Insiders MPG Information Center found this article at caranddriver.com. Really focuses in on 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI and its outstanding MPG.
2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Diesel Rated at 41 MPG Highway – Car News
Introducing the cheapest 40+ mpg sedan, which is sounding pretty good these days.
Just when you thought there wasn’t a 40-plus-mpg car available for $20K other than the pipsqueak Smart Fortwo, we happened upon this timely little tidbit on the EPA’s website: the 2009 Jetta TDI is officially rated at 30 mpg city, 41 mpg highway for the six-speed-manual model and 29 city, 40 highway when equipped with the six-speed DSG dual-clutch automated manual.
The previous 2006 Jetta TDI was rated at 30/37 for the five-speed manual and 30/38 for the six-speed DSG (according to the EPA’s new methods), which means the ’09 model improves its highway figure roughly 10 percent while at the same time boosting horsepower by 40 to 140, bumping torque by 59 lb-ft to 236, and making the oil burner clean enough to be sold in all 50 states.
VW is quick to suggest that it expects the new Jetta TDI to outperform the EPA’s figures—by as much as 20 percent—a diesel phenomenon we don’t totally discredit due to real-world economy as high as 25 mpg in our long-term Mercedes-Benz GL320 CDI (rated at 18/24). And even though diesel prices are currently hovering about 20 percent higher than gas, the Jetta TDI’s ratings out thrift gas-powered Jettas by about 40 percent.
The 2009 Jetta TDI will be available starting in August as both a sedan and a wagon (SportWagen in VW-speak). It was originally scheduled to go on-sale this spring but it had to go through a second round of emissions testing and validation after fixing an emissions-related issue. The Jetta TDI will sticker around $20,000, or a $2000 increment over the base, 170-hp 2.5-liter inline-five models. That would make the TDI the cheapest in the 40-mpg sedan club; less expensive than both the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrid.
