SQ5 gas mileage

[djapeA4]

Hi guys,

It's been close to a 1 year of owning the 2017 SQ5 and although it's always been clear to me the advertised 'not so great' mileage of this car, I've not expected it to get way worse. I'm aware of some older posts where people had similar complains and many have blamed the winter gas, and since I've owned many other brands and a variety of I-4, I-6 & V6 engines, I really don't remember mileage dropping so much in the winter.. The only difference my other cars didn't have the Supercharger.

So before the winter started I was averaging better than advertised, 19 mpg (12.38 L/100 km) - City and Highway - 24 mpg (9.8 L/100 km). Now I'm getting 14 mpg (or 16.8 L/100km) - City and 18 mpg (or 13 L/100km) on a highway. That's brutal, worse than S6 or maybe even RS7.

To clarify this has nothing to do with a heavy foot, I can't get anything better even when I'm milking it. I have recently done oil change, drive-train, spark plugs inspected as well as the are filter replaced. The mechanic thought the air filter was the culprit, but that wasn't the case..

Does anyone have any suggestion what could be causing this (other than winter gas)?

If this is normal for an SQ5 I will be replacing it with an allroad or A7.

Thanks.

[Jun3s]

Sounds about right to be honest. How long is your usual commute? Winter gas, snow/winter tires, heater use...

I get similar than advertised mpg in my Q5 3.0T, with winter maybe taking 3-4 mpg off at best, but we also don't experience real cold temperatures here (30F/-1C to 45F/7C at the warmest).

[f4m0u5]

Im actually really pissed off at how bad my wifes q5 is on gas. we just got it about 2 weeks ago ( used 2017 3.0t 78k miles) and the thing is just drinking gas.


i own a 2013 a6 stage 2 dual pulley with the same motor/ trans and am getting way better gas mileage. i can see over 30mpg highway. and around 25 with a mix of city/ highway.


in the q5 we are averaging less then 19 mpg average city/highway. and highway barely sees 21 mpg...

im thinking cold air intake and ecu tune to help. tbh tcu tune might help to keeping the car in the right rev range so its not bogging

[A2andres]

Im actually really pissed off at how bad my wifes q5 is on gas. we just got it about 2 weeks ago ( used 2017 3.0t 78k miles) and the thing is just drinking gas.


i own a 2013 a6 stage 2 dual pulley with the same motor/ trans and am getting way better gas mileage. i can see over 30mpg highway. and around 25 with a mix of city/ highway.


in the q5 we are averaging less then 19 mpg average city/highway. and highway barely sees 21 mpg...

im thinking cold air intake and ecu tune to help. tbh tcu tune might help to keeping the car in the right rev range so its not bogging

Keep in mind that your A6 with the same (albeit tuned) drivetrain is lighter and more aerodynamic... I mean the car is rated at 17/24 - so you seem to be right on with what is the reported Avg MPG

[EvoToSQ5]

Doing a carbon cleaning may improve the fuel economy for the higher mileage owners.

Not sure what the breakdown is but I’m around 260 miles a tank between fill ups with atleast 1/8 of a tank left. That’s primarily local city driving with very minimal highway.


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[djapeA4]

Sounds about right to be honest. How long is your usual commute? Winter gas, snow/winter tires, heater use...

I get similar than advertised mpg in my Q5 3.0T, with winter maybe taking 3-4 mpg off at best, but we also don't experience real cold temperatures here (30F/-1C to 45F/7C at the warmest).

My thinking is that the weight of the car (4420 lbs), it's SUV height coupled with winter gas has more impact on MPG in winter than let's say 3800 pound sedan under the same conditions. I am feeling disappointed because I love this engine. If this appears to be normal in the winter, which is long here in Canada, I might replace it with B9 allroad, add Stage-1 for for similar performance and save on gas.

[f4m0u5]

Keep in mind that your A6 with the same (albeit tuned) drivetrain is lighter and more aerodynamic... I mean the car is rated at 17/24 - so you seem to be right on with what is the reported Avg MPG

the a6 comes in at 4050 lbs, the q5 is 4350 lbs. both 3.0t options.

audi advertises 18 city/ 26 highway for q5 ( im barely geting 20 on highway) and the a6 at 18/ 27. (getting over 30mpg highway)

[djapeA4]

Im actually really pissed off at how bad my wifes q5 is on gas. we just got it about 2 weeks ago ( used 2017 3.0t 78k miles) and the thing is just drinking gas.


i own a 2013 a6 stage 2 dual pulley with the same motor/ trans and am getting way better gas mileage. i can see over 30mpg highway. and around 25 with a mix of city/ highway.


in the q5 we are averaging less then 19 mpg average city/highway. and highway barely sees 21 mpg...

im thinking cold air intake and ecu tune to help. tbh tcu tune might help to keeping the car in the right rev range so its not bogging

That's horrible, I think it's the weight/height of the Q5 that is responsible but then, how can Audi advertise so much better mpg? My SQ5 is at 85k km (50k miles) and I doubt would need a carbon cleanup this early.

[f4m0u5]

That's horrible, I think it's the weight/height of the Q5 that is responsible but then, how can Audi advertise so much better mpg? My SQ5 is at 85k km (50k miles) and I doubt would need a carbon cleanup this early.

thats qhere im confused is the advertised only beong 1mpg difference between cars but realistically its alot worse.

One thing i just noticed was the q5s have a 29" tire and the a6 only a 26.7" diameter tire. amd after reading a little the bigger the tire the more force it takes to spin it and worse mpg

[Jun3s]

That's horrible, I think it's the weight/height of the Q5 that is responsible but then, how can Audi advertise so much better mpg? My SQ5 is at 85k km (50k miles) and I doubt would need a carbon cleanup this early.

What size wheels & tires are you running? If you're still on 21", downsizing to 20" or 19" will likely yield better mpg.

[Tinpusher]

I run 20s (with 295s) in the summer (maybe a couple of months of 21s with 255s) and 19s (with 235s) in the winter. This is my second SQ5 and my results were the same for both. Summer 880km/550 miles/tank and winter 800km/500 miles/tank on average. Computer FWIW says between 8.5 and 9.5 liter/100km respectively.
Do you leave your car in Dynamic mode? It only goes to 6th gear if you do that and that will make a difference. I'm usually in Auto and only drive maybe 15% city, the rest is rural or highway.

[djapeA4]

I run 20s (with 295s) in the summer (maybe a couple of months of 21s with 255s) and 19s (with 235s) in the winter. This is my second SQ5 and my results were the same for both. Summer 880km/550 miles/tank and winter 800km/500 miles/tank on average. Computer FWIW says between 8.5 and 9.5 liter/100km respectively.
Do you leave your car in Dynamic mode? It only goes to 6th gear if you do that and that will make a difference. I'm usually in Auto and only drive maybe 15% city, the rest is rural or highway.

Seriously? I have to admit your rural route is the most favourable to get good mpg but 800km on a tank - are you sure you don't have an e-tron? Just kiddin' that's just fantastic. I'm on 21's in the winter (265/40) and 20's in the summer. Like I said in the summer I get what's advertised and have seen slightly better, but the winter is just brutal with 13l/100 km on highway. I always make sure it's in the 8th gear for cruising whether in manual or D mode. My set up though is in Individual mode, all dynamic settings except engine sound. Surely that can't contribute to bad mpg in the winter alone, right?

[Tinpusher]

Seriously? I have to admit your rural route is the most favourable to get good mpg but 800km on a tank - are you sure you don't have an e-tron? Just kiddin' that's just fantastic. I'm on 21's in the winter (265/40) and 20's in the summer. Like I said in the summer I get what's advertised and have seen slightly better, but the winter is just brutal with 13l/100 km on highway. I always make sure it's in the 8th gear for cruising whether in manual or D mode. My set up though is in Individual mode, all dynamic settings except engine sound. Surely that can't contribute to bad mpg in the winter alone, right?

I'm certainly on the left edge of the bell curve! Check me out on fuelly.com Here's the links to both cars.
https://www.fuelly.com/car/audi/sq5/...npusher/435135
https://www.fuelly.com/car/audi/sq5/...npusher/880049
Scroll down to Recent Fuel Ups and click Chart All.
I hardly ever drive in Dynamic but from what I remember even if you manually shift it into 8th, it will go back to 6th after a few seconds. 120km/h is just under 2k rpm in 8th. Must be a lot higher in 6th.
Winter is much worse for sure. On a long summer cruise I got 8.1l/100km in both cars but there are times in the snow where its closer to 10 or even 11 with all the heated stuff running.
I doubt there's anything majorly wrong with your car, just your driving style and circumstances. I am getting old. ;)

[djapeA4]

I'm certainly on the left edge of the bell curve! Check me out on fuelly.com Here's the links to both cars.
https://www.fuelly.com/car/audi/sq5/...npusher/435135
https://www.fuelly.com/car/audi/sq5/...npusher/880049
Scroll down to Recent Fuel Ups and click Chart All.
I hardly ever drive in Dynamic but from what I remember even if you manually shift it into 8th, it will go back to 6th after a few seconds. 120km/h is just under 2k rpm in 8th. Must be a lot higher in 6th.
Winter is much worse for sure. On a long summer cruise I got 8.1l/100km in both cars but there are times in the snow where its closer to 10 or even 11 with all the heated stuff running.
I doubt there's anything majorly wrong with your car, just your driving style and circumstances. I am getting old. ;)

Well I guess I will try changing to Auto for a bit during the winter to see if that makes any difference, but your mpg is just crazy good.

[Tinpusher]

Well I guess I will try changing to Auto for a bit during the winter to see if that makes any difference, but your mpg is just crazy good.

I just drove home from work and put it into Dynamic. If I manually shifted into 8th it would sometimes go back down to 6th but if I let it auto shift up to 8th it would stay there. Not sure what the parameters are for this though. 120 in 8th is just over 1800 rpm and in 6th its nearly 2800. That's going to affect gas mileage.

[Norskie]

I just drove home from work and put it into Dynamic. If I manually shifted into 8th it would sometimes go back down to 6th but if I let it auto shift up to 8th it would stay there. Not sure what the parameters are for this though. 120 in 8th is just over 1800 rpm and in 6th its nearly 2800. That's going to affect gas mileage.

Dynamic and 'S' or Dynamic and 'D' ?

[Fast4esT]

how do you know what gear it is in?

[Jun3s]

how do you know what gear it is in?

If you have access to VCDS or OBDEleven:

02 - Transmission
Adaptation
“Single gear display”
Set new value to “D on/S on”
Press and hold green check mark to accept

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...en-Mods-for-S4

[djapeA4]

I just drove home from work and put it into Dynamic. If I manually shifted into 8th it would sometimes go back down to 6th but if I let it auto shift up to 8th it would stay there. Not sure what the parameters are for this though. 120 in 8th is just over 1800 rpm and in 6th its nearly 2800. That's going to affect gas mileage.

From my experience - if you are in manual mode (I used own just manuals so it's natural for me to go there often), it will downshift for you even from the 8th gear, but you have to upshift unless you go over 6000 rpm when it does it automatically to prevent damage. So in my opinion it choses the most optimal gear regardless of the individual MMI settings. Even if you enter the highway in S mode and once you pass 125 km/h it will eventually shift into 8th. I know this because I often push the shifter over and see M8 in those conditions. I think as you pointed out, when you are in sport mode and not yet cruising, it won't go pass the 6th gear to keep the engine in that 2800 rpm range for quick acceleration.

[Whinny SQ5]

That's horrible, I think it's the weight/height of the Q5 that is responsible but then, how can Audi advertise so much better mpg? My SQ5 is at 85k km (50k miles) and I doubt would need a carbon cleanup this early.

I performed carbon cleaning on my SQ5 a little over 2 years ago, right around the 55K miles mark. I have attached a link to those pictures. The intake valves weren't ridiculously dirty, but they weren't clean either. You could probably benefit from carbon cleaning at 50K miles. As far as fuel economy goes, I recently drove cross country to visit family and averaged 21 mpg on 91 octane going at 80mph most of the way with lots of cargo in the trunk. I am currently tuned to E30, so my gas mileage is horrendous, especially around town. We have a B8.5 S5, and that's no better. Lol!

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...php?p=13957418

Sent from my GM1917 using Audizine mobile app

[djn876]

So I forget if you are tuned or not, and I had high flow cats installed, but I melted them and one of the symptoms for me was bad mileage. I used to be able to get 17 or 18, even on e40 in the winter. Then I was getting 14...might not hurt to scope the cats from the front o2. Bank 1 is pretty easy to get to.

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[NikolaZ]

Mine is around 10l/100 when driving highway. I usually don't drive it too much in the city these days, just cuz I work from home.

For the last 1500km it is around 11.5/100. Which for that engine and car weight is pretty good.

[bozack]

who has details on the carbon cleaning? Is it a dealer thing or any indy reputable shop just know the process?

[NikolaZ]

Better search for a shop that does walnut blasting near your area. This is the best and easiest way to clean it.

[Tone-Dogg]

So I forget if you are tuned or not, and I had high flow cats installed, but I melted them and one of the symptoms for me was bad mileage. I used to be able to get 17 or 18, even on e40 in the winter. Then I was getting 14...might not hurt to scope the cats from the front o2. Bank 1 is pretty easy to get to.

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I might have to look into this. Last tank I'm averaging 15mpg half city/highway average 224 to 242 per tank. Low to high.

I know winter gas plays a role but don't remember it being this bad last year.

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[seanf86]

122k km on mine 2013 3.0t, averages 15ish or less mpg all city short trip driving, stored in a heated garage and most of the driving is in -20-30C. It sucks so bad, summer on the highway its not too bad. I'm pretty sure it is due for a carbon cleaning based on mileage.