agdavis

I've owned my manual 2011 S4 for about 3 weeks and have logged 1100 miles. I love the car, with my only complaint being the gas mileage. I've averaged 18.5 MPG in mostly light driving(ie light break-in) with at least 80/20 split highway to around town miles. Of course, I didn't buy the car solely on its 18/27 ranking, but it was a major item that put it ahead of the M3. They do use an ethanol blend around here, so I can forgive a couple of the MPG difference, but it still seems low. Does gas mileage get better over time as the engine breaks in? Does this have anything to do with cold weather driving, or most of the highway miles being 20 mile trips (engine isn't completely warm for most of them). What are other users experience with gas mileage in the S4?

k1speederS4

Gas milage gets much better as time goes on. You should notice it start to get better at 4-5k and then again around 8-10k depending on how you drive it. One thing I will say is that it is 1-2mpg better than the B7 S4 when driven spiritedly which is a huge win! The only thing I don't like about the gas milage is that you can't get above 23mpg if you are cruising at 80-85 on the highway.

AgisA

MPG keeps improving through 10 K miles.
With manual transmission you can shift below 2K RPM to save gas.
Also use cruise on the highway.
You should be able to get around 27-28 mpg at 70 mph and at least 25 mpg at 80 with cruise offcourse and flat terrain.

IAS5

actually, you should be able to.

I get 28+ cruising at 75mph on longer trips. i usually have car in "comfort" mode on the ADS.

2010 Prestige, DSG, ADS "comfort," 7k miles on the clock, cruise set at 75...

AgisA

With DSG you might do slightly better than manual.
It is interesting to note that DSG under normal load tends to shift below 2 K RPM.

FINA4

I can get to 28 mpg on a freeway. Old school average is usually around 20-21 mpg (number of gallons filled versus miles driven).

AgisA

Computer mpg is only about 1 mpg optimistic.
My quotes are real MPG.

m444

The gas mileage is very dependant on how you drive it.

DrVolkl

Yep... I got 14.1 mpg on my last tank... a lot of driving in the snow, which meant high RPM spinning, having fun. I normally average about 17-18 mpg doing 90% city driving.

The two weeks that the wife had the car while hers was in the shop she averaged 21 mpg.

The S4 is very capable of being a gas guzzler if you want it to be.

DrGP

I really don't think you should complain about 18.5 mpg on an engine that is still tight. Plus, I really don't think you will get a huge improvement as your engine loosens up either. 18-19mpg for city and suburban driving is what I get with my 6MT driving in the auto mode of sport dif. You didn't say if you have a sport dif, and if so, what setting you are using. You will get better gas mileage in the Comfort setting. You also will get better mileage on longer trips.(24-28mpg depending on speed and conditions) But significantly worse mileage if you drive aggressively. However, I think it is unlikely that you would have anywhere as good gas mileage with an M3. Doesn't that have a gas guzzler tax?