VW 2.3 V5 Engine?

[Vampire]

This was going to be a 'spec me a . . . .' thread but I'm trying not to go there yet.

I'm currently driving a 2001 VW Golf Mk4 V5, which has a 170bhp 2.3 five cylinder petrol engine. My new job now requires that I drive up to 1000 miles a week, hence slightly large fuel bills.

However. The Golf will manage 40mpg on long runs if I drive it like a granny (60mph from Cumbria to Swindon without stopping ), and is a lovely smooth runner. Currently there's nothing wrong with it at all (touch wood) other than having 99k on the clock, so I'm loathed to sell it just to buy a diesel motorway hack.

Being a fairly rare engine, I was just wondering what the average longevity of these is? It seems to barely be stressed in normal driving, and the fact that it doesn't have a cam belt should mean it's quite reliable right?

I do a lot of miles, but it gets serviced every 10k on the dot. Would you expect it to run to 200k, 300k? Or should it have died a horrible death already?

Any views welcome, other than 'buy a mondeo', that's already plan B.

 

[Vampire]

Doing so many miles suggests much of it is Motorway/A road work. These not stressful conditions. Provided you service it correctly there is no reason why this Golf wont make 200k miles and beyond.

If your employer gives you a car allowance and is happy for you not to spend it on a new car, then keeping the Golf seems particularly prudent.

Yup you guessed right, basically 95% of it is motorways and A-roads, all long trips of at least an hour and no short school runs.

Sadly as a contractor for my own company, I am technically my own employer so don't get any kind of allowance. However I am allowed to claim mileage against tax, so not all bad.

I figure I could save about £1300 minimum per annum purely in fuel costs alone by switching to a diesel - but it'd cost me at least £3k to change cars to something appropriate, thus not a totally convincing argument.

I'm leaning towards keeping the Golf for another year or two (assuming it's still running) and then changing when it's closer to being on its last legs.

As howard says, it is nice to drive, very relaxing. I've done a couple of 5 hour non stop runs in it so far and I was a bit sore but it really wasn't too bad, not bad enough to need to stop anyway.

 

[Vampire]

Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention is that I have to run it on super unleaded. I've tried running it on 95 but it feels like it's really struggling and the MPG drops by quite a margin. Running it on 97 (or 99) seems to suit the engine much better, and the extra MPG seems to offset the extra cost of the fuel (I think).....

 

[Vampire]

what sort of mileage do you get if you drive at 80+ on the motorway and hoon about a little?
(ie) realistic mileage, not that 40mpg nonsense

If it's in stop/start traffic around town then I'd guess somewhere around 25mpg on average. On a motorway at 'typical' speeds it'll manage between 32mpg and 34mpg. Then it gets more economical as you bring the speed down towards 55mph.

The best I ever managed was Swindon to Rugby (A420, A34, A43, A5) at 42mpg according to the trip computer, but that was creeping along at 50mph hiding in the slipstream of lorries etc.

The engine does sound lovely, sometimes I think about putting a louder exhaust on but tbh I think it'd just get annoying in the long run. I'm past modding these days anyway, bit of a money pit!

 

[Vampire]

I've got a Toledo V5 (170). Not overly quick but sounds beautiful when revved and idles near silent - very smooth engine. As for economy though, its not great. My last few tanks have averaged around 32-33 MPG and this is driving like a saint. If I drive 'normally', I get around 28-30 MPG. This is from mostly motorway miles with some town driving.

Are you taking your MPG from the trip computer, or working it out properly yourself?

I usually go by the computer, as I worked it out ages ago and it seemed pretty close to actual figures.

However my usual 'long run' readings seem a lot better than you guys so either...

a) My trip computer lies.
b) My Michelin Energy tyres actually work and increase MPG.
c) Overinflating the tyres is increasing MPG.
d) I really do drive like a granny.

Hmm, I'll work out some proper MPG figures over the next week or two.

 

[Vampire]

Ok I've just done a real world test.

Left my house in Swindon, drove to Swindon centre, then out to Oxford via A420, up A34, M40, A43, M1, A1(M) etc to Durham. A trip of 281.5 miles.

I filled up before I left Swindon, and filled up just now when I arrived. I used 32.79 Litres of Super Unleaded, which equates to 7.21 Imperial Gallons according to Google.

So that gives me a real world figure of 39.04MPG. The trip computer was reset in Swindon and that's reading 39.0MPG.

I'm actually very surprised at a) how accurate the trip computer is, and b) how good my MPG was. That was basically following the flow of traffic and cruising at just a smidge over 70mph on the motorways and dual carriageways.

I'm fairly pleased now, apart from being stuck in Durham in an expensive but crap hotel and having to drive home again in the morning.