Terrible Gas Mileage? New Member Help
 

Hey guys -

So I picked up my new 2014 A7 TFSI from the dealer about a month ago. I could go on and on about its beauty and performance but that's been said many times before. I love the car, but am astonished at the very low gas mileage I'm getting. In city driving, I'm averaging between 10-12 /MPH, and on the highway around 17-18 / MPH.

I live in Santa Monica, CA and drive city about 90% of the time, most of which avoids stop-and-go traffic. I certainly don't accelerate hard most of the time, but here and there I do. Most of the time, the Auto drive function is on and I usually take short trips (30min max). In every other car I've driven, I usually average right around the EPA benchmark. But this car is killing me with this terrible efficiency.

If I knew it would be this bad, I would have gotten the TDI instead. Do you guys have any idea what's wrong?

Sorry - its 10-12/MPG city and 17-18/MPG highway. Not the MPH. In the city, I'm probably average 30-40 MPH.

Are you sure you are not "testing" your new car more often than needed?

Shouldn't be anywhere near that bad..?

That's NA V8 territory.

Start by checking your tire air pressure. Soft tires will drink gas.

What mode do you usually drive in?

Are you putting 91octane gas??

I see more Teslas in Santa Monica than anything else these days. What were you driving prior to the A7? Perhaps you have some old habits to break or maybe you're not driving hard enough? I you've been doing nothing buy city since you bought it, you need to break it in properly and go for a drive on an open highway and put some miles on it.

I'd certainly ask at your dealer. I've actually found the 3.0TFSI engine to be pretty frugal considering its output, those numbers sound way too low.

What's your instant MPG? For me cruising at 60-70mph on a flat surface with cruise control (DCC) on my instant MPG is 29-33.

As previous post said check your tier pressures. With cold snaps around the country your pressure might be low. I run at 35 front and 33 rear. Always check this with cold tires.

Mileage will improve as the engine gets broken in. Give it some time.

In the interim - relax and enjoy your A7.