02-11-2011, 01:08 PM
Matt,
When you consider the expense of diesel, consider also that you are getting better milage so use less of it overall. Diesel is always more expensive in the winter. The other part of biL's equation about diesel coming out of the refining process before gas is true, but it also comes out at about the same point as heating fuel - hence the winter pricing!
As squid notes, you should easily pull off 55-65 mpg. I have a 2001 Golf TDi and currently get about 6 l/ 100km (40mpg) in cold winter stop-and-start city driving - my commute is only about 10 km right now, so the engine does not warm up. In the summer, I can get 5 l/100km (47 mpg) city, and 4.5l/100km (52 mpg) highway. And that is not by being light on the accelerator either - 120 km/h (75 mph) on the highway. Keeping to the speed limit pushes the milage past 55 mpg.
So at its worst (heavy foot, city driving, cold winter) the TDi approaches Hybrid milage rates, with a far simpler engine and electronics. I'd be interested in seeing a Prius (or the like) when they reach the totals my previous diesels had (296,000km - 1996 turbo diesel Golf, 300,000km+ - 1982 diesel Jetta). Current car is at only 190,000km, so it's got a ways to go...
Hope that helps.
Andrew
When you consider the expense of diesel, consider also that you are getting better milage so use less of it overall. Diesel is always more expensive in the winter. The other part of biL's equation about diesel coming out of the refining process before gas is true, but it also comes out at about the same point as heating fuel - hence the winter pricing!
As squid notes, you should easily pull off 55-65 mpg. I have a 2001 Golf TDi and currently get about 6 l/ 100km (40mpg) in cold winter stop-and-start city driving - my commute is only about 10 km right now, so the engine does not warm up. In the summer, I can get 5 l/100km (47 mpg) city, and 4.5l/100km (52 mpg) highway. And that is not by being light on the accelerator either - 120 km/h (75 mph) on the highway. Keeping to the speed limit pushes the milage past 55 mpg.
So at its worst (heavy foot, city driving, cold winter) the TDi approaches Hybrid milage rates, with a far simpler engine and electronics. I'd be interested in seeing a Prius (or the like) when they reach the totals my previous diesels had (296,000km - 1996 turbo diesel Golf, 300,000km+ - 1982 diesel Jetta). Current car is at only 190,000km, so it's got a ways to go...
Hope that helps.
Andrew