How about VW TDI's??????
Geez, don't tell me I'm the only guy who's got one!?!?!?!
They make AWESOME commuting cars.........and get 50+mpg!!
Tomhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

I can't believe Toyota and Honda are selling hybrids that are so much less of a car than the TDI and they get less mileage.

I hear nothing but good stuff about the TDI. Their could be one in my future. I commute 40 miles each way. My fuel bill would drop in half. Problem is that's not enough to pay for it.

We just got a fully loaded 2003 Jetta TDI for the better half. She commutes about 120 miles a day. She has only put 3 tanks of fuel in it but so far has averaged about 45 mpg. It seems to be getting bettter every tank. I never drive it because I would rather take my truck but she seems to really like it. She is a little dissappointed with performance because he last car was an 01 Grand Prix GTP. I was surprised at how much head room there was in the Jetta with the sunroof considering I am 6' 3". Her Grand Prix had less headroom.


I am considering putting a Van Aakon box in it from Kenedy. Does anyone have any experience with these? Edited by: Max Power

I hear nothing but good stuff about the TDI. Their could be one in my future. I commute 40 miles each way. My fuel bill would drop in half. Problem is that's not enough to pay for it.





Actually if you consider in the resale value you might be surprised. Up here the resale value is REALLY goon on these cars. After a couple years it would depreciate only a few thousand dollars. You might be surprised to see how good the resale value is. Of course then you have to drive a little car every day instead of an awesome rig like your truck. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

HOOT: my 86 mile round trip for work along with my wife's
40 mile is why I bought the TDI. And as you said, it's a
MUCH better car than those so called hy-brids from the
other guys......
MAX: my wife also came out of a GTP, and into the TDI and
Chevy Venture..........she'll get over it. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gif
As far as performance mods go, injectors seem to be the
best bet for reliable performance without any electronics
issues. I also aggree about the comfort these cars
offer......it's even better in the Passat.
I'm currently averaging 47-50mpg with mine which is
excellent considering my heavy foot and 75mph typical
cruising speed. If you ever check out www.tdiclub.com
you'll find a TON of guys who routinely get 55+ AND
there's a lot of info there too.
Tom

I hear nothing but good stuff about the TDI. Their could be one in my future. I commute 40 miles each way. My fuel bill would drop in half. Problem is that's not enough to pay for it.


I don't know what maintenance costs are like for a TDI (or for an '01 dmax, for that matter), but this spring we bought a '91 toyota for me to commute in, and the difference is not just in fuel costs- compared to oil changes, brakes, tires, and how fast we were racking up miles on the Dually (196,000 so far) I believe this car will pay for itself in about 18 months. Best of all, it will be that much longer before we have to go buy another truck- don't know if y'all have noticed, but the new ones aren't cheap...

hoot if you got a TDI where would you put the propane???

Believe it or not..... there are people running lp on those things.

You guys are a bad influence............


That TDI was on my short list, just not big enough for the family right now. My oldest son's first car.........Maybe


Just


Maybe............


Thttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gifNY





TDI Touraeg in 2005 ....................BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

My dad had a 1985 jetta diesel 52 hp it was a great car lots of power


my dad knew this other guy he had the same make and model a he drove his across canada and back.

Volkswagon isn't the only manufacturer producing diesel engines for cars. Crysler makes the PT cruiser available with a diesel engine . I don't know if it is available in the USA but I know Europe has them. Mercedes Benz has been making diesel engines for years, the BMW X3 now has a available diesel engine. Maybe vehicle manufactuers are getting there heads straight? With the quieter engine these days the diesel engine might make a strong comeback. I have seen this and I am sure you have too.

The TDI Club site has good info on VWs and other diesel cars. They're pretty "heads up" all around.


http://www.tdiclub.com/


We have a 2002 Golf TDI; surprisingly comfortable.

I second King Nuzz - I have a 2002 VW Jetta TDI, and LOVE it... I have an Upsolute chip in it - www.upsolute.com (http://www.upsolute.com) that makes it POWERFUL, and there are plenty of guys over at the TDIclub that do plenty of mods, from injectors, tuning boxes, chips, propane, NOS, you name it...


Stefan

I can't believe Toyota and Honda are selling hybrids that are so much less of a car than the TDI and they get less mileage. My fuel bill would drop in half. Problem is that's not enough to pay for it.


I can't believe you are so misinformed. Not to wage a personal attack against you, or your choice of car, but the Toyota Prius has more standard hp than the Jetta TDI (143 vs. 100), much more interior room (96.2 cu.ft. vs. 85.0), gets better mileage consistently, has more standard equipment, top notch optional equipment (which includes one of the best DVD navigation systems on the market), and all at a smaller price ($20,545 vs. $21,055).


I can't believe VW sells as many TDI's as they do. Oh, check recent car mags... Prius, Car of the Year. Prius, Best Selling, Low Fuel Consumption Vehicle. On and on... my point is, don't discredit a car that you've never owned, or probably even driven. After 35K miles, my wifes Prius hasn't has a SINGLE small failure and she AVERAGES 55 mpg. She sometimes gets better, sometimes worse. This is real mileage figures from a real person. NOT vendor marketing hype. Resell? It's a Toyota.

I can't believe you are so misinformed. Not to wage a personal attack against you, or your choice of car, but the Toyota Prius has more standard hp than the Jetta TDI (143 vs. 100),


Kelly Blue Book says Prius makes 76hp at 5000rpm. That appears to be less than a TDI's assumed 100hp.

They are quoting one engine... the Prius has two. Max. hp is the combination of the two.

Are you saying two engine options?


It's a whole 'nother story if you're suggesting the Prius hybrid fuel saving design runs both gas and electric motors simultaneously and also has better fuel mileage than running one motor...


Edited by: Ray403Dmax

Not two engine options, just one. The Prius has an electric engine and a gas engine. At low speeds (less than 40 mph), and as long as the batteries are charged, it uses only the electric engine. In that mode it gets infinite mileage depending on how you look at it. Once the batteries are depleted, it starts the gas engine and charges them back up. It also has other methods of charging the batteries, such as regenetirive braking. If more power is required it runs both engines simultaneously through an advanced Toyota designed drive system. The built in (standard equipment) LCD screen keeps you informed of the engines and what they are doing. It shows whether the electric motor or gas motor (or both) is driving the car, whether braking is charging the batteries, as well as battery level. I'll be glad to take some pictures of the screen to help explain it all. It's actually quite a technological wonder of a car.

Ok, now I gotcha.


I just read that Ford purchased the rights to manufacture Toyota's hybrid engine design. Wonder if any are using diesel/electric designs? That would seem to be the ultimate in internal combustion engine fuel efficiency. The downside would be the constrast between the relatively quiet electric engine and the noisier diesel. Although that gap is narrowing.Edited by: Ray403Dmax

Yes, I had heard the same thing about Ford "licensing" the Toyota Synergy system... it'll be interesting to see what Ford puts out. Supposidely an Escape Hybrid SUV is around the corner. The pictures I've seen look pretty sharp.


You raise a good point... imagine a diesel/electric hybrid. Plenty of power and amazing mileage figures. Americans don't seem to be very fond of diesel engines. UK will get a diesel hybrid before we will. They already have the Touareg diesel which I am lusting after.

Okay, I drove my wifes car today to get some "action" shots of the display and how it works... the shots look like crap because I had to snap quick as I was driving. You thought talking on a cell phone and driving was bad... heh, heh.


This is with the gas engine driving the car AND charging the batteries...


http://images.dameon.com/Prius/DSC00192.JPG


This is using the regeneterive braking to charge the batteries...


http://images.dameon.com/Prius/DSC00193.JPG


This is the electric engine driving the car...


http://images.dameon.com/Prius/DSC00195.JPG


Apparently I didn't get a shot of both engines driving the car, but you get the idea. Just imagine a orange arrow from the electric engine to the wheels.


This is a decent image as I made it to work and was parked. It shows the fuel consumption since the last reset. My wife resets at each fill up, which in this picture was 383 miles ago. Judging by the mileage, I'd say she's been doing a lot of city driving, which is where the Prius REALLY gets the best mileage.


http://images.dameon.com/Prius/DSC00196.JPG

By the way, the consumption screen may not be easy to understand, so I'll give a little info on it.


The bars indicate time periods and are fed from the bar on the far right labeled "current". If I were driving, the current bar would show the current MPG. After 5 minutes of driving, the average of the "current" bar is calculated and moved one bar to the left. Which in turn moves ALL bars to the left. This happens every 5 minutes. So you can see all your 5 minute averages for the last 30 minutes.

One of the local VW dealers advertised in Sunday's paper that the new Toureg V10 TDI is at the dealership. Bet those will sell like hotcakes!

One of the local VW dealers advertised in Sunday's paper that the new Toureg V10 TDI is at the dealership. Bet those will sell like hotcakes!


NO WAY!! I'm there. Going to the dealer in Baton Rouge this weekend... I guess I should call them first.

Having test driven a Prius and owning a Golf TDI I have to say that the Golf is a much more fun car to drive. That is why I have it. And I average around 47mpg, which is good enough for me since diesel is cheaper than gas around here anyways.





--Matt

An interesting addendum to this thread... M-B to the rescue!! Congrats to them for proposing the first diesel-electric hybrid due out next Fall. Needless to say, I've postponed my Touareg TDI purchase until I hear more about this new M-B...


http://www.mbusa.com/microsite/gst/index.jsp