2011 VW Golf TDI. An update.

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Some of you asked me to check back in a few thousand miles with my new 2011 Golf TDI experience. I have about 3000 miles on the car so it's in it's early stages of breaking in.
Yesterday I drove from Laramie, Wy to Jackson Hole, Wy. The total trip was about 433 miles and included some mixed driving around the city of Rock Springs but was done mostly on Interstate 80 and Highway 191. Elevation ranges from 6000 ft. to 7000 ft. with rolling hills during most of the trip. Temperatures were in the 20's and 30's.
Total fuel economy was 47.4 MPG for the 433 miles according to the MFD which has proven highly accurate compared to paper and pencil calculations. I filled up before the trip with Exxon Diesel and added 7 ounces of Optilube XPD to the tank. As you can see, the car traveled 433 miles on 9/16ths of a tank of fuel. The car has a 6 speed manual trans. I used cruise control and left it set at 70 mph on I-80 and around 65 mph on Highway 191 (a two lane highway). I'm running 45 PSI in my tires. The car has consumed zero oil on the dipstick in 3000 miles and I'm planning my first oil and filter change at 10,000 miles with 507.00 spec oil in line with VW recommendations.

I really feel like I could have broken the 50 mpg mark on this trip if I would have hypermiled a bit more and eliminated the local city driving. This is an "over the road" car and mileage suffers a bit with mixed city driving like with any car. The OptiLube XPD is also a cetane booster and I believe it improves mileage as well as providing fuel system lubricity.

It's early in the game, but I really love this car. It handles great and is fun to drive. The fuel economy is just an added bonus.

w2evc9.jpg
 
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My brother has a 2011 TDi. Drives in DC traffic and gets 42 or so there with idling. On trips he has broken 50, and is shooting for 60. Did first oil change at about 8000 miles.

Uses TCW-3 in a very small dose, 6MT shifts at the computer light points, and the car runs nice!
 
Yep. I feel as if 50 mpg is do-able with careful driving. Also, my Golf is a 2dr hatchback which is the lightest weight TDI for sale in the U.S.
CR VW diesels use almost no fuel at idle. Maybe a pint per hour. Amazing.

These cars are underrated by the EPA at 41 mpg.
 
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Glad to hear you are enjoying the car. Your mileage should steadily improve over the next 50k, and your estimates sound right. After 100k the injector nozzles slowly start to restrict and the mileage drops, but when you replace them it goes right back up for another 100k.
What are the VW intervals for oil change now? They used to be at 5k,10k, and then every 10k. With 504/507 I was curious if they changed.
 
VW recommends 10,000 mile oil change intervals starting day one. C.R. TDI's are run-in at the factory on a test stand, drained, then filled with the factory oil fill before being installed in the vehicle. If true, that should eliminate any need for a short first oil change interval IMO.

Yes. Many of these diesels don't see maximum MPG until 50k miles which is where they achieve maximum compression pressures after the ring packs fully seat.
 
I set my info center to range remaining - it is more accurate than the long term fuel trim.

I have tried SOME hypermiling techniques (current world record holder for highway miles at 60mph is the 2010 TDI J at 58mpg and change) but criminy, its a jetta and sometimes I like expressing that fact - I dont slow for corners.

In the extreme cold we had, I found my mileage droppign a lot, get me over 35 or so and 45mpg across the entire tank (mixed driving, 75% pure highway) over 600 miles is what I get.

My PD2 J5 got about 2mpg better in all cases, but it had 40 less hp and 60 less ftlbs
 
That may not have been your driving techniques that lowered the mpg. Winterized fuel usually is the culprit.
 
Originally Posted By: bruno
What kind of tires call for 45psi ?


Tires don't call for a certain pressure; vehicle manufacturers do.

That said, most tires allow up to 44psi, while some XL (extra load) tires allow up to 51psi.
 
TDI's(diesel's in general) can take upwards of 50k miles to break-in properly. This was discussed in length on TDIClub.com.

I unsure if it was changed with the CR 2.0 engine but members saw their fuel economy steadily increase from 0-50k on PD/VE motors.

So if you log fuel economy and do mostly the same driving over 50k miles you could chart an upward trend in fuel economy as the rings set in. That said DO NOT baby the motor/short shift/lug the engine. Run in up to redline frequently so you get good ring seal and proper combustion. The amount of fuel you will use is negligible.
 
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I looked at the Jetta Diesel yesterday and nice package however after doing some calculations here is what I developed.
The diesel costs $3,000 more than the gas equivalent. Using 15,000 miles a year and cost of gas at $3, diesel at $3.20 and new car gas at 30mpg and diesel at 45 it will take almost 7 years to break even on fuel with the additional cost of the diesel. At $5/gal the break even is down to just under 4 years.

Further, after the 36,000 free maintenance the big bucks kick in. auto transmission fluid change (required every 40,000 miles on the dual clutch auto transmission) and only a dealer can do it as it is sealed and requires special tools, is close to $500 plus the particulate filter is also changed every 40,000 miles.

Thus, the additional cost of the diesel compared to gas may not be worth the fuel savings. If only keep 4 years it is more expensive to operate than gas.

I know, sort of catch 22 but these manufacturers that are making cars that only the dealer can service is a bummer and built to keep their service bays full

Thoughts?
 
Three thousand more for the engine alone? Are you sure you're apples to apples?

Changing a particulate filter every 40,000 miles? Is that written someplace?

Only a dealership can change the fluid in a direct shift gearbox? Wow!

The TDI is so misunderstood...
 
That is according the sales person, apples to apples the diesel engine costs 3000 more ( sticker prices confirm it) . Yes, the maintenance is detailed in the owners manual, he found one for me to peruse and those mileage numbers are correct for the auto trans fluid change and particulate filter. THis is for the auto trans not the manual stick shift
 
First lesson, never trust what a salesman tells you. Particularly with a Volkswagen salesman, who'd rather get one of those gas models off his lot with the tidy commission he'll get for doing so.

It would also pay to compare a gasoline version that is spec'd similarly to the TDI. A quick look got me a price difference of just $2200. Remember that a TDI is always more well equipped than a gasoline version.

In addition, the bit about changing out the particulate filter at 40K and only the dealer being able to service the DSG is pure unadulterated BULL DUNG!!! Plenty of people do their own DSG service, or there are independent shops everywhere who can easily handle the job for you and at a much lower price. The particulate filter should never need to be changed. FACT. I'd stake my life that the manual instructions were misread.

You've just been "Punk'd" by a typical sales-floor moron...
 
Yes...I agree wholeheartedly with rshunter.

You got had...and how!

Yes you need to change the DSG fluid.

NO the dealer is not the only one who can do it(dealer [censored]).

NO you do not change the DPF in the exhaust.

Yes you change the air filter in the DSG transmission(which is what he meant every 40k).

A DSG service isn't much different that any other auto tranny in the real world.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=169356
 
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Maybe I misread the manual,( but I don't think so) the salesman did not make those statements, that is what I perceived when I read the manual. Other VW forums say the cost of the tranny fluid change on the dual clutch tranny is around $480. It is a sealed tranny, cannot check the fluid and the VW forums say special tools are required to change the fluid. So, maybe after negotiatijng the price diff is 2200, okay so the break even is a little quicker but still several years. As to the maint, well I go with the VW forums on that one and the owners manual.

If one is capable of doing the maint that is great if not then the diesel is more expensive to maintain then a gas version. Plus, I would not purchase a gas VW, too many other options out there then a German car.
 
I think that 44 number is the maximum allowable pressure - it's found on the tire sidewall . It's not the recommended pressure .
 
Quote from another forum. Not trying to be difficult just trying to understand the cost of ownership

"Our Jetta has been running well and came with free maintenance to 36,000 miles. I've always taken care of all my vehicle's service needs—oil changes, brakes, even head gaskets, A/C compressors and the like. So I took out the Jetta's owner's manual (yes, that book that hardly anyone reads) to check what was required at the 40,000-mile service. It included the usual engine oil and filter change, normal checks, a fuel filter change—which I expected being a diesel—but it also included a transmission oil and filter change.

Change the transmission oil and filter? Really?

Our Jetta TDI is equipped with a DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) transmission, which, instead of having a torque converter like a conventional automatic transmission, acts like a manual gearbox that shifts automatically by using two clutches. This is designed to improve fuel economy by eliminating the energy losses in the torque converter. And it seems to be working: Our TDI is getting around 36 mpg... even with a 17-year-old boy at the wheel.

Considering the complexity of the DSG, I thought that changing the fluid and filter wouldn't be a big deal. I've worked on transmissions before, and I figured all I had to do was get the oil and filter from the VW dealer and change it while I'm replacing the engine oil.

So I sent my son down to the dealer to pick up the supplies on Saturday morning (but not too early as a 17-year-old is not really conscious until noon). However, things changed a little when he called me at the dealership parts department. He said that the service staff told him that we need special equipment to change the oil on a DSG transmission. I told him to come home without the parts and we'll investigate further... I don't always trust car dealers.

After reading forums such as VWvortex and TDIclub, I learned that to change the transmission oil and filter I had to get a special filler tube and a computer scan tool to recalibrate. These two pieces of equipment cost around $250, plus the cost of the fluid and filter. The dealer quoted $350 for the transmission oil and filter and $480 for the complete service, so I was left asking myself: "Where is the financial incentive of having this energy-saving transmission and even the diesel?" Doing a quick calculation the savings I would have achieved over a gasoline-powered car getting 28 mpg have just been cut in about half due to the cost of the transmission fluid change. The DSG transmission is only adding a small percent fuel economy gain compared to a regular automatic.

I have been called tight with my money, but I like to think of myself as frugal. But we decided to bring the car to the dealer, begrudgingly, to do the complete service. I suppose I did have free servicing up to 36,000 miles, but I still think it's odd that the first service I'm paying for necessitates spending money on the transmission.

When my son got back I looked at the invoice and saw the DSG fluid and filter had not been done, so I called the dealer. They told me they didn't perform this service as I would have had to ask for that separately—even though the service schedule clearly states that the DSG oil and filter charge are part of the 40K service. I learned that the DSG service would be an additional $350 on top of the $480 for the so-called complete service. They did agree to change the DSG for free when I complained that the "complete 40,000 mile service," for which I had paid, should have included the transmission."
 
Dont know why anyone would buy an AT TDI... Or any other vehicle in AT if they could help it... LOL.

And I drive in DC traffic all the time, so traffic isnt an excuse...

Saves the hassle of that DSG fluid change, and likely double the clutch changes at minimum!
 
Its about the MPG and not about the cost. Not everyone simply shops on cost. But, everyone will sit there and formulate the cost and slam the vehicle purchase. Stoopith magazine and newspaper writers think about nothing else but cost when you mention TDI. So sad!

Between choosing an AT and knee replacement, I'd take an AT.

I don't know why anyone would pay $40k for a Volt.

Why spend $50k on a full size truck if you don't have anything to tow, plow, or haul? But, there is one in almost every driveway too.

And, I haven't seen any Prius's towing a motorcycle, snowmobile, sailboard..... I've seen TDI's pulling all kinds of stuff and getting great mileage to boot.

TDI is a great idea. I wish that more automakers would provide us with the diesel option.

IMO, the DSG is a POS. Sorry, but you'll understand in 50k or so why.

If you're aggressive with a TDI, you still get great MPG. If you're aggressive with a gas fueled vehicle, your MPG nosedives.

If they offered a TDI in the Tiguan, I'd have it and not my Kia. I can deal with the TDI quirks.

I pray that GM produces the diesel Cruze. I hate the automakers that promised us diesels during that last fuel ramp up, and delivered nothing.

It sux that pressure sensor glow plugs are not compatible with high percentages of biodiesel. Whats the "B" limit for 2011's?
 
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