UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

So I've been driving my new polo too and from College now for 2 weeks, a 2011 1.6tdi SEL with 43000 miles. It's about a 6 mile trip on A roads with a bit of Urban / Traffic driving at the end. No matter how hard I try I cannot get over 50mpg and by the time I've parked up after sitting in traffic for 5 minutes it's averaging about 34mpg.... Tried Redex and tyres are at correct PSI but don't know what to do next. The claimed figures are 54 urban and 76 extra urban....

What mpg are other 1.6tdi owners getting and any ideas on what to do?


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I don't think you can place too much reliance on the claimed fuel consumption figures achieved in laboratory conditions as being representative of what can be achieved in real world conditions. There are a multitude of factors that impact fuel consumption; length / type of journey, traffic conditions, driving style, weather conditions, whether engine is fully warmed up or cold etc, etc.

My previous car was a mk6 diesel Golf (2.0 GTD) and I found that the mpg in the winter wasn't that great - short journeys; mid 30's and longer journeys; mid 40's. I used to have my Golf's computer set to display oil temp on the MFD and it would take up to 10 miles for the oil to get up to 'normal' operating temperatures in the winter. The winter fuel consumption on my Golf tended to be around 10-15% worse overall than I could achieve in the summer.

If you're only doing short journeys, your engine probably isn't getting fully warmed up (diesels take quite a bit longer to warm up than petrol engined cars, especially in winter), so you won't see particularly good mpg figures on a 'cold' engine doing short journeys in winter weather conditions.

Take it on a few decent length journeys and get the engine fully warmed up and then see what you can achieve. Don't be surprised if you don't see anything like the official 76 mpg figure though!

SRGTD wrote:I don't think you can place too much reliance on the claimed fuel consumption figures achieved in laboratory conditions as being representative of what can be achieved in real world conditions. There are a multitude of factors that impact fuel consumption; length / type of journey, traffic conditions, driving style, weather conditions, whether engine is fully warmed up or cold etc, etc.

My previous car was a mk6 diesel Golf (2.0 GTD) and I found that the mpg in the winter wasn't that great - short journeys; mid 30's and longer journeys; mid 40's. I used to have my Golf's computer set to display oil temp on the MFD and it would take up to 10 miles for the oil to get up to 'normal' operating temperatures in the winter. The winter fuel consumption on my Golf tended to be around 10-15% worse overall than I could achieve in the summer.

If you're only doing short journeys, your engine probably isn't getting fully warmed up (diesels take quite a bit longer to warm up than petrol engined cars, especially in winter), so you won't see particularly good mpg figures on a 'cold' engine doing short journeys in winter weather conditions.

Take it on a few decent length journeys and get the engine fully warmed up and then see what you can achieve. Don't be surprised if you don't see anything like the official 76 mpg figure though!

Thanks for that info! This is my first Diesel coming from a 2006 Polo 1.2 petrol which averaged about 38mpg. I should've really gone for another petrol (maybe 1.2 TSI) as I am doing such short 10-15 minute journeys on cold icy mornings especially with all the DPF dramas I've read about on this particular engine, But I was offered a good deal from a friend on this car.

Anyways taking it for a good service in 2 weeks and changing the cambelt so should see some improvements in MPG once that's done! Cam


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My work journey when I had my Golf GTD was 7 miles each way, so like you, quite a few short journeys. Overall I did a mix of around 35% short journeys and 65% longer journeys, so the car would always get one or two decent longer runs each week.

During the (nearly) 5 years I owned my Golf, I didn't have any DPF problems. I think doing the longer journeys certainly helped with this, and I'd recommend that if you currently do pretty much all short journeys, you try and do a longer run once a week to eliminate any future issues with the DPF.

I get similar mpg from similar driving conditions - 6 miles or so to and from work, one steepish hill as well as a few stop/starts. On a decent run I have achieved over 60mpg. The car has done just over 139k miles so far from new.

Lem11 wrote:I get similar mpg from similar driving conditions - 6 miles or so to and from work, one steepish hill as well as a few stop/starts. On a decent run I have achieved over 60mpg. The car has done just over 139k miles so far from new.

Wow, 139k miles! Good to hear they're long lasting. Have you had many issues with it? I'm on 41k and have so far had an EGR Valve go...


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It was a lease car until I bought it in March this year (2016). VW history, cambelt changed at around 46k and looked after well. I've had a rear brake caliper replaced as well as the disks and pads.

Lem11 wrote:It was a lease car until I bought it in March this year (2016). VW history, cambelt changed at around 46k and looked after well. I've had a rear brake caliper replaced as well as the disks and pads.

Ah fair, mine was an ex VW UK car and then owned by an AutoCar journalist for 4 years.

Mines at the garage having its Cambelt done now. Plan to keep it for a while, unless VW brings out something new that I might fancy!


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50MPG over a 6 mile trip in the cold seems pretty good.

My 2016 1.4TDi can take 10miles+ in the cold for the oil to warm to it's normal 85-93c
Depending on how much traffic there is and the speed I drive, it can take 10miles+ for the coolant to reach 90c

In the summer I could get 70+MPG on my commute to work.
Since the temp outside has dropped it's a challenge to keep it above 60MPG

I commute 20 miles each way. 50/50 from back road twisties to A roads.