407 Fuel Consumption

I got my shiny new 407 HDi 136 last Tuesday and very nice it is too! I was a
bit surprised to find though that the trip computer was recording a fuel
consunption of 34mpg. This is a lot worse than I was led to expect from the
published figures. In fact it is about the same as my 2.4 litre normally
aspirated indirect injection diesel powered motor caravan!

Having now learned to use the 6 speed gearbox a bit better it is now up to
36mpg, still a lot lower than the 49mpg combined cycle figure despite doing
most of my driving on motorways and trunk roads.

Can anybody suggest a reason for this? Possible ones I could guess at are:

The car is new, and will improve when it has dome a few more than its current
250 miles (although I was told that the engine had been "bench run" to avoid
the need for running in).

or

The trip computer is inaccurate. It would be better to wait until I have
used a tank of fuel, than perform my own calcultaion based on anount of fuel
to fill the tank and miles covered.

What MPG do others get with this car?


Martin

 

Martin,

The trip computers are usually very accurate, I suspect the engine is still
very tight, my VW Touran 140Bhp TDI did not start to loosen up and show
better MPG until I had covered about 10,000 miles!

If you use a lot of boost, this will also make things worse, try pulling
your right foot up a little and waiting for the boost to take hold
gradually, rather than kicking you in the back.

Another friend of mine had similar problems to yourself with a VW SDI
(Non-Turbo) - He found changing the oil made a large difference, we came to
the conclusion that VW must ship them using crap oil.

Andy

 

Hi Martin,



I've getting nowhere near the claimed MPG at present, on a run (what ever
that means when your stop start on the M25 etc.) I'm getting around
40-42MPG, around town, and there not long drives, it's obviously a lot less.
My overall average so far is 38MPG, just coming up to 12K miles (I record
everything).



You asked previously about niggles:-



Tyre pressure sensors had to be changed, the garage then broke the security
bolt on one of the front wheels, and tried to tell me I had lost the cover
clip. I 'explained' they were all there fitted when it went in, I want them
fitted when the vehicle is returned. A new set of security bolts later, and
the problem was solved. 6 weeks to resolve.



Front nearside passenger window:- would not fully retract. It went in to
have the problem sorted, the car was returned with the 'vehicle technicians'
paw prints all over the car. I 'explained' again, it was clean when it went
in, I want it clean when it comes out. A free valet later and all nice
again.



Boot would not open:- dry solder joint on the boot switch, however the
dealers broke the boot trim retaining clips and had to order replacements, 4
weeks later replacements were fitted.



Near side rear window trim - damaged on collection:- took the dealer 5
attempts to obtain and fit replacement trim, without making it look worse
than when it went in. Total saga took 4 months to sort out.



All in all I love the car, however the dealers still need to learn that it's
your money that they are playing with when you take the car to them for
service/remedial works to be performed. My dealer is slowly learning.
Biggest problem in the early days was parts, new car no parts available,
though this is getting better.



I'm still looking for an English forum on the 407.



Gary

 

In message <>

No problems so far with mine except trying to work out which of the functions
described in the handbook are actually supposed to work in my car. I still
don't know whether I have the feature that dips the door mirrors when
reversing, or whether I just haven't worked out how to use it.

But all in all, I am very pleased with the car apart from the fuel
consumption. It is a lovely car to drive. Even my wife likes it, and she is
not usually keen on driving big cars.

Martin