Real world MPG - Auto vs manual

[Witchfinder]

I'd set my heart upon an automatic avant, but given the lack of nice, affordable ones on the market, I'm having to re-evaluate that decision. My decision was partly fuelled by laziness, not wanting to swap cogs by hand any more. However, it was also fuelled by the official figures that suggest on the combined cycle, the automatic can return 2-3 MPG more than the manual.

In the real world, how much actual difference is there in economy between the auto and the manual? I know much of this is subjective, and depends on how hard you drive the car, fuel quality, mechanical state of the car, etc... I'm mainly interested in whether or not the auto genuinely should give better economy than the manual.

Cheers!

[R33]

If I'm doing everything I can possibly do to be economical on a motorway I can only get about 28mpg max. Usual motorway miles I'd get about 22mpg. On my commute with a mix of motorway and lanes I get about 17-18mpg if I'm taking it easy. 12mpg was the worst I averaged on the journey home for 25miles. It's not great but it sure is fun.

I love using the auto in Sport mode with the paddles for engine braked down shifts. It is great to have the full auto option for traffic and lazy family drives.

[chunky79]

I always thought auto's drank more?

[HYFR]

i had an auto cabrio and much prefer the manual....the auto is TOO lazy....its much more fun with a gear stick

[gottanS]

I agree with R33's numbers for my S4 Avant manual consumption, 28mpg was the best i have achieved. Currently getting 18-20mpg in mixed motoring and enjoying it

[Witchfinder]

I always thought auto's drank more?

That used to be the case, back in the 80s. Modern automatics are better than manuals for fuel consumption, particularly the newer DSG and twin-clutch gearboxes.

The official figures for the S4 Avant (B7) suggest the auto is better on fuel:

Auto - 15.8 / 23 / 31 MPG, 295g/km
Manual - 14.4 / 21.2 / 28.8 MPG, 322g/km

Thoughts?

[chunky79]

I always thought auto's drank more?

That used to be the case, back in the 80s. Modern automatics are better than manuals for fuel consumption, particularly the newer DSG and twin-clutch gearboxes.

The official figures for the S4 Avant (B7) suggest the auto is better on fuel:

Auto - 15.8 / 23 / 31 MPG, 295g/km
Manual - 14.4 / 21.2 / 28.8 MPG, 322g/km

Thoughts?

Thoughts???
Come and have a look at mine tomorrow, make an offer and i'll do you a deal.
I'm going to an auto next but if they did an rs6 manual i wouldn't even dream of an auto. The engine in the s4 is at it's best high up and your in control of the car more with a manual!!!

In all seriousness it's down to what you want and you only.

Dunc

[HYFR]

I agree with dunc...the S4 V8 needs to be rev'd to get the best out of it, there are no turbo's giving you that torque low down....

it loves to rev and with a Milltek you'll love to rev it

[chunky79]

Cant believe we both still have ours for sale as well david. Your a lucky sod and already have your rs6. think i may have lost the one i wanted now.

dunc

[Witchfinder]

Cant believe we both still have ours for sale as well david.

I'm going to hold out for an auto I think. Also, my Mondeo has developed a gearbox fault, so I'm going to have to get that fixed before I can sell ( ).

Concerning why yours hasn't sold - it's a v. nice, clean car, but if you look on Autotrader, there are newer, lower mileage examples at around the same price (or even cheaper), some of them from traders, most of which have full Audi history, for example:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... 7363186320 - 54 plate, 58,000 miles, £10K
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... 363392643/ - 04 plate, 64,000 miles, trader, £11k

For my own part, I've had to take a reality check on what my Mondeo is worth - it's an uneconomical car with a high tax liability (who knows how long the Band-K thing will last). Might not apply so much to a prestige car like the S4, I don't know.
We know that a good indy is better than a main stealer, and that condition is more important than age and mileage, but the average Autotrader punter doesn't know that.

Yours is a nice motor - have you tried advertising it on pistonheads.com ?

[chunky79]

I've seen the prices and can't believe some of them. Some are 1k more than mine and some are 1k lower and don't know how they get to those prices.
I've got it for sale here, audisrs, audi-sport, pistonheads and autotrader.
I think yours know's your thinking of changing her and is playing up to p**s you off. Hope the gearbox isn't an expensive one for you and it gets sorted soon.
Best of luck and i will stop trying to force you into buying mine. (but if you do want a manual this week let me know)
Looks like i'll have to lower the price of mine one last time then come to terms that i have lost the deposit and rs6

dunc

[Witchfinder]

I think yours know's your thinking of changing her and is playing up to p**s you off. Hope the gearbox isn't an expensive one for you and it gets sorted soon.

LOL, that thought had occured to me.

It had always been "not quite right," but it's started to get worse. It's the synchromesh on second gear. I've had a quote from Fraud to fix it (£900) and from an independent (£700). It's kicked my hopes of changing car this year into touch.

Makes me think I'd be better off trying to find someone who's breaking one and replace the whole 'box!

Last year, second-hand car values were really high because new car sales had plummeted. Now that new sales are picking back up, and there are more cars entering the second-hand market, it's had a knock-on effect, and maybe the market is stagnant with the economy the way it is.

Good luck with the sale, hope you don't take too big a hit.

[HYFR]

used are about to take a cliff dive in H2 2010....beware

[Witchfinder]

It had always been "not quite right," but it's started to get worse. It's the synchromesh on second gear. I've had a quote from Fraud to fix it (£900) and from an independent (£700). It's kicked my hopes of changing car this year into touch.

For anyone who is interested, I managed to beat Ford down to £700 including VAT. Not exactly cheap, but better than I was expecting.

aka_dk, why do you say used values are going to plummet?

[gottanS]

aka dk,

can you please elaborate on you statement of impending doom?