REVIEW: VW Jetta TDI, Doing Its Best To Fight Off The Hybrids...

"The Germans seem to have stuck to diesel motors"
i respectably disagree. German are slow to new technology, but that doesn't mean they don't embrace it if the technology brings profit.
BMW, Merc,Audi,Porsche all have electrical vehicle either in product or in the near future.

— ghosthunter (View Profile)

Posted on 10/1/2009 5:44:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

some little corner of the engineering depts of ALL major automakers is always tinkering with something or other that may or may not be viable.

people are ignoring that regardless of "firsts" in R&D, toyota was the first to bring a Hybrid to PRODUCTION. further, the engineers were DIRECTED by management in the mid 1990s to LOOK AHEAD and come up with a car that would be TEN YEARS AHEAD of the industry.

and they succeeded. so everyone else is now playing CATCH UP.

— XYZZ (View Profile)

Posted on 10/1/2009 10:13:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

Jetta is selling well overall, and the VW TDIs sell better than hybrids, not counting the Prius.

— chewy (View Profile)

Posted on 10/1/2009 10:13:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Diesels are complex, grannies driving at 30mph around town will slowly destroy the engine, clog it up and end up spewing more pollution (black smoke).. If you drive at continuous high speeds on a diesel, when you switch off the engine, you must do so after a minute or so or the turbo will be damaged.. it's fun yes.. but so can hybrids with the extra electric motor to boost..

— mpls (View Profile)

Posted on 10/2/2009 12:42:36 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

You come across as being quite ignorant if you think diesels spew out black smoke and such. That may be true 30-40 years ago. The diesel technology has come a long way since then, just as the petrol technology has. On you latter point. All turbos are as such regardless of whether it's a diesel engine or a BMW/Mercedes/Porsche/Nissan/allothers turbo engines.

— investor27 (View Profile)

Posted on 10/2/2009 3:26:53 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

I am not a fan of the Prius, There have been comparisons on the highway that the Jetta got better mileage than the Toyota, All of you Prius fans, have you noticed the extra power the Jetta has? It has nearly twice the power and comparable mileage, and the jetta wagon is larger than the Prius, I would drive the Jetta. I am not a fan of any of the underpowered hybrids available. As I have mentioned before that the Prius is stone age tech, for an example of good teck check out PML flightlink and check out what has been done, 640BHP and double as efficient as this stone age green POS prius. I would like to know how many EMF's there is when you drive an electric car? Maybe it would save me a few hundred a year and then I would die of cancer. Anyone have a Gause meter and want to test one? I have heard that it is dangerous?

— truckman (View Profile)

Posted on 10/5/2009 3:40:03 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

"All of you Prius fans, have you noticed the extra power the Jetta has? It has nearly twice the power and comparable mileage..."


i don't think so.

maybe twice the torque. that said, people often mistake torque for horsepower. HP is the ability to ACCELERATE a given mass/car QUICKLY. torque is the FORCE pushing the mass, with NO TIME factor.

turbodiesels may FEEL as if they have a lot of HP, but it is ONLY because the big torque makes it SEEM the acceleration is effortless. yet diesels are notorious for revving SLOWLY and having LOW REDLINES. just about ANY gas engined vehicle will out accelerate an equal displacement, NON-turbo diesel engined vehicle of the same weight.

non-turbo'ed diesels are rare, because their torque advantage nearly disappears, and they're so PUCKING SLOW!
put a turbo on a gas engine and then compare it to a TD of like displacement. the gas engine will ALWAYS have more HP, if not torque.
of course, you won't find any maker putting a turbo on a gas hybrid, as the electric motor provides the low speed high torque, and big HP is NOT the point of most hybrids.

what you call 'underpowered hybrids' only SEEM that way because they require downshifts and higher revs to provide comparable TORQUE that most diesels have without needing a downshift. but once the revs are up, they'll provide MORE hp to the drive wheels, and thus more acceleration. the thing is, few hybrids tend to be driven in such a manner.

— XYZZ (View Profile)

Posted on 10/25/2009 4:01:31 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

further, the "almost comparable mileage" is ONLY gotten by conservative, pokey driving. driven "normally" by most enthusiast or even regular drivers, TD's come NOWHERE NEAR their over optimistic mpg ratings. despite diesel fuel having a higher energy content (and cost) than gasoline.

the primary efficiency advantage of diesels is when they are "lugging" or near lugging. and in these conditions, they are NOWHERE equal to, much less more, "fun to drive" than hybrids. for that matter, gas engines are most efficient too, when lugging. and without downshifting, a TD will indeed pull more readily than a gas engine from low rpms.

but other than some electric cars, i don't know of ANY modern car that does not have a transmission. which is MEANT to be used. a hybrid, along with all gas engined cars, will ALWAYS be more fun to drive than a diesel if the driver does not artificially eshcew shifting.

— XYZZ (View Profile)

Posted on 10/25/2009 4:15:36 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1