Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options

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Mon 9 Jan 2012 13:05
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - paul45
Hello All,

Due to a change in jobs my commute is a short 12 mile round trip each day. My car is an Audi A3 2.0 Tdi 170PS and I am worried that I'm killing it. Winter mornings and evenings mean a heavy load on the battery etc. but I'm more concerned about the long term damage this is causing. I try to take the car on a longer run at the weekends or indeed a little bit of Italian tune up by revving the car quite highly once towards the end of the commute.

Up for any suggestions - many thanks

P
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Mon 9 Jan 2012 13:17
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - unthrottled

DPF or not?

Are there any opportunities to drive at high speed? Driving in a low gear won't help warm up a diesel unfortunately. Your duty cycle isn't ideal but I don't think you'll kill it. Frequent oil changes would probably be prudent though.

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Mon 9 Jan 2012 13:48
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - craig-pd130

My commute is 3.5 miles each way (7 miles total), which my previous Mondeo IV 2.0 TDCI (140bhp) was quite happy with, as is my current Volvo D3 (161bhp).

The Mondeo did that commute for over 3 years with no ill effects and just annual / 12K services. It used to get a longer run (15-20 miles) every couple of weeks and a long motorway trip (300+ miles) every month or so.

If your car has a DPF, you don't need high revs to help it regenerate: around 2,000rpm will do, as unthrottled mentioned.

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Mon 9 Jan 2012 20:53
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - Avant

6 miles each way on weekdays and a longer run at weekends - you should be fine. Your A3 is a great combination of small car / powerful engine - so just have fun with it and use the performance at weekends.

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Tue 10 Jan 2012 11:29
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - paul45

Much appreciated - advice as always good stuff.

Paul

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Tue 10 Jan 2012 11:37
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - grimep

" revving the car quite highly once towards the end " -- obviously if you do that literally at the end of your journey you'll kill the turbo. Even if you dont do it before switching off it doesnt sound like a good idea to me.

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Tue 10 Jan 2012 11:43
Audi A3 - Short commute in a diesel - best options - unthrottled

If you shut down an oil cooled turbo immediately after a sustained hard run, you will coke the bearings. Most turbos are now water cooled, and diesels run such low EGTs at idle that this is not really a concern any longer. By the time you've come off the main road and manoeuvred into a parking space, the turbo will be cool enough.

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