JBDinTX

All my trucks are diesel. 2010 GMC 2500, 2014 Dodge 2500. I buy them for the power not the fuel mileage (12-14 mpg). When I bought my SQ5 the dealer ask if I thought about the new TDI. I would have maybe pulled the trigger on a TDI if the SQ5 had not been out. I am averaging 22 mpg. BTW I get so sick of smelling diesel at work I am thankful I don't have to smell it on the weekends.

Mark P

I've actually been surprised with how pleasant the TDI exhaust smell is. Better than typical gas engines IMO. Guess it's the AdBlue.

soonerfan

I guess my "smeller" is out of calibration because I don't notice an exhaust odor....but I do notice the diesel odor when fueling....and I like it much better than ethanol!

Q5 Bob

I've noticed at the nearby BP station where I get most of my gas, the pavement area around the diesel pump is a dark oily color where fuel probably drips vs. the areas around the gas pumps. The diesel pump itself (white) also has a slightly dark film on it. The station itself is well maintained.

It's not a good or bad thing just an observation.

Redd

I've found with small marine diesels, which are basically automobile diesels with "upgrades", that almost all of them are not self-bleeding. That is, if you run out of fuel or get air in the fuel lines, you are SOL until the system is manually bled of air.

But there are a few that are praised for being self-bleeding, and on those the fuel system is set up so that running out of fuel is no big deal. The system will purge itself and run again without complaint, once you give it more fuel and some time to take care of business.

I wouldn't be surprised if the construction equipment was simply older traditional designs, which are not self-bleeding simply because it costs more to make a self-bleeding system. I wouldn't be surprised if modern "consumer" diesels were set up to be self-bleeding despite the extra cost. Hey, there's a reason you can't buy Caterpillar at the local WalMart.

But even gasoline cars usually have a warning in the manual that if you run the tank dry, you may cause problems that can blowout the catalytic converter, among other issues. I have no idea if that's an issue with the "blue" diesel systems now.

Q5 TDI

Ok Mark, I gotta ask, do you do graphs for a living or is this just something that you like to do?

SteveDu

Thanks OP for sharing your data and corrected MPG calculation! I got my 14 TDI calibrated with the VAGCOM. It seems more accrue now, maybe under reporting a bit with the way I drive lol.

I am only on my 3rd tank so I lack enough sample data to come to a solid conclusion. However I do know compare to my 11 2.0T? MY GOODNESS it uses WAY less amount of fuel! On the 2.0T, under same conditions I can get AT THE MOST 450 miles per tank. With the TDI? I haven't even receive the refuel notice I have over 550 miles on it.

Glad I made my decision to trade in for a TDI. So much more POWER yet uses less fuel.

Oh and... diesel costs less than Premium in SoCal now lol.

dmicah

They're all over Amazon. For $12 I'm definitely getting one for when my TDI arrives.

Mark P

I do it for both, and while I don't recall exactly how it started, I certainly did it a lot as a hobby for performance data for my B5 S4. One of the main things I had done was to create a set of templates for use with APR's ECU Explorer data logging, and then shared with many other owners. Here's an example of it:
http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/mi...2_noseats_49f/

But now I make good use of it as well for illustrating performance data of my software products at work.

I also graph my heating and AC expenses as well Here's one showing my reduction of elec usage after switching to LED lights. $194 savings since end of Jan (latest isn't online):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/23d3fedj2h...7_image018.png

Mark P

PS - I considered the NC vanity plate SPRDSHTZ which is available, but decided against it
https://edmv.ncdot.gov/VehicleRegist...#term=Standard