MPG expectations - Jetta Sportwagen 2011

[MDCochrane]

Just bought a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. The car has about 2,500 miles on it and I'm getting 36 and 37 mpg. Is that to be expected? The advertised mpg was in the 40's. Will this improve with age?

[golfTDI1]

What kind of driving are you doing? Long highway runs or short stop,go trips? How fast are you driving on these trips? Are you estimating these numbers from the Average Consumption on the MFD per trip, or is this an overall tank?

At first glance your mileage does seem a little low, but that depends heavily on the answers to the above questions.

Welcome!

[1analguy]

Originally Posted by MDCochrane

Just bought a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. The car has about 2,500 miles on it and I'm getting 36 and 37 mpg. Is that to be expected? The advertised mpg was in the 40's. Will this improve with age?

You may want to consider listing your transmission type in with your car info. If you're driving a DSG, then those numbers do appear to be in the "typical" range. And yes, the numbers will jump a bit somewhere between 4k-6k miles...at least, mine did.

[old bear]

Also, this time of year and living in Illinois you're almost certainly running "winter blend" fuel. Based on previous diesel experience I'd suspect that your "summer" fuel mileage will be up 10% or so....

[whiplash willy]

It really depends on your driving habits, and where you are driving. What percentage of Freeway vs City driving are you doing?

I have about 5k miles on my TDI, and my average tank is about 35mpg. I drive about 10% Freeway, 60% Backroads, and 30% City. Any CR TDI you see getting 40mpg + does significantly more Freeway driving then City. Check out fuelly.com, and look up our cars, and check out their stats for more data. (Also check out my fuelly link in my sig below)

I notice that I can get about 42mpg during a trip that is 80-90% freeway. I average about 38-40mpg on my way to work (alot of down hill traffic free driving) and about 28-32 mpg on my way home (More uphill driving and traffic) When traffic is really bad, I see around 26mpg!

Your biggest factor is your route (Road type, Traffic, ect) and the 2nd biggest factor is your driving style/technique.

And yes, mileage will get better with age, providing you break the engine in properly!

[speedracer1407]

One more factor in winter driving is how long it takes for the engine to warm up to operating temperature after a cold startup. Before the engine fully warms up, I get really, really lousy mileage. Even with favorable traffic and a long stint down Lake Shore Drive, I will struggle to get into the low 30's after a cold start. Throw in a few unfortunate red lights, and even a longish errand can return just 25-27 MPG. Once warm, mileage improves. If I were to reset my average mileage for the return trip, I might get a solid 35 MPG over the same 15-20 minute drive.

Some casual observations (thought you may be somewhat familiar with my neck of the chicagoland area) in my Golf with a manual:

Typical SUMMER mileage from the north side to Highland park (a 30-40 minute drive about 3/4 highway) after a cold start: 38-41 MPG.

Typical WINTER mileage for the same route after a cold start: 33-35 MPG.

Typical SUMMER mileage from the North Side to the South Loop via Lake Shore Drive (cold start): 40-42 MPG

Typical WINTER mileage same route, cold start: 30-33 MPG.

[vdubdezl]

Originally Posted by MDCochrane

Just bought a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. The car has about 2,500 miles on it and I'm getting 36 and 37 mpg. Is that to be expected? The advertised mpg was in the 40's. Will this improve with age?

we have one with the 6-speed manual and ours started out with 36.9 and has slowly crept up to 42 mpg. Every one I have talked to says they will continue to get better after the engine "breaks in." We just had our 10,000 mi service done and it had just dropped before the service. now it seems to be back up a bit.

[MDCochrane]

Lots of good replies here! I've picked some good info. Thanks, everybody!
Filling in some requested info:
Transmission is the DSG automatic.
Driving style is quite conservative. I'm pretty easy on the acceleration.
Temps lately have been in the 40s Fahrenheit. It's starting to get colder now.
Daily commute is about 40 minutes. Speeds between 50mph and 25mph. Average for the route, including stop light waits, is about 35mph.
Fuel computation is actual, not the estimate that reads out on the dashboard.
I took a longer trip this weekend, expressway only, and got 40mpg. So things are looking good. This engine seems to love a good long road trip. After 2 or 3 hours at 60mph the engine sounds are just a comfortable purr.
I still don't have 4,000 miles on the car.

Thanks!