MPG-o-Matic Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen Review Summary:. The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen raises the bar among the most fuel-efficient cars, by virtue of its wonderful clean diesel engine, delivering a winning combination of performance, utility, and fuel economy, in a fun-to-drive package.
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI is the first small car in America to offer a highly-efficient and powerful clean diesel engine, and is available in both 4-door sedan and Sportwagen variants.
All 2009 Jetta TDIs are equipped with a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged clean diesel engine, mated to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. The Jetta TDI’s common rail direct injected inline four produces 140 horsepower (HP) and 236 foot pounds of torque. Continue reading →
Sometimes it makes sense to stall. I’ve been meaning to dig into the economic stimulus bill to find out exactly what it contains with regard to alternative fuel cars. As I attended to other matters, the answers appeared in my inbox, thanks to the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute (AFVI).
According to the AFVI, the Economic Recovery Act that was signed into law by the President yesterday includes:
$ 2 billion for research for electric vehicle batteries
$ 10 million for advanced technology vehicle manufacturing
$400 million for near-term deployment of electric drive vehicles
$300 million to reduce diesel emissions
$300 million for regional deployment of alternative fuel vehicles
The Diesel Technology Forum notes that the $300 million earmarked for heavy-duty diesel vehicle and equipment owners to retrofit their fleets represents a six fold increase from last year’s funding level of $49.2 million.
In the meantime, I couldn’t resist dropping another iReport off at CNN, regarding the topic of economic renewal through energy independence …
I’m optimistic that this bill is the first step in establishing a comprehensive and coherent energy policy in this country. 100% energy independence is America’s best bet for a long and lasting recovery. We need to fix what ails us, rather then haphazardly blast out a bunch of expensive band-aids with a shotgun.
While it’s cool that we’ll all be eligible for a sales tax rebate on purchase of a new car, the measure would have been even more effective if the House had seen fit to maintain the provision for the auto loan interest rebate.
Regardless of that, the auto sales tax rebate is a first step to helping pump revenues back into the States, into the automakers, and into the dealers at the local level.
As I’ve written on these pages, this is a great time to buy a fuel-efficient car. There are tax rebates for certain hybrids and clean diesels – on top of the sales tax rebate.
Sometimes, things work out for the best. I’ve been happy as a clam this week, test driving a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen. I had initially hoped to test drive the Jetta TDI last summer when the model was first reintroduced to America, but circumstances being what they’ve been, the opportunity did not present itself until now.
And that’s a nice turn of fate.
At the peak of last summer’s gas price madness, diesel fuel was a dollar or so more expensive than regular gasoline, with prices dancing around five dollars a gallon. As gas prices crashed last fall, diesel fuel prices fell, but a large price differential remained between gasoline and diesel. At some point, that gap began to narrow. Now I’m not going to be a complete cynic and attribute the narrowing gap to the departure of the oil men from Our Nation’s Capitol, but it does seem odd. Perhaps what we’re seeing right now is a result of the switch in refinery production from heating oil to diesel fuel. Or not. I was just glad to have not paid five bucks a gallon testing a car that I was drooling to drive … for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles (for your benefit, of course).
This morning, with the Jetta TDI’s tank just under half full, I decided to head up the road a few miles to the next town to fill up the tank. Now some folks still cling to the thought that diesel fuel is hard to come buy.
We spend a good bit of time testing small vehicles here at MPGomatic, for one basic reason. Small vehicles represent not just the present, but the future of transportation for most parts of the world. In Europe, where fuel prices are astronomical, small cars rule the roost. But in here in America, the popularity of small vehicles has had its fits and starts, as well as its Fits and Smarts (if you’ll pardon the pun). We’ve been able to live life large out on the road, due to the relatively inexpensive cost of gasoline. The SUV phenomena was a direct result of our nation’s lack of a coherent energy policy.
Our legislators recently set the goal of a national fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. This was not a lofty or ambitious goal. In fact, it’s achievable today … should we choose to express a preference to buy a small vehicle. The automakers are in a pickle: they need to sell what the public will buy. Our perceptions need to change. Folks have to look at small vehicles as a desirable purchase, rather then a compromise.
We’ve test driven some fantastic small vehicles over the past year. While our absolute favorites – the MINI Cooper D and BMW 123d – are diesel-powered European models that have not yet been imported to America, the trend is clear. All of the German automakers are now marketing highly fuel-efficient clean diesels in the United States, and we’ll be reviewing each and every one, as schedules permit.
Pickup truck gas mileage is ripe for improvement. With today’s most fuel efficient small pickup trucks only reaching the mid-twenty mile per gallon (MPG) range on the highway, it’s clear that there’s much work to be done. At one point in time, not all that long ago, America had a domestically produced 45 MPG pickup truck. Decades later, the best truck gas mileage we can do is roughly half that amount. It’s sad but true.
One basic change could be made to improve our trucks gas mileage results: replace the gasoline engines with diesels. But as of this writing, not one manufacturer has committed to selling a small pickup truck with a diesel here in the United States. The problem, in many ways, is related to our country’s lack of a coherent energy policy that would put diesel fuel on the same footing as gasoline. Per gallon pricing is the barrier … and the opportunity. Continue reading →
MPG-o-Matic Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen Review Summary: . The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen raises the bar among the most fuel-efficient cars, by virtue of its wonderful clean diesel engine, delivering a winning combination of performance, utility, and fuel economy, in a fun-to-drive package.
