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Volkswagen Rabbit MPG - real world numbers
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Comments
the ratings for the 5.7 of that year are 16/26
and for the auto its 15/20. (talk about horrible gearing.)
both of these would average a bit less than a rabbit. plain and simple. no one has been posting horrible mpg numbers here so i don't understand why you 'cannot belive it'. did you take into consideration how big the engine is? or, like so many other people, did you just look at the cars price and assume it was super fuel efficient?
if you 'cannot belive' the rabbits gas mileage, never buy and accord, camry, or ANY other midsize, or any mazda offering at this price (with the exception of the 2.0 in the 3) because they ALL get around the same mileage with similar engine sizes.
I plan on breaking the Rabbit in for 1000 miles staying below 70 mph, and considering how much highway driving I do, I hope to average just shy of 30mpg. If I do that, I will only be a few MPG below my friends Civic. Thanks to the cruise control, and how much late night trafic fee highway miles I drive, I hope to get close to that goal within a few months. I will keep you guys posted once I finally pick the car up!
Actually it should get about the same mpg, if driven the same way as a CRV. The ratings are within 1 mpg of each other...with the rabbit being rated 1 mpg higher on the freeway and the CRV 1 mpg higher in city.
Why so astonished with the comparison to the CRV :confuse: , thse two vehicles are about the same size and weight.
Sill a good looking car....But if I am going to go that small..I'd expect some benefit from my lack of room and car for that matter
I suggest you wait until a diesel version is available.
There was a white GTI that was beautiful....But 30K..WOW
And the Eos...Nice car....35 K Double wow...!
have an Altima with a 3.5. It gets 30's highway and low 20's c
again i think you are a conservative driver. the last gen altima is rated at 17/24 WITH premium gasoline, so if you are getting those numbers, more power to you, you are no lead foot. if you have a new altima, its a bit better, at 20/26, but would still have to be driven fairly conservitley to achieve those numbers. Me? i drive normally, and actually floor it quite often.
But if I am going to go that small..I'd expect some benefit from my lack of room and car for that matter
here's my beef with this statement; when you are shopping for a car this size, that is simply it: you are shopping for a car this size. you can't start getting into thinking about midsize mileage and the extra space that comes with it, especially since those cars make you PAY for that extra space. The rabbit is a very affordable car and priced at if not lower than most of its competition. the BENEFITS you ARE getting are a much peppier ride, and great passing power, and the BEST interior for the money.
you just cant please everyone.
My driving is mostly to work, about 7.5 miles each way on a major street. A lot of times I can get up to 50 MPH and rarely have to stop at every light. If you know Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose or El Camino in Sunnyvale, you know what my route is like. It's a 2 door manual.
1. 24.88 MPG
2. 29.78
3. 28.81
4. 25.18
5. 23.79
6. 26.25
7. 25.27
8. 24.84
9. 27.8
10. 27.18
11. 27.0
12. 26.76
13. 27.67
When it was new, I did some freeway miles for the break-in,
which may account for a couple readings of 28 and 29 MPG.
It's still very solid and fun to drive.
It recently had a fuel pump replacement, covered by warranty
(the dealer replaced it when the pump started whining).
(For the MPG figures, above, I always went to the same
pump at the same station, but am thinking that the fuel
pump may have gone bonk because there was some contaminant
in the gas that plugged up the filter and made the pump work
too hard, so am thinking of going to a different station).
thank you. as no one should.
the numbers you posted are great, especially considering the sub par gas you were using. (what gas station was it that you were using?)
i only fill up at bp, sometimes at shell, and avoid the cheapo places altogether.
..tell me about it. (..last two years of college were somewhat south of there.....)
....but my Rabbit does much better fuel-wise (keyword here is 'fuel').....
best, ez..
I generally fill up within a mile or two of the gas light coming on, which is usually about 13 gallons gone with 250-275 miles driven. This means I get a about a week and a half between fill-ups.
An interesting note, I always get gas at the same place. A couple times, I used premium (93 octane here) and my mileage actually got worse...didn't even get to 250 on 13 gallons.
I would definitely not recommend the Rabbit for anyone concerned about fuel economy...at least not for city drivers with an automatic and air-conditioning on. I knew going in that mileage wouldn't be great, but it's worse than I expected. 20MPG even with A/C is abysmal. On the other hand, it's a really fun car to drive and I've only seen two or three on the road since I got it.
BUT: in making my decision to buy this car the MEDIOCRE gas mileage was the ONLY reason I hesitated before buying it. Other than that I really do love this car, and although the engine is a little bit thirsty by todays standards It really is great to drive behind the wheel, with unmatched luxury for the out-the-door price.
PLUS: The new epa estimates are available everywhere. 19-28. Like I've been saying on this forum: Just try to know what your getting in to before purchasing the car!
AND: THE MPG performance on the Rabbit/Golf has always been about the same on the automatic 4 cylanders since 2000. Just go to www.fueleconomy.gov and do a side by side comparison on the Rabbit/Golf, it has always been within 1 or 2 miles of 19-28mpg (new estimates) which translates to aboud 22-30mpg (old estimates). For 06'/07' They've added an extra cylander, beefed up the horsepower, made the car bigger and heavier and it still gets the same MPG as before.
the rabbit gets an estimated 19mpg in the city, so i'd say that your 20-21 average w/ac is pretty dang good. I live in nc, and i can't wait for winter, so i can lay off the a/c. ( i did a lot of driving this weekend, and averaged 27mpg mostly highwway with lots and lots of ice cold ac)
Plus, your commute is nothing short of a recipie for horrible gas mileage. The fact that your rabbit is STILL getting epa, is great.
I don't see very many gti's on the road, but i do see them ever so slightly more than rabbits. From what i know though, rabbits are in no way being left on lots; pepole are buying them, but there just isn't a whole lot of them to be had; whereas some cars excel in mileage, the rabbit excels in everything else. I don't think anyone would buy a gti over the rabbit for the gas, but as a performance package it works.
But then again those people are willing to spend that money (which is slightly more than performance versions of other cars) and the rabbits features still put it at the top of the pack with regards to content on entry level models. making it the perfect car for someone who likes substance over gas mileage.
I could go and get a new civic, but to equip it like my 2 door rabbit, i'd have to get an ex, which is a 20k car; the car payments alone TOTALLY counteract the gas i would be saving with it. Just an example.
so vw gives us another cylinder .5 litres of displacment and 155hp more with no significant drop in gas and we are still complaining? good grief, some of you guys need to get laid.
wow 19k? you are the only person who i know who has that many miles on their rabbit, making you second place!
(mine's got over 26k)
So far, mpg isn't looking great. I think I am going to get 27 or 28 mpg with a mix of 70% suburban and 30% highway. By suburban I mean a 3 lane road with lights every mile or so, a 45mph limit ( so every does 50-60 ) and traffic levels such that you are never caught at the lights through 2 cycles.
I know that some people think that expectations are too high.
My feeling is that VW have much better engines than this 5-pot and I would have loved a choice in the matter. I went to the VW UK site which gives mpg and imperial power and torque figures ( note that the imperial gallon is larger and you will need to multiply by 0.83 to get US mpg equivalents ).
They have a 2 liter turbo diesel with 170 horses and 258 ft lbs of torque which will get you 40mpg - you can outrun just about anything and outsip a low end Corolla. They have a 1.4 liter turbo/supercharged with 162 ft lbs of torque which will get you 32mpg.
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/technology_glossary/TSI
They also have a 1.6 liter which has the same performance as the old two liter and excellent fuel economy ( 35mpg ).
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/technology_glossary/FSI
So I certainly feel a little frustrated that the better engines are not available here. All that said, the prices in the UK are stratospheric, starting at an equivalent of $25k for the base model - every foreign car company must be making a fortune with the strength of the pound and the British propensity to overpay for cars ( they can't buy in Europe because they are right hand drive ).
A couple of things about the Rabbit don't help with the fuel economy. The engine is quiet and smooth and allows you to forget to change up. It is quite peppy and does invite hard driving. The manual ratios are much shorter legged than they need to be, back in 1990 I had a 2 liter Vauxhall ( Chevy ) which probably had a little over 100 ft lbs of torque and would do 90mph at 3,000 rpm.
I am sure the Rabbit could take the higher gearing.
However, here is my take on why the gearing is the way it is. Americans are chronically obese as well as being the largest humans on the planet when in good physical shape. A car company has to design a vehicle to safely move four adults and luggage when the adults weights are in the upper 10th percentile. Fat guys have fat wives and fat friends ( I think I read something the other day about mutually reinforcing lifestyles being one of the issues of obesity - people literally egg each other on to overeat and not exercise ). So Gunther and Helmut are at the drawing board looking to design a car for the American market. We need to be able to cope with four 250lb adults and 150lbs of luggage - 1,150lbs . Well the 2-liter is out, it'll need to be the 2.5 five pot. Now what about the gearing ratios ? Well we can't make them too far apart, not with all that weight to accelerate and besides Americans are lazy and won't want to drop a gear to pass so we will have to keep the 5th gear low enough to allow passing at 70mph ( before you protest, who takes corners in 3rd and lets the engine struggle from under 1,000rpm ).
The other issue I see here is that Americans are obsessed with horse power and engine capacity. A 3-liter engine in Europe is considered a monster and we are happier to be in a hi-tech 2 liter than a guzzling 4 liter V8. I won't even look at high end cars here simply because they all have ridiculously over sized engines.
My stereotyping is not reflective of those reading this forum but then you drive European cars and care about mpg. You are not representative of the American market. If you were we would have the full choice of engines on offer.
My current strategy is to change up when the rev counter noses above 2000rpm and to pull steadily away from the lights. I never change down to pass and don't brake or accelerate hard to change lanes. I had a Volvo V70 wagon with a real time fuel consumption readout. I could see what happens when you hammer it from the lights and learned to take my time to hit cruising speed and to avoid lane changes and "overactive" driving. If this country had a progressive government it would mandate that all cars have a real time mpg readout as well as a speedo and rev counter. Believe me, it would change driving habits for the better.
Well, after all that ranting, I do agree that the Rabbit is pretty much a nice mid-range vehicle disguised as an econo-hatch. It compares quite nicely to my Volvo V50 which costs $10k more. The only complaints that I would echo regard the seat cloth quality, a slight problem with pulling off the line in 1st ( hard to get the accelerator input right ) and the fact that the black plastic on the body doesn't contrast very well with the silver color I chose. I think darker colors work better with the black exterior trim.
I just went on a trip with 3 friends and a fully loaded trunk to Big Bear. average weight of passenger was probabl 125 (the girl friend is not American and is much smaller, off setting the "average weight") and luggage was probably another 100-150. so that's a good 600lbs of cargo. Anyone who has been to Big Bear Mountain in Southern California knows how windy the roads are. The Rabbit can really haul [non-permissible content removed] up the hill with an amazingly smooth ride, and little strugle. I managed to get everyone in my vehicle car sick at one point from zipping up the mountain. :shades: Anyway, The 2.5 makes a lot of sense and is a helluva a lot of fun to drive. Your UK mpg at the beginninf of your Rant is also subject to that .83 right? So you're averaging the US equivalent of 22-23 MPG?
the naturally aspirated 1.6 wont move our bunny anywhere but the list of most anemic cars.
the 1.4 tsi is great, but its a relatively new engine and vw probably didn't want to suffer more reliability issues or expensive repairs; remember they are trying to win back their fans.
the diesel is a cool engine too, but much like hybrids, they are slightly more expensive and they wouldn't be carring a sub 15k pricetag. (I too think that the rabbit is a mid level car in econo hatch clothing.)
i don't mind the rabbits gearing....i like the fact that i can be doing 80 miles per hour and only have the tach just under 2300rpms. what it needs is top end power, and the 08's revies 5 banger remedies that to an extent.
and on a side note, while the black side strips may not be the most athsetically pleasing (i have the united grey, so its no biggie) but its very european looking, and only on the two doors. ( you can actually get the paintable versions, if you prefer it.)
as far as mileage goes, averaging 27-28 when your car is rated 19/28 is phenomenal; especially since you driving MOSTLY suburban roads and only 30%highway.
VW's manual, like many other manual transmissions, has little practical advantage over the auto anymore...except the initial lower price. No longer do you get an extra gear or two, no longer do you get significantly better mpg, no longer does the engine run at lower rpms in top gear, and no longer is a 4 cyl underpowered with the automatic.
Most manuals now seem to be designed for racers...leading to close gear ratios and excessively high rpms in the top gear.
I can be doing over 90 and be at or a little over 3k rpms.
In truth, for the straight, flat roads I drive, the manual serves no practical purpose other than involving me a little more in the process. I think that people tend to be lead footed in automatics because they want some "feedback" from the car and hard braking and acceleration give them that ( my weird theory based on middle aged people racing from light to light - what's the rush? ).
The comments about the low gearing for racers makes sense.
The possible plus point is that I can get the car into 5th at 40mph so that it is possible to cruise to work on a non-highway road at 2,000rpm .
I am going to check on the price premium for the diesel versus gasoline in Europe - UK doesn't count because we are the world's biggest suckers when it comes to cars. $24k for the entry level Golf!
In Spain they are charging about 2k Euros extra for an equivalent diesel. That is $2.7k approximately. Glancing at Honda and Toyota I am guessing that they want about $3k for the hybrid over the normal gasoline equivalent so there is not much difference there.
One important difference is the longevity and simplicity of the diesel. My Dad has a little Skoda with a 1.9 turbodiesel. His service intervals are 20k miles. Unlike a hybrid, a diesel is actually a simpler arrangement than a gasoline engine. I talked to lots of UK taxi drivers who do airport runs in turbodiesel Skoda Octavia sedans and wagons with 300k miles on the odometer ( Skoda is part of VW ). I am really keen to own one and would happily downgrade the vehicle ( from a Jetta to a Rabbit say ) in order to drive a diesel. I rented a Citroen back in 2002 and the fact that I drove all around Spain for 5 days without stopping at a gas station really impressed me. Apart from that, a diesel has great hill climbing and passing ability.
Funny, I think it is just the opposite. I think most people are feather footed in automatics. I know that I tend to drive more aggressively in a manual.
Most drivers around here seem to be afraid that their car will break if they exceed 2500 rpm...and of course 90%+ of those cars are automatics....Get moving, already :mad: !
One thing had occurred to me - whether I could increase the gearing on my Rabbit by upping the tire diameter. I have no idea about custom wheels and fancy tires but if I could go from a 25" to a 26" tire it would increase my gearing 4% and might yield some benefit in economy. Of course it might cost me a fortune and ruin my ride and handling....
I did 202 miles after filling up, with about 30 miles of driving to and from the highway on uncongested suburban roads with 45mpg limit and lights every mile.
I tried my hardest not to exceed 70mph and did not hard acceleration to pass, no dropping a gear or anything else liable to impact consumption. I then went back to the same pump and refilled.
I got 202 miles from 6.7 gallons which is 30.15mpg. I only have 500 miles on the vehicle and I am hopeful that it will "loosen up" and give me better performance.
When I convert to UK mpg which is what I am used to, this works out to 36mpg which is pretty respectable. If I can eke out 25mpg on my commute, which is suburban, I will be pretty happy.
Also, I am enjoying the car. It compares nicely to my Volvo V50, which is a much more expensive vehicle and is really only marginally superior in terms of "solidity" and refinement. I will be taking a good look at the Golf Variant which may be badged as a Jetta Wagon, when it gets to the US.
I was pleasantly surprised because my resolve to drive as smoothly as possible in order to maximize gas mileage had weakened a little.
I hope the trend continues but I would settle for this MPG given the EPA urban cycle figure of 22mpg
I got around 26 on mixed hightway and local.
I can't remember exactly how much I drove expectedly.
The car was driven almost 200 miles on the freeway,
between 65-80 mph. Manual transmission. Cruise control
used for about 75 miles.
One of the things they did at the servicing was rotate
the tires. After I got it back, it seemed stiffer, so maybe
they added air to the tires.
Prior to this, I've ranged between 24 and 29 mpg,
with most of the driving suburban at speeds up to
about 50, with some stop and go.
I don't drive enough to worry about the mileage.
I am using the second tank and it is burning gas the same speed as before. I took the car to the VW service yesterday and they couldn't detect anything wrong with it. I got the car thinking it would be economical but now I feel a bit fooled.
Anybody with the same problem? Or is this just common among brand new cars?
I just did a highway trip and did a significant chunk of it at 80mph, which yielded 25 MPG, and another portion at 60mph, which yielded 34 MPG. The MPG at 60 mph are quite impressive ... who would have thought that speed would make such a big difference in MPG.
So, on the HW:
27.5 MpG at 87.5 MpH (almost) constant speed or 8.5 L/ 100 Km at 140 Km/h.
City/HW:
20.5 MpG at 37.5 MpH or 11.5 L/ 100 Km at 60 Km/h
I used 87 octans. Once I used 94, but the consumption was pretty much the same... The city is Montreal, so often the driving is stop & go.
After 27 000 Km ( 17 000 Miles) I can say that:
- the seats are a little bit harder than expected... On a long trip your [non-permissible content removed] begin to give pains...
- there is a little noise coming from the bord, and it become very anoing in the city, on the bumped roads.
- the variable sound control gives me a boost on the bass when slowing down.
"Thanks. What I didnt see was the Civic. I got an 07 Civic now. 1.8Coupe. I hate Honda for not releasing the Hatchback in the US. Mileage is way to fantastic. Imagine a 140hp that does 37mpg?..What a wonderful engine...I still think of the Rabbit. Theyre now 13,000+.. I guess for having a 2.5L engine made a poor market since gas hike has been going on.. "
Do you mean people are buying 2008 new Rabbits for $13,000?
If so, where?
Thanks.
AIR IS GREAT / PARTS A LITTLE PRICEY BUT SO FAR I LIKE THE CAR REAL WELL GET ME WHERE I WANT TO GO AND ITS PAID FOR /DIESEL IS HIGHER BUT MPG MAKES UP FOR IT
HAD A 72 SUPER BEETLE ALSO 34 MPG FUN CAR IN SNOW WOULD NOT HESITATE TO OWN ANOTHER ONE
KEEP ME POSTED
During my approx. 8 fill-ups since I owned the car, I am consistently getting around 19.5 mpg. I do mostly city driving, but expected to get at least the published mpg minimum.
I replaced my 2006 Passat , which I loved, at the end of the lease to the Rabbit to get improved mileage. The Passat was getting about 22 mpg in the city (31-32 on the highway). Prior to that I had a Jetta. Of all the 3 VW's I have had, this one gets the worst mpg, hands-down.
I have been hoping that this problem was just because the car needed to be "broken in". However the mpg is staying the same on every tank.
Other than driving more conservatively, which I don't think is possible for me given that I already make a concerted effort to drive that way, is there anything else I can do to the car to save some $$$ at the pump?
Thanks
First two fill-ups: both 24 mpg, driving extremely conservatively, due to breaking in the new engine, which is completely unnatural for me, coming from a BMW 545i.
Third fill-up: drove more my usual way, but still not all-out: 22.6 mpg.
Conclusion: I would rather sacrifice some mpg and have some fun, so I would expect my future mpg to be mostly in the 21-22 range.
I am resigned to the fact that mpg with the 2008 Rabbit will be disappointing. At least it takes regular fuel.
One review I read somewhere from a guy who owns a 2008 VW GTI stated his mileage noticeably got better at around 5000 miles, so maybe there is some hope for us down the road. We'll see.
Im driving a 2008 vw rabbit and just got myself a scangauge 2. Im getting really bad milage even with very gentle driving. In the city im averaging around 20L/100km (11.7mpg)... i havent done much highway driving yet, but i have done some mixed driving (city/highway and the best possible average i was getting was 14.7MPG. This car is rated at double that... why am i getting such poor results?
Im not gunning the car, im coasting whenever i can. Im not idling in traffic that much. I try and press the pedal only enough to get the car moving, and no aggresive driving.
Is this a normal result?
Don't rely on any gizmos to do your mpg. Do it yourself!! Record the miles or km driven since the last fill-up and the gallons or L used which you can read right off the gas pump. I always do it myself. I use a hand calculator to divide the miles traveled by the gallons pumped. It's the best way to do it.
You have a trip odometer which can be set to zero miles or km. after you fill-up to keep track for you until the next fill-up. Keep setting it back to zero after copying down the distance traveled, after every fill-up.
I just got 29.2 mpg, yesterday, mostly highway. I'm averaging just over 24 mpg with 1400 miles driven. I have my 2008 Rabbit 4 door automatic for 6 weeks now and my mpg findings are right in line with what it should be.
Try doing it by hand calculation. If you still get 11-15 mpg, take it back to the dealer's service dept.
I have a feeling it's the scan-gauge that's defective and not your Rabbit! Most folks are averaging around 23-24 mpg.
Pull out your manual for the scangauge and reread the section on setup and fill ups. You will want to fill up, reset the gauge, and then make sure you have it set for the right size engine and tank. Then drive througn your next fill up, use the fill up function without adjustment, drive again. At the next fillup you can adjust using the fillup function.
Once you have that you'll get a much more accurate picture of the mileage. I found that for the most part the scangauge was within 4% of my hand calculated mileage on my last car.