acarney

Wow, you guys are making me feel a lot better (about low MPG, wait, that's can't be right, lol). For some reason I thought I should be up near 19 to 21mpg when driving fairly easy based on some posts I had been reading, I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to the specs they were listing.

Anyway, stock 17 inch wheels and it's a 5 speed auto 2.7tq. I haven't paid THAT close attention to average speed but I think it's within about 2 or 3 mph across about the last three or four tanks. I'll keep an eye closer on that stuff. I guess I just thought it was weird that when I drive it hard I didn't notice that much worse mpg. I'll keep a closer eye on it though.

Two questions though, can I run 0w40 in the car? I thought that's what the manual said it came with out of the factory and I setup an oil change for Friday requesting 0w40 but I double checked it late tonight and it said 0w30 was what the factory filled it with, HOWEVER, I could run 5w30 or 5w40. That makes me think 0w40 should be ok and that the 40 weight shouldn't be too high run running at temp since it would be ok with the 5w40.... am I right?

Also, I'm a little confused at tire pressures, I just ordered some 235/45R17 Michelin X-Ice Xi2 snow tires which have an XL load rating. The manual mentions 36 psi for normal tires and +3 psi for snow tires which would give me 39 psi. Tire rack is saying that the inflation pressure assigned for max load ratings is 41 psi and the Michelin have a max load of 1609 lbs. Should I run them at 39 psi or should I run them at 41 psi?

Just Me

are you talking to me? Or just havng difficulty with the threaded view?

ZCD2.7T

FWIW, I'm currently driving the 3rd 2.7T (all Tiptronics) that my family has owned. ALL of them have averaged between 17.5 and 19.5 mpg (calculated from fill-ups) in mixed driving, depending on the time of year. Higher in summer, lower in winter due to winter-blend fuel in my area (Chicago). Your results sound normal to me - not "terrible" by any means. EPA ratings for the car were 17/23 if memory serves, BTW.

As for tire pressures, check the passenger side rear door jamb - there should be a sticker there that lists all the recommended pressures for various tire sizes and loads.

As for oil, 0W-40 is fine, as long as it meets Audi's standards.

Just Me

Oil ( yes, get out the popcorn)

First, do you follow threads on this forum? We've analyzed oil to the tune of many hundreds of posts.

Can you run 0W40 - yes. In fact its a good choice.

Would i choose it over 5W30 or 5W40? No. Why not? Search for some of the borderline textbooks iv'e posted before. I don't have time to re-write them.

Where do you live? How cold does it get? How do you drive? How often do you chaneg the oil?

G

PPGOAL

I have calculated my gas mileage manually since I purchased my car with 37k and it's now at 155k miles. I do a lot of highway driving across Michigan at 70-74 mph generally. I find the car get's it's best gas mileage when the outside temperature is 60-80o F. It seems to lose power when it is real hot (90+ as experienced in SC two summers ago), and the mileage definitely goes down ~2 mpg when the temperature drops into the 40s and below. Maybe that's due to winter fuel, maybe due to the richer mixture due to the choke (but I drive 188 miles each way so the choke time is minimal). I aired the tires up to 40 lbs in September when it was still in the 60-70s and checked it recently and it is steady.

If you're getting 17-19 around town, that's probably good with a tip (I have an MT6). I usually get 23-24 on the highway at near-legal speeds and 25+ when I drive very conservatively. The trip computer has told me I am getting 27-28 the few times I drove it at 60-65, but that was short distance (< 30 miles) and when the road opened up it was back to 70+ and the regular mpg.