a diesel minivan
Created March 23, 2006, at 8:05 pm by Anonymous
I drive a vw jetta tdi. I believe that a diesel minivan would sell well. parents need a car that can seat their kids and their kids friends. But they also want a minivan which is good on gas. a diesel minivan would fit that bill.
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I agree. Furthermore, I believe that a diesel-electric would be the best combination hybrid. A diesel generator much like the diesel electric trains that is tuned to maximize efficiency for electricity generation along with a battery pack would offer economy and reliability.
We just drove a Ford Galaxy diesel minivan all the way to Italy from Germany and back. The gas mileage in comparison to our Volvo XC V70 station wagon was phenomenal. About 600 miles to the tank! Hopefully, the States gets with the program and they start manufacturin a US Spec minivan with diesel.
Anita,
Are you sure you went 600 miles, not 600 km?
One big problem with the diesel's is you can't buy or register them new in 6 states (or more) Ca, Mass, NY, Vt are the ones I remember.
"Anita,
Are you sure you went 600 miles, not 600 km? "
I'm sure she went 600 miles, not km, or at least was certaily well capable of it. The Ford Galaxy minivan is actually a re-badged VW Sharan TDI.
It's rated at 5.8 l/100 km on the highway, or 40 mpg US.
It has a 70 liter fuel tank. Leaving a 10 liter reserve, it will go 1034 km per fillup or 646 miles with about 150 km of reserve capacity. About the same as my Passat TDI actually.
cool!
Too bad it's not a diesel hybrid. That could probably go 1200 miles on a tank.
Sorry, I gotta keep pushing :-)
It was actually in England that I got my wife clued into diesels. We rented a Passat TDI (not with the engine we get over here, but with the same engine as in the N. American Jetta, with manual shift). She was mightly impressed that we did a week of touring and 600 miles on a single tank of fuel.
We already had a Jetta TDI wagon. Driven at the speed limit, we can just about eke out 1300 km (812 miles) from a tank of fuel with it. When we returned we picked up our Passat TDI which, in the summer, can go 1100 km on a tank of fuel (688 miles) with ample reserve.
Another example of great range on diesels: usually my wife drives our Jetta TDI wagon but she was away visiting her family last week so I commuted in her car. My daily commute is 104 km (about 65 miles) of which the last 15 km or so is stop-and-go or city traffic. Each way.
By driving at the speed limit I averaged 48 mpg, and drove 1306.7 km on a single tank of fuel. That's 817 miles, consuming 64.696 liters of fuel.
My Passat is not quite so exceptional, only getting about 1100 km on the same amount of fuel.
What year is your jetta? that is about 4 to 5 miles to the gallon better than what I get on 2004 jetta. If you have any tips on how to impove my mpg that would be great. Thanks
The Jetta is a 2004, wagon with 5-speed manual. Is yours automatic?
I don't do anything special, just basically observe speed limits, no jackrabbit starts, try to pace traffic lights so I don't jump from red to red.
The other factor though, is that I run about 85-90% freeway.
Oh yeah, one more thing, I run tire pressures at max. allowable sidewall pressure maintaining the same front-to-rear differential as on the tire placard.
My jetta a 5 speed also. I do about 80% highway. maybe that the reason I get about 43 miles to the gallon.
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