Archives

I've been struggling with Driving with load for a few months now . I never seemed to achieve the MPG boost I thought possible. mainly due to the car shifting into a lower gear 'too early' when going uphill.

The flick of the foot on the pedal works to generate an upshift going downslope, but not uphill.

Today I discovered a solution:

Slide Triptonic over to 'manual' and engage 6th gear at circa 45 MPH - when the tranny is in triptoniuc the computer delays shifting into a lower gear vs. when in 'automatic' mode. The computer does override the driver and will shift into a lower gear if the engine is truely overburdened.

Result - I drove about 200 miles today (mostly NJ turnpike, Philly to NYC and back for a college reunion event ) - instead of the 38 MPH typically achieved - 44 MPG !!!

44 MPG is 13 MPG above the EPA HWY of 31 - That is almost 50% above EPA !

Nicely done! I look forward to hearing if others get similar results .

Tiptronic is great!

The secret seems to lie in shifting up to 5th/6th as soon as you hit 40/50 kmh on a level surface. You can generally upshift at above 1,600 rpm, except from 2nd to 3rd gear for some reason, where you always need >2,000 rpm.

I'm not sure what the EPA rating for the 2008 VW Citty Jetta is, but by driving it 'conservatively' on the highway at the weekend I was able to squeeze out 41 mpg on a 45-kilometre trip out of this device:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2009/2141716777_e126020933.jpg
Photo 'My Citty Jetta I' from Flickr, shot by fermata.daily (http://flickr.com/photos/fermata_daily/)

The biggest enemy of hypermiling -- in Montreal, Quebec at least -- is the non-sensical 'no right on red' rule.

You are able to shift into 6th at 50 Km ?

I can't get into 6th unless over 40 MPH

What engine does your city Jetta have ?

A City Jetta is basically the previous generation Jetta 2.0. The newer ones like mihai_G's have a new exterior with a more Passat-like appearance. I don't know if the City Jetta and Golf are sold anywhere outside Canada.

Vooch, does your car have the DSG or is it a conventional automatic with tiptronic control?

It said Triptonic on the window sticker - but has 3 modes (D, S, and 'manual') - but shifts exactly like I believe a DSG would feel.

I always use the triptronic controls( although I wore out the links) City mpg's are much better with triptronic, 29-30 with 26 with out using the triptronic. I can shift to 5 at 30 mph. Highway should not be affected, except when speed drops below 40, or up hills; but I ussually do a passive de-accell up hills which avoids the down-shift down to 40 mph

Thanks for the tip on deceleration !

another tool to add to my belt - it also cuts of fuel flow above (I reckon) 1500 rpm

good to know thanks for the tip.