I took delivery of my 2010 Golf Wagon TDI (Jetta Sportwagen in the U.S.) about three weeks ago. So far it has exceeded my expectations. My fuel economy continues to improve as I put more mileage on it.
My car is a bone-stock Comfortline with no options. It has the cold weather package that may be an option in the U.S. but that’s standard here in Canada.
I traded in a 2006 Mazda 3 GT Sedan with the 2.3l engine. I loved that car but the fuel economy was surprisingly bad. My wife owns an 06 3 GS Touring Sedan with the 2.0l engine and her fuel economy is far better than what I was getting. That’s no longer an issue since I bought the Golf TDI.
This isn’t my first diesel car. I had a 2005 Jetta Turbo Diesel that I bought off a lease in 1997. 2005 was the last year for that particular engine as the following year they brought out the TDI. My ’95 had all of 75hp and I recall that passing on the highway in the summer required turning off the air conditioning in some cases.
I have a couple of questions specifically related to the manual transmission that I’m hoping that someone might have some insight into.
The first thing is stalling it. I remember that it was impossible to stall my ’95 because of the torque it had. You could put it in first and dump the clutch and the car would slowly chug away. Not so with my 2010. I’ve driven a manual transmission for most of my driving life and traded in a manual for this car. On the first day I had it I stalled it twice. That’s happened a couple of times since too. My wife, who also only drives a manual, has also stalled it several times. Apart from getting used to the clutch, it seems to me that with 236 lb-ft of torque that stalling this car should be impossible. I’ve not seen a graph of the torque curve, but is it really light on torque right off idle? It seems odd that it should stall. Any thoughts? My other theory is that maybe with 236 lb-ft or torque there is some automatic protection built in for the clutch. That amount of torque in a small car is unheard of in the North American market. Is this possible?
The other question deals with gear ratios. My ’95 was a manual and I don’t remember it being any different from any other car I drove with a 5 speed manual. However, with my new Golf it seems that the combination of the TDI engine and six gears makes for a remarkably different way of driving. In my Mazda I could drive 60kph (35mph) in fourth gear no problem. In the TDI, fourth gear puts the engine at just 1500-1600 rpm. This seems low, but then again with the diesel trend of an early and deep torque curve this probably isn’t an issue. I find instinctively that I reach for a downshift on slight hills, though the car will chug along nicely at 1600 rpm. Should I just get used to seeing lower rpms on the tach or should I use a lower gear? (Third would give rpms of closer to 2000)
Finally, on the highway at 110kph (65mph) in sixth gear I’m only at 1700 to 1800 rpm. I use the cruise control and there doesn’t appear to be a problem. One route I drive has some serious hills and it’ll hold sixth with no problem. I suspect it’s that fat torque curve again. But if I were to try to get the best possible mileage, I presume that I’d have to drive 90kph (55mph) in sixth, which would probably have the engine turning over at 1400-1500 rpm. Is this reasonable? Has VW built the engine to perform like this?
I’ve been following the good recommendations on the break-in period, but I’m wondering how I should look to get the best mileage from this car once it is broken in. Once the engine is broken in, should I just go with the highest gear reasonably usable and not worry about the low rpm?
(The flip-side to the low rpm thing is that I quickly learned that I MUST use cruise control on the highway. The car is so quiet and the engine turning over so slowly that 2000 rpm on the tach in sixth gear has you at a speed that will attract some attention from the cops.)
Any advice will be appreciated
Thanks
Mike
My car is a bone-stock Comfortline with no options. It has the cold weather package that may be an option in the U.S. but that’s standard here in Canada.
I traded in a 2006 Mazda 3 GT Sedan with the 2.3l engine. I loved that car but the fuel economy was surprisingly bad. My wife owns an 06 3 GS Touring Sedan with the 2.0l engine and her fuel economy is far better than what I was getting. That’s no longer an issue since I bought the Golf TDI.
This isn’t my first diesel car. I had a 2005 Jetta Turbo Diesel that I bought off a lease in 1997. 2005 was the last year for that particular engine as the following year they brought out the TDI. My ’95 had all of 75hp and I recall that passing on the highway in the summer required turning off the air conditioning in some cases.
I have a couple of questions specifically related to the manual transmission that I’m hoping that someone might have some insight into.
The first thing is stalling it. I remember that it was impossible to stall my ’95 because of the torque it had. You could put it in first and dump the clutch and the car would slowly chug away. Not so with my 2010. I’ve driven a manual transmission for most of my driving life and traded in a manual for this car. On the first day I had it I stalled it twice. That’s happened a couple of times since too. My wife, who also only drives a manual, has also stalled it several times. Apart from getting used to the clutch, it seems to me that with 236 lb-ft of torque that stalling this car should be impossible. I’ve not seen a graph of the torque curve, but is it really light on torque right off idle? It seems odd that it should stall. Any thoughts? My other theory is that maybe with 236 lb-ft or torque there is some automatic protection built in for the clutch. That amount of torque in a small car is unheard of in the North American market. Is this possible?
The other question deals with gear ratios. My ’95 was a manual and I don’t remember it being any different from any other car I drove with a 5 speed manual. However, with my new Golf it seems that the combination of the TDI engine and six gears makes for a remarkably different way of driving. In my Mazda I could drive 60kph (35mph) in fourth gear no problem. In the TDI, fourth gear puts the engine at just 1500-1600 rpm. This seems low, but then again with the diesel trend of an early and deep torque curve this probably isn’t an issue. I find instinctively that I reach for a downshift on slight hills, though the car will chug along nicely at 1600 rpm. Should I just get used to seeing lower rpms on the tach or should I use a lower gear? (Third would give rpms of closer to 2000)
Finally, on the highway at 110kph (65mph) in sixth gear I’m only at 1700 to 1800 rpm. I use the cruise control and there doesn’t appear to be a problem. One route I drive has some serious hills and it’ll hold sixth with no problem. I suspect it’s that fat torque curve again. But if I were to try to get the best possible mileage, I presume that I’d have to drive 90kph (55mph) in sixth, which would probably have the engine turning over at 1400-1500 rpm. Is this reasonable? Has VW built the engine to perform like this?
I’ve been following the good recommendations on the break-in period, but I’m wondering how I should look to get the best mileage from this car once it is broken in. Once the engine is broken in, should I just go with the highest gear reasonably usable and not worry about the low rpm?
(The flip-side to the low rpm thing is that I quickly learned that I MUST use cruise control on the highway. The car is so quiet and the engine turning over so slowly that 2000 rpm on the tach in sixth gear has you at a speed that will attract some attention from the cops.)
Any advice will be appreciated
Thanks
Mike