mk1 GTI - Oliver Reed Edition

Hi All,

Just wondered if people could post what kinds of MPG they are getting from their GTIs.

I have a '83 1.8 GTI and it is VERY thirsty. I don't think I even get 20 MPG on the motorway, and the less said about town driving the better.

The exhaust emissions always look clean - no black smoke or anything, the engine sounds good (no knocking) and there's no puddles of petrol under the car.  If anyone could suggest things to check that would be very helpful.

Cheers! 8)

moved to the fuel section for you mate


might be worth getting the emissions checked out, I know mine's running a little rich but it's nowhere near as thirsty as your Mk1

apart from the obvious checking all the fuel lines and getting the emissions checked I'm not sure.. maybe someone else has had a similar problem on here

Sorry for putting the post in the wrong section.  

Could you recommend somewhere good/reliable in the Berks area where I can get the emissions checked please?

Firstly I'd check your actual MPG by filling up, driving and then refilling noting the mileage covered and how much it took to top back up.

Divide litres by 4.54 to get gals and divide your mileage by the gals.

Guestimating by "10 quid gets me 100 miles" or "I can do 200 miles before it get to the 1/4 full mark" ain't accurate enough.

I get @35MPG on a run and have seen 40 ish taking it gently and 30 if pressing on.

Thanks! I actually had this information already. On my most fuel efficient journey so far - Reading to Bournemouth (motorways) and back via motorways and a-roads I covered about 174 miles using 35 litres of fuel.

35/4.54 = 7.709 gallons
174/7.709 = 22.6 MPG

Pretty rubbish. Imagine what urban consumption I get!  :doh:

''
I get @35MPG on a run and have seen 40 ish taking it gently and 30 if pressing on.''


ditto

Benici said

Sorry for putting the post in the wrong section.  

Could you recommend somewhere good/reliable in the Berks area where I can get the emissions checked please?

 :wink: ah don't worry about the wrong section mate!

TBH.. I've not had mine checked out yet  ops: so don't know the best place to get it checked, if you've got a friendly MOT guy have a chat with him

Hi Benci

You have probably seen this but here are my figures:

 1.8 GTi Cab over 342 miles at an average speed of 52 mph. This trip used 39 litres of fuel:

Conversion: 4.54609 litres per gallon: thus 39 litres = 8.58 gallons.

342/8.58 = 39.86 miles/gallon

Converting to kilometres/litre:

39.86 * 0.35401 (conversion factor) = 14.11 kilometres / litre.

The car has 102,000 miles on the clock.

Agree with Early1800, although I do a lot of town driving, so may drop to 27ish in Winter - so you definitely have a problem. Certainly 40mpg possible on a run.
Sad old gits like me still work out their consumption every tankful….but not many others do,… do they?
I'm amazed how many folk take their mfa readings as gospel and believe they're doing 40 mpg in town! Mk1's are pretty good…but not that good.
I'm one of those 'lucky' people with a 99.9mpg reading, can't wait to see what Alicabrio and others find out about Hall senders…I've checked for vacuum leak and earthing points till I'm Lhasa green in the face!

The only reading from my MFA that I believe in, is the time.

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice. It's pretty clear that some problem somewhere is making my car a bit too juicy. Strange that there are no symptons other than me spending a lot of time in petrol stations. :?

I think I'll get the emissions checked as a starting point…

what colour are your spark plugs?

A very good point. I haven't checked.  ops:

I will do so tomorrow, when I can get myself a spark plug spanner.

I had this problem when I first had mine running this summer - mine was running so rich you could smell the excess fuel coming out of the exhaust. All I did was to tweak the mixture, and I now get about 250 miles to a full tank (35 litres or so) which is about right I think.

The fuel mixture adjustment screw sits between the metering head and the air intake flap, and you'll need a long 3mm allen key to adjust it. Clockwise is richer, and anti-clockwise is leaner.

You can set it up (roughly) by ear, or if you've got a CO meter you can do it more accurately. If you're doing it by ear, make sure the engine is warm through, the spark timing is correct, then mark the current position of the mixture screw.

Then richen the mixture until the engine struggles to idle, and mark that, then lean the mixture until the engine struggles, and mark that position too. The ideal position is in the middle of the two extremes, and the best economy is just slightly lean of this point.

HTH

Rich

yep that works
i did that to mine
it works
and dont take long

just dont press down on the allen key, gently site it!

Get around 260 to a tank (or rather to the point i think i need to fill up as the gauge is less than accurate!) mixture of short runs and longer weekend runs…

MFA reckons i do about 14 to the gallon, but then it also thinks it's -40 outside too!!!

Hey Caudy

You can fix your outside temp reading - see electrical FAQ's - tells you how to fix it.

M

Well, I've had a look at the spark plugs…take a look. They definitely look a bit sooty.

I've now checked mixture as mcscrew suggested and mine was definitely in the rich-end of the scale.

I've adjusted the mixture screw so that I am slightly lean (1/16 turn) of the mid-point between lean-idle limit and rich-idle limit. I adjusted the idle setting to compensate for the new mixture setting and then took the car for a spin. The car is still really responsive on the throttle - no lag or anything.

I will change the spark plugs now and let you all know how my next tank of fuel goes!!

Thanks for everyone's helpful replies on this. I knew it was a good idea joining this site!  8)

PS. BTW. I had my full beam headlights on during this adjustment (as another post suggested) and smoke started coming out of the steering column!  8O Not good.

how was your mpg then???

benici

this might help - just ran 1983 cab (1.8 GTI) 279 miles on a mixture of A and B roads, some motorway and some city driving - 279 miles on 34 litres fules - gives 37 mpg - exhaust tail pipe colour is a light grey - just as it should be

m