Prius Owner makes me ROTFLMAO

GeWilli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
lost to new england
TDI
none in the fleet (99.5 Golf RIP, 96 B4V sold)
"Winter" means different things for different people. So bare that in mind.

I live in Minnesota. 32 F degrees is warm as far as I'm concerned. My Prius kind of agrees with me. Big MPG drop off doesn't occur until temperatures lower than that.

I driven 44,250 miles already. That included 2 winters. The battery-pack responded wonderfully even when it was only -13 F degrees out. Startup is actually boring. No struggle at all in the extreme cold. The 274-volt battery-pack and 33kw motor put a traditional 12-volt battery and tiny starter-motor to shame. (Prius, gotta love it.)

Some may find it surprising that short segments of extremely high MPG are possible even in the winter. Heavy traffic congestion caused by snow delays provides Prius with the opportunity to drive through those stop & slow conditions using nothing but electricity. Yes, eventually the engine will come back on to provide heat, but it shuts back off fairly quick.

My real-world performance is low 40's MPG in the winter. In the summer, I get close to 50 MPG. Lots of details (spreadsheets & graphs) are available on my website.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">ROTFLMAO AHAHAHAHAHAh

my mileage is better than that! Mid 40s right now and I'm makin some SICK power! (Upsolute 205s Dawesdevice) OOOOOH and that economy doesn't seem to change if it is just me in the car or with an additional 1000 pounds of stuff!

wanna bust a gut laughing? read this forum:
http://www.nesea.org/greencarclub/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=dc5f6f5009f51ccb2797aa1eb4389abd&forumid=12

toooo freakin funny
 

Chuck101

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Location
Tallahassee, FL
these turkeys don't know what they are missing. a TDI is a real car with the capacity of performance that hybrids only dream about with their bike tires.
i like my jetta creature comforts too. the hybrids are skinnied down cars, the jetta is a real car riding on high energy tires.

how much does a prius cost anyways?
 

mrGutWrench

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 29, 2002
Location
Carrboro, NC
TDI
'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
_._ Thanks for the link, GW. It tickles me to see that I'm getting 10 MPG more than the Prius weinies! That's too cool.
_._ I guess these guys think that they have to suffer with these POS's because they're "saving the earth" and "reducing the US's need for oil" but it looks to me like they're just p1ssing in the wind!
_._ Just think of it, a grey haired, broken down, old, retired, cheap guy who drives slow is doing better than the enviroNazis. Ain't life wierd?
Bruce Henderson, Wallace NC

[ January 15, 2003, 07:36: Message edited by: mrGutWrench ]
 

eetsoot

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2001
Location
Oxnard, Ca (at least for now!)
TDI
Jetta, 2002, galaxy blue
How bad is the performance of the Prius?

Maybe it's time for me to go test drive one and heckle at it with the dealer in the car. Maybe I'll the dealer test drive mine!
 

spongebob

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Location
Mesa, AZ
TDI
Not anymore.
Originally posted by Phoenix42:
well at least their making an effort
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Agreed. At least they're not driving Excursions around with their head in the sand like so many lemmings.

Too bad they don't know the joy of a real, solid tuneable car called a VW TDI.
 

Dorado

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
TDI
New Beetle TDI, 2002, Cool White
I did not get to test drive or ride in it, but I was shown one, including engine compartment and features, by a salesman/enthusiast last summer, and it seemed very well put together. Nonetheless, it's definitely not a car for long range cruising like the TDI, nor for towing, or carrying a lot of stuff. But for pure stop and go city driving, it seems to be quite good. It's quite civilized in that, below 20 mph or so, it runs just on electric power. So if you're stuck in traffic most of the time, you're running clean. It would be cool if the gas engine were compatible with a renewable fuel like ethanol.

In any case, I wouldn't trade the TDI+Biodiesel for anything else!
 

GeWilli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
lost to new england
TDI
none in the fleet (99.5 Golf RIP, 96 B4V sold)
Originally posted by Phoenix42:
well at least their making an effort
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">True very very true - at least they are making the effort - gotta thank em for that . . . . .
 

Geordi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Location
Somewhere between Heaven and Hell. But it is reall
TDI
14 JSW DSG, 03 Wagon 01M, 400k and IPT performance auto!
I tried posting this before, but my computer crashed. Hopefully I can get it out this time.

I tested both the Prius and the Jetta TDI before I made my selection, comparing everything I could think of about the car. I was in, under (yes really) around and through both cars more than any dealers had ever seen anyone go over a prospective purchase. The Prius dealer was surprised at my level of inspection, even to the point of commenting that not only had he never seen someone this dedicated before, but I was making his job hard by asking questions that he had never heard before... Like the service interval for the Timing belt and electric motor reliability.

Poor boy. If I'm spending 20K, I'm gonna be DAMN sure what I'm buying.


Anyway, here is what I found in a short list:
Price: About 20K for both, +-2K or so, not including rebates or trades and taxes / charges.
Size: J is a compact / midsize. P is based on the Echo, a subcompact.
Space inside: J has great use of space, easy for a tall person to sit very comfortably in. P looks too small for me (think safety) outside, but the inside has a surprising amount of space. "Feels" much larger than it looks from outside.
Economy: EPA only, please. About the same in real-world stock condition. If you are getting 50mpg+ in either, more power to ya. Roughly 40-45 combined.
Safety: J: 6 airbags, excellent IIHS 40mph-into-solid-block-test for human protection. P: Too small for my taste, no P tested by the IIHS yet, but the Echo was not as highly rated as the J. Still good perf, but I want the best. (I like living)
Tires: J, std sizes, can be had reasonably cheap or very expensive, based on desire. P, Thin, special, expensive.
Storage: J, seats fold to expand trunk. Trunk very large for size of car. P, Seats don't fold down. Trunk about 10 inches shorter than J, and trunk opening space smaller too. Too small for me.
Engine reliabilty: Tough one here. J is new tech for the US, same for P. J-A3 however has been here for MANY years. P has only existed ANYWHERE for the last 5 years, and only in Japan. BIG question mark for long term. I buy my cars to own until the wheels fall off.
Performance: J stock perf very nice, strong pull all the way to top end. P acceleration is stronger than J, but ONLY to about 40mph. Then accel and passing power weak due to only 3cyl being effective. Remember that an electric motor has full torque from go, regular engines have a torque curve - it builds.
Handling: J is tight, quick, sportscar-like. P seemed softer, slower, like a fat limo.
Fuel: J runs many fuels, including homebrew at $0.46 / gal. P is chained to OPEC.

Final score? Well, since I'm driving a Jetta on homebrew B100, you figure it out.


--Jim
 

EnviroMan

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2001
Location
The Woodlands, TX, USA
We should all join the forum... certainly we qualify!

Spongebob.. FYI..an unchipped 2003 6.0L turbodiesel Excursion gets 21 mpg highway, 18.5 combined average. That is almost as good as a 1967 VW beetle. Not all Excursions are created equal!
 

SwimmerDave

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Location
Decatur, GA
TDI
2014 JSW 6MT
Originally posted by EnviroMan:
We should all join the forum... certainly we qualify!

Spongebob.. FYI..an unchipped 2003 6.0L turbodiesel Excursion gets 21 mpg highway, 18.5 combined average. That is almost as good as a 1967 VW beetle. Not all Excursions are created equal!
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think I've seen exactly 1 diesel Excursion in my lifetime. I've seen a f*ck-ton of gassers, though. Diesels just aren't vain enough for most SUV buyers.
 

EnviroMan

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2001
Location
The Woodlands, TX, USA
A TD Excursion would not be marked as such so you would have to be looking for them by looking under the hood or listening. That may be why you have not "seen" them. In rural areas, diesel Excursions definitely outsell gassers. The new 6.0L TD engine is availble in F250 pickups as well so they are probably getting about 19 mpg unchipped.
 

McBrew

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Location
Annapolis, MD
TDI
2003 Golf GLS TDI, 5 speed, Silver/Grey
First, let me say that I applaud anyone who drives a fuel efficient vehicle. Especially if they pay more for the technology. That would include the Honda hybrids, Prius, and TDI owners.

highhilltdi... I understand that about 15% of all VWs sold in the USA are TDIs. I remember reading that number.

In Maryland (DC metro area in general) there are lots of VWs and many of them are TDIs. I'd guess that it's more like 20% TDIs in this area based on what I see on the road every day. It's hard to say since most Beetles are not labeled.
 

RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
Would'nt be fair to troll those guys. Most of the people on here are "carguys" interested in technology and driving. Most of the people on that forum are looking for an appliance that sips fuel and does'nt hurt "MotherEarth", whatever the hell that means. They are kinda developmentally disabled, but at least they are trying
 

pkagel

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2002
Location
DFW, TX 02 Jetta GLS TDI
TDI
02Jetta
my buddy here at work drives a prius and i found it to be a pretty cool car all around except for those sunvisors. the dash screen is the coolest and they have done some cool mods like turning it into a tv or computer terminal and you can also get a nice mapping program for it. all in all a real fun ride with way more room than one would expect. funny thing is we drive basically the same rout home and when it's stop and go he smiles as his mpg go through the roof while mine goes down. on the way too work i got him beat by a big amount though. another cool thing is comming to a stop light and hearing nothing which if you think about it is quite cool as it makes it much easier to hear emergency vehicles comming.
 

MITBeta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Location
Boston's Metro South-West
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 2004 Sprinter CDI Passenger (Mid/High), former: 1996 Passat TDI Variant
FYI..an unchipped 2003 6.0L turbodiesel Excursion gets 21 mpg highway, 18.5 combined average.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I was searching for this number last week... where did you get it?
 

AutoDiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2000
Location
Pacific Northwest
I don't make fun of the hybrids at all especially when........

A someone I know buys a 99.5 TDi Jetta.
In the first 30k miles has numerous problems.
The typical VW TDi problems. You know what they are. You name it, it happened.
And when he found out about the 40k timing belt service (it was a automatic) he said screw it and went and traded for a Prius. Likes it so much put over 20k miles on it in the first six months! So far, no problems and he gets over 45 mpg on average. Just has to put gas in it and it goes. Pretty nice around town. Quiet and city driving gets execellent mileage, better than on the highway like they advertise. (about 56mpg city)
Most people buy cars just to get around. They don't want to fool with them or have to modify them (ie EGR, CCV mod to keep the intake from clogging) just so they will keep running.
The day we get ULSD and the most modern form of diesels the general population might start accepting them more.
Until then, I don't look down on hybrids at all.
 

tjl

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 19, 2001
Location
California, USA
TDI
2001 Golf GLS
Originally posted by EnviroMan:
A TD Excursion would not be marked as such so you would have to be looking for them by looking under the hood or listening.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wouldn't they have the "Powerstroke" badge, like the diesel F-350 pickups do?

Anyway, they do make the obvious diesel sound when turned on.
 

highhilltdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2002
Location
O-HI-O
TDI
'00 Jetta GLS
Seen a few diesel excursions around and at horse shows. For the folks that just do the horse thing on weekends they make a pretty good combo vehicle. Some were former Suburban or 1-ton crew-cab truck owners. Haven't met any former TDI owners rolling in a scursion.

Ford sold about 28,000 excursions last year or about .0018% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. Right up there with the pass-one-on-every-corner Mercedes S-Class. They must all be in swimmerdaves neighborhood if he's seen a "f*ck-ton" of them


Of course it outsold the Prius, but what didn't?

Any idea what % or number of Jettas are sold with TDI's? Jetta is selling pretty strong and I've been seeing more and more TDI's around.

[ January 15, 2003, 12:08: Message edited by: highhilltdi ]
 

GeWilli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
lost to new england
TDI
none in the fleet (99.5 Golf RIP, 96 B4V sold)
Originally posted by SwimmerDave:
I think I've seen exactly 1 diesel Excursion in my lifetime. I've seen a f*ck-ton of gassers, though. Diesels just aren't vain enough for most SUV buyers.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Kim at Wacker drives a Diesel Excusion. Props to her! And to anyone drivin a diesel full size truck or SUV.

BUT I will have to say my brother's 98 (iirc) K2500 P/U truck gets 18+ mpg highway loaded with a couple tons of tools and materials and its a gasser
 

RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
Originally posted by EnviroMan:
A TD Excursion would not be marked as such so you would have to be looking for them by looking under the hood or listening.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wouldn't they have the "Powerstroke" badge, like the diesel F-350 pickups do?

Anyway, they do make the obvious diesel sound when turned on.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I've seen one diesel Excursion and I don't think there were special badges. But when that sucker pulled up next to me it sounded like a garbage truck....really obvious diesel noise...not a sexy TDI clatter...but a sound like a washing machine full of bolts.
 

EnviroMan

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2001
Location
The Woodlands, TX, USA
To answer MITbeta:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FYI..an unchipped 2003 6.0L turbodiesel Excursion gets 21 mpg highway, 18.5 combined average.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was searching for this number last week... where did you get it?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You can find it in the 6.0L forum of thedieselstop.com:
Link to thedieselstop.com 6.0L forum

Some of the folks there have been reporting their mileage for the 6.0L 2003s.

To answer tjl:

There is no Powerstroke logo on the Excursion at all. As far as the comments about sound are concerned, the 2003 6.0L is very quiet and you would again have to listen for it. The older 7.3L engines are indeed louder.
 

Oldman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Location
Leander,TX,USA
If I had a Prius I'd aim for 160 HP from the motor. Turbo of course. If I had an Insight, I'd look for 150 HP. Just off the cuff, maybe more later. For a VX I'd look for 180 HP. HX about 250 HP.
 

jackbombay

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
Location
Diesel knows best
TDI
A4 Jetta
QUOTE]Kim at Wacker drives a Diesel Excusion. Props to her! And to anyone drivin a diesel full size truck or SUV.

Where I live there are lots of diesel trucks and I have seen several excursions. In the winter time the americian Diesels exahaust is terrible, Jacka$$es leave them idiling and they make a whole block foul, not to mention the massive amount of noise. Even though they get a few more miles per gallon than gassers 20 MPG is not part of the solutuion to our oil dependence problem.

-Jack
 

lesd

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2002
Location
Southern California
_._
Why would they have a badge? My TDI New Beetle does not come with one either, an I like it that way, since they are rare in california.

I think I like the Prius, and hope to see many more of them on the road. There are quite a few of them in the Los Angeles area. These are point A to point B cars, and make less pollution then a TDI. Ever back into a garage with a TDI and get out of the car to close the garage door? Stink bomb!. Regular people won't go for that. I burn Ultra low Sulfur ARCO fuel here in LA, and it does not smell any better, in case anyone is wondering. I love the TDI, and right now I am at 1/3 tank with over 400 miles on the odo, but there are issues.
-Les
_._

[/QUOTE]Wouldn't they have the "Powerstroke" badge, like the diesel F-350 pickups do?

Anyway, they do make the obvious diesel sound when turned on.[/QB][/QUOTE]
 

SwimmerDave

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Location
Decatur, GA
TDI
2014 JSW 6MT
Originally posted by highhilltdi:
Seen a few diesel excursions around and at horse shows. For the folks that just do the horse thing on weekends they make a pretty good combo vehicle. Some were former Suburban or 1-ton crew-cab truck owners. Haven't met any former TDI owners rolling in a scursion.

Ford sold about 28,000 excursions last year or about .0018% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. Right up there with the pass-one-on-every-corner Mercedes S-Class. They must all be in swimmerdaves neighborhood if he's seen a "f*ck-ton" of them


Of course it outsold the Prius, but what didn't?

Any idea what % or number of Jettas are sold with TDI's? Jetta is selling pretty strong and I've been seeing more and more TDI's around.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Chicago, especially the Northern and Western burbs, love(s) gas-guzzling SUVs. I live in a middle-income area, but some of the best-heeled neighborhoods in Chicago are close by.
 

car54

theGAME
Joined
Dec 5, 2000
Location
Woodbridge VA
TDI
2002 Jetta
The only way to spot a diesel excursion from a gas excursion is the tailpipe. Gassers have a small slash cut pipe. Diesels have a slightly larger straight cut pipe.

Also, all the diesel excursions ive seen were the "limited" trim level. I dont know if it only comes in that trim level or if that is universal.

We had a powerstroke excursion at the boat shop I worked for. We used it for demo rides where sometimes the prospective buyer would bring 2-10 people to look at the boat. We would tow up to 28' with it, and had a F-550 pickup truck for the bigger boats.
 

jck66

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
TDI
12 Passat SE / 14 BMW 535d
I was reading a blurb about the Corolla yesterday, and they were claiming 40 mpg highway for a 5-speed, base engine. IIRC, my Passat's sticker said 44 mpg highway and I'm able to get high 40's wintertime and low 50's summertime. So I imagine the Corolla could achieve in the 40's and it's not kludgey like a Prius. Food for thought.
 

GeWilli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 6, 1999
Location
lost to new england
TDI
none in the fleet (99.5 Golf RIP, 96 B4V sold)
Kim's Excursion wasn't too loud - but then it was running exclusively on Amoco Premier/B20



bad fuel = bad exhaust
 
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