. fuel economy would have been comparable.

If you can get 40mpg (or anything close to it) from a 210bhp petrol Passat, I’ll eat your hat as well as my own.