Jetta TDI vs. Prius, San Francisco on a tank?

Why do some people only care about emissions. Just look at everything but emissions and fuel economy and you can see that the Prius is not even in the same league as a TDI sportwagon. Power, ride, comfort, ergonomics, interior finish, cargo capacity, braking, handling, looks, etc the TDI routes the Prius.

 

Because those other aspects pale in comparison to "doing the right thing" by limiting our fuel use and emissions ouput.

 

i disagree on all fronts regarding your categories, but that is user specific. emissions is a huge environmental problem and that is what sets a hybrid apart from any regular car. congrats, it gets a little above a prius on the highway, which by the way is not the prius' strong suit.

 

I love the misinformation on their Myspace page :

They just are missing the fact that the prius has another 68HP electric engine with more torque alone (295LB/FT) than their TDI.

Note that there is a version in europe which is sold under the name bluemotion, it only have 105 HP and has a fuel consumption of 4,6L/100 (51mpg).
I'm just not sure that they are not mixing performances from the non blue motion TDI (140HP) with the blue motion TDI which has deNOx and everything.

 

[sarcasm on]
With such accurate reporting I have full confidence the test was completely accurate.
[/sarcasm off]

They don't even know the difference between MPG and MPH. Nor was it said how each vehicles fuel economy was measured.

I'm willing to bet if an apples to apples accurate test was performed the Jetta would loose.

 

The Jetta TDI, priced anywhere between $25,000 to $30,000, represents new clean-burning technology approved in all 50 states. It even can run on biofuel, where the Prius uses outdated battery pack technology, Welch pointed out.


outdated?

 

Someone needs to write the Auburn Newspaper and set them straight.

 

GM enthusiasts use the word "obsolete".

In both cases, they fear facing the reality that the proper terminology for the well-proven, competitive technology is: mature

In other words, it is quite realistic for the mainstream, so they attempt to sour its appeal.

.

 

A few years ago, Diesel supporters accuse Prius of being a "beta test" and now Prius is "obsolete". Very funny.

 

That just shows that Prius with Atkinson cycle ICE beat Diesel at partial power load. Prius got 7% lower MPG on the highway despite the fuel (Gasoline) has 15% lower energy than Diesel.

 

the only thing obsolete is the internal combustion engine circa the 17th century. talk about ancient outdated technology

 

ok. i am back from my own "test drive" had 2½ people in the car. very fully loaded (we might have been able to take something the size of a loaf of bread, but it would have been a very tight squeeze!!)

just taking stats for trip on I-5. it was 365 miles... A/C on for most of the trip, 60 mph average give or take... 56.3 mpg. this was to visit wild animal safari in south central oregon. we then cust across and headed up the pacific coast highway which is basically up one hill and down the other side... just about the worst for mileage you can get... after that, overall trip average 914 miles...53.4 mpg...

now, we were at 57+ mpg on the tank (filled up in Salem) when we hit the safari park. its 600 acres, drive thru 3 times and that dropped our mileage to under 52 mpg...only had A/C on for short time... only had to have windows rolled up for the bears...other than a baby horse kneeing the front end (no damage) we emerged unscathed. buyt pretty weird since we basically averaged under 5 mph thru the park

so why drive that far to Winston, Oregon?

see pics.

 

SEE THE ATTACHED PICTURE

The only meaningful comparison is one with a budget for fuel and doing a fair comparison of vehicle resale value. Never mind Toyota's sterling reputation for reliability and JD Power saying Prius is "better than that" compared to VW Jetta with a black eye in that same category.

Use $40.00 for the fuel budget: (4.849/gal diesel & 3.609/gal regular)

That's 8.25 gal/diesel vs 11.15 gal/regular.

PRIUS @ 60.8 mpg highway mpg x 11.15 gal = 677.92 miles

TDI @ 60.0 mpg highway mpg x 8.25 gal = 495.00 miles

Wow. You mean I will have to WALK 182.92 miles from where the Jetta runs out of diesel - just to get to the place where the Prius ran out of regular gas - using the same $40 fuel budget ? OUCH.

Both cars enjoy great resale value but, again, used Prii command quite a premium nationwide.

As a traveling salesman I had no choice but to get rid of my 2006 TDI when I couldn't find diesel fuel several times in distant unfamiliar rural areas. I'm delighted with my 2008 Prius. Thanks Toyota for a comfortable car that would be a PERFECT car if it only had the Jetta's "leatherette" seats.

By the way: I had to take my new TDI back to the dealer 7 times during the year of ownership due to mis-aligned headlights blinding on-coming drivers at night on low beam, engine running rough and not developing nearly the original torque (several times), and even a mis-aligned driver's door that could not be truly "fixed" unless, as the dealer said, it was CUT OFF with a TORCH and RE-WELDED at the hinges. Needless to say, I decided to trade it in last time they did their best to "adjust" the door using the striker plate. Whom ever now owns that poor TDI, sorry. It wasn't me - it came that way from Germany.

To be fair: I've had the Prius back to the Toyota dealership about 6 times this year (not sure?)... each time the OIL CHANGE light came on. It has not had one thing go wrong - period - and it only costs me about $38 each time for oil and filter... and the dealership takes me in by apt and gets me out in about an hour. How cool is that?

TDI was nice but this Prius is breathtaking in every respect. Well done, Toyota.

 

Reality intrudes....

Diesel technology is actually the ancient one. It has been around since the birth of the ICE with Rudolph Diesel. It has improved only marginally in over 100 years.

Electro-mechanical Hybrid technology linked to the older ICE technology is actually the cutting edge. One feature of hybrid technology that IMO needs to be promoted more and trumpetted more loudly is that it addresses the worst characteristics of 'traditional' ICE technology.

All true hybrid systems on the road now, HSD, IMA, Ford and the 2-Modes all improve the city driving component by 40-70%. That is to say they are saving as much as 50% of the fuel and emissions in City driving with no loss in performance ( even an increase ). This is obvious to most but it doesn't get enough emphasis for the social benefits to our society.

The fact is that the worst characteristic and the most difficult-to-solve element of our driving experience was solved first. As regards the new Jetta it may marginally improve on the performance of the old Prius on the Highway but it achieves little or no benefit on the most difficult issue, i.e. making the antiquated ICE-only technology more efficient in the city.

Toyota, Honda and Ford have lead the way in addressing the most difficult issue. GM is close behind. As our populations grow and our individual roadspaces shrink we will be faced more and more with 'city' driving situations than with highway driving situations ( crawling for 2 miles on the highway in heavy traffic is no different than crawing for 2 miles on city streets ) .

Kudo's to those with foresight.

 

There is some funny stuff posted above.

First, Happy-2008-Prius-Owner, you must be a rich man if you have purchased 3 new cars in 3 years. Either that or you are poor because you buy a new car every year instead of buying a car and keeping it for 250K to 500K miles.

Second, you will be very disappointed if you expect the 2009 Prius to be different from your 2008. The 3rd generation Prius is due for the 2010 model year, not 2009.

Third, the 2009 Jetta is not new as it is based on VW's A5 chassis. The A5 chassis was introduced in Europe in 2003 and will be replaced by the A6 chassis for the 2009 model year. The A5 chassis was introduced in the US in 2006 and will continue for several more years. (The US only represents ~10% of VW's sales so we are slow to get new models.)

The 2.0L Common Rail TDI isn't even new. It was introduced in Europe for the 2007 model year. The diesel particulate filter isn't new either, it was also introduced several years ago for the EU market. What is new is the NOx catylist that allows the US model to pass CARB's emission regulations.

I'm not sure why the TDI and Prius communities are so quick to put down the other technolgy. (Over on TDIClub.com the TDI fans are currently discussing the same test and ripping on the Prius and hybrids in general) To me both technologies return excellent fuel mileage with the TDI doing better on the highway and the Prius in the city. My wife and I have both a TDI and a Prius and use each were they excel. Either technology is way ahead of the typical car sold in the US which get ~ 25 mpg combined.