Sister site for gasser jsw?

Spoiled · Feb 10, 2011

I spoke at length today with a vw salesman and he confirmed someone elses suggestion on here, that my driving style may not be a friend to the tdi. My short commute and granny driving style may not be compatable with the needs of the tdi. My typical week consists of a two mile commute to work on 3-4 days, then a longer trip 1-2 days of the week of 100 miles or so for an appt. The salesman feels that on all the days when I only drive 2 miles or so to work, that I could be affected by intercooler problems because my engine hasn't had a chance to heat up properly before I shut it down again.
The salesman is suggesting I consider the gas version may be a better fit for me. So, can anyone refer me to a great forum, similar to this one, that is for the JSW gassers instead? Everyone on here is great and you offer a wealth of information and support. Is there a sister site available for the gasser versions of the JSW????
Thanks everyone!

MayorDJQ · Feb 10, 2011

Buy the TDI and walk, jog, or ride a bike the 2 miles to work.

Then enjoy the torque and MPG of the TDI for the longer trips.

If you do buy the gas JSW, there's lots of info on vwvortex.com. You just have to wade through bullsiht and immature antics on occasion.

robbieyukon · Feb 10, 2011

Buy the TDI and x2 on riding a bike, take a cab, or even better...get someone to pick you up.

jayb79 · Feb 10, 2011

As far as I know this forum is one of a kind, no other can compare. The vortex is the only other place with lots of info but, as stated lots of immature (why don't you slam it) BS.

jtelford · Feb 10, 2011

This forum *is* excellent. I've only been here a short time and I have been very impressed with the level of technical skill available, as well as the social tone.
However, it is not alone and I (opinion here) attribute the group dynamic to adversity or perceived adversity (which breeds camaraderie); I also own obscure Italian motorcycles and the tone/skill set on those forums is similar to this one. Obscure Italian motorbikes have their own set of problems....
The fact is that these are very niche markets, populated by dedicated individuals. I'm surprised there is not more crossover

jayb79 · Feb 10, 2011

I was talking only of VW info, specifically golf, jetta, nb. I do also know of other non VW forums that are very good but i know of none with this same level of knowledge.

Conan · Feb 10, 2011

Wow. That salesman sounds like he not only knows the score, but is actually trying to help you. He must be new.

glennco · Feb 10, 2011

I think that's a bunch of bullarky frankly. We just got through our first winter with the jsw, and my wife's commute is only a couple of miles. We get it out every week to heat it up fully, and we haven't had any of the intercooler issues reported here.

LandCruiser · Feb 10, 2011

Sounds like you need a Prius or Volt.

MayorDJQ · Feb 10, 2011

LandCruiser said:
Sounds like you need a Prius or Volt.

I was interested in the Volt until I found out it's now a $40k, 40mpg vehicle. In the prototype stage, it was supposed to be a 80-100mpg vehicle. If GM were to put a 3cyl TD in it, rather than a 1.4 gasser, it could probably hit that mark.

glennco · Feb 11, 2011

A prius doesn't gain a person much. The engine starts up and runs to get it up to running temp for quick start/stops.

The leaf would be the way to go. Get a leaf for the weekly commute, and a TDI for trips. That would be the best of both worlds

Neither car is great for taking trips loaded down with camping gear and a canoe. That's where the TDI shines.

warbird24 · Feb 11, 2011

I think that is a bunch of bull. These cars sell very well In the UK and many of them see short hops as their commute. No problems there that I have heard of. Of course I think the diesel there is better quality. If driven properly I don't think I see a problem with shorter commutes as long as there is an a longer duration trip in their also.

Now the granny driving style might be the bigger of the two issues. These motors like to be exercised and as such need to be driven a little harder than you might ought to drive, let say a new Toyota Corolla. These cars are very spirited in the handling department as well as the mid range torque when you have to point and shoot to get through a gap in traffic. Not that you need to drive them aggressively, you just have to pay more attention to what the whole drivetrain is doing for you.

After I get my Golf in two weeks, my initial commute will be about 8 miles. I have options to make it longer and I will take those options when time and traffic allow. In a few months, the real test will start when I will be driving further distances for my commute.

I think for folks with a short commute, the best option is a frost heater to ensure you have the engine temp up a lil more quickly than being stone cold the whole commute.

IceRaider360 · Feb 11, 2011

I haven't had any issues yet, I live on the prairies so the climate is really cold right now and the temp. is always changing.

FYI I drive a fairly short commute with my wife, 9 km 4 times a day in the bitter -20C to -35C cold and haven't run into any issues yet with my new 2011 Golf TDI.

Here is how my route goes

1 Km 40-60 Km/h
5 Km 90-110 Km/h
3 Km 40-60 Km/h

Nice thing is that I have none to minimal traffic congestion and stops (2 stop signs, 1 left turn) so far I'm getting between 7-9 l/100Km during the cold weather which is much better than my 2L Suzuki Aerio 10-11 l/100Km during the winter but I can wait until summer 20C to 25C to get some better results. This car is perfect for me and my wife because we often take several long road trips during the summer and I love how this car handles on the hwy.

I'm very curios to see how the EV market is going to grow over the next 5-10 years and will be definitely taking a hard look at them once I get some mileage on Golf. I like the idea of saving money from reduce maintenance costs and cheaper fill ups with energy.

Spoiled · Feb 11, 2011

Thanks for all of the responses. I don't always drive granny style...just on my short commute to and from the office through the burb. When I'm on the highway or interstates, I fully enjoy the v6, and the tip.
Although I appreciate all of the suggestions of alternative cars, the prius/leaf/volt, etc., I appreciate the feel of the drive with german engineering. I'm not knocking anyone who owns one of the alternatives...they're just not for me.
Vwvortex huh? That's my alternate. Ugh. Not only is it lacking the community vibe of tdiclub, but I also find it harder to navigate the site when I'm trying to find information. It so well organized on here...not to mention friendly.

I currently drive a 2005 passat glx v6 4mo wagon. Thought that extra info would help better explain my desire to stick with german.

pekosROB · Feb 11, 2011

Spoiled said:
Thanks for all of the responses. I don't always drive granny style...just on my short commute to and from the office through the burb. When I'm on the highway or interstates, I fully enjoy the v6, and the tip.
Although I appreciate all of the suggestions of alternative cars, the prius/leaf/volt, etc., I appreciate the feel of the drive with german engineering. I'm not knocking anyone who owns one of the alternatives...they're just not for me.
Vwvortex huh? That's my alternate. Ugh. Not only is it lacking the community vibe of tdiclub, but I also find it harder to navigate the site when I'm trying to find information. It so well organized on here...not to mention friendly.

I currently drive a 2005 passat glx v6 4mo wagon. Thought that extra info would help better explain my desire to stick with german.

Perhaps you should pre-order a Golf-R! It's RU gas, has pretty good mileage, and has 4Motion! If you can't wait that long then that would make sense too...

halfast3 · Feb 11, 2011

We had an independent VW shop for 20 years. There was a customer who drove 1.5 miles to and from work in a Rabbit diesel - that's the only use the car had. Adding insult to injury, he refused to change the oil until he'd accumulated "enough miles". We were lucky to get him to change it annually. At less than 30k miles, he was out of compression. When we pulled the head, the cylinder taper was the worst I'd ever seen and the rings were worn to points at the ring gap. Moral of the story: Diesels don't like short trip driving!

I'll second (or third or whatever) the idea of biking when conditions allow.

pekosROB · Feb 11, 2011

What about a 12-13 mile one-way commute for work?

And if your engine is already warmed up (from driving it that day) and you drive it on a short trip or two to run errands, will that damage it as well?

Conan · Feb 11, 2011

pekosROB said:
Perhaps you should pre-order a Golf-R! It's RU gas, has pretty good mileage, and has 4Motion! If you can't wait that long then that would make sense too...

Eeek! I hadn't heard of that. Oh no. It's hopeless. I don't know how I'm going to keep from buying one of those. The only thing that stopped me from getting a GTI is the irritation/understeer of a fast FWD car. Any buzz that there may be an AWD Golf TDI? That would be my perfect car.

vwlogue · Feb 11, 2011

Bought my first TDI when my commute was 60 miles rt. For the past 3 years, it's been only 3 miles rt once or twice a week because I telecommute. Other than that, I taxi the kids to afternoon activities, a few miles in town and sometimes on the highway.

The TDI is doing fine. I give it plenty of TLC, work on it on my own, and drive it hard or easy depending on my mood.

If you get the JSW TDI, it should be just fine with proper care. Your weekly long trips would offset the short trips and do good to the PF. And you'll enjoy it waaay more than the gasser.

halfast3 · Feb 11, 2011

pekosROB said:
What about a 12-13 mile one-way commute for work? And if your engine is already warmed up (from driving it that day) and you drive it on a short trip or two to run errands, will that damage it as well?

The high wear occurs during warm-up. In the case I cited, the engine never got warm and the oil wasn't changed much, thus the accelerated wear. This was also an early model Rabbit, around 1980. The manufacturing processes and lubricants have come a looong way since then.

I'd say no worries with your commute distance. And once the engine is warm, you're good. Plus, I assume you drive it longer distances from time to time...

pekosROB · Feb 11, 2011

Conan said:
Eeek! I hadn't heard of that. Oh no. It's hopeless. I don't know how I'm going to keep from buying one of those. The only thing that stopped me from getting a GTI is the irritation/understeer of a fast FWD car. Any buzz that there may be an AWD Golf TDI? That would be my perfect car.

I would love to have an AWD TDi. However, it'll probably come to Audi first. I don't think the A3 has AWD for the TDi right now, but I could be wrong.

Here's an article on the Golf R:
http://www.insideline.com/volkswagen/golf/2012/2012-volkswagen-golf-r-first-drive.html

pekosROB · Feb 11, 2011

halfast3;3289071 Plus said:
You know, I wondered if that was a TDi thing. I mean seriously, I would never drive so far if I didn't have this car.

I had to drive out to Albuquerque, NM twice from Tyler (East Texas) and once out to Atlanta for a concert. That's about 4500 miles round trip at the very least for those three trips. I've also had a couple trips down to Houston (about 450 miles round trip).

I got my car with 111 miles on December 11th. I now have over 8,200 miles. I would drive my Tacoma more to slow those miles down but now I need a new battery after it's been sitting outside in the cold. And I've been driving this truck around too and it still decided to die on me!

Jettawolfs98 · Feb 11, 2011

Buy the TDI, my commute is only 10 miles (round trip) after work I try to drive around until the car temp gets to normal and during the weekends (i'm sure you will find plenty of places in PA to drive) we take long trips to make up the short trips and love the feeling, after 30k miles the TDI feels right (knock on wood)!!

Get the TDI !!!

halfast3 · Feb 11, 2011

pekosROB said:
You know, I wondered if that was a TDi thing. I mean seriously, I would never drive so far if I didn't have this car.

I had to drive out to Albuquerque, NM twice from Tyler (East Texas) and once out to Atlanta for a concert. That's about 4500 miles round trip at the very least for those three trips. I've also had a couple trips down to Houston (about 450 miles round trip).

Oh yeah, I hear ya. We've put over 5k on ours since just before Christmas. But most of that was the trip to OR from MN where we bought it. Of course we were running from the weather so we came home via Tucson ;o)

I got my car with 111 miles on December 11th. I now have over 8,200 miles. I would drive my Tacoma more to slow those miles down but now I need a new battery after it's been sitting outside in the cold. And I've been driving this truck around too and it still decided to die on me!

If I could, I'd run a battery tender on a vehicle which sat outside in the winter.

rotarykid · Feb 11, 2011

MayorDJQ said:
I was interested in the Volt until I found out it's now a $40k, 40mpg vehicle. In the prototype stage, it was supposed to be a 80-100mpg vehicle. If GM were to put a 3cyl TD in it, rather than a 1.4 gasser, it could probably hit that mark.

Actually GM has admitted that it's more like 30-32 mpgs in the real world . On their cars they took to CA for the auto show it returned as low as 28 mpgs over part of the trip and maxed out @ 36 mpgs over the rest . And in the real world it's more like 25 miles on electric only . So $45k and it can't even surpass the consumption numbers of any TDI , the current overpowered one included which cost half as much new as that thing .

What a bad joke has been played on anyone that actually bought into idea of the Volt ............you are better off with a 10 year old 5 spd man ALH engine equipped Jetta TDI than that stupid Volt . And if you choose the 10 year old TDI you will have a lot more money in your pocket in the end also .

glennco · Feb 11, 2011

Edmunds currently has a volt in their long-term test fleet. They are currently averaging 37 miles on electric alone, and 33mpg thereafter. That is right around GM claims for the car, and those guys don't baby it either.

Back on topic, that intercooler issue is a serious concern, but I don't believe it's a reason to not buy a TDI for short trips. Like was said before, you really need to get out and get the car fully warmed up periodically in order to burn the moisture out of the oil, or you'll suffer the same fate as that '80 rabbit

Conan · Feb 11, 2011

glennco said:
Back on topic, that intercooler issue is a serious concern, but I don't believe it's a reason to not buy a TDI for short trips. Like was said before, you really need to get out and get the car fully warmed up periodically in order to burn the moisture out of the oil, or you'll suffer the same fate as that '80 rabbit

I've heard that diesels don't get condensation in the oil the way gas engines do. Not sure why that would be...

Sister site for gasser jsw?

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