[Chuck&Claire]

Strange thing on the milage read out; it has started bouncing around on the mpg rates showing as high as 90 mpg, 60 mpg and lower. It doesn't hold steady and seems to be malfunctioning. Anyone else had this happer?:annoyed

 

[ToeBall]

You probably switched from trip to instant mileage. Use the up/down steering wheel control to switch back.

 

[golfTDI1]

Yes, your probably on instant mileage, you probably want average mileage...for average you should see a Ø symbol to the left of the number displayed along with CONSUMPTION above. If you do not see that naught symbol to the left, then you are viewing instantaneous mileage which will vary widely.

 

[jbkendrick]

What does that symbol mean anyway. Several of the displays show it. John

 

[chittychittybangbang]

I think it means null.

 

[jbkendrick]

Thanks CCBB. I was just wondering what VW is trying to tell me with that symbol as opposed go when it is not there. John

 

[vwottawa]

I could be wrong here but I think the zero with a line through it is the Greek letter Phi. I think it represents "average" but am not sure on that.

 

[anthros]

VWottawa, that's an pretty reasonable guess, but that MFD symbol isn't a phi. I took Greek for two years in college; while I can't decline a noun to save my life, I'm still OK with the alphabet.

While the letter phi is used as a constant/symbol in many fields (including Euler's totient function for all you number theory geeks out there) it doesn't refer to "average" or "mean" in any field I'm familiar with.

The symbol on the MFD looks to me like a letter common to several Scandinavian languages. I've seen that letter used in math to represent an empty set. But I frankly have no idea why VW is using that letter/symbol to represent an average fuel consumption value.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has a definitive answer.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[drakula]

at least in Germany that symbol means not only diameter but also average, see http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durchschnitt

 

[anthros]

Thanks, Drakula--I think you've got it. I poked around Wikipedia a bit, and found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashed_zero#Similar_symbols

To wit: "In German-speaking countries, Ø is also used as a symbol for average value: average in German is Durchschnitt, directly translated as cut-through."

Wikipedia can be a pretty sketchy source, but between the Drakula's post and the quote above, I'm convinced.

Nifty!

Jason

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Ah hah! Thanks, I thought it was a null but I went to the car and realized that when you reset the average it shows dashes instead of the symbol. The symbol is to the left of the numbers.

I'm convinced, I will add this tidbit to the mk5, mk6 MFD FAQ article and give drakula the credit for finding this! http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/a5/multifunction-display-VW.htm

 

[50mpg]

at least in Germany that symbol means not only diameter but also average, see http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durchschnitt

:bowdown

 

[Keithuk]

I can't say that I've noticed a symbol when it switched to actual as I very rarely use that as it neither use nor ornament when it can vary between 11mpg and 200mpg. Memory 1 (actual average) will show 1 in the top right corner and memory 2 (overhaul average) will show a 2.

I shall have to took the next time I switch over?