Jetta Diesel Tops Prius in Fuel-Economy Marathon... NOT!

I think their assertion that you have to hand in your "man card" to drive a Prius gives you a good idea of where they are coming from. I just find the desperation to knock down the Prius and its drivers to be the most unusual phenomenon. The Prius is a very fun car to drive, with lots of gadgets and technology to drool over.

In their own article, they admit that if both cars were driven exactly the same, and if gas and diesel prices stabilized, you would pay a $500 premium per year in fuel alone to drive the Jetta. I'm sorry, but it's just not worth that "premium". And what about resale prices? There is no way it holds a candle to the Prius.

 

I don't understand the push to always say one car is "better" than the other. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I a sure the Jetta handles better than the Prius. Not that that is enough of a reason for me to want it over the Prius. I am happy that VW introduced their clean diesel Jetta. The more fuel efficient options availible the better.

 

Prius won the fuel economy. The article claims Jetta TDI is faster. I want to see the actual numbers.

They picked the Touring Edition (wider tires) fully loaded and compared it with the Jetta without a GPS. Jetta TDI has $1,300 tax credit but not the Prius. The government encourages people to buy a car that meets the minimum emission? It is not right....

 

The "man card" reference is not from the editors of Popular Mechanics, it is a reader comment.

You may like the touch screen and other gadgets in the Prius but I hate it. It is technology that is a step back from the current norm just like BMW's I-drive. Please give me 3 simple knobs for climate control.

If fuel prices stabilized at today's fuel prices (in California) it would cost $500 more per year to drive the Jetta. Historically diesel has cost less than regular in the summer and more in the winter and just about averages out. Over the past 10 years diesel has average $0.07 per gallon more than regular. It has only averaged $0.16 per gallon more over the last 12 months. It is not realistic to take 2 days pump prices in California and use this to project the future.

For a current buyer the reality is that the Jetta has a tax credit while the Prius no longer qualifies. As they pointed out, this makes the Jetta less expensive to purchase.

Resale for VW TDI's is outstanding. According to Edmunds my 6 year old Jetta Wagon with 180,000 miles is still worth $13,000 and I've had several unsolicited offers to buy it from random strangers. BTW, that is $5,000 more than the same gasoline powered car.

All in all I think that Popular Mechanics did an excellent review. The Prius gets better city mileage. If you do a lot of city driving it is an excellent choice. The Jetta does slightly better on the highway. The Jetta has a nicer interior and handles better.

I'm not sure why people here at PriusChat seem to think that everyone should think the Prius is the best at everything or that is is the best car in the world.


My wife and I bought out Prius for her city commute. (It takes her 80 minutes to go 15 miles.) I drive the Jetta on my 130 mile highway commute. We take the Jetta on trips because it is much more comfortable and carries more stuff. We drive the Prius around town because that is it's element. The Prius get ~ 50 mpg in town and the Jetta gets ~50 mpg on the highway. It comes down to the right tool for the right job.

 

No one seemed to mention the premium cost of diesel over regular which should be computed into the equation. As for the fun to drive quotient the Jetta probably is more of a driver's car however I refuse to be on a first name basis with my service adviser. That is what you'll have to endure during VW ownership. I know, I've owned three (counting two Audis). Now if Honda or Subaru brings their diesels to the States I'd consider it based on where the fuel price differences are.

 

Heaven forbid if they drove a non touring edition Prius in that challenge (thus beating the TDI both in the City and Highway mpgs), how would they justify their article?

I wonder what the rear seating is like in the Jetta (leg room). 0 - 60 mph time (conveniently, they only talk about accelerating from 50 mph >, which I suspect means that 0 - 60 mph didn't support the author's arguement).

In the end, the author clearly has written the article in a biased manner, I suspect from the outset as opposed to objectively analyzing the data. It really cheapens the whole article when biased tests/results are presented. But, then again, it isn't a scientific article.....

 

Prius came, conquered, and is king of the hill.

I'm feeling charitable to the diesels, so long as they take their beano.

 

Remember all the BS about Prius being optimized for Tokyo traffic and that it is useless on the highway?

I hope Diesel supporters would come to realize that Prius on the highway is as good as Diesel in their best case scenario. Diesel fuel has about 15% more energy than 87 Oct gasoline. So Prius actually edged out in efficiency!

I can't wait to find out what 2010 Prius has in store.

 

I think i may have got a "special" Prius because at 65mph i average around 55mpg on the highway even with the San Diego hilly terrain and when i decide to go fast and hit 70mph, it drops to 47

 

4th generation TDI's (like my 2003) are not all that rare though I haven't been able to find a % of total sales.

5th generation PD TDI's made up 30% of total TDI sales even though they were not sold in C.A.R.B states.

The current CR TDI's are project by VW to make up 25% of sedan sales and 30% of wagon sales. That doesn't jive with only selling a total of 8K. I heard the same thing from my local VW dealer, 8K sedans, 4K wagons but I expect that he was confusing calender year 2008 with model year 2009. If VW truly only plans to import 8K TDI's I doubt that they would be projecting 25% of sales to the press.

 

The rear seating in the Jetta is very comfortable to me. I've spent several 1-2 hour trips in my friends 5th generation Jetta Sedan. I'm 5'10", 190lb and have a 32 inch inseam.

The Jetta has less legroom but more headroom than a Prius.

 

I think you need to read it again. In the readers comments a reader implied you would have to hand in your "man card" to drive a Jetta over some other VW.:boxing:
I think the Jetta forums found this artical first.

 

I'm not sure thats quite true, at least according to yahoo auto.

'09 Jetta TDI / Prius
Headroom (Front)
38.5 / 39.1
Headroom (Row 2)
37.2 / 37.1
Legroom (Front)
41.2 / 41.9
Legroom (Row 2)
35.4 / 38.6
Shoulder Room (Front)
54.8 / 55.0
Shoulder Room (Row 2)
53.1 / 52.9

I guess technically the Jetta has 0.1 inch more rear head room, but 3.2 inches less rear leg room, 0.7 inches less front leg room, and 0.6 inches less front head room.

Specifications &#8212 2009 Volkswagen Jetta Sedan TDI — Yahoo! Autos
Specifications &#8212 2009 Toyota Prius Base — Yahoo! Autos

As to the question about 0-60 time, I believe the TDI is faster. Somewhere in the 8-8.5 second range I think. The '10 Prius should widen the size, emissions and fuel economy gap, and at least equal the acceleration.

Rob

 

the VW and diesel fan boys crack me up

As usual... you've always got to have some of them commenting...

From comment #5:
"This is the very definition of no brainer. Prius=unproven technology, unproven resale, DULL in every aspect. The VW TDI cars are a blast to drive with a manual and with a few upgrades can be fast, fast, fast. A Prius is still just a bland Toyota marketing gimmick."

 

Cargo volume: (Jetta=16.0 cu. ft., Prius= 14.4 cu. ft.)
Passenger volume: (Jetta=91.0 cu.ft., Prius=96.2 cu. ft.)

Total volume, Jetta has 107, Prius 110.6. The Jetta is not going to win a capacity comparison. Or a fuel efficiency comparison, or a fuel cost comparison, or a reliability comparison.

I laughed about the article saying you will only get 44 mpg in the Prius. I am a lead foot by nature and the lowest I've seen so far is 46 mpg. I've been getting 57 mpg on my longer runs (half of it near 70 mph, only 5 over, the rest city at about 40 mph, +5) but so far have not done any long trips, so short commutes are keeping me just below 50 mpg.

Factoring in the regional cost of diesel, the Jetta would have to get 51 mpg on the same loops to be as fuel cost efficient as the Prius has been for me. The test indicates the Jetta will come up about 12 mpg short on average. That's about 8-10 fill ups per year. Assuming the $1300 price advantage for the Jetta holds, the Prius would overtake it in about 3-4 years. Not a bad showing for the Jetta, but a money loser over the long haul since I usually have my cars for 10 years/150,000 miles.

 

Nope, that's the same as my Prius.

I've been driving even faster and my MFD still reads close to 47. I drive slow (67-70mph) on the way to work to bump my fuel economy up, and then fast (75mph+) on the way home.

If I could keep it at 65mph mine would average over 50mpg, but I get bored and annoyed at having to change speeds frequently in the slow lane for merging traffic and dodging big rigs doing 55-60.

That's funny, because I've always thought of VWs as "chick" cars myself.

 

I too average 55 mpg on highway drives both with current my 2008 and my previous 2007 Touring models. Maybe the climate or terrain?? I'm all for more fuel efficient vehicles so I'm glad to see this car available. I just don't think I could drive a noisy smelly diesel everyday. Is this one quieter than the norm? Smell better?

 

Jetta Sportwagon:
Cargo Volume - 92 cu. ft.
Passenger Volume - 33 cu. ft.
Total Volume - 125 cu. ft. (12% larger than the Prius)

Fuel Economy - Same as sedan
Price - $2,000 more than the sedan

I also keep vehicles for a long time (180K on the Jetta so far) and I would much rather pay a couple cents a mile more to drive a nicer car.

My costs in fuel and maintenance for the past 12 months:
Jetta: $2958 / 34817 miles = $0.082 per mile
Prius: $744 / 9591 miles = $0.078 per mile

MISCRMS:

I'm not sure where they measure headroom but I do know that my hair brushes the headliner when sitting in the back of the Prius and doesn't in the Jetta. Maybe 0.1 inches makes a difference