Used for cross-country trips. Must sell. $19,999 Firm.
(805) 464-6245 – Car is currently located in Thousand Oaks, CA

800 Mile Club

Our drive began in South Carolina. The weather for the entire trip was between 72 and 90 degrees during the day, and about 40 to 50 degrees at night. We took about four days to cross the US, and spent our time on US 20 through the South and then caught the US 10 in Texas to complete our journey to Los Angeles, CA.

The fill-ups were few and far between. We topped up in Augusta, Georgia. The next fill-up was 810 miles away in Tyler, TX. After that, we made it another 800 miles to the other side of Texas in Deming, New Mexico. And toward the end, we topped off the tank in Anaheim, CA. Just over 3 tanks of fuel is all it took.

This was the fifth cross-country trip for my Jetta TDI. Even though there’s 30,000 miles on it already, it’s easy to see and believe that it’s not even broken in yet. Most diesels take about 60,000 miles before they reach their prime. And I believe that legendary piece of knowledge to hold true because the MPGs on this 2010 Jetta TDI keep improving as the miles rack up on the odometer.

My brother fell in love with my VW, and I don’t blame him. The Jetta has a great ride, a large trunk, and plenty of listening options for a long drive. The road noise is minimal for a car costing around $22k. But most importantly, it only took 4 tanks of diesel fuel to cross the United States.

A few of the gripes he had are fairly the same as mine. The Jetta TDI’s back seat is big, but there’s not enough headroom to fit an adult for a long trip. The clutch is too unforgiving and numb, causing plenty of havoc at green lights and during quick gear shifts on the on-ramp. But, more importantly, the car blends in so well that nobody gives it a second look – until you try to fill it up with diesel fuel.

As the drive happened to coincide with a move, the Jetta didn’t get off easy with doing it’s share of work. The trunk was loaded with stereo equipment, small kitchen appliances, and fire extinguishers. The back seat was loaded with a 42″ Panasonic plasma monitor. In total, we estimated that about 300 pounds were hanging over that rear axle on the Jetta. And it drove like a champ.

Rear Quarter Panel 2010 Jetta TDI

2010 Jetta TDI Generous Trunk Opening Clearance

Here are some nifty features of the mk5/mkv Jetta trunk:
• 60/40 fold down rear seats (Lockable latch from inside the cabin is easy to use)
• Ski pass through (Lockable latch from inside cabin, with latch access from cabin or trunk)
• Full size spare tire and tool kit under floor
• 12v power outlet
• Side storage bin
• Shopping bag hook

Here’s a complete gallery of the 2010 Jetta TDI’s Trunk Features

]]> http://www.topgearage.com/?feed=rss2&p=658 0 http://www.topgearage.com/?p=652 http://www.topgearage.com/?p=652#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:41:54 +0000 admin http://www.topgearage.com/?p=652

Actually, increasing tire pressure will create a harsher ride.

I’ve seen an AMG Driving Academy video that explains why Mercedes AMG cars run on very low tire pressure (27psi).

They created a demonstration with a German dude and two tires. One tire was at 27psi, the other was at 35psi. He was explaining that traction and control is reduced with the higher psi, and demonstrated this by picking up the 35psi tire and dropping it from 6 inches to a foot in the air. It bounced several times. Then he took the 27psi tire and dropped it from the same height. It basically hit the ground with a thud.

The demonstration was designed for AMG drivers – so that they get the maximum grip and handling by inflating to the proper psi.

If you inflate your TDI to 35psi, that’s the ideal pressure to which the car was calibrated. If you go lower or higher, the ride quality will be affected. MPGs will also make a difference as well.

I always stick to the label on the door.

There is a video on the autonetwork where a man from Audi is riding around the back of a Q7 TDI explaining that VW/Audi did extensive testing in the US for the TDI and found that diesel fuel quality was absolute crap when compared to Europe. He said that minimum cetane in Europe is 52 and in the US, each station at any state had levels mainly around 35, but would fluctuate to the 40’s and nothing was consistent.

Basically, quality diesel fuel is the issue at hand, not tire pressure.

When the air is cooler, there is less performance and air mixture to be had in each cylinder. So as the TDI puffs along, the cold air makes for a slightly more difficult compression and adversely affects ignition.

That pinging noise you hear? Well, that’s an example of poor ignition. That sound means that the compression in the cylinder is actually igniting the fuel before the cylinder has made complete compression. In TDI engines, the pinging is greatly reduced because the piezo injectors catch this subtle pre-ignition and inject (squirt) more diesel fuel into the cylinder just at the pinging occurs. This effectively maximizes the compression opportunity in the engine, but also uses more fuel.

So don’t quite think you can’t rev the TDI up past 3k rpm on a normal drive during a cold day. What you should think about doing is starting up the TDI from a dead cold start and begin to drive away immediately. By diving off as soon as possible, you are increasing the load on the engine and are ultimately giving it a better chance to reach a normal operating temperature. If you start the TDI on a cold morning and let it sit there and idle for several minutes, you are simply using up more fuel without generating additional heat to warm up the car.

Interestingly, however, is this article from AA, the British version of AAA. The article explains that DPF regens are less likely to occur in cars that don’t get much use. This, in theory, means that if a TDI has a short commute in cold weather, it is not likely going to reach the optimum temperature for a DPF regen. Furthermore, it also explains that driving along in 6th gear on the highway to keep the RPMs low, might not be a good idea.

Without a load on the engine to warm it up, and with extra fuel being used to correct pre-ignition, you must also be cautious of driving at too low RPM’s as DPF regens might occur more frequently, which all leads to more fuel consumption.

So, in conclusion, it will be a good idea this winter to drive your TDI a little sooner and a bit more aggressively to achieve better MPGs. That sounds like a win/win to any TDI owner!

Not good, especially since this god forsaken state employs speed cameras on Eisenhower’s Interstate system! Nothing like scraping some revenue from the use of a federally funded highway system.

Here’s a tip, Arizona: Ditch the speed cameras and open your rest stops. Only then will you not look like a communist state.