# How to increase Touareg mileage



## joeofthemountain (Jan 9, 2005)

Not that it is especially important to me, but with all the conversations over Treg mileage lately, I decided to conduct an experiment.
I have a 270 mile, twice weekly drive to my present client. I take the Pennsylvania Turnpike which has a nice variety of rolling hills, straight-aways, and a more or less grade-controlled surface.
2004 V8: ordinarily, I average 17mpg Philly to Pittsburgh. 
Today, I tried two variants:
1. I held the throttle steady at the position to give me 65mph on a flat straight-away. I did this for an hour and averaged 27mpg over rolling hills 380' to 520' elevation. On some of the steeper grades, I could only pull 40mph, no doubt enraging my fellows. But since I usually do an indicated 80mph, I figure I'm owed my scientific experiment.
2. I cruise controlled at 65mph for another hour, over similar grades to above. This averaged 24mpg.
As soon as I reverted to normal 70-80mph driving, the Treg returned to a homeostatic 17mpg on the highway.
So there you have it: increase mileage almost 60% by keeping the throttle steady. Of course, you'll drive like my 1978 VW Camper with its 2 liter flat four!


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## raythompson (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: How to increase Touareg mileage (joeofthemountain)*

One other thing. AutoWeek recently did a fuel-economy run using about 8 different vehicles (the Jetta TDI kicked everyone's a$$). They noted that the most efficient method of driving uses the "steady-state" technique at speed, just as you describe...
However -- and this was news to me -- they said the best way to get a vehicle to speed is NOT the slow, "don't break the egg" method. Instead they found that a reasonably rapid rate of accelleration gave the best results, as this gets the car up to speed quickly. Not full-throttle, mind you, but 3/4 throttle or so...
Guess you do learn something every day...


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## Tahoe12 (Mar 22, 2005)

*Re: How to increase Touareg mileage (raythompson)*


_Quote, originally posted by *raythompson* »_One other thing. AutoWeek recently did a fuel-economy run using about 8 different vehicles (the Jetta TDI kicked everyone's a$$). They noted that the most efficient method of driving uses the "steady-state" technique at speed, just as you describe...
However -- and this was news to me -- they said the best way to get a vehicle to speed is NOT the slow, "don't break the egg" method. Instead they found that a reasonably rapid rate of accelleration gave the best results, as this gets the car up to speed quickly. Not full-throttle, mind you, but 3/4 throttle or so...
Guess you do learn something every day...









Very good point. We do the same when we fly. Full throttle on takeoff, soon after power back to 75% power during the climb until we get to cruise. 
I try to do the same on the freeway. Of course this method only works best when you are going to be driving at 70 mph for a good period of time. i.e highway.


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## BJMRGTIVR6 (Nov 28, 2001)

*Re: How to increase Touareg mileage (joeofthemountain)*

Good to know. I will be heading for Boston in a few weeks and a month later Tennessee and will be using the Touareg both times. With the spike in gas prices, this will help.
thanks.


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## Tregger (Mar 9, 2004)

I'm trying to slow down.....but my foot is so comfortable at the 80mph position !
Oh well....changing habits takes time.
I'll keep trying....laugh.


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## Caribmon71 (Apr 22, 2005)

Maybe the engineers should add a "steady state" option to our cruise control whereby the throttle would be maintained constant, instead of the mileage. Could call it X'tra Economic. 
If everyone started using it, then we would all automatically slow down on hills so it wouldn't be such a pain


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## TREGinginCO (Jan 4, 2004)

*Re: (Caribmon71)*

I always try to drive with a tail wind!!!


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## 72mako (Jan 7, 2005)

The cruise control method seems to work very well for me. I go through a 55 zone and everyone hates me, but when I hit the 65 zone for the most part I keep up with traffic (at the speed limit in both). On an '04 V6 with a 45mile drive to and from work I average 20-22mpg just using cruise control. definitely helps with gas mileage as I used to get about 16-17mpg when doing close to 80mph.


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## virtualbruno (Aug 16, 2004)

*Re: (72mako)*

I know this is an old thread but I may have something of interest to contribute. I found that in Tiptronic mode, locked in 6th gear, the engine consumes a maximum of 26 l/100km REGARDLESS OF THE LOAD I AM PULLING. 
Here is my procedure for optimizing fuel consumption with my sailboat on a trailer (and keeping awake on those long Canada to Miami trips): set the cruise control at the max speed you want to go. lock the transmission in 6th. uphills it will slow down with the trucks, down-hills it will reach the maximum selected. If you want to increase the speed range further, use the accel & decel buttons on the steering wheel. When I need more power I just downshift with my paddles








The difference is amazing: consumption decreased from 26 l/100km to 19 l/100km when compared with automatic & cruise control, by using this method. The engine controls safely limit the torque at low RPM.


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## Gunship (Jun 18, 2006)

*Re: (virtualbruno)*

Very interesting thread.
I have a 1 000 km quick trip and will check out the different scenario's a bit.
Cheers all


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## UKAUSSI (Oct 21, 2001)

*K&N filters added*

Wife drives mainly around town with 10 miles of slow n go freeway commute to work.
Gas mileage on her 3 month old, 2000 mile V8 was around 11.5 mpgaccording to the trip computer. Also noticed it may have been running rich as I thought the soot buildup was a little excessive on the inside of the tailpipe tops.
Anyway, as on all our cars, about 3 weeks ago I replaced both the air filters with K&N filters. Gas mileage is now averaging 12.6 mpg.
So, not sure if this would help others


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## NewTreger (Dec 3, 2006)

*Re: K&N filters added (UKAUSSI)*

I just did a 300 mile round trip on the highway with my 2004 V-8 and averaged 15.7 mpg.







I had the cruise set at 84 mph. Is that the best mileage I am going to get? That's also with 93 octane. Has anyone noticed that this truck is geared pretty low? Cruising at 84 mph, the tach was reading about 2900 RPMs in 6th gear. My Tundra cruises at about 2200 RPMs at 84 mph. 


_Modified by NewTreger at 8:37 AM 1-3-2007_


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## UKAUSSI (Oct 21, 2001)

*Re: K&N filters added (NewTreger)*


_Quote, originally posted by *NewTreger* »_I just did a 300 mile round trip on the highway with my 2004 V-8 and averaged 15.7 mpg.







I had the cruise set at 84 mph. Is that the best mileage I am going to get? That's also with 93 octane. Has anyone noticed that this truck is geared pretty low? Cruising at 84 mph, the tach was reading about 2900 RPMs in 6th gear. My Tundra cruises at about 2200 RPMs at 84 mph. 

_Modified by NewTreger at 8:37 AM 1-3-2007_


From what I have read here 15mpg is very good.
First, it is a 4.2 V8 so will consume a decent amount of gas
Next, it is AWD so lots more drag on the transmission 
Next, it unusually has terrible aerodynamics.... I think 0.41 drag coefficient compared to an X5 that has 0.35.... so this will mean it uses more gas to maintain a set speed, more so at high speed
Next, it weighs more than most midsize SUVs, 400lb more than an X5 and is even heavier than a Lexus GX470 ?!
So, it will indeed use more fuel but that is just a price you pay for having all the other great features.
Oh, and yes I did notice it is high geared, even when you consider that 1st is very low for a reason (like my 545 has a low geared 1st) but 6th I think should be geared a bit higher. Maybe they changed this in the 2007 withthe new engine.
Also just noticed that the final drive is very high at 4.53
Still an awesome drive though, especially for me as we have the wider tires and 22"..... really does feel like the chassis was designed by Porsche and this is from someone who drives a 545 every day.


_Modified by UKAUSSI at 9:17 AM 1-3-2007_


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## Bjowett (Jul 6, 1999)

*Re: K&N filters added (UKAUSSI)*

The final drive does appear high for the stock size tires. Maybe some 4.10 Diffs from a Cayenne S would help? My V8 pulls the 31.5" tires that are on it quite well, it has better shift patterns than when the 28.5" tires are on there.


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## RvDUB (Apr 25, 2002)

*Re: How to increase Touareg mileage (joeofthemountain)*

Just make MORE MONEY !!!!!!!







For gas AND Beer !


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