Correction. "Many" people want, but not all people. Some people want high MPG cars like the Prius, Insight, and yes a Lupo or Polo.Drivbiwire said:
Actually, I'd be perfectly happy with an all steel-bodied Lupo/Polo that "only" got 60 mpg. They could sell such a vehicle for the same price as a Golf (~$15,000 baseline).
Actually *all* C&D mileage numbers are low. They drove a Prius and got 35 out of it. They drove an insight and barely passed 40 (I routinely get 80-90 in mine). They drove the New Beetle TDI and get around 35.IndigoBlueWagon said:
It's an improvement over the old Rotary Pump Jetta (2006) which is rated at: 30 city/38 highway DSG and 30 city/37 highway manual under the new EPA rules:Blue_Hen_TDI said:
The 2006 Jetta is not rotary pump, it is PD.troy_heagy said:
This is actually good for us. They will see the weak point of the transmissions and will no doubt create some beefier parts for it. Its one way to quickly improve the automatics. I think VW knows this.El Dobro said:
Car and Driver is owned by a French companyaugust676 said:
Or on rentals. When I went to England, I had no problem finding an auto to rent.PlaneCrazy said:
You have to ask for it though, otherwise you get a manual. And since I never ask for it, I get a manual and exercise my left hand for a change.TheLongshot said:
She asked me again several times and even offered to show me if I had any problems...
PlaneCrazy said:You have to ask for it though, otherwise you get a manual. And since I never ask for it, I get a manual and exercise my left hand for a change.
Reminds me of a funny story about the first time I ever rented in the UK, back in 1985. I hadn't specified that I wanted an automatic, but at our first stop, Penzance (we were on a combined rail pass/car rental deal), they only had one car left, an automatic Escort. The nice lady at the counter apologises somewhat profusely and asks "are you sure you know how to drive an automatic?" I assured her I did
Uhh, lady, there's a pedal missing!
LOL that is very funny. Hmmm lemme think, put her in drive, right pedal to go left to stop...Now that I mainly drive our B6 wagon, which is a 6-speed manual, when I get into my wife's B5.5 (automatic) TDI I almost throw my back out when I get in to start it. Routine in B6: get in, depress clutch and brake and simultaneously shift into neutral, insert and depress "key", car fires, shift into 1st or reverse depending on parking situation, and drive off.SBAtdijetta said:
, whoops . Went to go for the clutch and got a good demonstration of how well the brakes worked . I usually adapt . Luckily I always make my passengers wear their seat belt so I haven't thrown anyone threw the windshield in a while but I have surprised myself and my passengers a few times over the years . I really wish we had the manual option on high mpg rental cars in the US . 
I had a red truck auto, and borrowed a friends identical red truck stick shift. He didn't tell me. It was in gear. Parking space was tightjimnms said:
LRTDI said:
Lol Funny!Been there done that!! And after crazy day in my big truck...have looked for the invisible clutch...more than a few times...frugality said:
I recently rented a manual transmission Toyota Yaris while on vacation in Ireland. Since it was a right-hand drive, shifting with the left hand made trying to remember which side of the extremely narrow roads to drive on very tough.DickSilver said:
AMEN! I have been saying the very same thing, but nobody listens. The Diesel is not gaining efficiency. It is loosing it.Dunno513 said:It's a larger displacement, higher power engine with a fuel hungry emissions cycle. What part of reality do people not understand. It's not magically going to get better milage just because it's new.
The PD lost ground to the rotary pumps, and the CR is going to lose ground to both. Just a fact of life...
Over a year ago while the CR development and PD demise was being debated I commented on a posted article that clearly said that fuel efficiency would be compromised for sake of 50 state emissions standards in the new CR technology. Apparently no one wanted to hear the possible truth at the time.
But.. this is the best written article about diesels I have read yet... The writer was actually educated..
Oh well.. back to my humble existance... Guess the blame will go the way of the DSG.. ya..thats the reason...
cujet said:
When I worked at an airport, besides the fuel trucks we had various other support vehicles. We had an old 1960's Dodge Power Wagon fire truck. I had to get there an hour before opening, so I was the first one there. One of my duties was to inspect all of the fuel trucks, but since the fire truck never gets used I would start it up every few days and let it idle for a bit to make sure the battery stayed charged, and sometimes I would drive it around.LRTDI said:
Do you consider shifting a manual transmission a workout? One that will burn enough fat to keep us from become fat and diabetic?mittzlepick said:
Isn't that like 20% more manuals than the average in the US?mittzlepick said:
I never had that experience in the UK, I never had trouble staying on the correct side of the road, my instinct was to be sitting near the center line.cptmox said:
Yeah, shifting into 1st at 60mph would not be good. No measure of vaunted Renault engineering would have saved you.PlaneCrazy said:I never had that experience in the UK, I never had trouble staying on the correct side of the road, my instinct was to be sitting near the center line.
What did happen once though, was going along at 60 mph, I figured it was time to shift in to 5th. Now over here, 5th is "over and up". So I attempted to do an "over and up" on the rented Renault (this was in 1985, my first time overseas). Well, over there, "over and up" is 1st.
Fortunately, no amount of coaxing would get it to shift into first, and by the time I figured out what the heck was going on, I'd slowed enough to realize that 5th was too tall, and then I clued into what happened.
Good thing I didn't manage to force it into 1st at 60 mph!!!
When I think of Renault cars circa 1985, I think of the LeCar that graced our roads during the 80's.