Mike in Anchorage
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2009
- Location
- Anchorage, AK
- TDI
- 2016 Touareg Lux, 2015 Golf Sportwagen SE, new 4 Sept 2017;2009 VW Jetta TDI Sportwagen (Ruby) sold to VW on 22 SEP 2017
I have no idea if this is of interest to anyone, but it's worth having in the archives, i suppose.
Deciding to sell my '09 JSW TDI back to VW, the hunt was on for a replacement. I've really liked many features on the JSW: panoramic sunroof, heated seats, fuel economy, torque, DSG, etc. And I've recently learned that although each of my 5 bicycles fits somewhat easily into the JSW WITHOUT REMOVING THE FRONT WHEEL, this is an uncommon ability. Even with much larger vehicles.
So back to the original - I wanted another TDI Sportwagen and the deals with the VW financing rebates were too good to ignore. I found a brand new 2015 Golf Sportwagen in Lakeland FL with all of the features I want. A key component is an interior that is NOT BLACK! Over Labor Day weekend, I flew one way to Orlando and picked up the car on Sunday at noon, two days before hurricane Irma was due to hit. I had one bicycle along so that when I was tired of driving I would be able to get on the bike and ride for a bit.
Stayed the first night with a great friend in Gainesville, and the second night with relatives in Knoxville. Then to my hometown in Southern Ohio for a few days to visit relatives. Heading west, I stopped in Ft. Collins to see our son in college there. From that point, it was skedaddle to Anchorage: succeeding nights in Helena, Calgary, Dawson Creek, Watson Lake, Whitehorse, and finally to Anchorage. Some long days in the seat. The car performed beautifully. No surprises except for the first time the auto wipers kicked on and quickly went to high speed in a thundershower in Tennessee.
I'm still converting miles and kilometers and gallons and liters to get an overall MPG or L/100 km figure. It appears it will be in the 47 to 48 MPG range. And I was not traveling slowly. Several days the average speed was over 65 mph or 100 km/hr.
Satellite radio worked pretty well until I was in western BC and in Yukon Territory. Very sporadically in Alaska. Snow was falling near East Glacier [Logan Pass was closed] and just south of Canmore/ Banff. No snow sticking to the roads, but some intense cold precipitation caused me to take it easy and slow down a bit. The lighting package is way better than my '09, so when the sun was setting and I was in the area of bears, moose, bison, etc, I was able to avoid hitting any animals. The sunroof allowed me to note a wonderful aurora show when I got to Dawson Creek.
My last time to drive the Alaska Highway was in 1993 and it's in MUCH better condition now. I set the cruise on 110 much of the time [metric, baby] and that worked well. Pickup on even this new engine was smooth and easy for passing.
That's probably enough rambling for now. If anyone is interested in parts of the trip, I'm happy to answer. I'll be posting perceptions of the car in the MkVII forum.
Deciding to sell my '09 JSW TDI back to VW, the hunt was on for a replacement. I've really liked many features on the JSW: panoramic sunroof, heated seats, fuel economy, torque, DSG, etc. And I've recently learned that although each of my 5 bicycles fits somewhat easily into the JSW WITHOUT REMOVING THE FRONT WHEEL, this is an uncommon ability. Even with much larger vehicles.
So back to the original - I wanted another TDI Sportwagen and the deals with the VW financing rebates were too good to ignore. I found a brand new 2015 Golf Sportwagen in Lakeland FL with all of the features I want. A key component is an interior that is NOT BLACK! Over Labor Day weekend, I flew one way to Orlando and picked up the car on Sunday at noon, two days before hurricane Irma was due to hit. I had one bicycle along so that when I was tired of driving I would be able to get on the bike and ride for a bit.
Stayed the first night with a great friend in Gainesville, and the second night with relatives in Knoxville. Then to my hometown in Southern Ohio for a few days to visit relatives. Heading west, I stopped in Ft. Collins to see our son in college there. From that point, it was skedaddle to Anchorage: succeeding nights in Helena, Calgary, Dawson Creek, Watson Lake, Whitehorse, and finally to Anchorage. Some long days in the seat. The car performed beautifully. No surprises except for the first time the auto wipers kicked on and quickly went to high speed in a thundershower in Tennessee.
I'm still converting miles and kilometers and gallons and liters to get an overall MPG or L/100 km figure. It appears it will be in the 47 to 48 MPG range. And I was not traveling slowly. Several days the average speed was over 65 mph or 100 km/hr.
Satellite radio worked pretty well until I was in western BC and in Yukon Territory. Very sporadically in Alaska. Snow was falling near East Glacier [Logan Pass was closed] and just south of Canmore/ Banff. No snow sticking to the roads, but some intense cold precipitation caused me to take it easy and slow down a bit. The lighting package is way better than my '09, so when the sun was setting and I was in the area of bears, moose, bison, etc, I was able to avoid hitting any animals. The sunroof allowed me to note a wonderful aurora show when I got to Dawson Creek.
My last time to drive the Alaska Highway was in 1993 and it's in MUCH better condition now. I set the cruise on 110 much of the time [metric, baby] and that worked well. Pickup on even this new engine was smooth and easy for passing.
That's probably enough rambling for now. If anyone is interested in parts of the trip, I'm happy to answer. I'll be posting perceptions of the car in the MkVII forum.
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