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Volkswagen Rabbit MPG - real world numbers
Sylvia
Member Posts: 1,636
Volkswagen Rabbit owners - what's your MPG?
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Numbers: 9.6 L/100KM = 24.5 MPG
Gasoline: Petrocan 89 Octane Regular Gas
This equals a range of about 560 KM on a tank of gas.
The max I ever got from our Jetta 2.0T was about 580 KM.
Factoring in the fun factor: I am happy with the gas mileage. I was very unimpressed with the first tank: but I think it was Esso and a source involved in the oil/gas industry indicated to me that I should avoid Esso as it is an inferior product (the dealership filled the tank).
Thanks for posting those numbers. Very reasonable MPG - and I've heard the mileage improves after 3,000 miles or so.
It is way more fun that the 2001 Passat Wagon (V6/Manual) it replaces - which I got about 22 MPG from premium grade fuel.
I am getting used to revving it a little higher than our Jetta 2.0T - to get into the better torque range.
Jonathan
Fuel efficiency is important, granted. Especially given the current instability of oil and my feeling that we need to do more to conserve our resources. In my mind the Rabbit would be an instant KO if the fuel efficiency could match the Civic/Coralla/etc.
I'm not rich (after all, I did buy the cheapo 2 door model
1. I had no problem finding the cheapo 14,990 + destination model. Not only that, but the dealer was willing to search high and low to find the car I wanted. I've never had another dealership go out of its way to find me a car.
2. The design/materials/usability/cool factor/ingenuity of the Rabbit is WORLDS better than my 03 Civic. No comparison. The Honda is a tin can compared to the Rabbit. The difference in the way the cars drive/feel/sound on the road, especially the interstate, is amazing. I feel like I'm driving a different class of car.
3. It is an amazingly fun car for 17k (once I added the VW Vision wheels)
4. I had a Civic LX, so the extra HP in the Rabbit makes a world of difference. No more turning off the A/C to merge into traffic. The Rabbit will move when I need it to.
My .02 cents. I can say this. The Civic was the uber utilitarian, does nothing great but everything well, steady, reliable K-car. But I have loved every mile in my Rabbit, and I could never say that about my Civic.
Car dash rattles too.
VW sales/service are almost useless.
I think I have made a mistake.
I picked up my Rabbit on Thursday night and I averaged 27.5 MPG. I filled up with a little less than a half tank remaining. We will see if there's an improvement. Also this is my first time filling it up. It is possible that the tank was not at full capacity.
Third tank - 22.5 mpg
"Spirited" driving in-city with some in-city freeway miles.
2006 Rabbit - manual transmission.
YMMV
Jim
:confuse:
Pretty sure your gas tank is not getting any bigger...
Though I am sure they did so, what I was hinting at is the possibility the dealer did not fill the tank completely. If they did not, that would negatively effect my MPG calculation. The next fill-up will again be done by me, and I even plan on using the same gas station which will give me accurate gasoline consumed vs miles traveled.
Around town, have been getting 25 mpg.
Drove to Louisville and back in one day from Knoxville, 70-90 mph. Didn't use cruise, got 31.7 mpg! Even had the A/C going and my wife with me (that's not a comment about her weight). Amazing thing was the car never needed a downshift out of sixth gear, not even for mild passing or going up the mountain at Jelico, TN.
I like manual cars and the DSG in the GTI is sweet, but the 6 speed auto Rabbit is a great, everyday choice.
My wife drives a mazda Protege5 which is doing 29-30mpg. Test driving this weekend. Plan to hit the Rabbit, Mazda3, and maybe the Mini. I have owned a few Hondas and will try to avoid them -- just don't have any kind of fun factor to them. (Sigh, but the upkeep is easy and inexpensive, gas mileage good, etc...)
If I get rid of my car I want something that still has the fun factor to it. I don't need 280hp for USA highways with 65-70mph speed limits. Saving a little money would be nice. The obvious place to begin is upkeep, insurance, and gas mileage. The Rabbit takes Regular or?
Appreciate all of your posts. They have been a lot of help.
Andy
The 2.5 engine uses regualar gas, the 2.0T (turbo) takes premium).
Something I forgot to mention in previous post, has anyone got a hubcap Rabbit (no wheel option) with the high profile factory Continental tires? I get a lot of road noise over certain surfaces and can't tell if it's the Continentals or lack of sound deadening. As soon as these tires are dead, I'm getting VW wheels and back to Yokohama V4's.
I dont notice anything out of the ordinary as far as road noise goes.
I'm in CA, SF bay area, and we have some of the worst, hardest driving old style concrete fwy's around. I'm pretty happy with the standard tires... and they handle great...no squeels yet!
I find the figures quoted on this page hard to believe. Are people driving manuals over long distances on flat freeway with no aircon at at fixed 50mph?
My wife has gotten no lower than 24, that was in winter. Her commute is suburban driving though, not really city. She goes about 11 miles in about 20 minutes.
We also get about 33 mpg in freeway driving at 70-75 mph with the A/C on.
We have a 2.5 Jetta and it is an automatic.
I just can't fathom how the fuel economy could be this bad.
Best way to test the fuel economy of the car is when you take a trip on the highway, fill up the car just before you begin the highway portion and fill up again at the end of the highway portion and calculate the mpg. Drive a fairly consistent speed between 55 and 65 mph while on the highway.
If your mileage is similar to epa then the car is not the problem.
28.3 on the previous fill up, about 70% fwy.
29.6 on last tank, about 85% fwy.
average speed, between 75-80mph...its hard to keep it any slower...it just loves to run!
and I still cant believe how easy is it to blow past slow pokes in top gear
I have magnets on the fuel line, by the way. Still a lot of controversy on this, but a book on magnet therapy that I just read- a new one, has British studies on fleets of cars that indicate a 1-3 MPG boost using the magnets. I will try it with and without.
I wonder what people find works for tweaking MPG with add on devices?
Also, the Continental Conti Pros on my Rabbit are noisy, but that may be the car needing still more noise insulation, especially in the doors and A pillar (expert opinion of weak spots).
The manual has a launch acceleleration glitch- the car can die pretty esily if pne does not clutch and accelerate just right. Noticed this is the case going into first gear- not so much in reverse. I am still having a hard time getting used to the trasmission shifiting after 9 days with the car.
My last tank was about 23mpg even on a 340 mile mix of city and hy driving. Big temp drop though here in Southern Wisconsin. And tons of snow/ice.
I am still having trouble learing how to shift it- may not be good for fuel mpg. Clutch is too near the brake pedal. Perhaps I coould get something to make the clutch footpad bigger/wider (to the left). I am still killing the engine too much. Very windy here too. I may do better driving with the radio off- actuually like listneing to the car and recting/interacting. I wish the MPGs were better- I think gas prices will go up more here again. Up 10 cents- just lately.
a 2.5l inline-5 that gets 150hp and 170lb-ft is sophisticated? To compare... in Europe there`s the 2.0FSI gas engine (pretty much the same one in the GTI but without the turbo) and it also gets 150hp and a bit less torque ~150lb-ft. But the fuel economy 25.2mpg in the city (2.5l = 21mpg) and 43.5mpg Extra-urban (30mpg with the 2.5l) is much superior. THAT IS A SOPHISTICATED ENGINE! Not our 2.5l that drinks regular with pleasure.
If one does the math, the highway fuel economy with the 2.0FSI engine is 50% better than with the 2.5l. What a sophisticated engine... yeah...
But again the FSI technology is more expensive, and thus the Rabbit would`ve been so.
I would have prefered the non turbo 2.0 personally too though!
I get about 55 MPG (but then again that's driving 55 MPH)
I can get 3/4 yard of bark in the back.........
I rarely have to worry about spark plugs, distributor, points, wires or a coil. If you get my drift..............
I bet many of you know what I'm about to reveal............
A 1983 VW Rabbit LX Diesel pickup. Sure it's a relic. Yeah, it pretty slow. But I get better fuel economy that u.
....that sounds much harder than it should. My bad.
Actually, it's a very neat little vehicle.
...ez....
Everyone has to realize that you can't compare our car engines to those found in the japanese imports. Our car is way heavier and more HP/torque!
I'm happy with my gas milage since I've been driving and Envoy to work and putting 25-30K/year on that getting 18-19mpg.
Yeah on paper our engines definitely have most other japanese cars out gunned. Except maybe the mazda 3 2.3 which has more horspower, but less torque. But i've heard it gets absolute dismal mileage, and not that much different from our car, which has an extra cylinder, more displacement and more weight.
Having said that, once the 08 rabbits come out, as far as figures go, we will still have everyone out gunned! :P
These two cars a close in weight (closer than the 3 and the Jetta). Acceleration figures, based on CR data, are about the same for these two. About 9.5 sec. for 0-60. So in the real world these two engines perform about the same.
I would not read too much into a 20 HP change, maybe the change will just be a shift in the HP peak to higher rpm and a trade off of low-end torque.
agreed. It just makes a good case for the bunny, since it is an iron block, and is bigger in displacement and has the almighty extra cylinder. They do weigh about the same, but i think its still in the favor of the 3.
Actually the new figures for the 2.5 in the rabbit will be 170hp and 177 lbs of torque in the same rpm range. Its just better high end and a higher redline that i would like.
I think this works out pretty well
Automatic or manual?
It could be that you drive a lot of highway; but then there is no explanation as to why your city miles are so high.
The rabbits highway driving stickers at 19 mpg city and 28 highway (new epa standards.) So you get and astounding 9 mpg in the city and 8 mpg on the highway more? Hmm...
I drove to asheville this weekend and about 90% of all my driving was highway at about 75 mph and i got a record 362.2 miles to a tank. That resulted in an average of 28 mpg, my best tank ever. With your numbers, JUST driving in the city and assuming you pump the usuall 13 us gallons that the rabbit takes you should be able to go about 365-370miles (even better than what i got driving mostly highway) in the city and about 470 on the highway. My civic could not even do that, even factoring in its smaller gas tank.
I agree this works out very well! But you must be the only one of us to have a diesel. :P
"City" mileage will vary a lot. Because what people call "city" driving varies a lot. Driving in Chicago traffic, for example, is far different from Milwaukee. What the EPA tests is probably more like the latter.
CR test came up with 16 mpg for the Jetta 2.5, IIRC...Rabbit would presumably be about the same. Theirs is a pretty tough test, probably simulates the Chicago or NY type of driving.
When i first bought the Rabbit i was getting really really bad km's but after reaching 18 000km it has been amazing
You still haven't answered if you drive an automatic or a manual.
Besides, if the car stickers at 19/28 regardless of tranmission, i'd say his numbers are great.
As you said, and I agree completely with you, I would expect better numbers from this car and YES, I frequent the Mazda 3 board as well.
Plus he's EXCEEDING the epa, out of all the cars to do it in, i think the fact that its the rabbit (which has been labled a gas guzzler here), is the icing on the cake!
I regularly exceed the speed limit (on the highway portion of the commute) by at least 10 to 15 MPH and 50% of my daily commute is stop and go. 40 miles one way take me 1 hour and 20 minutes.
What about the Elantra? It also has a 2 liter engine and has a better MPG rating.
true...but is also a smaller 2.0 as oppossed to the 2.5 in the rabbit. Plus its a four cylinder, wheras the rabbit is a five. And last but not least, the elantra weighs less than the rabbit as well.
Even if we are comparing 2.0 litre engines, it depends also on the state of tune. The civic si has a 2.0 and gets worse mpg than similarly sized engines, but it has a colossal redline and a lot of hp to boot.
Im really considering getting that 2007 Rabbit as I my work is 78 miles oneway. Ive driven all these hatch GTi manual six, GTi Tiptronic, Rabbit Manual 5 and the Rabbit Tiptronic Six.
The only very noticeable thing that I discovered is the Rabbit matic 6 has only 2,000 rpm on 70 mph. the rest are 2,500rpm.
:confuse: Are you using Matic 6 or stick 5? What octane do you use and what brand?
Im using 89 octane. But I definetely would say brand has big diffs.
I've got the six speed tiptronic, and yes the rabbit does cruise at very low rpms; its just the gearing.
i only use bp gas, and have tried out different octanes, and none of the higher ones seemed to affect mileage to the point where i would use them all the time.
I find the rabbit to be amazeningly easy to shift and im able to start from a stop in second gear (yes it has happened accidentally) your mpg should go up if you do your shifts around 3000 rpm
im averaging 27 mpg
I have one of the best tanks ever now, granted that half of it was driven on ALL highway, but exceeding the speed limit by about 10mph. I'm just barely below the halfway point, and am turning over 250 miles. If i can hit over 300 before a quarter of a tank is left, and i get over 360 miles before i run out, i will have the highest mileage tank ever recorded.