hwy mileage range?

[RoyB1]

What are the most miles people have gotten out of a tank on mostly highway drives? I am planning on go to FL again this year (about 1400 miles each way + in town driving) and was debating taking the GTI this time. I've rented a minivan in the past (3 kids 2 adults) and got pretty good mpg. Like mid 20s which amazed me.

The gti has seen mostly mixed around town duty for the 6000 miles I've had it. I am calculting 25-26 on average or 320-350 miles to a tank. The display is reading out 29, but it constantly calculates at least 3 under that.

I want to minimize stop time. Would it be possible to get 40+ legit mpg in a stage 1 M6 gti if I am primarily all highway at a decent speed (70mph)? If I get 40mpg and fill up at 11 gallons I can get a range of 440 miles. If I can only get 32-34 thats only a range of about 360 miles which kinda sucks for cross country travel. The minivan netted us about 450ish miles each fillup which was pretty amazing for a loaded down minivan.

 

[Merkle]

The GTI has a sweet spot around 55-60 mph so the slower you go, the better mileage you'll get. Obviously you can't be going down the interstate at 60 or even 65, so set the cruise at about 70-75 and you'll get about 400-420 miles a tank.

Edit: You'll do really well this time of year b/c you don't have to run the a/c either.

 

[gti330ex1]

With the added weight, cooler temps (more drag), and if you want to keep it at 70mph, I wouldn't expect anything better than 27/28 miles to the gallon. Now 55-60 is a whole different story.

 

[RoyB1]

What kind of MPG is that? I don't plan on running below 11 gallons.

55-60mph seems to be good on all cars. My full size Tundra has gotten 20 mpg for a couple tanks at 60mph. Soon as I go over 60 it starts to plummet.

But real world mpg is what I am looking for. I was cruising about 70 in the van. A state trooper claimed I was going 89 on one stretch of road

 

[MBorVW]

On a long trip at 70-78mph I have gone over 400 miles on a tank. The GTI loves this cool fall weather too so even on my daily commute to work I am getting 380 miles/tank at about the same speeds. While it's no hyper-miler the GTI is a stellar road trip car because it's so damn fun to drive!!!

 

[suspiciouspackage]

With my commute at around 20 miles, I'm driving 90% highway going about 65-70mph most of the time and I always get a solid 30mpg. I was able to get 34mpg going from San Diego to Los Angeles going 60-65mph with no traffic (surprisingly because of that and I'm stage 2). The thing with getting anything above 35mpg for a trip is that you have to be going super slow (for interstates anyway) and that you have to almost always be on flat land or on a downhill. With your minivan theory, keep in mind that a minivan almost always has a larger fuel tank than our cars. If I remember correctly, they have ~20 gallon tanks while ours has 14.5 gallons. So if you fill up the minivan from bone-dry empty and can get 450mi, you're getting 22.5mpg. Apply the same thing to the GTI and you'd be getting ~31mpg. If we had the minivan fuel tank, we'd get ~620 miles per tank. What a dream. Should've gotten a TDI.

 

[RoyB1]

With the added weight, cooler temps (more drag), and if you want to keep it at 70mph, I wouldn't expect anything better than 27/28 miles to the gallon. Now 55-60 is a whole different story.

I am traveling with 1 other adults maybe one child this time. I can 27 now mix driving. I would expect at least 32 all highway with an additional 200-300 lbs in the car.

 

[corydd]

Best I've done is 380 to a tank, but I do hit at least some stop-and-go traffic every day during my commute. Fuel efficiency sweet spot for the GTI is 55-60 mph.

 

[Merkle]

I wouldn't expect anything better than 27/28 miles to the gallon.

I'd say closer to 30mpg is reasonable.

 

[RoyB1]

I kept a log of time and MPG. Let me see if I can put it in excel to figure average moving speed.

The best tank was 510 miles. I put 17.9 gal in. That is 28 mpg.

 

[gti330ex1]

I am traveling with 1 other adults maybe one child this time. I can 27 now mix driving. I would expect at least 32 all highway with an additional 200-300 lbs in the car.

I was thinking 5 travelers. It will all depend on the speed you choose. Going 60-65 in our area is a very doable safe speed for the highway. When speed limits are 70 and +, moving with traffic will require the little gerbil to work overtime, thus < mpgs.

I really wish this thing came in 7 speeds. 6th is useless in this car.

 

[nouse4aname]

My commute was 110 miles daily 99% highway. Easily got 400 out of a tank, usually filling just before the light would come on. even doing 80. But it is a pretty flat and traffic free stretch.

 

[ZiggyMKVI]

Best Ive ever gotten on a long drive doing around 70-75 was 450 out of a tank but mostly flat roads.

 

[TommyJakks]

If you drive between 50-60 mph very carefully, you can manage 35mpg +
Best I've ever gotten was 39.5 after adding fuel stabilizer

 

[TRUboost]

I did 515 miles on a tank following a fifth wheel at a decent interval going 55-60 mph. I want to say it was just under 40 mpg when I filled up with 50 miles of range.

Butt posted from my Galaxy Note II