i have recently bought and A4 avant to tow my caravan which is a swift challenger 490 laden weight is 1460kg car can tow 1700kg the problem i have is it only does about 19/21 mpg whilst towing surely this is not right my old discovery td5 did better at 28mpg ?????? does anyone else tow with an Audi A4 or can anyone please advise ?
Audi A4 Avant 2.0 tdi multitronic
- Thread starter JOINERY2002
- Start date
- Mar 14, 2005
- 18,675
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Hello Joinery.
You don't give us enough detail about the car, for example what is the power output, as the VAG 2.0 engine comes in many different guises. What year is it. BUT when you consider the relative weight gain of adding a caravan to both outfits, for the Audi your caravan will add about 95% more weight, but for the Disco it was nearer only 60% that represents how much harder the engines have to work to cope with the caravan, so its hardly surprising the bigger car will cope somewhat better.
However ultimately its how much right foot you use, and its the periods of hard acceleration which will produce the most dramatic differences.
You don't give us enough detail about the car, for example what is the power output, as the VAG 2.0 engine comes in many different guises. What year is it. BUT when you consider the relative weight gain of adding a caravan to both outfits, for the Audi your caravan will add about 95% more weight, but for the Disco it was nearer only 60% that represents how much harder the engines have to work to cope with the caravan, so its hardly surprising the bigger car will cope somewhat better.
However ultimately its how much right foot you use, and its the periods of hard acceleration which will produce the most dramatic differences.
OK my car is a 2014 and its the 150bhp caravan is empty so is about 1250kg the fuel consumption was taken at 55mph in 7th gear (auto) and was 20mpg this was taken from the trip computer but we also set off with a full tank when we stopped we filled it up again and did the maths which worked out at an average of 17mpg ?
That does seem low.But what can you do about it?Not a great deal as John says nearly doubling the wieght.Mine is not brillant but for the three times a year we tow the van im not concerned.
- Mar 14, 2005
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Hello again Joinery,
I agree with you and Seth, 17mpg is low.
I run a VW Passat (56 plate) with the 170bhp PD 2.0 litre with DSG 6 speed (roughly equivalent to the multitronic) box, But I don't tow with it. So I can't make a direct comparison. But what I have discovered and I suspect it will apply to the Audi also is that it seems quite sensitive to service intervals. Keeping both the engine and the gear box properly serviced does make quite a difference to the economy of the vehicle.
What I also suspect in your case as the vehicle is much more recent, it has probably been tuned for economy, and to achieve the prodigious claimed MPG's and the CO2 emissions,it will be more sensitive to extra loads than for example my older Passat.
I suggest you discuss the issue with your garage, who may be able to do some checks to see if there is a problem.
I agree with you and Seth, 17mpg is low.
I run a VW Passat (56 plate) with the 170bhp PD 2.0 litre with DSG 6 speed (roughly equivalent to the multitronic) box, But I don't tow with it. So I can't make a direct comparison. But what I have discovered and I suspect it will apply to the Audi also is that it seems quite sensitive to service intervals. Keeping both the engine and the gear box properly serviced does make quite a difference to the economy of the vehicle.
What I also suspect in your case as the vehicle is much more recent, it has probably been tuned for economy, and to achieve the prodigious claimed MPG's and the CO2 emissions,it will be more sensitive to extra loads than for example my older Passat.
I suggest you discuss the issue with your garage, who may be able to do some checks to see if there is a problem.
i know what your saying and i thought it was low when we first towed the caravan so my friend towed it with his Mondeo estate 2.0 tdci 140 bhp auto and he was getting 30 plus mpg ? i have thought about changing the car but i only bought it 4 months ago so i would loose a lot of money plus i would be looking at a 4X4 or someting like a Ford Kuga possible a Smax i am now asking myself how much more would i benefit if anything 
You could try holding the car in a lower gear. I get better economy towing in 5th at 60mph in my 2.2d than i do at the same speed in 6th.
I am unable to hold a different gear with it being an auto i can select manual but after about a mile it will select 7th and switch back to auto
Fuel ecomomy of modern diesels hasnt really improved.A long time ago i could achieve 65mpg out of my Citroen 1.9td zx,not towing of course.But performance and emmissions have dramatically improved.Im quite sure we only get between 21- 23mpg out of my car.(Fiat 2.4mjet 235hp)
I would never expect to better 30mpg towing a van,so if 25mpg was attainable in your shoes i,d be happy which maybe by changing your driving style with due respect is possible.Simple ways are to release the throttle down hill,use cruise more often.
I would never expect to better 30mpg towing a van,so if 25mpg was attainable in your shoes i,d be happy which maybe by changing your driving style with due respect is possible.Simple ways are to release the throttle down hill,use cruise more often.
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