Dave, those figures may be realistic for the Rabbit, but we're
talking about the Jetta TDI. Still, the Rabbit's high 40s doesn't reach
the 50s being claimed by other posters.
I'll say this; when low-sulphur diesel fuel is the norm in the USA,
VW will be able to sell EU spec diesel engines here. They'll be better
on all counts but don't look for them until 2007.
BTW, have you noticed that the TDI engine has gone back to
mechanically-timed fuel injection? We'll se how that step backwards
affects engine longevity.
Cheers,
CR
David Councill wrote:
> Yes, these figures are quite realistic. I owned a VW Rabbit diesel in
> the late 80s and it typically ran in the mid to high 40's. It even got
> over 50 mpg on one 450 mile trip to Glacier National Park but that was
> its best. The only problems were it didn't climb hills well (bogged down
> with a smokey exhaust) and it didn't start in the winter unless its
> water heater was plugged in to the nearest electrical outlet overnight.
> Plus the fuel gelled on me a couple of times when the temps dropped
> under 20 below. Otherwise, a very nice economical car.
>
> Ironically, I usually only drove it to work when it was really cold out.
> Otherwise, my 71BGT was my daily driver and back then I had a 52 mile
> one way commute to work. But when it got really cold out, a little heat
> was always nice to have.
>
> David Councill
> 67 BGT
> 72 B
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