Auto News: More about the Volkswagen Jetta
The 2012 Volkswagen Jetta. (Photo by Allen Penticoff)
By Allen Penticoff
Free-lance Writer
In my last column (“Mr. Green Car: Shifting automatically,” March 21-27 issue) I reported on the driving experience in a rented Volkswagen Jetta as it concerned the manual use of the automatic transmission. This week, I’ll look a bit more at the car itself. In particular, I’ll explore some of the powertrain options and what efficiency they provide or don’t provide.
I found the new Jetta to be a pleasant car to drive. It fit me well, and after a time, I adapted to its very sensitive/quick steering. The cruise control operation was a bit different from most, but I soon found it was quite logical and easy to use. A neat feature I discovered one rainy day was that the windshield wipers will automatically go into intermittent mode from continuous mode when you are stopped. Again, that computer knows what you’re up to.
The Jetta’s ride was nice, and it seemed to be a very roomy car — literally within the definition of your “average” sedan these days. There were times when I could push it in corners hard and found the handling is what you’d expect from a sedan with a sporty image. The engine had good response, and acceleration was excellent — although, as reported previously, in traffic in “Drive,” normal acceleration could be sluggish because the transmission quickly reaches sixth gear at low speed. But, if you put your foot down, it would respond quickly and go. I found manually shifting the automatic to have many benefits.
So, like nearly all new cars, it handles nice and all. Where the Jetta may stand out from the pack is the variety of engines and transmissions offered. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, FuelEconomy.gov, there are no less than eight combinations for a 2012 Jetta. There are two basic engines — a 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a 2.5-liter five-cylinder. The 2.0-liter engine can be had as a diesel as well as gas.
Both engines are available with a five-speed manual, six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Either engine with the automatic or five-speed manual uses regular unleaded gasoline, while those opting for the sporty versions will need to buy premium gas, as these will have turbocharged 2.0-liter engines for more power. Essentially, there are four engine variations in the line-up.
As far as fuel economy is concerned, the diesel with the manual transmission is the winner. VW calls their TDI diesels “clean diesel” — well, as clean as an ordinary diesel can be anyway. Their common rail fuel injectors and carbon traps do reduce pollution and provide reasonable economy, but it is not a technological breakthrough by any means. The diesel/manual attains 30 mpg city and 42 highway. Real-world users report highway mileage averages of 44.3 mpg. The EPA estimates the average annual fuel cost would be $1,850*.
By comparison, the 2.0-liter with five-speed manual is the best gas sipper, with 24 city and 34 highway mpg for an annual fuel cost of $2,100 burning regular gas. The 2.0-liter with an automatic is the least efficient of the lot with 23 city/29 hwy mpg for an annual fuel cost of $2,350. However, the 2.0-liter six-speed manual has the highest annual fuel cost of $2,400 because it uses premium fuel (22 city/33 hwy mpg). All the gas versions will attain highway mileage figures in the 30-34 mpg range.
Clearly, the diesel versions will save money despite the often high price of diesel fuel. Diesels also have a much longer range on a tank of fuel and are champs for saving long-distance commuters money. Driving a diesel is little different from driving a gas-fueled car; however, because of the fuel efficiency and technology, the VW Jetta diesel yields 299 grams of greenhouse gases per mile versus 317-355 grams per mile for the various gasoline fueled engine/drivetrain options. So, indeed their diesel is “cleaner.”
I’ve seen several times comments by auto magazine writers that if we switched over to driving with diesel, our oil resources would be conserved and dependence on foreign oil curtailed — and now we can see it has environmental benefits as well. Not included in the above is VW is coming out with a hybrid version of the Jetta for 2013 — I’ll look at that separately in the future. But for now, if you are in the market for an “average” sedan or wagon — a Jetta diesel may be a great car to move you about.
* EPA annual cost estimates are for comparison purposes. The website allows you to enter current local fuel prices and your annual mileage for a more accurate cost analysis.
From the April 4-10, 2012, issue
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One Comment
VW calls their TDI diesels “clean diesel” — well, as clean as an ordinary diesel can be anyway. Their common rail fuel injectors and carbon traps do reduce pollution and provide reasonable economy, but it is not a technological breakthrough by any means. The diesel/manual attains 30 mpg city and 42 highway — Author
You’ve got to be kiddin’. Clean is a relative term, and there is nothing “ordinary” about any diesel choice now sold in America. We have extremely technologically-advanced diesel engines here due to the strict, fuel-neutral, EPA emission compliance policies and the engineers’ response to these new policies.
Diesels have become squeaky clean as compared to just a few years ago.
The following illustrates my objection to the author’s conclusion about VW’s TDI used in the new Jetta being “no technological break through”:
(1)Volkswagen offers the only four-cylinder diesel in North America for light-duty applications that meet 50-state emission compliance and has offered this same power train, which no challengers since 2008. (2)Any diesel car in America today is a technological marvel, because, in just three short years, engineers had to cut PM by 80% and NOx by 95% , making any diesel sold in America 90% cleaner than the ones produced in 2006. (3) This clean up was done while not sacrificing fuel economy and dramatically improving driving dynamics and refinement. (4)This engine, along with the 6.7-liter Cummins are the only engines that meet these ridiculously-low levels of NOx without the need for diesel-exhaust fluid. (5)I think the fact that the TDI engine gets 40% better than the standard power train is better than “reasonable economy”. Today’s full-size pickup trucks top out at around 20 mpg, highway. Imagine if one manufacturer added a power train to its line up that gave consumers 40% better fuel economy and garnered 28 mpg, highway. Would the author call that “reasonable economy”? (6) The author maybe comparing the 42 mpg to some of the new product offerings out today, but this TDI engine has been sold since August 2008. No one except Prius had anything that could touch this fuel economy at the time. Although this new Jetta has new skin, this is not a new power train that can be compared to the new Cruze or the Eco-box choices that have recently arrived on the scene. Moreover, nothing comes close in performance to VW’s TDI in the over 40 club, with its 236 foot lbs of peak torque from 1750-2500 RPM. (6)Readers should note that any diesel can run on any blend of biodiesel without significantly impacting fuel economy while simultaneously drastically cutting down the use of petroleum, carbon lifecycle emissions, and many toxic exhaust fumes that are currently present in both gas and diesel cars using petroleum-based fuels. By comparison, if you want to use ethanol greater than 10% blend, you must find an E85 capable car and you should be ready to lose 24% fuel economy. If you opt for something like a CNG car be ready for lost fuel economy and suffer severely restricted range and limited car choices. You can choose between a Honda Civic and a Honda Civic. With diesels and biodiesel , it is a drop-in technology. The diesel is ready for the fuel the day you buy it with the user just taking a few precautions in cold weather as the only drawback.