2001 TDI Jetta 60 MPG

Well, I just filled up the Jetta again. 875 miles on 14.5 gallons.

60 MPG. I cant count (120,000 mi) how many times that's been a reality for me.

I cant imagine why people are messing around with those battery powered things that
are getting 40+ when could be getting 60+.

Frankly I dont care how much fuel costs. I might consider buying a new Golf diesel hybrid when they come out. Going from 60+ to 80+ would be cool.

 

Good numbers! If you push it a little more, 70 MPG is definitely within reach. I find that with 800+ mile tanks, there's always those couple trips that bring down the tank average and keep you from getting really good tanks. By the way, I have a 2001 Jetta TDI as well. The Honda Insights are consistently getting 90+ MPG though, a little more than 40.

Kirk

 

great - keep us informed of your progress and techniques

 

sounds like Wanye is setting up a 3 month fun run between the sparks and the smokes

 

Im new to this site. And, with respect to this site and the people who frequent it, I know six Prius drivers and two Civic drivers none of them get more than 45mpg. The numbers that are reflected from the hybrids on this site arent representative of hybrid drivers in general. Whereas everybody I know who drives a TDI is getting mid to high 50's +. You dont have to be a hypermiler to get good numbers with a TDI. You do if youre going to get good numbers from a gasser hybrid... :woot:

 

i know you probably talking about an MT but what am i doing wrong????

 

well i will try to talk to one of you when you are going threw here. I know i do not have the hills like west pa. it just seems to me like i am not doing something correctly.

 

Tanks weights vary more on that fuel .... that's why I'm wondering if it is possible to calculate exact fuelweight for precision on the numbers under temperature change.

I'm also wondering how the high compression will compete with the Atkinson or other easy starting engines that suit the hybrid purpose.

I don't know that the flywheel starts are too easy on the clutch when it comes to breaking the diesel compression when FASing.

Likely, the diesel hybrids (if they come into mass production) will probably need more energy in starting each time unlike the gas powered ... unless there is decompression mode built into them as well.

 

PDW, Wrong thread maybe?

Kirk

 

I'll tell you why. Those (semi-) battery powered things are built by Honda and Toyota. TDIs are built by Volkswagen.

I'm about to head over to my mechanic to pick up my TDI, which has been in the shop for 150k service, exhaust work and an injector pump rebuild (has been getting clattery lately).

$3,500.00

Which is fine. Don't get me wrong. That's a big budget hit, but we'll figure out how to deal with it. After more than 8 years of deciding NOT to buy a TDI because they're made by VW (we actually submitted, and then cancelled, an order for a TDI Golf back in 1999 -- more or less the car we're driving now), we finally decided last year that it would be worth it anyway. We KNEW there would likely be more maintenance hassle and expense than we've been accustomed to with Japanese cars, but we decided to accept that. And the Golf is a blast to drive, too!

Still, you can see how this kind of thing might just scare a few people off from TDIs and make them to decide on a HCH or Prius instead.

(also, if you are getting 60+ out of your TDI you're probably also capable of getting 60+ out of a Prius or HCH. I don't understand this widespread diesel vs. hybrid mentality. Both have their pluses and minuses, but they're BOTH good. It's even sillier than Ford vs. Chevy. What's next, window stickers showing up on the back of Priuses showing Calvin peeing on a VW? On the back of TDIs showing Calvin peeing on a Prius??)

 

Joe, I'm not finding your statements about phenomenal TDI mileage to be the case, and I think you'll see there's pretty wide variation over at tdiclub.com too.

As you can see my car (with my wife driving it most of the time) is averaging just 42mpg so far. On roadtrips we get 48-50 (NOT 50+!) if we keep the speed in the low 60s. In town, my wife has a 1 mile commute that doesn't even come close to warming up the engine, so she gets 38mpg for most of her in-town driving. The previous owner averaged 41 mpg.

And no, there's nothing wrong with the car though. Driving conditions are the key here. I got 62mpg in it at the Lacey fuel economy challenge (90 miles of back roads) a couple months ago. We did a 1000 mile trip over the 4th weekend and got 48mpg including a lot of city and mountain driving and the A/C on 95% of the time. But despite my best efforts -- and I've gotten to be a pretty decent hypermiler -- I'm definitely not in the "mid to high 50's +" like "everyone you know who drives a TDI". Do you (and your friends), by any chance, spend a large percentage of your time driving on a rural roads at speeds in the 40s and 50s? A lot of people on this site do, and for the most part those are the ones posting the great fuel economy numbers. The reason we're not doing as well is that our driving is 60% pure city, and the rest is highway roadtrips.

Just goes to prove the whole point of existence of cleanmpg: driving style and conditions make a huge difference in fuel economy, far more than most people realize. By most accounts, TDIs and HCH/Prius level hybrids get very similar mileage to each other in most conditions. If TDIs get better mileage it is only marginally the case in my observation.

 

interesting,

but we aren't really comparing apples to apples here - The new TDI has 230 ft. lbs of torque thats a rather high powered machine.

 

Well, for one thing the prius is the ugliest damn thing on the road. People are buying because they think they're making a PC statement. AND, it needs batteries to get those numbers. My TDI doesnt. Will I buy a new Golf diesel hybrid that gets 80+ mpg probably, but it wont look like a bloody spaceship thats for sure.

 

Joe, we are glad to have you here but you really need to calm down and check your facts before posting something like that.

Looks do matter, but that really isn't the point here -- and a whole boat load of people are voting the same way with their pocket books right now as they try to deal with the high price of fuel. If the Prius was only good for a PC statement, not nearly as many people would be buying the machine. They buy it because it does get good mileage, it is plenty utilitarian with the hatch, and is very reliable.

As for "needing" batteries to get high numbers, please review the several threads available here about highway mileage in the Prius. The battery is too small to offer much in the way of help over large distances and really doesn't come into play much at the higher speeds you are comparing to. If you read posts by the expert Prius drivers here you will quickly discover that they avoid use of the battery as much as possible because of conversion losses involved in charging it back up afterward.

For the sake of completeness, the same observations are true of Honda hybrids -- except they don't have an all electric mode and have even smaller batteries.

So no, it doesn't use batteries to get the high numbers on the highway. And we have more than one driver who manages high 60s and low 70s on the highway without "needing" batteries to do it. Augmented vehicles (plugin prototypes) do use the battery to help and they get well over 100mpg on the highway because of it. We have only one or two occasional visitors who even own one of those -- the rest are stock.

Personally, I drive an unmodified Honda Insight to numbers over 100mpg at highway speeds -- and I avoid the battery like the plague to do it.

I'd also like to reinforce what Wriconsult mentioned about diesels and hybrids generally being pretty comparable out on the highway. Check out the "shootout" article comparing performance of two generations of Civic Hybrid, a Prius, and an advanced Diesel Civic driving across the country. The Diesel just barely edged out the hybrids for mileage and fell considerably short in the cost per mile equation.

When it comes down to it, we have several members here driving non-hybrid gasoline vehicles that get numbers up into the 70's at highway speeds -- notably some early model Civics and some Honda Fits.

We aren't in the business of bashing tech here -- we are here to help each other use less fuel in whatever we happen to own or choose to purchase. Diesels are without a doubt a good choice for fuel economy, but there are other choices which are very competitive and often reward their owners with very similar mileage numbers. Please avoid devolving discussion to an "US vs. THEM" challenge. This community is very open and welcoming -- an atmosphere that relies heavily upon a healthy level of respect for others and their choices.

 

Are you trying to start an argument with half the people here? If you want to see spaceship, look at the Nissan Murano.

I can attest to the fact that the hybrids can be hypermiled far beyond my TDI. I doubt I would ever see a 120 MPG round-trip segment like in the Prius in the 2008 WFEC.

Kirk

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but my '03 TDI has NEVER gotten in the mid-high 50's. Best mpg I've ever seen is 50-even.

3 times.

Out of 304 tanks of fuel over the past 5+ years.

Honestly, this subject is something that really pisses me off over on TDIClub. Lot's of guys spout off about the mileage they're getting , but make NO comments about HOW they get these numbers.