Audi A4 TDI goes over 900 miles on one tank of fuel
In an effort to demonstrate the fuel efficiency of the A4 TDI, Audi France recently invited a dozen journalists to go for a drive. The teams set off in pairs driving six A4s powered by the 2.0L TDI from their starting point in Paris. They ended their journey in Madrid Spain after covering a distance of 1,260km (783 miles). The winning team used slightly less than 17.8 gallons of diesel. If they had run out the all the fuel in the tank they could have covered almost 907 miles. That comes out to an impressive 52.9 mpg (U.S.) in real world conditions. The other five teams all managed to be nearly as thrifty with their fuel allotment with even the worst team managing 49.8 mpg. The 2.0L TDI is the same engine that will be arriving in the VW Jetta this summer and an A4 TDI should be available in the U.S. next year.
[Source: Autoblog.it, via German Car Blog, thanks to Christian for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
phil easler 1:41PM (3/17/2008)
Yea, but lets not forget to tell the audience, Diesel is only about $9/gallon in good old Euope to fill this thing up ~ $160.20 a fill up, pricey.
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Dave S 2:23PM (3/17/2008)
Yeah, in Europe - but I'd pay the same driving my old Jeep around in the US - this gets 3x the mileage at 3x the price so all is equal except the carbon footprint.
Good thing the Jeep only comes out a few days a month! Wonder what the mpg/pp is on my train.
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Peter L 2:32PM (3/17/2008)
VW should be putting this engine in the Golf also, not making larger profits by offering it only in the Jetta and A4
Shame on VW
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Karkus 2:30PM (3/17/2008)
The amazing part is the MPG. Miles per tank is NOT really a good way to compare cars, since some gas tanks are twice as big as others (and this Audi is on the high side for tank size).
That's like people who ask how much it costs to fill up the tank when comparing cars. What a useless point of reference! What matters is the MPG (and the cost of gas per gallon).
Also, it looks like this was mostly a highway MPG demonstration, since those numbers roughly match the published highway MPG for the A4.
For reference, the A4 2.0 M6 is rated at 49.6 UK MPG combined on the European test cycle, which is 41 MPG US gallons. And the CO2 is 151 g/km, which really isn't that great.
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Slantsixx 3:15AM (4/13/2009)
That is in US MPG. Read it again, it says 52.9 (U.S.).
gsolman6 3:18PM (3/17/2008)
Yeah, in Europe - but I'd pay the same driving my old Jeep around in the US - this gets 3x the mileage at 3x the price so all is equal except the carbon footprint.
Yeah but at $3.80 versus $9.00 diesel is not 3x as expensive. Plus much of that $9.00 stays in the country as tax revenue to be used for roads and public transport that are superior to what we have in the states.
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Bill 4:16PM (3/17/2008)
Those diesel Jettas are going to sell out before they start shipping!
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eddy 4:28PM (3/17/2008)
CO2 is 142 mpg. That is lowest in it's class. This car is bigger than most of its competitors. It is just 4 centimeters shorter than the Citroen C6 and only 9 centimeters shorter than the BMW 5-series. The other big thing is that the 2.0 TDI is a very nice 170 bhp engine with nearly perfect torque curves.
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Dave S 5:12PM (3/17/2008)
@gsolmon6,
gasoline where I live is $3/gallon. So yes, it is 3x as expensive. If you want a fudge factor - and I think you must or you wouldn't bother rushing the quote just to contradict my arithmetic, the Jeep only gets 15mpg (US).
If you are going to bother to discuss taxes and externalities, cite some statistics.
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colonelmontgomery 6:14PM (3/17/2008)
Okay, unlike Europe where diesel gets a tax break, in the USA diesel is 20% more per gallon. So, I can drive a car that uses regular unleaded and get 35 mpg or pay 2-3K more for a car that gets 52mpg???? Okay, if my car that gets 35 mpg mileage is adjusted for the increased cost of diesel, than my car would get 42 mpg if running on the more costly diesel. Okay, 10 mpg more for 3 k more in initial price (just a guess in cost of diesel version compared to gasoline version). At 3.30 a gallon for regular, I will get an extra 909 gallons of regular unleaded for a total driving distance of 32 thousand miles at 35mpg. If I drive 12 thousand miles a year, by the end of my 3rd year, I will just be neck and neck with the diesel powered car. In the fourth year the diesel will start saving me how much money???
Drive 12k miles at 35 mpg and use 342 gallons of fuel
Drive 12 k miles at 52 mpg and use 230 gallons of fuel.
342 gallons x $3.30= $1128.
230 gallons diesel at $4.00 = $920
1128-920 = $208 saved (assuming all other things being equal) by driving the diesel.
So after 5 years, I will save $1040 if I drive the diesel.
Now, if I drink a custom cup of coffee every day at $3.00 that means I spend 3x365 (ignore leap year) = $1095.00
So if I want to save money, then I should stop drinking my custom cup of coffee while driving my diesel?????
I know this crude (no pun intended) estimate, but reality is always an issue. What I don’t get with the gas car is “bragging” rights about my fuel economy.
YMMV. I hope my math measures up to your review.
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Joe 8:19PM (3/17/2008)
Top Gear drove an A8 diesel from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank of diesel. Thats about 800 miles. It made for an interesting episode, unfortunately all the links are gone due to copyright violation.
Here is an episode summary. Torrent if interested.
www.finalgear.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series4episode4.shtml
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Guenther 10:30AM (3/18/2008)
Diesel Burbs were going well over 800 miles a decade ago. Of course it took a 43 gallon tank...
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Warren W. 11:53AM (3/18/2008)
Well I get at least 860 miles per tank on my 1996 VW Passat but that's because I top off the tank to the tune of about 22 gallons per fill up. And I have to say that one of the resons that I went to more fuel efficient cars is the miles per tank. I got sick of visiting gas stations every 3-4 days. It's great if a car gets high mpg but if I still have to see the stupid gas station attendant more than once a week, forget it.
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J L 1:24PM (8/31/2008)
"Well I get at least 860 miles per tank on my 1996 VW Passat "
ditto, but a 1997 passat tdi...
18.5 gallon tank... how do you get 22 in there? I know the vent trick too, but I've NEVER got 22 gal in mine, at most 18.5-19 gal vented and very low on fuel
still, I average 45-47 mpg in my car and usually run 700-800 miles on a 18.5 gal fillup!! - that alone is pretty damn sweet!!
I'm on my 3rd tdi and cannot go back to petrol!! I tried, it lasted 1 yr, then bought another TDi!!
Chris Adams 1:07PM (3/18/2008)
I second Warren's statement. I have an '08 Benz ML SUV and enjoy going over 700 miles per tank. Jeez, last tank I went 770 miles @28MPG - not bad for a 5000 pound 4WD! So in many folks' minds it's a distinct luxury to *not* have to visit gas stations as frequently.
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Phil Longmont 5:57AM (3/19/2008)
Come on now people. I live in the United States (CA) and Diesel is a measly 20c more /gal than Premium which I use already. Soooo... For a 15 gal tank that's only $3 lousy dollars more expensive. I can get about 25 mpg with my current gas guzzler on a good day and with a diesel not only will I get 40+ mpg but when the Audi Diesel comes to the US it will have the larger 6 cyl 3.0 TDI engine with 450ft/lbs torque. This has already been announced by Audi USA for the Q7 and A4. Only VW will get the smaller 2.0TDI 4 cyl in the U.S. So give me that massive torque + 40mpg and I'll happily pay the measly $3 charge per tank.
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rayg68 3:31PM (3/24/2008)
colonelmontgomery,
i don't know what kind of car you have that gets 35mpg....I'm sure it's a fine car. However, most cars with that highway mileage and above are too small for my needs. What you haven't factored into your formulas is the car's utility. i.e. the new Jetta SportWagen is supposed get mpg in the mid 50's. Sure, one would spend less money of a gasoline powered Corolla but, would not be able to haul as much......on a side note, that panoramic sunroof option is very nice. On the other hand, if one gets a car with the cubic volume capacity as the VW SportWagen in a gasoline version, its hwy mpg would likely be in the mid 20's.
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Tomo 1:41PM (6/18/2008)
very impressive. I wonder how that tallys up to manufacturers claims.
Checking the MPG info on www.WhatMPG.co.uk shows that alot of the readings of older A4's should be getting that sort of economy.
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malcolm evans 5:05PM (5/11/2009)
i have a audi a4 1996 i have hade the car for about 6 years but i firs new the car when it was 12 mounths old as a company car i have many times got 750 miles to atank and she stills goes to portsmouth and back to leiester on 30 pounds worth diesel and she has done 29800 miles and still going strong you cant beat an audi malcolm
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broli 1:00AM (5/17/2009)
in europe the current line up of jetta get 50mpg +, but the ones in the U.S, specifically CA get 40-44 MPG no more no less.
due to immisions regulation all petrol and diesal poweredcars in the U.S get an average of 7-10 mpg less than the ones in europe and the rest of the world. emmisions here are tight, that's why the MPGs in U.S are not good.
now if you, an american,consider buying a TDI jetta you're not getting too much in return in the sense of saving money.
1) TDI jetta is a good $5000.00 more expensive than the non diesal line up
2) diesal tune ups, car parts are way more expensive. not just being foreign cars and their parts, but diesal on top of it all is more expensive here.
3) last but not least, although in the Valley(Los Angeles) you can get
diesal fuel around the same price as 89 octane or cheaper if you look around enough, but it is also quite common for them to be $0.20 more expensive than 91 octane.
so if you think about it, you're not really saving all too much.
now if the TDI jetta got 50mpg + like the ones out of U.S. then even though the parts and the car itself would be more expensive than the non diesal, id say it be worth buy, investment of buying the diesal.
same goes for the current bmw diesal and mercedes.
but, i like diesals too, it's just that you shouldnt get suckered into thinking your saving money.
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