Audi A4 Real World MPG

PF_Flyer

With the price of fuel being what it is, the mileage you're getting is becoming more important. This is the place to discuss the mileage performance you're getting out int he real world.

204meca

We got the A4 sedan, 1.8T for comfort, expected to be able to equal or slightly exceed EPA numbers. Big surprise is how much power and economy there is with this car.

2004 A4, non-quattro, 1.8, CVT.

Last urban driving tank by wife w moderately heavy foot: 70 in town, trips less than 10 miles got 23.8 mpg Aveage city driving is closer to 26mpg, have gotten up to 28 mpg in urban driving.

Last trip, 423 miles 5% forest service roads, 10% freeway, 85% two lane blacktop, driven with light foot & only a couple of WOT runs, top speed 80 mph, average speed overall 49mph (car's computer) got 34.4 mpg. Our personal best was 37 mpg; mostly freeway average speed of 65 mph.

Considering the best I ever got with 92 Honda Civic Si & 97 Del Sol Si was just under 40, the A4 is bit of a surprise. That plus the fact that it is supremely comfortable & had no mechanical problems for 29,000 miles makes us feel like we have a terrific car in the A4!

rapowitz

I have 2 Audi A4's. First is a 2001 1.8T (frontrac) 5-sp manual and I watch my MPG pretty closely. I get 24-25 MPG pure city and I just put 500 highway miles on. At a steady 70 I got 34 mpg for 200+ miles. Coming back, I couldn't drive that slow. Going between 70 and 100 mph, I averaged 31 mpg all highway.

We just got a 2006 A4 Avant. First tank was around 20 MPG all city. I'll update this board as we drive more.

byronwalter

My '06 2.0t, manual, Quattro, sports suspension, reflashed ECU (for 230 hp)... gets similar numbers. Recently I covered 22 miles with city/expressway at 5/95% and held my speed to 65 mph. The trip computer indicated 37.6 mph!

An eariler 300 mile trip at 75 mph came in at 34.5 mph. But dailey driving around town & country I'm hitting around 27 mph.

Really pretty nice for such a hefty little car.

rapowitz

OK, We've put alomst 1,000 miles on a 2006 A4 Avant 2.0T Quattro Auto CPO (delivered to me with 5,000 miles already on it). Mileage has been OK, but a bit disappointing. Straight city has worked out to around 19.5 MPG. Mix city/highway (30/70) has returned around 25.5 MPG. I haven't had a chance to do straight highway yet, but I anticipate getting 28 to 30 based on what I've seen so far.

The car itself drives like a dream . . . confident and very tight handling. The one thing I'm going to look into is the extremely quick upshift when driving in standard "D" mode. It quickly upshifts to 2nd gear, resulting in a bit of as hesitation at launch. When in "Sport" mode, it doesn't do this becaus it holds first gear longer.

sdradioguy

When I first got this car in the fall of '03, I was getting right at 17-20 in pure city driving, maybe as much as 23 if I really took it easy on the throttle and coasted to every stop. Pure highway driving returned an easy 33, driving 70-85 mph on the 5 between San Diego and LA. A tank of combined driving would return 25-ish.

In the fall of '05, I got a new job, and pulled up stakes for Orlando. On the cross-country trip, the dash kept telling me I was getting about 34, a figure that agreed with the math I did at each fill-up.

My mileage in Orlando has been somewhat disappointing. I thought driving on flat land would help me get even better mileage. Not so much. I'm driving with a much lighter foot these days (65 on the fwy., crawling around town), but my mileage is pretty much the same as it was before. I don't know if it's because I no longer have the occasionally hill to coast down, or if it's because I swapped my Dunlops for Avons, or what. I've been keeping the tires inflated and the oil changed on schedule.

Still, I can easily wring 340 miles out of a tank, which I think is great for a car with a certain level of performance, luxury, and safety (the real reason I bought the car).

rbenj

I've done three approx. 1,000 mile mileage tests to compare the second trip computer's average with my calcs. from gas fill-up receipts: #1 - 22.6 mpg (both matched); #2 - 21.8 (computer)/20.5 (calc.); #3 - 21.2 (computer)/19.6 (calc.). Assuming I saved all the receipts, the trip computer seems optimistic.

I can't break down freeway/city percentages during the tests; my driving is mixed, and it's most often easy-going (except for the occasional runs to redline - don't check instantanous gas mileage then! - or an occasional brief 120mph freeway moment).

A beautiful car to be sure, but for around-town errands it's overkill. Oh for a midweight sport bike that could easily transport a bag or two of groceries.

byronwalter

My guess is that the mileage computer doesn't start doing its thing until the car starts moving... thus startup isn't included in the trip computer calc.

rbenj

Interesting point I hadn't considered. I just looked over the manual's section on the trip computer, and while the instantaneous fuel consumption figure is recalculated every 33 yards, there was no mention of any distance for the average consumption figure. So if movement is needed, then startup, and stand-still idling, consumption would be ignored by the computer.

204meca

Interesting, I missed that detail. Another interesting aspect w the instant mileage readings is the dramatic improvement after the engine is hot. When starting with a cold engine at highway speeds the computer may show 22-26 mpg for the 1st 5-10 miles. After 10 miles it may read upper 30s to low 40s depending on whether I am driving 55 or 75. I am amazed how much more gas is used on brief drives. I imagine this is true of all vehicles.

hakunamatata

I have a 2003 A4 Auto 3L Quattro. Have had it for 1.5 years and 12000 miles. We get around 22 mpg in city driving. Have never taken it out on a long run. Will do that some time and post back. A related question, what gas do you fill? I put in 93 but have been wondering if I could try 89 or maybe even 87? The reason I ask is, coz my BMW bike asks for 91+ but runs perfectly fine on 89.

davberk

The trip computer on my A4 is not accurate, and neither was the one in my 98 VW Passat, if I recall correctly. Mine exaggerates overall mileage by up to 4-5 MPG. I don't believe this is only due to not gathering data when the car is sitting still; I've seen these differences on long freeway trips where this wouldn't be a factor.

On my 2003 A4 1.8T 2WD manual shift: With premium fuel, AC on, and holding to 65-75 MPH on a long freeway trip, I've gotten up to 33 (taken by recording the mileage elapsed on the odometer, and dividing by the number of gallons it takes to refill the tank to full again after the trip). 30-31 is more usual, however. Mixed city/highway, I'm in the low twenties at best.

brainlessbozo

Recently, we were driving our 05.5 2.0T A4 Quattro through a rain-storm. I was new (still am) to the cars various facets. I pushed the ESP button (light came on) and found that the MPG was lower than if I had the ESP button light OFF. Can any one explain this? I haven't asked the service guys at the dealer yet.

Overall, somewhat disappointed with MPG figures here in South Dakota, despite using premium gas.

byronwalter

The ESP observation is curious. My '06 2.0t with a manual trans manages around 32 to 35 mph in warm weather on the highway. My city driving varies wildly, depending on how often I stop & go (17 to 30 mph).

On one trip my trip computer 'claimed' that I averaged 37 mph at about 70 mph. Had a good tail wind.

Byron

dman

Last 3 tanks have been around 25-26mpg and I just got my 07 A4 2.0T quattro S-Line DSG 2 weeks ago. I've been dividing distance traveled by gallons I put in at the pump. Trip computers always seem to be overly optimistic.

byronwalter

" I've been dividing distance traveled by gallons I put in at the pump. Trip computers always seem to be overly optimistic. "

I used to do it that way as well. I had a PDA with a spread sheet. Now I'm too lazy.

While I'm not sure how the trip computer does its thing. I suspect that it doesn't start its mpg measurement until the car is rolling, thus the initial start and idle time are not factored in.

BTW, good luck with your A4. My '06 (purchased August 05) has been the best car that I've owned. No squeaks, rattles, or CELs. Hard to believe that it's an Audi :P

dman

My first Audi too, and yeah, reliability was always scary but I went ahead and did it anyways. I leased though. Got a good MF (0.0008) and if the car gives me too many problems at least I can turn it back in at the end of the lease. Plus, I'm a closet member of CCBA (Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous) so it doesn't take much to convince me to change cars. If, and a big if, the Audi turns out to be bulletproof, I could always buy it out and finance the residual I figure (and definitely get some type of extended warranty on it). I wonder if I might even come out ahead by leasing the first 3 years at such a low interest rate and financing the residual at 6% (assuming rates are still around 6% 3 years from now).

brainlessbozo

Has anyone noticed the displayed mpg number to drop while driving in the rain? Its another curious find, unexplained though... Needless to say, I think everyone must notice a drop in mpg in winter.

Any thoughts?

byronwalter

Hey, good luck with that ride. I know someone that is pushing 230,000 miles on an (obviously) older S6. Nothing unusual and he has been happy with his car. But a short time ago his manual tranny started indicating that it was getting ready to go.

But you can bet that your car won't be bulletproof. Cars are just too complex these days. And watch out on those extended warranties (if you decide to go that route). Seems that they have "exceptions" for the stuff that actually breaks.

tomo28

Hi

Ive got Audi A4 Tdi (90 bhp) I get 611 miles on a tank which equates to 48 MPG
(european gallons I must point out) as im in the UK.

This figures is good but below what its supposed to be
www.WhatMPG.co.uk says that is should be getting about 54 MPG on combined cycle...

fluid15

OT, but which type of reflash did you buy, cost, and are you happy with it? TIA.

204meca

WE normally run 89 Octane in our 1.8T. Occasionally fill it with 91-92. I cannot tell the difference, but I have never tried to compare MPG with the different octanes. Still running fine & getting excellent MPG with 48K..

kinct

Recently purchased a new (leftover) 2007 A4 2.0T. Still in the break-in period, but got 33.4 MPG on a recent 300+ mile drive (this is calculated based off of miles travelled / gas pumped, not the silly / inaccurate trip computer calculation which I find to be routinely optimistic).

This was "trying to get good gas mileage" (65 mph max, coasting down major hills, no AC).

I suspect normal highway will be more like 30 mpg. A little worse than my 99 1.8T Passat, but not horrible either.