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December 13, 2010.

Someone Needs to Help us Invent the Fun-to-MPG Ratio


Kelley Blue Book’s (www.kbb.com) list of 2010’s Top 10 Green Cars (meaning vehicles with the best fuel-efficiency) holds is dominated by hybrid vehicles, while only two clean diesel-powered models, including our 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI® (30 for city driving and 42 for highway*) made the list. Notably, the Golf is fourth ranked directly behind three hybrids. In total, six hybrids, two clean diesel vehicles and two small cars round out the top 10. But the fuel efficiency numbers don’t tell the whole story here. By most professional accounts, clean diesel vehicles provide comparable or better fuel economy to hybrids, especially for highway driving, without sacrificing performance. We wouldn’t disparage hybrid technology as a whole, especially as we’re introducing a brand new hybrid Touareg for 2011, but, in large part, to achieve the economy that many of these hybrids deliver, you sacrifice the thrill of driving. And that’s something we at Volkswagen will not stand for.


That’s more or less the thesis of a story that appeared on HybridCars.com. The author explains, “the 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI packs a powerful punch of low-end torque and delivers an estimated 42 miles to the gallon…Making the Golf TDI one of the most compelling mpg-per-dollar options.”


Maybe that’s why clean diesel sales have increased so much. In October, Volkswagen’s popular TDI® models achieved their second best sales month of the year with 5,093 sales. That’s 25% of VW’s total sales volume for the month!


Kelley Blue Book’s list accounts only for MPG. We like to think that if there were a list that considered the ratio between cost, mpg and driving pleasure, clean diesel vehicles would take the lion’s share of those spots.


Click here for the full article from HybridCars.com:


http://www.hybridcars.com/news/can-clean-diesel-compete-electric-drive-world-27794.html


*2010 Golf 2.0L TDI Clean Diesel, automatic transmission. EPA estimates. Your mileage will vary.

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3 Comments

  1. 1. Anthony Roselli | February 23, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    Berniw this is ALL YOU!

  2. 2. Pete Poole | February 26, 2011 at 7:54 am

    One potent argument is that EPA estimates are based off a new engine, all TDI engines begin to get better economy after the engine begins to wear in. Hybrids will do this to an extent but over time their efficiency begins to degrade as their battery packs age, not to mention the expense of replacing said pack… that would be a huge buzz kill in the Fun-to-MPG ratio.

  3. 3. Michael Miner | May 3, 2011 at 10:53 pm

    i got it! take any other car in the TDI’s class, put 5 gals of fuel in each. take them to a track (road circut) and see with one will go the most laps, and more MPG, and who has the fastest lap times. also post up 0-60, 1/4 ET and speed, 60-0 times and respective distances. it one was to put those numbers up, they would speak for them selfs.