Passat SE Gasser vs. TDI comparison

The service dept. got backed up at my 20k service yesterday so gave me a loaner overnight. Turned out they gave me the exact same car I own (same year, model, and even essentially the same mileage) EXCEPT that mine's a TDI and they loaned me a gasser. Although I was mostly impressed that the gasser was still a nice car, I did note two key points: 1) mileage on my commute was ~24mpg, compared to typical ~50mpg in my TDI; 2) TDI is still more fun to drive. Considering the Prius I rented this past weekend was considerably less fun to drive than the gasser Passat (though not as bad as some here make it sound), these TDIs are truly amazing. Gotta love that TDI mileage!

The torque is what makes it so great!

I can never have a gasoline car as my daily commuter not even a hybrid.. strictly diesel.

So you probably had a 2.5L Passat loaner? Try the new 1.8TSI Passat. They have the potential for high 30s MPG on RUG.

Jason

I've had a couple of the 1.8 TSI Passat rental cars. for a gasser, that is a pretty nice engine. Feels like similar torque to the diesel when launching. Only thing missing is the diesel rumble.

the 2.5L is a POS. The 1.8TSI is a whole differnet monster. For the mileage the TSI makes more sense than the TDI for me.

It was the 2.5. I'd like to try the 1.8 out of curiousity, but love my TDI. With the torque, I even find it more fun to drive than the V8 Mustang I rented this past weekend. (Higher top speed doesn't matter all that much if one wants to avoid tickets.)