Archives

For the past two years I've been a 40 hours per week delivery driver. My car is a 02 VW Passat 1.8T automatic. The EPA fuel economy adjusted for the new 2008 standards is 19 city / 28 highway / 23 combined. The EPA numbers make sense to me, the fact is that I drive a 3,500 lbs. family sedan. I do my own maintenance and use "Elf" synthetic motor oil (European brand recomended by VW). I also have a K&N air filter, quality spark plugs, and keep the tires at 34psi despite the recommended 28psi. This is my first day on cleanmpg.com, but I find that as a delivery driver I already use most of the techniques listed here. I get 32.5mpg doing delivery work (city driving) and at least 39mpg on the interstate. How is my old-ass VeeDub so efficient?

Jacob M. Burchfield
jacob.burchfield@yahoo.com
2058766733

I guess that being a sedan helps with the aerodynamics, and a 1.8 l engine is more efficient because it is used at higher load more of the time than a larger engine. You probably accelerate quickly up to speed (delivery guys are usually not slow) and the european engineered transmission is probably good at letting you coast efficiently (and the tire pressure help at this). Also, your car is used a lot, which mean it seldom coldstarts.

Which techniques do you use? Have you noticed any DFCO?

(And welcome, btw!)

The epa tests probably ran it up into boost a fair bit. If you can stay out of that, you'll get much better results - more like a 1.8 non-turbo.

PD - dat's da answer

Drag coefficient of .27 and 1.8T engine, lighter weight and more efficient engine compared with a normally aspirated one that produces the same power.