United States 4motion TDI?

Spencer

New member
Joined
May 19, 2006
A few basics from someone who is environmentally/financially interested in the benefits and options presented by diesel powered cars. I actually need all wheel drive. I have a gnarly driveway in Montana. Not interested in high speed cornering in the rain like in the Subaru ads. But I also am interested in the possibilities of bio-diesel and the fuel economy of VW tdi's. So a few prideless questions. Am I ignorant to assume that a tdi 4motion will never be available in the US? If it will be available, will I actually come out ahead in terms of dollars per mile when diesel is about 30 cents more per gallon than 87 octane gas. Did the math a while back and figured that 48 mpg diesel is the same cents per mile as 35 mpg gas. I can get that from a Toyota Matrix, which is on my list of options. Won't burn biodiesel though, obviously. On bio-diesel, is it a pain in the butt, or is it relatively feasible? With or without bio-diesel, what kind of mileage can I expect from 4motion TDI? Am I chasing the proverbial wild goose here, or is it worth the hunt? Again, pride has NO value to me whatsoever, so if you have intelligent answers to my possibly stupid questions, fire away.
Gratefully yours,
Spencer
 

Fortuna Wolf

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2006
Location
Wilmington, NC
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI Auto Sedan
Don't hold your breath on the AWD VW TDIs. I have heard that the Subaru Samurai can be fitted with a TDI engine.

I don't know when you did your math... But around here regular gasoline is 2.80 - diesel would have to cost 3.80 to cost the same cents / mile. I just tanked up with ULSD for 2.86 though. Added a bit of power service (brings it up to 2.90).

Biodiesel is maybe 1-3% less energy dense than D2 but it has a higher cetane rating and your engine will be that much more efficient. You should have no problem running it. Occasionally there are reports of the biodiesel cleaning gunk in the fuel tank and clogging fuel filters though.
 

logos

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Anchorage, AK
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon TDI 5A. Previous car: 2001 Golf, 5spd
Wolf means Suzuki Samurai, by the way.

FWIW I have found my FWD golf to be a champ in snow and slick grass- that low-down torque allows you to get moving without using the accelerator, in situations where I would have difficulty with a gasser spinning or stalling. If you're considering a suburu, I'm assuming your gnarly driveway doesn't require gnarly ground clearance, and there is a lift kit available for TDIs. Is your driveway just really steep?

When gas is ~$3.00/gal, 30 cents is only a 10% difference. TDIs get more than 10% better mileage compared to just about everything except hybrids.
 

no-blue-screen

TDI Nut
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Location
Maryland
TDI
TDI
As others have stated there is no AWD/4Motion TDI Jetta. I agree that I wouldn't hold my breath for them to come out with one in the near future. In snow, the biggest thing is ground clearance. A front wheel drive car is good enough to get through snow. If the snow is too deep, it really doesn't matter what you have because your car will bottom-out and get stuck. Some people swear by AWD, but I don't really care for it. AWD increases fuel consumption and the cost of the vehicle and I can't say that I agree the benefits are worth the extra cost. Get a TDI and a set of snow tires.
 

rweddy1

Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Location
Colorado
TDI
05 Passat
no-blue-screen said:
As others have stated there is no AWD/4Motion TDI Jetta. I agree that I wouldn't hold my breath for them to come out with one in the near future. In snow, the biggest thing is ground clearance. A front wheel drive car is good enough to get through snow. If the snow is too deep, it really doesn't matter what you have because your car will bottom-out and get stuck. Some people swear by AWD, but I don't really care for it. AWD increases fuel consumption and the cost of the vehicle and I can't say that I agree the benefits are worth the extra cost. Get a TDI and a set of snow tires.
[FONT=&quot]I agree completely. As a former Subaru owner I was shocked this year when we added snow tires to our front wheel drive Honda. The Honda with dedicated snow tires was superior to my old outback with all seasons tires in every way, starting, stopping, turning, etc. People forget that most drove rwd cars with snow tires for many years before AWD or even FWD. [/FONT]
 

compu_85

Gadget Guy
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
TDI
... None :S
The closest thing your gunna get is the Passat GLS (1.8t) 4 Motion with the manual trans. Ours gets ~30 on the highway, I could probably get more if I kept off the boost.



Sadly, it isn't still that clean :rolleyes:

-Jason
 

rweddy1

Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Location
Colorado
TDI
05 Passat
Spencer said:
If it will be available, will I actually come out ahead in terms of dollars per mile when diesel is about 30 cents more per gallon than 87 octane gas. Did the math a while back and figured that 48 mpg diesel is the same cents per mile as 35 mpg gas.
Spencer
Also you math is a bit off.
Let’s use 500 miles a week as a number since most here drive quite a bit.
Gasoline car that gets 35 mpg at 2.7 per gallon will cost you:
38.57 per week or 154.29 month
Diesel car that gets 48 mpg at 3 per gallon will cost you:
31.25 week or 125 per month
The TDI would save you around $30 per month, or $350 per year.

And the Toyota matrix does not get 35, my friend has one and rarely breaks over 30mpg highway. If you use 30 mpg as the comparison figure a TDI will now save you 55 per month or 660 annually. This is also not taking in account the durability of a diesel or bio-diesel or veggy oil options.

BTW a gasser would have to get 43 mpg to be same as a 48 mpg diesel.
 
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Spencer

New member
Joined
May 19, 2006
Thanks to all for the input.

Thanks to everybody who responded to my thread. I realize my math is out dated because I haven't compared the cents/mile for about 6 months and gas seems to be increasing in price at a sharper rate than diesel. I assume this is some kind of supply and demand thing. This is one of the things that is ecouraging me to consider TDI. What frustrates me is that while in the Netherlands last summer I noticed that diesel was about 25% LESS than gas. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining that I don't pay nearly $4/gallon just so I can pay less than I would for gas. Thanks especially to the person who gave me the first hand info on the Toyota Matix actual mileage. If anybody knows of a website that provides consumer-reported gas mileages for different vehicles I would definitely be interested in checking it out. Also thanks to the person who reported good snow traction from the FWD Golf. I currently run studded snow tires on an old 4WD Subaru and a Toyota Previa All-Trac van and therefore really have no idea how a studded FWD would do. Maybe I can talk somebody with such a set up into driving to my house on a really bad ice day. Anyhow, thanks again. This seems to be an interesting site and I will probably peruse it quite a bit as my vehicle decision approaches. Thanks again.
Spencer
 

DIESELprogrammer

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2003
Location
NorEastern, Washington, USA
TDI
Golf GLS, 2003, Silver/Gray
My Golf does quite well in the snow and on ice. The best FWD I have had. It is heavy enough over the front to get good traction with the correct tires. Where the Golf fails is in deep, wet/slushy snow – anything over about 7-8”. Easily high centers on the wet stuff. With stock tire size, it is easy to chain up for the occasional need.

It does do well with powder up to a foot or more and even to pushing it up and over the hood.

With like tires, the Golf will not do as well as the Subaru – close, but not quite!
 

meganuke

TDIClub Contributor, Vendor
Joined
Mar 6, 2003
Location
VA/CT
TDI
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
First winter, I ran the stock tires. Almost got stuck numerous times simply due to a slight incline. I run 4 good snows on my FWD wagon now, and can't believe the difference. I just swapped out the ABS pump to get traction control (ASR, or anti-slip regulation), so I can't wait to see the improvement this winter. I'm already noticing the car is much safer in the rain with ASR.
 

getdamemo

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Location
DFW Texas
TDI
01 Jetta 1.9 TDI GLS 279K
With Ice/Snow, you need to get ice/snow tires, all season tires are not designed for those low temps. That is a start.

You have a couple options:
1. Find a TDI AWD in Canada and figure out how to import it.
2. Find a TDI and add AWD(lots of work).
3. Find a AWD and swap engine(lots of work).

If you want some info on swaps etc. let me know.
 

Karjar

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2000
Location
Sk., Canada
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
getdamemo said:
With Ice/Snow, you need to get ice/snow tires, all season tires are not designed for those low temps. That is a start.

You have a couple options:
1. Find a TDI AWD in Canada and figure out how to import it.
2. Find a TDI and add AWD(lots of work).
3. Find a AWD and swap engine(lots of work).

If you want some info on swaps etc. let me know.
I hope I am wrong, but no 4 motion TDI's in Canada. I would sure like one, throw in the electric heater, and I finally have my perfect car.
 
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