New car, TDI Jetta wagon Diesel

Ok, so we have had it for two weeks now. Once we got it home I filled it up and reset the trip odometer, finally last night I got the low fuel light at 781 miles. So this morning I filled it up at 804 miles with 15.58 gallons or 51.6 mpg, pretty good for the first tank! Feel free to ask me questions, I am quite proud of this car. Here is a pic of us with the new car.

Congratulations Brock! I've had my 2000 Golf GLS TDI for over three years now and still love it. What other car gets 40 to 50 mpg, has the fit, finish and details of a VW Jetta, Golf or New Beetle, is as fun to drive and is also one of the safest vehicles in its class according to www.crashtest.com? I just wish the wagon had been around when I bought my Golf.

So when are you going to upgrade the headlights to Bosch Jetta 4/Bora European Spec Xenon H.I.D. Headlights (available at www.pgperformance.com)? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Congratulations! I've had a 1997 Passat TDI since September and like it better than any other car I've owned. Do the EGR adaptation as soon as possible as you don't want to have to clean the intake.

Jerry

Yes the safety rating on this car is very good a nice plus.

I am getting the EGR done with vag-com this Sunday by a fellow TDI'er I met over on Freds (tdiclub.com)

Here in Germany it is named Bora, no longer Jetta /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Brock, is it true your car will run on completely renewable fuels that are good for America's environment, economy and military security? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

...all the while providing a great ride in a car with fantastic extended range and long engine life? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Seriously, congratulations! I really love my 2003 Golf TDI!

I gave my presentation on BioDiesel at an environmental fair last Saturday and people were quite excited at the fuel, technology and the car too! The naturalist that organized the event wanted to see the engine so they could understand how I had modified it for renewable fuels. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif She was quite impressed when it became clear that this car is just as it was when it "came off the show room floor"...no mods, completly able to use either regular diesel or biodiesel anytime I want!

It is all true Ikendu /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I can run my car off home grown bio fuels and hope to get a couple tanks in this summer /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I should add that I am running low-sulfur diesel right now, it is suppose to be under 50ppm, better then the 400pmm, but not quite the 15ppm we should get someday, 2006? The low-sulfur does cost a bit more, but it is better for the environment and the car, so I can't imagine not running it.

Congratulations! You'll love it.

Check out this fun mod that easily adds LED cockpit "ambiance" lighting to your overhead console. It uses an OEM VW part from the top-of-the-line Passat W8. I added it to my Jetta and enjoy it every night.

Volkswagen W8 overhead LED lighting mod

Cheers,

Dave

What does your warranty say about alternative fuel use?

sweet ride, nice car, safe, solid, classier materials; nice paint job and wheel!

Mister T what does Bora mean?

I hope it doesn't mean boar! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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Diesel, Diesels everywhere, I love it!

Speaking of VW's. Have you seen the new 2003 GTI 20th Anniversary Edition? Someone is running car #0007 of 4,000 on e-bay. Wow!

Oh yea, it's me! It's not a diesel so it's hard to get too excited but it is neat. I don't mess with the VW's much but I am soooo impressed with the VW diesels.

How much power do these put out? cost?

Brock said: ..bio fuels..get a couple tanks...low-sulfur diesel...cost a bit more...better for the environment and the car

Actually, I couldn't get B100 (straight biodiesel) on my trip for the environmental fair so I bought 5 gallons of B2 at a retail pump. They had this great banner displayed out by the highway "Biodiesel...expect more from your fuel".



My wife said..."Why bother with only 2% biodiesel?". Well, of course, I said..."2% is better than no percent" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif . But, while I was paying for the fuel (it costs 3 cents more/gal than reg. #2 diesel) I asked the guy at the counter about the fuel. He told me it was quite popular and that he had run out several times before his next delivery of biodiesel came.

I visited the biodiesel distributer (who, incidentally, is building a biodiesel plant to keep up with the demand) and he had told me that people were reporting better mileage from B2 blends. I looked into this on-line (it's what I do... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ). I found that modest blends like B2 can give up to 13% better mileage (avg. about +6%), plus the smell and emissions are greatly improved plus it extends engine life due to improved "lubricity". So...maybe the word is getting out if the B2 blend is that popular. Honestly, that surprised me! ...in a good way! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

BTW...by the time I got home (back to my source of B100), I still had plenty of fuel left, I wouldn't have needed to buy fuel anyway on my trip. The range this car has is still surprising me!

The bottom line of my reply to your post is... if it is difficult to find B100 in your area, you could always buy a few 5 gallon Blitz diesel "cans" and simply use the biodiesel as an additive! If you ran B2...a 5 gallon can would last a LONG time. At +3 cents a gallon for B2, but with 6% better mileage, it would more than pay for itself! And...with every tank of B2, you are helping to knock out 2% of our imported oil! That's good on a lot of levels!

(Actually, if you really got 6% better mileage, I suppose using 2% biodiesel would reduce imports by 6% or more /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

I saw an estimate the other day that imported oil accounts for a 2 BILLION dollar loss to our economy every day ! (I'm still trying to run down that number /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

"High mileage is good for U.S."

Bigcozy, good question, I don't know about any warranty issue with alternative fuel use, but it seem a lot of people are selling it. Some places sell it right at the pumps so I would imagine it would have to meet some kinds of standards? Ikendu do you know?

V8TOYOTATRK, it isn't a powerhouse. It is rated at 90hp and 150ft lbs of torque. I should add that we were looking for a fuel-efficient car. We looked long and hard at the Prius and Civic. They didn't have the space or the handling and power compared to the TDI. When we drove the other two it felt like we were driving a car with a really small engine, while the TDI felt very similar to out current two gassers. Also we occasionally tow a small 1000lb trailer, we were told that the other two hybrids were not meant to tow at all, while with the TDI this was fine.

EXCELLENT! About time we had a picture. Could you and your lovely family take a large step to your right next time though, so we can see the car better? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You TDI guys rock. I so love hearing the HP/torque specs. Now THAT is the way they *should* read.

LOL, then we took this one just for you /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



I should add that 2 weeks ago the water behind us was frozen solid, and 2 months cars were driving on it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

A couple more comments . . .

First, it does not feel like 90hp due to the 155 ft/lb of torque. When I was test driving compacts, the TDIs felt every bit as zippy as the other compacts I test drove (Civic, Corolla, Protege, Focus, etc.) if not moreso. If that's not enough for you (and you are willing to jepordize your warranty, not to mention your clutch) you can always chip it and/or get bigger injector nozzles /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Second, there is a huge warranty exclusion for "intentional or unintentional misfueling". This is true for most automobile warranties. If you get a bad batch of fuel--from whatever source--that is probably between you and your fuel vendor. Your auto dealer or manufacturer may cover you to preserve goodwill, but they usually don't have to under the warranty.

That said, VW says you can run TDIs on RME (rapeseed methyl esther or rapeseed biodiesel) that meets the European Specification E DIN 51606. They do not say you can run TDIs on soy based biodiesel because they have not tested TDIs extensively with that fuel. VW of America and/or VW dealers have told some US TDI owners that using biodiesel will "void their warranty" (of course doing so can only void the warranty for problems caused by the fuel, which are excluded under the misfueling exclusion in any case).

The biodiesel/warranty debate is still smoldering over at Fred's, but that doesn't keep TDI owners from running 20% to 100% soy biodiesel without any problems. I've been running at 5 gallons or more of WORLD ENERGY biodiesel in each tank for 20,000 of the 30,000 miles on my car. I ran 100% biodiesel for most of last summer.

Finally, I don't think TDIs require any modifications, but if you enjoy turning a wrench, here are some that are worthwhile.

1. Add a bypass filter to filter out the small stuff your full-flow oil filter misses. Oilguard (www.oilguard.com) and Amsoil (www.amsoil.com) are popular with the guys at www.tdiclub.com. IMO this mod. can benefit any vehicle.

2. If you leave the pavement much (or even if you don't) consider replacing the plastic belly pan with the VW factory metal skid plate. These cars have 4 1/2" of ground clearance and a cast aluminum oil pan /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

3. If you want a sportier ride and/or more ground clearance, replace the original dampers with Bilstein HDs.

For more info. on TDIs see www.tdiclub.com, particularly the TDI FAQ

if you lop off the front third of the car, it looks AMAZINGLY like the new Sube Forrester, even the wheels! congrats on the new car, it's lovely. if i had to buy a car now, i'd be deisel all the way. gonna try convince an uncle to get one, he wanted the E300D but was discontinued in 99; coming back for 04!!