[Henry72]

Hi,

Got a Touareg V6 3.0 TDI (2016) about 6 months ago in Sweden. Amazing car to drive, but I'm quite disappointed with the diesel consumption which is unfortunately ruining the driving experience for me quite a bit..

In Urban driving around home, it is very very hard to get below 13 l/100km. On country/highway it is even more disappointing I think, around 9.0-9.5 in modest speeds (90-100 km/h). If I go faster (120+), consumption goes up a lot. This is a lot higher than I expected, especially as I'm really trying to eco-drive it..

It's 50% higher than VW specs on motorway and about 100% higher on urban. Could something be wrong with the car?

Would be happy to hear any experience that might help, and would also be very interesting to see some figures from other V6 TDI Touaregs!

 

[TommiT]

Short journeys round town are not diesel territory.

Long runs at constant speed should be.

No one knows where you drive or how you drive so trying to draw comparisons from users around the world is rather like comparing apples with oranges especially as fuel quality varies and consumption changes with climate.

Anyone who thinks they will get anywhere near VW's official figures given the way the tests have been conducted to rhe point where they are all but fraudulent must possess a very optimistic outlook.

You are driving a 4x4, 2 tonne brick. That costs money to fuel.

 

[tadpole]

I will tell you that my MPGs are quite good for both urban and highway speed driving. I will give you my MPGs and you can convert. City driving is 20 -22mpg ,Highway at 70mpgs is 29-30mpg. I take 2 trips a year and go 1500 miles at those speeds,so I have a pretty good real world experience. My trip of 1500 miles can be done with 2 fill ups of 25gallions. I don't go over any severe altitudes and drive in moderate temps. My Touareg is a 2016 TDI v-6. Hope this helps

 

[Henry72]

I know the VW specs are not realistic, was just thinking I wouldn't be 50-100% off in real world driving.

29-30 mpg sounds more like what I would have expected on highway. I came somewhere close today when driving some 100 miles with summer tyres on, but at lower speeds (55-60 mph) and being very gentle with my right foot, and also using the "freewheeling" function a lot. My yearly average will unfortunately not be nearly as good as that, doing most of my miles with winter tyres and a cargo box.. Thanks for answers!

 

[chewblekka]

I get around 10.3L/100km with my 6 minute commute. Highway trips from the mountains back to the coast are around 8.5 or so.
You bought a 5500lbs+ SUV AWD V6 and are concerned about fuel economy? Just drive it, imo.

 

[tadpole]

chewiebkka, I drove a Toyota Sequoia V8 on the same trip comparing with the touareg and got 17 MPGs at best over 6 yrs of the same trip. The TREG got more than 50% better mileage. For what they are the mileage is excellent. This car is a beast of torque which can't be found outside of diesel power.

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

Take 235 and divide by L/100 km to get MPG. Take 235 and divide by MPG to get L/100 km.

By the way, I live in Anchorage, Alaska and even though I don't have the T'reg here, I drive a 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI. It does as well as those in the mainland except for winter. Snow tires make a bit of difference, but no more than 5%. Winter fuel, however affects it up to about 10%.

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

From FUELLY site. 24 mpg = 10.0 L / 100 km. It's some decent data of average fuel usage of about 325 2016 T'reg V6 diesels, with about 12.5 million KM of driving.

 

[James007]

I know the VW specs are not realistic, was just thinking I wouldn't be 50-100% off in real world driving.

29-30 mpg sounds more like what I would have expected on highway. I came somewhere close today when driving some 100 miles with summer tyres on, but at lower speeds (55-60 mph) and being very gentle with my right foot, and also using the "freewheeling" function a lot. My yearly average will unfortunately not be nearly as good as that, doing most of my miles with winter tyres and a cargo box.. Thanks for answers!

This spring 2020, I drove 3 students to the airport for a class missions trip. I drove 75 mph and I checked the mpg. I got 32.7 mpg with the vehicle on cruise control at highway speeds. The trip was 150 miles to the airport and 150 miles back... (300 +/-) We average around 20-22 mpg in the City and here in Duluth MN we have an elevation drop up and down the hill of 900 ft. from where I live.

 

[BassDSSO]

I have a 2016 Touareg Sport TDI for a little over 2 years now. I’ve been keeping track of my mileage since I got it and am averaging 26.28mpg. I would say that 60%+ of my driving is local city driving - population here is about 125,000. I’m in Duluth MN, so quite a few months it is very cold here and the mileage suffers. During the summer I perform at a venue about 90 miles away and drive back and forth on a two-lane road at about 60-65mph - I average 30-32mpg on those trips.

 

[izedaman]

sounds like you need a checkup for your egg. I get rated specs when I go the speed limit

 

[lml999]

Our 2010 TDi got low to mid 20s (US) around town pre-fix, and mid to high 20s on the highway. Our 2013 Q7, which has the second gen motor similar to yours, post-fix, gets mid 20s around town and as high as 31-33 mpg on the highway. There's something wrong with your TDi. Look at fuel quality, clogged fuel filters, the DPF system, etc.

Are you driving very short distances, in extreme cold?
Are you using an excessive amount of exhaust additive? Assuming it was updated, it should be under an extended warranty. Have a VW dealer go through all the systems...

 

[GraLis]

Hi,

Got a Touareg V6 3.0 TDI (2016) about 6 months ago in Sweden. Amazing car to drive, but I'm quite disappointed with the diesel consumption which is unfortunately ruining the driving experience for me quite a bit..

In Urban driving around home, it is very very hard to get below 13 l/100km. On country/highway it is even more disappointing I think, around 9.0-9.5 in modest speeds (90-100 km/h). If I go faster (120+), consumption goes up a lot. This is a lot higher than I expected, especially as I'm really trying to eco-drive it..

It's 50% higher than VW specs on motorway and about 100% higher on urban. Could something be wrong with the car?

Would be happy to hear any experience that might help, and would also be very interesting to see some figures from other V6 TDI Touaregs!

Hi Henry72 I'm in Melbourne and when I purchased my 180kw touareg new I remapped the system. I do a lot of longer trips (around 400km) every weekend and I am averaging about 7.5 Ltrs per 100km and on a longer run depending on weather situations down to 6.9 ltrs per 100km. That is normally driving at 100kph.

 

[Henry72]

Thanks for info. @GraLis , @lml999, @James007 and @BassDSSO : I’m not getting near your figures, even when really trying and barely not touching the gas pedal.. And I did not get the TREG to drive like that . Will definitely check the things you mention. I do use AdBlue according to instructions (but none apart from that). Is there a way I can control how much the car is using?

 

[GraLis]

Hi Henry72,
I drive my Wolfsburg Touareg normally, i don’t pamper it and I certainly don’t feather the pedal.

 

[Henry72]

About the diesel quality in Sweden. Just read that it actually contains less energy vs e.g. the Eurodiesel used in Germany and southern Europe. This due to Swe regulations for environmental reasons and mix with bio fuels. Some say it could do as much 1-1.5 litres extra per 100km, but not confirmed.

So probably part of the diff vs your US figures, but I know Swedish TREGs, Q7s and Cayennes with better figures so I don’t think it explains all of it.

 

[Solandri]

In Urban driving around home, it is very very hard to get below 13 l/100km.

13 l/100km = 18.1 MPG

This is about the same as I get with my 2014 TDI when I do lots of short drives (less than 5 miles, 8 km, lots of stops). If I'm able to drive about twice that distance in the city, that goes up to about 20-21 MPG (10.7 - 11.8 l/100km).

That said, it's actually better than my previous car - an Acura TL (sedan). It was rated at 17 MPG city, but on the same short drives it got closer to 13 MPG - 24% lower . The Treg is rated at 20 MPG city, so 18 MPG is only 10% lower.

On country/highway it is even more disappointing I think, around 9.0-9.5 in modest speeds (90-100 km/h).

24.7 - 26.1 MPG @ 56-62 MPH

That's substantially worse than I get on the highway. It's about what I get for mixed highway/city driving. I check the display every time I fill up, and calculate miles driven vs fuel I add to the tank. The display reads high (low in metric) by about 1-3 MPG. So It'll say something like 25.5 MPG, but I'll calculate it out as 24 MPG. It's substantially worse if I do a lot of city driving.

On level highway at 65 MPH (105 KPH), the display shows about 36 MPG (6.5 l/100km) displayed. I've only done one trip at 65 MPH so I could measure the actual fuel consumed, but it came out to about 32 or 33 MPG (7.1 l/100km). Can't remember exactly.

I did a cross-country trip from Florida to California with cruise control set at 70 MPH (113 kph). Including fuel, hotel, and meal stops I got about 29.8 MPG (7.9 l/100km). Measured fuel consumption worked out to 28.9 MPG (8.1 l/100km).

I know there's a difference in diesel formulation for winter vs summer, but I don't know the energy difference off hand. The winter blend is supposed to have less energy (it has additives to prevent it from gelling at lower temperatures). I'd guess it's the same for diesel. So being in Sweden, this might be a factor for you.