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Drove the new Jetta TDI

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by Tideland Prius, Oct 17, 2006.

  1. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Alright, so I signed up for this Fuel Efficient Driving lesson they were offering just to see what new stuff I can learn. The car in question for this lesson is a fully loaded 2006 Jetta TDI (Pumpe Duese) running on B20 fuel and equipped with the DSG transmission.

    First, the lesson.

    Whaddya know, they actually are aware of P&G except that on a regular car, it would be called Pulse & Coast. They basically took what they learned from Germany's fuel efficient driving school and adapted it to Canadian driving. There's the rest of the stuff we already know such as anticipating traffic lights, pedestrian crossing, cars pulling into our lane etc. There's also counting (one-one thousand) before starting off from a traffic light if there's a car ahead of you to maintain the proper distance.

    Second, the car.

    Well, this is my first time in a diesel car. I assumed it's warmed up cause it started up pretty quickly (and the absence of the spark plugs is definitely noticeable!). It is a bit noisy but the cabin is fairly quiet. The DSG shifts ridiculously quick but it does have quite a bit of drag compared to my dad's Camry so it doesn't coast very far before having to pulse again.

    I drove it in rush hour traffic and with some hills. I resetted the trip comptuer 3 times and the average for each segment was 5.8L/100km, 7.8L/100km, 5.4L/100km. The first one was a bit of a downhill but mostly standing still in traffic. The second segment, we tried to avoid traffic but by then we had to climb back up the long, steep hill which put a big dent on the mileage. The last one was more or less flat with P&C utlised to the max. I did see 4.7L/100km flash by before stopping once again and watching the L/100km meter rise :(

    I noticed with the Jetta TDI that you can't do 40-60-40km/h P&C since the transmission downshifts at 45km/h creating addition drag so I changed to 45-65-45km/h P&C.

    All in all, it's pretty good. My average was slightly worse than the 6.6L/100km Driving Television got on their Hybrid Commuter Challenge which included the Jetta TDI (but in manual form).

    Loaded up, it's $2k more than the Camry Hybrid (fully loaded) so it's up to you to decide whether you want a compact German diesel car or a midsize Japanese hybrid sedan.
     
    #1 Tideland Prius, Oct 17, 2006
  2. Beryl Octet

    Beryl Octet New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 17 2006, 10:39 PM) [snapback]334272[/snapback]</div>
    If I am converting right, that's 40/30/44 MPG, and 50 MPG on the flash. Not bad.
     
    #2 Beryl Octet, Oct 17, 2006
  3. seftonm

    seftonm Member

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    A few notes for you from a TDI driver: The Pumpe Duese engines seem to take a lot more cranking than the older (pre 2004) VE TDI engines before they start. VE is basically touch the key and go if it's above 5 degrees C while Pumpe Duese needs a few revolutions at any temperature before it does much. Was this your experience as well? (I'm not sure what you mean by the absence of spark plugs was noticeable)

    The DSG operates like a manual transmission so it also comes with the engine braking associated with a manual. A regular automatic would probably give you a longer glide but it's also less efficient. I thought the DSG had manual controls? That would possibly eliminate the downshift problem at 45 km/h if you could control its shifting.

    Interesting that they were running B20 in it, I hope they didn't recommend doing that as anything over B5 voids the warranty. I wish we had biodiesel here.
     
    #3 seftonm, Oct 18, 2006
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seftonm @ Oct 18 2006, 12:46 PM) [snapback]334670[/snapback]</div>
    Well it started immediately with no delay and no cranking like a regular gas car. i.e. no spark plug sound like when you start a regular gas car. A diesel car doesn't have spark plugs right?

    I didn't use the manual mode.

    They're planning on using B100.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Oct 18, 2006
  5. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 18 2006, 11:39 AM) [snapback]334272[/snapback]</div>
    Can the Jetta TDI be sold in the US as 2007 model?
    I think, no.

    Ken@Japan
     
    #5 ken1784, Oct 18, 2006
  6. seftonm

    seftonm Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 18 2006, 06:03 PM) [snapback]334807[/snapback]</div>
    You're correct that diesels don't have spark plugs. I guess the few PD's I've been in behave differently than the one you drove. I've never heard of a spark plug sound, are you sure there is a spark plug sound when a gas car starts? When cranking, my car sounds pretty much like a gas 1.8T.

    Ken,
    There won't be any 2007 model year VW TDI's in North America. They stockpiled some 06's to compensate, but once they're gone, there won't be any new TDI's until the common rail engines appear which is probably 2008 model year.
     
    #6 seftonm, Oct 18, 2006
  7. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seftonm @ Oct 19 2006, 12:16 PM) [snapback]334893[/snapback]</div>
    Thank you,
    I think the 2008 model TDI's will be $1,000 or more expensive than curremt.
    Maybe, it's time to buy cheap and dirty VW TDI's now. :)

    Ken@Japan
     
    #7 ken1784, Oct 18, 2006
  8. njkayaker

    njkayaker New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seftonm @ Oct 18 2006, 03:46 PM) [snapback]334670[/snapback]</div>
    I don't find this to be so (comparing a 1996 and a 2006 TDI).

    VW is still making the 2006 (2006.5) TDI and will do so into 2007. There won't be a lot of these available.

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 17 2006, 10:39 PM) [snapback]334272[/snapback]</div>
    What was the outside temperature? The diesels take a bit longer to start when it's cold out (but it has to be pretty cold: < 0').

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 17 2006, 10:39 PM) [snapback]334272[/snapback]</div>
    My manual cost as much as a base Prius. The is really no practical difference in the usable passanger model. The hatchback design of the Prius is more useful than the sedan (I wish they had the Jetta Wagon available here).

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Oct 17 2006, 11:06 PM) [snapback]334277[/snapback]</div>
    The mpg of my last three tanks (~600) was 49, 51, 48 for mostly highway driving (the car is still new: it should get better).
     
    #8 njkayaker, Oct 23, 2006
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The OAT was somewhere around 12°C? It was sunny and it just came from a longish commute.

    Base price of a manual Jetta TDI in Canada is $28k or $3k less than a Prius/TCH.

    The 3 short sprints I had were 100% city driving as explained in the first post.
     
    #9 Tideland Prius, Oct 23, 2006
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