I've just about completed my first week with my new 99.5 A4 2.8QMS (And my first stop at the gas station). My Gas mileage for the first week (The car still only has 300 miles on it) was right at 20/MPG with a mix of highway and city driving. This seems a little low to me, as the EPA numbers are 19City/27Highway.. i really hope to average 22-23. Is This a realistic expectation as the engine breaks in?

Also, I put 93 octane gas in just to be safe.. is this really necessary on the 2.8? Many 2.8-3.0 Liter V6's on the market run just fine on lower octane fuel. I had an Accord V6 (98) for two years and ran it on 87 octane.. not a problem, mileage or power wise.

Thanks.

Brian

nt

I had the same exact experience, bought a loaner with 7K on it and the first two trips with my 99-2.8Q mileage turned out to be 20 in mostly city and 22 in mostly interstate. This car should be broken in by now, we'll se what it does in the future. Maybe I'm overusing the Tiptronic at stop lights?

I've averaged 21-22 with a mix of HWY and city driving. There has been a slight upward trend (I have about 30,000 miles on the car). Originally it was 20-21 now its 22-23. I almost always fill with Sunoco 94.

One thing that I have noticed is that wet weather very definitely effects the mileage - it is markedly lower in rain or snow.

--Greg

nt

You should use premium gas for max performance. The engine control computer on the Audi 2.8 will alter the engine parameters (air, fuel, timing,etc,)based on the gas. The manual recommends premium for max performance. I use Shell 93. I have been getting about the same mileage as you in city (18-19) and highway (22-23), the car has 3K miles. Hope this helps.


99.5 2.8 Avant qmss

Commute is mostly rural (little stop-&-go exc. for 3 lights) in hilly Steelertown terrain, distance about 8 miles one way.

Give yourself break-in time - mileage should improve, level out at about 6000 miles.

Considering it's a hgih compression, high revving engine, car geta diet of Sunoco 94. Can get it for $1.40 a gallon, so what the hell.

10 cents difference in regular vs. premium = $2. Pittance after spending $30K+ on a car. If I was that worried about mileage, would have bought a Civic.

My commute is 33 miles one way and that covers back roads, highway and city driving. I find driving style more than anything else effects the gas milage. If I REALLY try to drive economically I can get about 26 mpg over tank. If I just drive normal I may get about 24.5. If I'm really aggessive--who knows. The one time I achieved over 28 mpg was over a long trip where I was doing a relaxed 65-70 mph most of the way without a lot of braking or accelerating.

I did find that after the car was broken in, and again after the first oil change that the fuel economy seemed to increase.

I would highly recommend you use premium fuel. It burns more completely and will offer better performance and fuel economy.

best,
Jeff J

And the best I've done is about 18.9 - 19.2 range. I have not had the chance yet (in 3 months) to do a long highway drive. IMHO the I wish the 5th gear was a lower ratio (i.e. less RPM), while it is nice for passing I would like the revs to be about 500RPM less when crusing at 70-75.

As for Octane, if your car says use 87, then the computer is optimized for max power at 87 and using any higher octane will not get more power. The oil companies adds would like you to think otherwise. However, the Audi and other higher compression engines, specify 91 or above for max power. You could use 87 and the anti-knock sensor will retard the timing to prevent knock at reduced power. You just bought a $30K car so I wouldn't skimp on the extra 10-20 cents a gallon.

Arch57 99.5 2.8QMS

Only ran the AC briefly, so not much drain there. I did, though, average right around 80 mph on the interstates. (Yes, I've got a fuzzbuster.) Had I poked along at the posted speeds I'm sure the mpg number would have been higher.

After 16k miles with TAP stage II chip:
Town:23-24
Hwy:30-32
Never driven below 5000ft elevation, yet.

My 2.8 is a quattro with tip (19,000 miles) . On the interstate with cruise set to around 70 I get very close to 30MPG. Around town the MPG falls to low 20, or high teens. The more I push it the lower the mileage.
My 1.8T is a 5 speed manual with quattro. I have Dunlop SP9000 in 225/50 which take a little more fuel to push. My 1.8T on the interstate gets 28.5. I have 2,200 miles on it. Around town I'm in the low 20's. I would expect with stock tires my MPG would go up at least 1 MPG.
Roy M

On a recent 800 mile trip (1 way Denver -> Flagstaff, Az), I got about 28.5 mpg going the all-Interstate route (I25/I40) at 75-80 mph. In my normal weekly driving, I average around 25 mpg (about half highway/half city). This is in a 1998 A4mq that now has about 19000 miles on it. And for the trip I was using mid-grade gas (so anywhere between 87 and 89 octane, depending on location/elevation).

Gas mileage did improve a couple of mpg after the initial 5000 miles or so on the car.

I think it may just be that after living in Europe I kind of altered my driving style to save gas. LOL!

Look, it may very well be. Wetterauer claims that it does and I did notice a >slight< improvement after installling the chip. But I would say at most 1 mpg more than before. I think you can alter your gas milage greatly though just by changing your driving style. Your economy goes through the floor when you go through a lot of lights or come to a complete stop. Although my commute has a lot of 15-20 mph traffic, I don't have too many lights or complete stops. It helps.

best,
Jeff J

Many cars do not benefit from the higher octane. Your Audi, is not one of those cars, however. The 30v V6 has a high compression ratio (10.3:1?) compared to many of the other V6's on the market. With this high compression ratio, a higher octane gas will give you better power. I can't explain the scientific reasons behind this, but it has been discussed here before; I'd suggest a search for octane.

BTW, if it makes you feel any worse, I get 20-21 MPG in my S4 commuting on the freeway to work (some stop-go and at least 20% pure city driving). If I drove pure city, I'd probably only get about 16-17 MPG.

Actually, premium and regular unleaded gasoline contain the same amount of energy. The higher octane level indicates a higher level of anti-knock capability. By specifiying a higher required octane, manufacturers can use a higher compression ratio, more advanced timing, turbo, etc to extract more of the available energy from the gasoline.

Most automobiles have a knock sensor... I imagine the Audi engines do. With a knock sensor, when lower octane gasoline is used, the knock sensor will detect the onset of detonation and retard the timing so that knock does not occur. Engine output suffers somewhat as a result. My 1990 Diamond-Star turbo had a knock sensor and recommended premium unleaded. When driving the car around town and I was likely to be boosting, I used premium. When on a trip and running pretty much steady-state off boost, I used regular, saving money on the gasoline. Never experienced any problems that way.

If your car isn't designed for and doesn't specify premium gasoline, you are wasting money using it... the engine can develop no more power from the additional octane. My 1997 Miata is an example of this. My 1992 BMW 3-series, without a knock sensor and designed for premium, ran best on premium 100% of the time.