Opinions on the VW TDI Sportwagen?

[Motorhead]

I am not new to diesels. Drove them in cars when they weren't cool. I owned a 1980 VW Dasher diesel wagon with the SCALDING 1. 5ltr, 48hp engine. Modified it with a new 1. 6 when the 1. 5 died and put an Audi 4000s diesel 5 speed in it and went from 35 to 44mpg after all my mods.
I drove that car for 19 years. Sold it when I bought my first Dodge, a 2001. 5.
I have been looking at the TDI sportwagen for a year or two. It is a nice car. 140hp, 260 something torque. A few questions for you diesel heads. Any comments on the DSG trans I read up on them and they seem to not have an abundance of issues. Look easy to service. My other question is there any issues with the re-gen system? That is mainly why I bought my '07, 5. 9.
I am looking at a new 2012, red with black interior and NO sunroof. This is mainly for my wife and for when we travel without the trailer.

 

[Jim W]

Hi I would do a search here in other vehicles. Awhile back there was some discussion on the Jetta and the Jetta Sport Wagon by several of us.
My wife drives a Jetta 2011 TDI with the DSG transmission and we have about 12K miles on it now with no issues to date. As this is her car to drive and she will put on between 12K and 14K miles a year on a vehicle. The reason for the TDI is she trades in her car every 10 to 11 years.
Jim W.

 

[mwilson]

Two very good threads here on the subject...



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?237683-A-little-advice-please



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?236247-Thinking-about-a-TDI



Also, you may want to send a PM or e-mail to "The patriot" in case he does not notice this thread and ask for his experiences so far with the new Passat.



Mike.

 

[JHumphries]

My wife has an '11 Jetta TDI Sedan with the DSG.
We both prefer manual transmissions as a general rule, but we got the DSG. I'm not a big fan of it. If I decide to have a little fun and slow going into a corner, then get on the throttle to accelerate out of it, the transmission realizes it needs to down shift, cuts the throttle (electronic) downshifts a couple of gears, and re-engages it's clutch. After all of that, it will finally relinquish control of the throttle and start accelerating. Anytime you decide to accelerate and the computer wasn't expecting it, it has the delay I described earlier. There is a noticeable time delay.
As far as the emissions crap, I've never noticed it. My wife gets 37 mpg going back and forth to work, and we get 45 plus on the freeway doing 60-70. On a road trip last summer, doing 85 or so, I still got 35 mpg.
The first gear in the DSG is just like the granny gear so the computer doesn't slip the clutch, so consider it a 5 speed plus a granny gear.
If I had to do it again, I would get the manual, but I would definitely buy another one.
For a car with 236 ft-lb of torque, it is slower than I expected. It lacks the get-up-and-go that I would expect above 40.

 

[BGlidewell]

After my 2005 Golf TDI which was a hoot to drive I test drove a DSG. My impression was the same as Mr Humphries. I felt completely disconnected from the control of the throttle.
Wish I had never sold the 05 but hindsight is 20/20. Probably the best year (and last) for engine/transmission configuration of any TDI IMO.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I bought a '12 Sportwagen for my wife. It's a TDI 6 speed with all options. We've got 20K flawless miles on the car now and couldn't be happier. 65 mph on the highway we'll get 42-45 mpg all day. I normally drive 73-80 mph and get 37-40 mpg, depending on weather conditions. The Sportwagen gets a little less mpg compared to the Sedan. The three other guys on my crew at work all have Sedans and they all get a few more mpg than I do.

 

[Simplysmn]

We also have a 2012 jetta sport wagen TDI with the DSG trans and I love this Little thing I'm not your average sized guy at 7 ft I fit nicely in there and drive it very well you can shift the trans into Manual sport mode and shift it your self or leave it in drive and let it do it's thing we bought it in June and it already has 6200 miles on it

 

[Dl5treez]

2009 Jetta TDI sedan. 6 speed manual



There are a couple "issues" with the CR engines but nothing I would lose much sleep over. If you read tdiclub.com it will seem worse than it really is, IMHO.



Test drove a SportWagen but ended up with the sedan solely on price. I liked the extra room of the wagon, but the sedan was too good of a deal to pass up. Ultimately the Golf was my favorite but again, the Jetta sedan won on price.



After driving both the manual and the DSG, I would take a manual every time. If you're good with a clutch, I think you'd prefer it, too



I'm of the opinion that the VW diesels work their best with a manual gearbox. The previous generation automatics were maligned as one of the car's Achilles heels, and even the sophisticated DSG lacks the feel of putting the torque to the ground the way the manual does, and comes with the downsides of quirky operation and rather expensive maintenance intervals.