B6 S4 Gas Mileage

[4Rings3Liters]

Post up the mileage your getting with your V8 S4s. I am potentially in the market for one and I am wondering what they are getting. Thanks

[wakzak33]

I have an '04 Silver on Black 6 spd manual S4. Yesterday, the tank was near empty, so I filled it. I think it was about $50 to fill the tanks with Premium. It's not too costly filling these, but they do burn gas quite quickly. But trust me, once you get it, you'll be in love. I live in Allentown PA, what are you exactly trying to buy?

[Raudi 4.2]

hmmm well iv been turning off the esp and for some reason it seems like im getting better highway milage... but that could just be the drugs... but yea... bad milage... 18 mpg average

[littleredwagen]

anywhere 10-20 mpg, depending on my mood

[B6_Rakete]

Mixed 60/40 highway/city: 17.5 - 19mpg average

6sp manual

If you do all city driving, you're in for a shock: 11-12mpg is what I normally register in town.

[trex000]

05.5 B7 S4, 6 spd manual.
City averages to 14.5 - 15.0. Highway averages to 16.0 - 17.0.
Never got anywhere close to 18.

[B18b1ex]

Post up the mileage your getting with your V8 S4s. I am potentially in the market for one and I am wondering what they are getting. Thanks

If you plan on enjoying your car figure around 10 mpg plus or minus 2.


Oh and the search button can be your best friend!

[ginkof]

04 s4 6 speed manual and in the city i get 13-14 in the city and 19-21 on the highway... usually get 17 on average.

I have noticed that elevation changes do effect my gas mileage. I was in the suburbs cleveland a while back and i had no problem averaging 22-24 mpg while out there since everything was very flat. Out here in western mass everywhere is hills and mountains.

in spirited or very aggressive driving situations this car's gas mileage is drop like a rock. I Let a friend of mine drive my car around boston last week since he really wants to buy one and put coils on it and he used 3/8ths of my tank (6-7 gallons) and drove 41 miles. I say get one... its such a sweeeeeeet car!

[Renato]

The computer says 16.6 over 8K miles. I think that's on the high side, the past couple of times I manually calculated was around 14.

[CHECKERED]

05 B6 S4, auto

Freeway:
26-28mpg at 62mph 26mpg at 65mph 25 at 70mph
30mpg drafting behind commercial truck going 55-60mph

City:
14mpg in lots of stop and go, lights, and heavy traffic
18mpg without many stops and light traffic

Aggressive driving in city: 11-12
Aggressive driving on highway 16-18


Numbers are based from Scan Gauge II readings

[iconoclast]

Post up the mileage your getting with your V8 S4s.

if i get more than 200 miles for a full tank im surprised/impressed.
2004, 6 speed, avant.

[Audi Juice]

I get 17mpg in my A4. You guys must drive like Grandmas if you are averaging 16-18 in your S4's

[charliemike]

I can get in the 24mpg range on the highway.

I don't commute in it so it's normally around 20mpg.

[iconoclast]

seriously... i am a fairly conservative driver, and i only go by the bottom line what it costs for how many miles ive done... i always reset the trip meter after every fill up, and only on road trips where its mostly highway cruising do i get more than 200 miles per full tank.

[akitamike]

My 05 B6 S4 6mt gets me at best 16-18 mpg combined driving. I tell you the indash instant computer readout must be 30% off b/c according to that I should be averaging about 20-22 mpg, but I'm not. On the highway it says I'm getting 24-26 mpg, but that's off.

[AudiOso]

My in dash says 23 highway and around 17 or so in town. I don't hammer it much except for getting on freeways and quick bursts of speed. It's one of those things where if you have it and can use it that's most of the thrill. That's my take on it anyway.

[tatarin]

i've been seeing 17-20 around my town and 23 to 25 on highway

[tileg]

like the sticker says...14mpg city driving.

i've gotten above 20mpg strictly highway driving on trips to NY and eastern PA.

[iamproph]

Was getting around 11-12 before I switched out air filters around town, that is pretty aggressive driving. I have a tiptronic, if i drop it into regular drive and cruise I can get close to 20 in the city and 27ish on the highway.

[$4c@b]

05 B6 S4 cab, man

Freeway:
26-28mpg at 62mph 26mpg at 65mph 25 at 70mph


City:
14mpg in lots of stop and go, lights, and heavy traffic
18mpg without many stops and light traffic

Aggressive driving in city: 11-12
Aggressive driving on highway 16-18

(thanks)

[Swanky]

shifting 1-3-5/6 in the city and cruising in 6 gear on the highway at just under 3k rpm yields ~19mpg to ~20mpg combined

[whartung]

Damn you guys must all drive crazy. Driving to New York from California I got about 22.5-23 MPG by the computer, and doing it the old fashioned way checked out to the same thing. Given the town I'm in right now has a lot of long roads w/ few cops that means my average speed is higher than it was in LA, but "city" driving I see 16-17, and my normal highway average is generally around 21.

I'm not going to lie though. The past few days I've been a bit more aggressive with the car than average and I've driven 65 miles and only have half the tank left. So needless to say I've spent a lot of time the past couple days in the 4k+ area.

[Stormin]

I drove like my grandmother's grandmother today and got about 21 MPG. But that's with Seattle traffic and in the rain.

[Captain Insano]

05 B6 S4, auto

Freeway:

30mpg drafting behind commercial truck going 55-60mph

LOL... You're crazy man!! You ever see one of those kick up tread? More power to you though if you get that drafting.

I have the 6speed. MPG is all about your right foot. When I baby it in town I can average as high as 15+. If I'm on the gas alot it's down between 10-12. On the highway cruising at 70mph I average as high as 24 so I'm not really that annoyed since the official ratings are 12/20 I think. I calculate with the old fashion way to - no computer ratings here.

But, like I said, if you baby it you will get well above the ratings and if you drive it like you stole it you will get under - there is a reason it has a gas guzzler tax.....

[szinkuti]

i drove on a highway for like 3 hours cruising at 70mph and never got over 18 according to my cluster....deff dont buy an s4 for fuel economy...i usually get like 200 miles to a tank city driving

[nimski62]

I cant get my INSTANTANEOUS MPG over 21-22.. let alone my average. how do you ppl do it?

[Captain Insano]

I seriously think that computer is conservative. I never use it. Calculate it the old fashion way and check for deviation.

PS - I think a new air filter makes a noticeable difference. When I changed mine it went up a little. Or I'm crazy. One of the two...

[Red04S4]

I got 250 on my last tank. But then again I was going for a record on my car, i never went over 3k rpm. And that sucked. I would much rather DRIVE the car and get 225 per tank :0

[Captain Insano]

Yeah, that's where the savings are. When I'm trying to sip gas I don't go above 2500 RPMs. When I said I baby it I really mean it.... It's sad. It's a really neat engine/trans though. You can be down around 1200 RPMs in any gear and it will still drive nicely. This thing is such an easy/flexible drive.

But then when you get on the gas it makes you appreciate the power more!!!

[4Rings3Liters]

While weI have all you B6 S4 owners here, how is the reliability?

[whartung]

I cant get my INSTANTANEOUS MPG over 21-22.. let alone my average. how do you ppl do it?

dude, instantaneous is easy to trick. get on the freeway, do like 90, find an off ramp, and put it in neutral and my instantaneous spikes up to like 175, 180, all the while i'm whipping past prius's feeling like god.

I got 250 on my last tank. But then again I was going for a record on my car, i never went over 3k rpm. And that sucked. I would much rather DRIVE the car and get 225 per tank :0

Ive gotten 280 in a tank, but if i ran it dry i'm confident it could have hit 300 i think.

[B6_Rakete]

mechanical bits seem pretty solid, but electrical issues seem to be the biggest problems.

- coil packs
- brake light switches (results in ABS light)
- airbag sensors (results in airbag light)
- headlight auto-leveling (big error in the in-dash display)
- air mass sensors (watch out for K&N filters apparently)
- etc.

[akitamike]

I think if you're looking for a used 2005 then you may have a few months of the original manuf. warranty left. After that, best to purchase a 3-4 yr. full exclusionary extended warranty (i.e. full bumper to bumper, mostly), preferrably with $0 deductible. Those should run you around $2500-3500, or try to extend the warranty through Audi (I went independent non-Audi for the warranty and paid $2400 for 4 yrs, with $0 deductible, full exclusionary.

Captain Insano, what kind of air filter did you go with - K&N oiled?

[charliemike]

mechanical bits seem pretty solid, but electrical issues seem to be the biggest problems.

- airbag sensors (results in airbag light)
- headlight auto-leveling (big error in the in-dash display)

- etc.

Well crap, I got both of those indicators recently. Fortunately, I still have warranty.

I'll have them pull codes at the next service.

[Captain Insano]

When I did 75K maintenance I just used a stock air filter. I was planning to do K&N next time, but everybody on this forum thinks they are the devil. Not to go off topic, but are there any actual posts from people that have experienced MAF issues after using a K&N filter??

I thought about doing the extended warranty after inspection, but if it's gonna cost $3K I'll take my chances and fix what breaks.

Back on topic - I agree with whartung. Just watch that computer MPG calculator on the fly for a while when you are driving, coasting, going up hills, going down hills, etc... I watched it for a couple days and was pretty sure my own calculations would be better.

[B6_Rakete]

Well crap, I got both of those indicators recently. Fortunately, I still have warranty.

I'll have them pull codes at the next service.

For the airbag light, it only happened to me when someone sat in the rear, passenger side seat and buckled the seatbelt. Apparently there are sensors in the seat belt retractors that tell the side curtain airbags (and others) that the seat is occupied. IIRC, the part was $350 + installation (luckily under warranty).

I've seen the dipped headlight error once in the last six months for a second or two before it went away and it's not repeated *crosses fingers*

[D.K]

I've gotten a best of 21.6 MPG (verified) and over 300 miles to a tank on the highway without exactly driving conservatively.

[05UltraSprt]

I just purchased a B6 Avant and averaged 19.7 (according to the computer) on the way home (mostly highway). I got on it coming out of the tolls and cruised around 85-90 (with the occasional burst to 115 or so ). Only had it for 18 hours or so and I love it!

[Captain Insano]

Just filled up and with 100% in town driving and babying the car driving like a granny (under 2000 RPMs 99% of the time) I got 17.2 MPG. Amazing considering I got around 17 MPG in town with my 2002 WRX which had a 2.0L forced induction engine.

[S4_Saloon]

I've gotten 310 miles out a tank on a road trip w/ relatively no stopping and speeds in the 80-100mph range.