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T5 fuel economy

52K views 67 replies 54 participants last post by  CaddyMaxiRHD 
#1 ·
I'm changing my work van in the near future and after discounting the Transit due to poor fuel consumption I thought, why not keep it in the family and get a T5.

So I'm just wondering what sort of fuel consumption everyone gets driving their T5 normally and also in a slightly spirited mood? Obviously engine size, bhp and model would be handy to know.
 
#31 ·
Caravelle 180 dsg . Mostly around town upto 50mph, spirited 23 , like miss daisy then 28 unless on a Regen then maybe 21.
VW latest software ruined it, was getting 28 to 29 all time. They had complaints but won't change back, upgrade for dpf ... Will be going in bin at 100k .

59 plate 2.5 pd same driving 21 to 23, even in a run never got more than 24 . 26 once when driving like a granny, sold it and bought the 180. Great till the last update. Doing 29.3 tonight tho in snow . .

Mfd is about .5 over normally.
Hope this helps. I'd buy a 102 if don't want high spec.
 
#32 ·
lwb 130 54 plate, its my work horse and got 165k on the clock , the last mot the ramp struggled to lift it so its well loaded allthe time . Over 4 years of empty to brim an reset trip- 500 to 520 mixed driving about 31mpg , long runs at 70/75 nearly 600 about 34 mpg . trip computer is a always on the optimistic side. short runs especialy in the cold weather are what kills the mpg the 5 pots seam to take forever to warm up . Did look at replacing it this year , pros - tax purposes, warranty . cons dpf , the novelty of new van on a building site soon wears off (by lunch time or earlier if the kids are on the teleshifter) . Ive driven remapped 1.9s which give great mpg high 30s . So if i have to replace the work horse a 1.9 ( 3 year old low miles fsh sort of thing ) prob be first choice .
While im ranting on , if its only a second / leisure van or camper an does small milage a year is mpg a major deciding factor ?
 
#33 ·
Just got my first T5 - it has been remapped to around 130 first tank of fuel it did 620 miles for 72 litres which works out around 39mpg, the 620 miles was mixed driving of longer journeys and running around town, so as it it fairly the same as my car I am well happy
 
#34 ·
Std SWB Shuttle SE T5GP 2.0 140 BHP. DSG box. 26K on the clock.

Picked up my van from Bristol, drove to Reading, several miles up slow twist country lanes, then on to M25 (much sitting around), on to M1 ( loads of 50MPH average works ) and "making up time, in between"to Newcastle. averaged 39.6mpg. (could have done better with cruise fitted) .I get about 36 round the doors on short journeys. all figure are from D.I.S.

DSG, the only way to go (but for pitty's sake, get cruise control too)T:

For those with new vans, I test drove a new 2.0 140bhp velle and was not impressed at all. Then I had a go in a used one with 19K on it. What a diference. These engines must be super tight when new, so get some miles on and some smiles on boys.:ILU:
 
#40 ·
T5 2005 LWB Family van rear seats windows carpeted etc - 145K over the last 7 years - 520 miles and the light comes on - yes if you go on a tour round europe and drive modestly you can get it to 600 but do you do this every day? no. I live in a rural hilly area which likely saps the juice a bit more. I have a set of wheels with snow tyres that I bolt on in november and remove in march, these dont seem to affect mpg but do affect cornering ability. I think the battery is giving up the ghost at the moment, I used to be able to forget about turning the lights for a day or so and it would still start but, the charger has been out alot lately, happy driving - Im off to take off the charger, and maybe give her a wash.
 
#44 ·
After having an ex AA van that I could squeeze a good 40mpg out of, I am disappointed with the T5. 130ps 2.5 (AA was 114bhp 2.5). If I'm lucky I can make 32mpg but it's normally 30 or less when loaded. That includes motorway driving with the extra 6th gear.
I thought newer engines were more efficient. I know I have a bit extra power but seriously!
 
#48 ·
There's a lot of conflicting views on here, and very conflicting figures. Quick question..... I've got my eye on a van, but worried about its economy. What would I expect from a 2.5 130 lwb before a remap, and what might I get from it after a remap, is it worthwhile? Thanks for your time?
 
#49 ·
There's a lot of conflicting views on here, and very conflicting figures.
Not so much conflicting - fuel consumption depends on lots of factors.

I know people say that a higher power remap can give you better fuel consumption but, TBH, that defies logic. There is no reason why VW would deliberately have made fuel consumption on the original map anything less than the best they could achieve (after all, people buy vehicles on the basis of how good the fuel consumption is). So there is probably very little scope for a remap to improve on it without making the van less drivable.

It's probably safe to assume that if you have a remap done, your mpg will be roughly the same if you don't use the extra power available, and worse if you do.
 
#51 ·
im looking at remaping mine once funds allow - only to see if i can improve the MPG.
I should have made it clear that I was specifically referring to remaps for more power, without other hardware changes.

I don't have any doubt that with the right hardware mods you could remap for better MPG and no more power. I will probably do that via DPF delete and remap - if the engine is no longer having to push its own exhaust through a filter I'm sure you can make it more efficient. But that will have to wait until the van is out of warranty.
 
#53 ·
2009 174 Caravelle Ex, totally standard. Owned from new, now on 39k.

20-25mpg around town, 34-37 motorway @ 70-75 and best of 43 when driving back on autoroute from Disneyland Paris.

Also tow a 2011 Sterling Eccles Amethyst 6 berth twin axle caravan, about 1800kg all up weight, which gives about 19-21 mpg towing in autumn to about 23-24 in summer.

Have found it's better on fuel during the warmer months.

Have been thinking of getting it remapped, Pendle, but wondered if anyone had any experience in regard to towing?

Really fancy a little extra torque for towing!
 
#56 ·
unfortunately (this may come as a surprise) VW do have to meet stringent emissions limits.

If I had money to burn it would be really interesting to see just how bad a remapped van really is.

Remapping only for torque/power wont change your fuel economy on the NEDC (and maybe not WLTP ) cycles as you dont drive at peak torque on those cycles. Maybe on the later RDE (real world) cycles you'd see something.

Meanwhile, making adjustments to the ECU in the part load regions in order to get fuel consumption benefits will make changes to NOx, HC emissions (even though CO2 is coming down as that is proportional to fuel flow).

So yes, we could all be using less fuel but we'd fail emissions and I'm not talking about the greenhouse ones (they'd be better obv) but the nasty ones which do make people ill and cause smog etc...
 
#63 ·
Whooooooahhh boy.

I'm not having a go at anyone. Just saying that there are damn good reasons for manufacturers to quote the numbers they do. We dont just make them up and scupper engines for fun.

If you'd like to discuss in detail and see how its done then call me at work...

https://www.mahle-powertrain.com/en...opens-its-real-driving-emissions-centre-61760

I'm not getting upset at all. It would actually be interesting to see our van tested in lab conditions and see how that compares to what we are getting in real life.
 
#64 ·
I've not seen us test a diesel van yet but I'm sure it'll happen at some point.

I'm doing a pretty big simulation job at the moment and we're varying all manner of variables and it's amazing just how much putting on the heating varies things. If it wasn't so time consuming I'd model the van and see how much fat alloys impact extra spoilers and side bars. Not so easy to simulate a chipped engine though...
 
#68 ·
If it wasn't so time consuming I'd model the van and see how much fat alloys impact extra spoilers and side bars.
From experience, probably a fair bit. Especially the tyres and side bars. I'd expect factory spoilers to be tested in a wind tunnel to avoid ruining the aerodynamics. I remember someone who fitted a new tyre following a puncture on a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (plug-in hybrid) and started getting faults with the regenerative breaking system. The tread pattern was different resulting in a different amount of energy recuperated by one of the wheels and a fault showing on the dash.
 
#65 ·
I've found its not so much driving style as driving conditions that affect my mpg. When I'm mainly dual carriageway/motorway I get around 40 mpg (140 bhp 6 speed 2012 kombi). Around town this can drop to mid to high 20s. Going on distance covered between fill ups I'm averaging 37mpg overall which is pretty good I think.
 
#67 ·
Seems to be right - I have the same van (but with DSG box) and my average over the last 5 years has been consistently 37 MPG, and it doesn't make much difference if I drive it hard or not - motorway trips can get me into low 40's, traffic jams and lots of town driving will mean high 20's too.
 
#66 ·
05 1.9tdi, recently purchased but done about 6 full tanks now and it never really shifts from 36-38 mpg, calculated by brimming and logging the mileage not on an in car computer. Mix of low speed, low gear Moor driving, general running about town and about 35% motorway and dual carriageway journeys.

It's a panel van with windows and a rock n roll bed basically, standard size wheels and tyres.
 
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