Jetta TDI

[ikikazz73]

Well the 2009 jetta tdi's are comining out this month... thinking of picking one up for the wife... input i need input. but im also thinking of purchasing this with it... http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/images/biopro/BioPro190_master.jpg

[Prerunin554]

I cant tell you what to do, but if you want to make your own fuel, the guys from Top Gear already did some research on tractors that you might need


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4WTN-d_oy0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nozYO1lyXP0&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xms4IckBiNQ&feature=related

[Bulldozer]

Well a jetta's certainly cooler then a hyrbid. :)

[klaus]

Golf and Jetta TDI have been around for a while, just not in CA.
There lots of them in the used car channels. Its on my shopping list.

Are the 09s common rail finally?

[Ramsey_ElWardani]

I love my 2001 Jetta daily driver - especially on < $2.00 Mexican fuel. At 38 Mpg I save enough money every month that the car is free!

[dmcmah0n]

My father owns a 2006 VW Jetta TDI. It's any amazing car. Tons of torque. You can consistently chirp the tires from a dead stop. He drives nearly all city and gets greater than 35 mpg. He plans on running biodiesel, but not until the warranty ends next spring.

Regardless, you should not run it on biodiesel until it is broken in (5-10K miles).

Buy it, you'll like the Jetta.

[Ryan_Arciero]

The new Jetta TDI is incredible. I recommend this car to anyone. This is what we are using in the VW Jetta TDI Cup Series. We are getting 25mpg on the race track. VW sent one to Fontana a couple weeks ago to run and give rides. It was an R32 owners event. Most of the R32 were all tricked out with motor work, tires, suspension and our Jetta Cup car which is pretty much stock minus Michelin slick tires, Sachs aftermarket shocks and the Audi R8 front brakes. The engine and DSG gearbox is stock as well as all the other components on the Jetta and we were driving around all the other cars out there. I was even racing a tricked out mustang and beating him though most of the corners with the exception of trying to hang with him on the straights. The V8 had a little on the 4 cylinder Diesel. It is so much fun to drive though and the DSG gearbox is incredible.

Like I said I recommend this to anyone when it is released in I believe August or September. Buy it!! :)

[Bulldozer]

Golf and Jetta TDI have been around for a while, just not in CA.
There lots of them in the used car channels. Its on my shopping list.

Are the 09s common rail finally?

We've had Jetta TDI's here for a long time as well. I don't think we get the newest generation Golf (rabit) TDI but I saw one on the freeway with a r32 4 door (another car we don't have here, both were right hand drive.)

[ikikazz73]

I know that we have had the Jetta TDi's for a while. But they did stop production for a short time because of emmisions. They got the emmisions figured out for the 2009 model year and they are back...

[Chris Tobin]

New or used... Go For IT!!! They are great little cars with AWESOME mileage and good power. I have been told that they will be releasing a Passat TDI and Tiguan TDI soon so you will have even more choices!

[Alex Paterson]

BUT, is the milage worht the xtra dollar or more per gallon for gas, unless you run Bio? I thought about them but you are still spending more on fuel then a gas Jetta that may get 30 mpg.

Alex

[ikikazz73]

What about a hybrid diesel? I know that they had one in Europe (vw) I think that would be awesome... 75 + mpg around town. I still like full electric cars too I just think they are not functional in today's world of more than 30 miles a day driving.

[jeff]

I don't know how true it will be... but some are estimating that the new VW will actually get 50mpg on the highway and closer to 40 in the city. The US EPA has it rated at 30 city and 41 highway. When I've rented small diesels in Europe I've been able to get better than 50mpg so I'll go out on a limb and say it's possible that the new Jetta will easily return 40+ mpg once it's broken in.

2008 Jetta Gas vs. 2009 Jetta Diesel

Gasoline = $4.25 (estimate) / 29mpg Hwy = $.1466 cents a mile
Diesel = $5.00 (estimate) / 40mpg Hwy = $.1250 cents a mile

Gasoline = $4.25 (estimate) / 21mpg City = $.2024 cents a mile
Diesel = $5.00 (estimate) / 30mpg City = $.1667 cents a mile

Look at it another way... the diesel is 30% more efficient on the highway, so diesel can still cost 30% more per gallon than gasoline and still break even. If gas is $4.00 a gallon, diesel can run $5.20 and you'd still break even. The nice thing is your diesel will have a kick butt torque advantage over a wimpy gasser. The way I look at it is.. even if you end up breaking even in terms of fuel cost at least you'll still be able to enjoy the car. The bummer is if you have to spend a whole lot more $$$$ to buy the diesel engine option you'll have to own the car for a while to even come close to breaking even. In that case I'd say buy a used car and the money saved can be spent on fuel.

I can't wait to see what the smaller displacement Diesel powerplant scheduled to go into the GM SUV's are able to do.

Aloha

[MiSsKuSKiE]

I had a 2001 Jetta GLS 2.4liter i think, a 4 cylinder. It was slow, and it smelled like crayons. I had it for 2 years and I got a honda accord. My accord is much nicer than the jetta!

[Ramsey_ElWardani]

it smelled like crayons!
They all do, unless they get to smell like the owner's trash.

[MiSsKuSKiE]

Yeah, I guess it's something about the foam, and such, which is under the floor boards of the car.

[Demp]

Yeah, I guess it's something about the foam, and such, which is under the floor boards of the car.

SEAT FOAM ! :eek:

[Mark Newhan]

Be careful with Bio-Diesel. My inlaws own a fuel pump & injection shop. The bio diesel lacks lubricity and will wipe out the distribution pump and injectors pretty quickly. Camp Pendelton is experimenting with B-D and they have wiped out a freshly remanufactured pump in days. I think Jeff hit it right in the center. The current price of diesel is making it hard to justify having one. It used to be that the fuel was cheap and newer diesels made great power, due to the price of diesel there is only one redeeming factor for buying a diesel, towing. The demand for diesel is so high that the price is high. I have a Super Duty that gets 15MPG. I drive a Jeep Wrangler that get maybe 12MPG. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place as to which vehicle is better to drive. In the end, with the cost of associated to drive the super duty, the jeep gets driven more. Effin OPEC! Lets bring back the Reagan motto and tell OPEC if they can't meet the demand for oil, charge whatever you want. We have plenty of reserves here in America. Lets not let the enviromentalists dictate the enevidable financial suicide course that we are on. Lets use all of the great minds in America and extract the natural resources that are needed to sustain our way of life, but lets make sure that we preserve the enviroment and leave no sign that we harvested the resources such as low sulfur coal, natural gas and crude oil. Lets build new refineries that are modernized and nuclear power plants. The science is available to cuts the nations thurst for oil, it is being stalled by the unrealistic enviromentalists.

[steveG]

Amen to all that Mark.

I get a lot of customers asking me about TDI VWs and hybrids... talking about all the money they're going to save on fuel, blah blah blah. My response? Spend thousands less and buy a new civic that nets 40 plus mpg on the freeway. Low (comparatively) tech, no huge initial purchase price to make up, Honda reliability and they've evolved into pretty nice cars to boot.

It just seems funny to me that people are looking for the next greatest thing to save them money at the pump when it's been around for decades.

I won't even go into the horrors of maintaining and repairing a VW. Supposedly they've gotten a lot better in the past few years... we'll see.

No offense meant ikikazz73... just my 2 cents.

[ikikazz73]

its ok steveG, whats funny is MiSsKuSKiE stated about a gas car, i asked about a tdi, i could car less about the gas version. I for one HATE honda's they to me need to stay in the desert, not on the street. i think that i need to research biodiesel and find out if there are places in vegas (well henderson) that have WVO with about 50 gallons a week or more to have.

[steveG]

I just used the Civic as an example. Toyota makes cars that net similar fuel economy. Other manufacturers do too but Toyota and Honda reliability just can't be beat. I was just throwing it out there as something to consider.

[Chris Tobin]

its ok steveG, whats funny is MiSsKuSKiE stated about a gas car, i asked about a tdi, i could car less about the gas version. I for one HATE honda's they to me need to stay in the desert, not on the street. i think that i need to research biodiesel and find out if there are places in vegas (well henderson) that have WVO with about 50 gallons a week or more to have.

Wow, to burn 50 gallons a week in a Jetta TDI you would need to drive around 2,000-miles a week. That is just nutty!!!!

You will probably only need 5-10 gallons a week for all the driving you will ever want to do in the Jetta TDI. Think about it 5-gallons per weel would be 200 miles a week at 40 mpg or 250 miles at 50 mpg.

While the initial investment is more the diesel vehicle (with a manual trans) will generally last MUCH longer and as previously stated even with the current gap between gas and diesel fuel prices you will still come out ahead in your monthly fuel bill. Also diesels hold more resale value.

BUT, if you are simply trying to reduce monthly expenses it may be better to stick with and maintain whatever car you are currently driving even if it is a gas hog. It takes a while to make up for the payments on a new vehicle.

Food for thought, approximately 2 cents worth...

[ikikazz73]

the only reason i want 50 gallons a week is a want to be able to make it too... for the people of RDC! haha! I have a ram 3500 and so does my parentals that is the reason i would like a biodiesel plant...

I looked it up too and to do a FULL electric conversion on my wifes current ride it would cost around 10k. If that price was about half that i would think about it more ad tell her to drive less than 100 miles per 8 hours :D haha would you put that in the diesel mag :)


Wow, to burn 50 gallons a week in a Jetta TDI you would need to drive around 2,000-miles a week. That is just nutty!!!!

You will probably only need 5-10 gallons a week for all the driving you will ever want to do in the Jetta TDI. Think about it 5-gallons per weel would be 200 miles a week at 40 mpg or 250 miles at 50 mpg.

While the initial investment is more the diesel vehicle (with a manual trans) will generally last MUCH longer and as previously stated even with the current gap between gas and diesel fuel prices you will still come out ahead in your monthly fuel bill. Also diesels hold more resale value.

BUT, if you are simply trying to reduce monthly expenses it may be better to stick with and maintain whatever car you are currently driving even if it is a gas hog. It takes a while to make up for the payments on a new vehicle.

Food for thought, approximately 2 cents worth...

[Chris Tobin]

the only reason i want 50 gallons a week is a want to be able to make it too... for the people of RDC! haha! I have a ram 3500 and so does my parentals that is the reason i would like a biodiesel plant...

I looked it up too and to do a FULL electric conversion on my wifes current ride it would cost around 10k. If that price was about half that i would think about it more ad tell her to drive less than 100 miles per 8 hours :D haha would you put that in the diesel mag :)

I don't think our readers would be too thrilled about an electric conversion article!

Speaking of conversions, another thing to consider is a propane or natural gas conversion... They can make good power, run cool, burn clean and I believe it is very economical MPG wise...

another crazy thought!!