Lolas Dad
Veteran Member
A real world fuel mileage test between the three cars mentioned above. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VjmARPMXaY
Ford Fiesta, Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Golf TDI real world fuel mileage
- Thread starter Lolas Dad
- Start date
Three different sized and capable cars. Tiny, small, and useable hatchback.
Rico567
Top Post Dawg
^^^^
And a great big waste of time. No one can use this "top-up" method over only a 40 mile drive and achieve any degree of accuracy. Watch any episode of "Mythbusters" that deals with mileage to see how it's got to be done, if you're dealing with driving a limited course.
And a great big waste of time. No one can use this "top-up" method over only a 40 mile drive and achieve any degree of accuracy. Watch any episode of "Mythbusters" that deals with mileage to see how it's got to be done, if you're dealing with driving a limited course.
jgilliam1955
Veteran Member
Go to fuelly and look at combined mpg of the cars. The graph should show you what the average mpg for each vehicle.
tikal
Veteran Member
Excellent point! With millions of miles logged the latest Prius still manages to beat the latest Passat TDI with the 'average score' being ~ 47 MPG vs. ~ 40 MPG.
Now granted the Passat has more interior room, about 10% more than the Prius if I recall correctly. And there is all the other factors that us TDI enthusiast like (vs a hybrid) for performance and so forth.
I believe the Prius interior room is closer to that of a Jetta (around 94 cubic feet or so) but the trunk space is larger for the Prius and that is why it is classified as a mid-size car.
MikeMars
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2008
- Location
- UK
- TDI
- Vento 1.9 TDi (retired), A4 1.9 TDi (rear end collision), VW Passat 1.9 TDi (retired), Audi A2 1.4 TDi
I think its fair to say that the mpg of the prius has been slowly improving whereas the mpg of the TDIs have been slowly getting worse with every generation. If you go back to the era of the ALHs the TDIs were on parity or even slightly better.
I think this is due to the following factors:
* Emissions control requirements have been increased for diesels (DPFs etc) but have been kept the same for petrols
* Increases in HP / torque / vehicle size + weight for the TDIs whereas the Prii have been kept much the same
And for some reason there seem to be more people buying TDIs just to do short-distance city driving
for which they are not really suited. This will knock down the fuelly figures too.APT
Veteran Member
The Prius is hard to beat on paper. It just works very well and efficiently. City, highway, cheaper fuel. I just don't want to drive one every day, or any day for that matter. I get frustrated driving a regular 4-cyl Malibu while getting EPA city ratings because I have to run a lot lower gear than it was calibrated for. So while our TDIs have less peak HP, the usable torque right now, without downshifting 2-3 gears is what I enjoy, while using a lot less fuel than a V6.
No More Buffalo
Veteran Member
You might be surprised.
http://www.kbb.com/compare-cars/spe...rd-fiesta-374532-vs-2013-toyota-prius-382196/
The interior room in the front seats is essentially the same, Golf and Prius are the same in the rear, only the fiesta is smaller... Golf has the least trunk space.
Perfectreign
Veteran Member
IMO, they're all small compact cars. (But then, I'm 6'4" (191cm), so I may be biased.)
Here's the fuelly pages for the Prius (http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius), Golf (http://www.fuelly.com/car/volkswagen/golf), and Fiesta (http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/fiesta).
If anybody is generous and wants to buy me an Excursion, here's the fuelly for that too - http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/excursion
Here's the fuelly pages for the Prius (http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius), Golf (http://www.fuelly.com/car/volkswagen/golf), and Fiesta (http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/fiesta).
If anybody is generous and wants to buy me an Excursion, here's the fuelly for that too - http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/excursion
pparks1
Veteran Member
A coworker took me to lunch in his 2010 Prius, and it has 168,000 miles on it.
Golf link should filter by diesel (since the discussion has been about TDIs):
http://www.fuelly.com/car/volkswagen/golf/diesel l4
tikal
Veteran Member
What a shame that the Golf TDI sold in North America manages to barely get to 40 MPG on average. Smaller car than the Passat TDI and yet a pity of 40 MPG!
Yes I know I know the emissions technology is different, etc. But come on, you pay somewhere in the mid 20's K dollars and this is what you get. What a pity.
My understanding is that the Golf Blumotion (sp.?) in Europe and other parts of the world gets AT LEAST 50 MPG!
pparks1
Veteran Member
Yes, the cars in Europe do get better MPG's, but at the expense of performance. Smaller engines, and lowered acceleration and such in the American market simply don't sell as well.
And a Golf is a bit more sporty and zippy than a Passat, so my guess is that in many cases it's driven more aggressively.
Perfectreign
Veteran Member
I've read often that automakers will sell cars in Europe/Asia/SA/Africa which are far more fuel-efficient. However, because they're deemed "under-powered" for the American market, they never bring them here.
Take a look at today's listing of vehicles on the German VW site. You won't find the 1.0L VW UP! or the 1.2L (1.6L diesel) Polo here stateside. I've driven a Polo when I was studying in West Germany. Not a horrid car, but it was small.
Todd_y
Well-known member
A 25 minute test drive in a Prius was enough. A couple mpg (maybe not if you run more hwy miles) is not enough of a benefit to counter the sheer horror of having to drive a Prius everyday. My dishwasher is more fun. You "operate" a Prius. You can still drive the Golf.
rotarykid
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2003
- TDI
- 1997 Passat TDI White,99.5 Blue Jetta TDI
the Polo is larger than the A2 jetta....
vandermic07
Veteran Member
Im with Todd y. I was driving a friends Prius C. It was "ok" if you were just cruising, but when i turned onto my road. i had to put it to the floor to get it to move. the electric motors couldnt make it accel from 20mph after making a turn. I felt like i didnt have any control over the car. When the engine kicked in it jerked and then started to accel like i didnt downshift in my golf.
I drive 85 miles a day on country roads and 2 lane highways. that would be torture for me to drive that slug. I avg 51 and i have fun every time i sit in the seat.
I drive 85 miles a day on country roads and 2 lane highways. that would be torture for me to drive that slug. I avg 51 and i have fun every time i sit in the seat.
D_Squared
Veteran Member
I drive my Golf like I stole it and my worst tank to date has still been over 40mpg. I bought this car after 7 years of driving a GMC Sierra with the 350 V8 that I also drove like it was a race car. This car has plenty of power for its size and the mileage is phenomenal. I have rented a Chevy Cruze and Sonic for work and they are just bland cars. The engines scream and whine but the car doesn't go anywhere. One cannot beat diesel torque.
No More Buffalo
Veteran Member
Euro mileage is quoted in miles per imperial gallon, which is 1.2 US gallons. So a UK magazine saying 50mpg is equivalent to 41.6mpg in the US.
MikeMars
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2008
- Location
- UK
- TDI
- Vento 1.9 TDi (retired), A4 1.9 TDi (rear end collision), VW Passat 1.9 TDi (retired), Audi A2 1.4 TDi
The other thing you need to watch out for is that the NEDC test gives much higher mpg figures than the (post-2008) EPA test. IMHO the EPA test underestimates diesel mpg, whereas the NEDC overestimates MPG. A lot of the diesel superminis being discussed have NEDC test scores in the area of 75-85mpg(imp). So even if the imperial gallons -> us gallons conversion has been done, the figures can't be compared.
The current NEDC test is a lot like the pre-2008 EPA test.
Having said that, I would expect the Polo bluemotion to get something like 65-70mpg(imp) in real-world driving, which would be in the 50-55mpg(us) area, but it's NEDC test figure is 80mpg(imp). So I think Tikal has already done the imperial->us conversion in his post.
Last edited:
Auslndr
Well-known member
Getting well over 40 MPG here. My worst mileage was during a high speed run to and from Las Vegas and even that was over 40 (barely).What a shame that the Golf TDI sold in North America manages to barely get to 40 MPG on average. Smaller car than the Passat TDI and yet a pity of 40 MPG!
Yes I know I know the emissions technology is different, etc. But come on, you pay somewhere in the mid 20's K dollars and this is what you get. What a pity.
My understanding is that the Golf Blumotion (sp.?) in Europe and other parts of the world gets AT LEAST 50 MPG!
Hmmm. I know my 2011 JSW 6MT is not quite as fuel efficient as some of the older TDIs. However - pity was not the word that came to mind last night when I drove home from BWI airport at 11PM. 116 miles, the last 60 with the CC set to 75MPH. Up and over the Blue Ridge with power to spare; no downshifting. Passed lots of cars. Rolled into home with the computer reading 47.5 MPG. Lifetime average over 38K miles on Fuelly thus far - 43.4 MPG.What a shame that the Golf TDI sold in North America manages to barely get to 40 MPG on average. Smaller car than the Passat TDI and yet a pity of 40 MPG!
Yes I know I know the emissions technology is different, etc. But come on, you pay somewhere in the mid 20's K dollars and this is what you get. What a pity.
My understanding is that the Golf Blumotion (sp.?) in Europe and other parts of the world gets AT LEAST 50 MPG!
No. Pleasure, fun and excitement are words that come to mind and are what I usually feel when I drive my car.
Perfectreign
Veteran Member
Same here! In fact, my first car was going to be a 1973 VW Superbeetle. However, I could not physically fit behind the wheel when I was 14, so my mom decided to sell at that time. I ended up driving her '84 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Unfortunately, this is the view out of my Jetta most days. Can't do much about mileage when going zero MPH.
However, when compared to my Avalanche, filling up for only $50 every two weeks is much better than $100 every week. Here's my photos I took at lunch prior to adding the fillup to Fuelly...
436.2 miles...
...and filled up with 10.9 gallons. I put B20 in again to see if it does anything. It is a good price and I can stick with it a few weeks.
Last edited:
tikal
Veteran Member
Correct. I meant 50 miles per US gallon. It is a 1.6 L TDI version the one I am referring to that is sold in Europe and not here. My sister-in-law drives one. It has a feature that it shuts off when you stop at red lights (provided it is in neutral) and other fuel saving features.
I also agree that we Americans, on the average, want cars with more 'muscle' as opposed to more efficiency.