Looking for better MPG from current alternate vehicles?

[Gary - K7GLD]

Not sure of best forum for this, but some of the guys looking to either sell or garage their Dodges in favor of one of the popular alternate economy car options might like to check this out:



YouTube - 2008 Fuel Economy Comparison: Prius v Jetta v Focus v Smart

 

[MKinner]

I have been extremely pleased with my Jetta TDI. It's fun to drive, handles well on the road, and my favorite part(best tank of fuel so far) 767 miles on 15. 2 gallons of fuel. I have been temped to sell the truck and buy the new '08 TDI, which has the common rail setup. I was lucky enough to drive one around a dealership in florida considering they have not been released to the public yet. I am here to tell you, that thing was so smooth and much more quiet than the old style TDI. Comes with a 6 speed manual or auto.

 

[Motorhead]

I sold my 1980 VW dasher wagon in 2000 to buy my first cummins/Dodge. I drove it for 19 years. The stock 1. 5 NA diesel got 35mpg. I wore it out and put in a new 1. 6 NA diesel and got 37mpg. The car ALWAYS needed a fifth gear but they never came that way. The engine was mounted long ways so I couldn't use a Rabbit 5 spd. I did some studying of VW manuals and found out that Audi put a 5 spd in their '82 4000S diesel. Got the whole set-up and installed it in the Dasher. Man, that was nice. I could drive to L. A. and back, 475mi and it would get 44 mpg at 65-70. Darn near wish I had it back!

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

What year of TDI's were good and which ones we are to stay away from? I had heard of electrical problems in some years. Any ideas of what years were best?



My Bro-in-law just bought a Pruis hybrid and we just got back from filling it up, got 59 mpg. That was both city and highway, more so highway. Normal averages for him are in the 50 mpg range.

 

[MKinner]

What year of TDI's were good and which ones we are to stay away from? I had heard of electrical problems in some years. Any ideas of what years were best?

My Bro-in-law just bought a Pruis hybrid and we just got back from filling it up, got 59 mpg. That was both city and highway, more so highway. Normal averages for him are in the 50 mpg range.

The 2003 models are really big in demand, like the '98 12 valve. It has a lot of upgrade parts you can get for it. Mechanical injection pump, ect. I really like my '05. (Old body style) 61,000 miles and everything is perfect. I do need to use a special oil that is from the dealership or get it online. If i don't use it, the cam will fail pretty quickly. I've never had any of the electrical problems some people have talked about (knock on wood). The new TDIs for '08 are looking very promising. %50 more power with similar economy and the common rail setup is sweet. I've heard they eliminated the need to change the timing belt... Sorry, i'm a big fan of VW TDIs. Audi is also coming out with one...

 

[jeepit]

We have an 06 Jetta TDI and have had excellent service out of it so far. We currently have 44,000 miles on it. Only routine maintenance to date. Average about 45mpg's.

 

[JLEONARD]

I have a 99. 5 Jetta TDI. Runs good gets awsum mileage, plenty of power, but I can't keep the CEL off.

Been plaguing the car for several years. Something with the glow plug circuit/voltage. I can get it fixed for perhaps 2 weeks tops, then it comes back. So I fix it at emissions time (they won't test a vehicle with it's CEL on).

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

I haven't had any issues yet with 80k miles on my '05 Jetta. I average 45 to 50 mpg.

 

[MKinner]

I haven't had any issues yet with 80k miles on my '05 Jetta. I average 45 to 50 mpg.

Did you vent the fuel tank? I did mine (old body style) and could fit another 1. 5-2 gallons of fuel in. :-laf

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

Did you vent the fuel tank? I did mine (old body style) and could fit another 1. 5-2 gallons of fuel in. :-laf

Yes, I did mine shortly after finding the Tdiclub forum. Why would VW calibrate the fuel gauge to ever read only 7/8 tank full unless you do the ventoctomy?



Dan

 

[MEby]

Yes, I did mine shortly after finding the Tdiclub forum. Why would VW calibrate the fuel gauge to ever read only 7/8 tank full unless you do the ventoctomy?



Dan

Actually, its not that the tank is calibrated wrong, its that by venting it you can fill it up to the top. So much so that it will run out the top. By venting it you are making it possible to fill up the expansion tank, which is really not a necessity in the first place seeing that diesel doesn't expand very much. Therefore gaining an extra 2 gallons. All this means is that now instead of striving for ever higher hp numbers, I have become somewhat obssesed with fuel efficiency. Next stop. 800 + miles on one 15gal. fillup. My goal is 55 mpg on this tank with a total of 825 miles. Oo. Oo. Oo. Oo. I am told that 16 gal. is how much my tank should hold.





My best to date was 792 miles on a tank.

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

Actually, its not that the tank is calibrated wrong, its that by venting it you can fill it up to the top. So much so that it will run out the top. By venting it you are making it possible to fill up the expansion tank, which is really not a necessity in the first place seeing that diesel doesn't expand very much. Therefore gaining an extra 2 gallons. All this means is that now instead of striving for ever higher hp numbers, I have become somewhat obssesed with fuel efficiency. Next stop. 800 + miles on one 15gal. fillup. My goal is 55 mpg on this tank with a total of 825 miles. Oo. Oo. Oo. Oo. I am told that 16 gal. is how much my tank should hold.





My best to date was 792 miles on a tank.

I guess I would have thought that VW would have set the fuel gauge to read full when the main tank was full and not only if you fill up the expansion tank, which they didn't design the system to allow you to do. That is why I went searching for the TDI forum in the first place as I thought there was something wrong since I couldn't fill my tank all the way up.

 

[MEby]

Maybe yours is calibrated wrong. Mine showed full even before I vented it. After venting I can go around 180- 200 miles before the needle goes off of full instead of 80-100 miles.

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

Interesting.



I can only go 80 to 100 miles on the full mark with the ventoctomy. Before the operation:-laf I could only fill it to the 7/8 mark. I think the most I ever put in at once was a little over 14 gallons, this was about 50 miles after the light came on. Do you know if our tanks have the same capacity? How many miles can you go after the fuel light comes on?

 

[MEby]

Interesting.



I can only go 80 to 100 miles on the full mark with the ventoctomy. Before the operation:-laf I could only fill it to the 7/8 mark. I think the most I ever put in at once was a little over 14 gallons, this was about 50 miles after the light came on. Do you know if our tanks have the same capacity? How many miles can you go after the fuel light comes on?

Assuming you have a Jetta /not wagon. Your capacity *should* be the same as mine. I have never gone over thirty miles after the light came on. The most I have put in was 15. 27 gallons on my last tank. There are some reporting being able to go over 16 gallons and not having run out. There will be some variance from on car to another seeing the tanks are plastic and the quantity could change depending on how it was installed. I. e. squeezed. I guess another question is in order. Do you fill till it snaps or do you fill to the top and running over? I fill mine slowly so it doesn't foam and till I can't get another drop in. I can get another gallon in this way.



I would do a search over on tdi club to verify the capacity, it might take a while though. It took me a week or two to find a post where someone conclusively knew the exact capacity for my year/model. Depending on the model some of the tdi's have up to 25 gallon capacity. (Wagons)

 

[MEby]

btw, my summer mileage is averaging 50-52 mpg.

 

[PatrickHansen]

Get yourself some DEOXIT from Caig. Pull each glowplug boot off and clean with the DEOXIT and reassemble. Find someone nearby with a VAG-COM and they can clear that pesky code for you. My TDI sat for seven months and presented a similar issue; a good clean and lube (with DEOXIT) and the CEL has been off for three years.

 

[cksh8me]

03 Jetta TDI over 150k great car. 46to 48 mpg just driving it. If I keep it 70 and under mid 50's. I think I could get close to if not into the 60's if I took it easy.