Is the 204 more economical than the 150?

[former member]

Might sound unlikely but I see a lot of complaints about the fuel economy of the 150 engine yet very few about the 204.

Is it just a case of expectation of the 150 being good on fuel whereas 204 owners just assume there’s will be thirsty or are there real figures to back this up? Maybe the 204 is a more relaxed drive?

Whatever the cases, our 204 is an awful lot more economical than our old 180!

 

[Tourershine]

I assumed mine was terrible after my previous Vivaro 1.6 Bi Turbo, but in reality the mpg is miles out because of my wheels I think (speedo about 4mph out) Plus the fuel tank is a fair bit smaller than my Vivaro was, which I think is daft of VW dropping the option of a larger tank.

However, it's not as bad as I originally though, and i'm seeing around early/mid 30s, with a van that is around 70% loaded all the time, and a pretty heavy right foot at times.

 

[PukkaT6]

I would never have imagined low 30’s (from a 150) on average given that 80% of my driving is on a motorway. Especially when you look at the figures they quote.

If I dare get to 80mph you can watch the needle literally drop its that bad.

That said I have seen loads of 204 owners stating averages in the 20’s so guess its expectations.

 

[RattyMcClelland]

I'll agree it's shocking how bad my 150 is on fuel. Before and after remap it's the same. 29mpg average at best. What is 26mpg. Best 31mpg.

Compared to my old 84ps again remapped and same load, equipment, roads and driving style averaged 37mpg. 33 was the worst, 42 best.

However adblue had gone from 2000 miles to 3500 miles of range. After 15k it got better.

 

[G11hws]

Hi gents,

Our 204 dsg averages 37, our 150 dsg averages 41. This is roughly 10% both are from the mfd panel but we have done manual calculations and they were always about 2mpg short on both vehicles. The 150 has done an extra 10k miles so the 204 may catch up as the 150 has got better with more miles.

What I do notice is that the 204 mpg drops of the cliff when on short journeys but the 150 stays much the same.

 

[former member]

Seems like there are some rogue 150s that are poor on fuel?
Our 180 was insane; it had V8 thirst. Often low 20s, sometimes even less.
So around 30 is a revelation; I don’t fret over mpg but more about range; our 204 easily offsets the smaller tank with better overall range. AdBlue consumption has also settled on our 9700 mile California; phew.

 

[G11hws]

I am disappointed with the small fuel tanks, as you say if we had 100 litre tanks we wouldn’t notice the mpg so much. 4 times a week I have to fill up the vans and the wife’s car and I can’t stand the stench of diesel and don’t get me started on how other people manage to cover the pump handle in diesel!!!!!!!

Ps. After 5000 miles both mine stopped needing adblue every 5 minutes

 

[LordGozer]

I have a 150, if I drive it very carefully at around 60 mph I can get high 30’s sometimes into the early 40’s with nearly 8k on the clock, camper conversion so not far off fully loaded all the time. Personally I’m happy with that, took some getting used to though after being used to getting 55-60 mpg from my old diesel BMW that got sold when we bought the van.

I can tell when the regen is happening though as it drops to low 20’s!!!

 

[Gadgets]

204 DSG T32 kombi best I’ve had is 47.4 mpg driving sensibly 3 hour round trip. Tend to get 38 Ish

 

[Dieseldonkey]

150 DSG long wheel base. Light footed, mix of long distance and urban driving and I've so far averaged 35-36 true calculated mpg over 1500 miles. My MFD varies wildly between 10 and 20% over optimistic. Tesco fuel. Winter conditions on standard size winter tyres. Lightly laden with shuttle seats mostly.

Trying a wee experiment just now, driving 2500 miles on Tesco stuff. Then I'll do 2500 miles on premium (V Power, Ultimate etc)

See if it makes any difference to mpg figures. Maybe try another 2500 miles using Miller's additive. Then I'll give up.

Considering the amount of regen that goes on, I wonder if it is indeed possible for the MFD to display an accurate mpg given that the vehicle is covering no distance with ignition switched off, yet it's consuming fuel that I presume isn't being recorded.

 

[RattyMcClelland]

Considering the amount of regen that goes on, I wonder if it is indeed possible for the MFD to display an accurate mpg given that the vehicle is covering no distance with ignition switched off, yet it's consuming fuel that I presume isn't being recorded.

The van doesn't regenerate when ignition is off. The fans run because the dpf/engine will be very hot and the fans blow air across it to stop the van floor getting to hot.
V power or supermarket fuel makes no difference. Tried both for 5k miles at a time. I use v-power for its extra detergents.

 

[Dieseldonkey]

Thanks @RattyMcClelland. Everydays a school day.