Topic: Test Drive: 2013 Volkswagen Golf TDI Highline 5-door

[mixmanmash]

"During the test week, outside temperature dropped to -35 Celsius with the wind chill factor"

Can anyone explain why the vehicle would care what the wind chill factor was?  Its a lump of metal, it doesn't sweat.  It will behave the same regardless of the windspeed surely?

Im curious to see how TDI sales will cope with some competition from mazda.  Ive liked eurodiesels Ive driven, but here the market is different due to the way road and fuel taxes are set.

The only way Windchill matters to a car is because it is a rate of cooling. It is possible for a car to never warm up completely; rate of cooling ( to ambient, never below) is faster the rate of heating that the engine running can manage.  that will affect the fuel usage and especially the cabin heating. But that is about it. And of course it will affect how fast the car drops to ambient when turned off.

Many factors in addition to the above.  Cold temperatures increase the air resistance because colder air is denser.  Wind against you or somewhat against you will increase resistance.  Cold temperatures increase engine & transmission friction (think of how hard it is to pour cold oil versus hot oil).  Your tire pressure drops at colder temperatures so if they weren't adjusted for it, that can have an influence.  If there is snow & ice on the road, that increases rolling resistance.

[Solstice2006]

"You see, the TDI costs more to build, so opting for one requires an extra $2,300 over the price of its gas-powered equivalent." False statement as the true costs for manufacturing a diesel over a ICE is no where near that number.

In Europe the up-charge is less than a grand. Yet another ploy to keep users on this side of the pond and diesels acceptance at a distance.

Emissions standards are very different in Europe than they are here. The limit on nitrogen oxides here is much stricter than it is in Europe. It is difficult for diesel engines to meet these standards without expensive emissions equipment. Thus, diesel is an expensive option here.

Just look at the new Chevrolet Cruze diesel. It's only available in the top LTZ trim because it's an expensive engine and at this point it only makes economic sense if they can throw in the low cost but high margin options (like leather, nav, etc).

Yet somehow Mazda managed to make a world diesel engine without and modifications to exhaust systems.

+1 for the Mazda.  I'd snap up a Mazda3 Diesel in a second (despite my loyalty to Subaru - hey, bring me an Impreza Hatch with a boxerdiesel, and Subaru, you will own me for life).  As for the Mazda6 - saw it at the Auto Show, not impressed.  The CX-5 will fare much better in Canada.

Michael - Why isn't the Subaru Impreza Hatch on the list of competitors?  STOP FORGETTING ABOUT SUBARU!   

I'm confused.. you would pick up a Mazda3 diesel, with that smiley face, and not the greatest interior.  But you were not impressed with the Mazda6 diesel, that is arguably one of the best looking family sedans, and has a great interior, soft touches, two different choices of leather.

[Solstice2006]

During the week I tested the Golf, regular unleaded was priced at $1.31 a litre while diesel fuel was $1.41.  The 2.5L engine consumes 6.5 L/100 km on the highway, versus 4.7 for the TDI. Using the fuel prices mentioned above, driving 25,000 km annually means the gasoline Golf will cost $2,129 and the TDI will cost $1,657; it will take more than four years before you recuperate the initial cost for upgrading to the diesel engine.

 

I understand where your going with this.  But I think it's important to take into account that on average 6 months of the year diesel is 10 cents cheaper than gasoline, and the other 6 months is 10 cents more.  So it basically breaks even.  So using this formula it would probably take less than 4 years.  And most people (especially Canadians) own their cars for more than 100,000 kms, and as others have mentioned, the resale value is great.  The diesel pump next to the gasoline pump, looks the same to me, and I don't smell diesel on the ground...

[Woohoo!]

Michael - Why isn't the Subaru Impreza Hatch on the list of competitors?  STOP FORGETTING ABOUT SUBARU!   

You're absolutely right -- the Subaru Impreza 5-door should definitely be considered as a Golf competitor. :-)

[Woohoo!]

During the week I tested the Golf, regular unleaded was priced at $1.31 a litre while diesel fuel was $1.41.  The 2.5L engine consumes 6.5 L/100 km on the highway, versus 4.7 for the TDI. Using the fuel prices mentioned above, driving 25,000 km annually means the gasoline Golf will cost $2,129 and the TDI will cost $1,657; it will take more than four years before you recuperate the initial cost for upgrading to the diesel engine.

 

I understand where your going with this.  But I think it's important to take into account that on average 6 months of the year diesel is 10 cents cheaper than gasoline, and the other 6 months is 10 cents more.  So it basically breaks even.  So using this formula it would probably take less than 4 years.  And most people (especially Canadians) own their cars for more than 100,000 kms, and as others have mentioned, the resale value is great.  The diesel pump next to the gasoline pump, looks the same to me, and I don't smell diesel on the ground...

Figure $1,539 instead of $1,657 annually if diesel and gasoline were both priced at $1.31. That's about the equivalent of a monthly lease payment over four years. :-)

[tpl]

"During the test week, outside temperature dropped to -35 Celsius with the wind chill factor"

Can anyone explain why the vehicle would care what the wind chill factor was?  Its a lump of metal, it doesn't sweat.  It will behave the same regardless of the windspeed surely?

Im curious to see how TDI sales will cope with some competition from mazda.  Ive liked eurodiesels Ive driven, but here the market is different due to the way road and fuel taxes are set.

The only way Windchill matters to a car is because it is a rate of cooling. It is possible for a car to never warm up completely; rate of cooling ( to ambient, never below) is faster the rate of heating that the engine running can manage.  that will affect the fuel usage and especially the cabin heating. But that is about it. And of course it will affect how fast the car drops to ambient when turned off.

Many factors in addition to the above.  Cold temperatures increase the air resistance because colder air is denser.  Wind against you or somewhat against you will increase resistance.  Cold temperatures increase engine & transmission friction (think of how hard it is to pour cold oil versus hot oil).  Your tire pressure drops at colder temperatures so if they weren't adjusted for it, that can have an influence.  If there is snow & ice on the road, that increases rolling resistance.

All those factors affect fuel economy more than wind chill. The economy drop that can be attributed to  faster cooling is a very minor factor.  At road speeds the extra wind resistance caused by added air density is probably close to unmeasurable outside a windtunnel and probably less than the difference between a clean car and a dirty one.

[SeaBlueS4]

During the week I tested the Golf, regular unleaded was priced at $1.31 a litre while diesel fuel was $1.41.  The 2.5L engine consumes 6.5 L/100 km on the highway, versus 4.7 for the TDI. Using the fuel prices mentioned above, driving 25,000 km annually means the gasoline Golf will cost $2,129 and the TDI will cost $1,657; it will take more than four years before you recuperate the initial cost for upgrading to the diesel engine.

 

I understand where your going with this.  But I think it's important to take into account that on average 6 months of the year diesel is 10 cents cheaper than gasoline, and the other 6 months is 10 cents more.  So it basically breaks even.  So using this formula it would probably take less than 4 years.  And most people (especially Canadians) own their cars for more than 100,000 kms, and as others have mentioned, the resale value is great.  The diesel pump next to the gasoline pump, looks the same to me, and I don't smell diesel on the ground...

Figure $1,539 instead of $1,657 annually if diesel and gasoline were both priced at $1.31. That's about the equivalent of a monthly lease payment over four years. :-)

If gas and diesel are both $1.31 / litre, the annual costs are $2,129 and $1,539 respectively. So ~ $600 savings per year, $2,400 over 4 yrs.

And of course higher mileage users tend to pick the diesel, keep their cars longer and fuel prices are likely to increase over the coming years so that $2,400 savings could easliy become $3k, $4k, $5k etc.

[Canadiain]

Many factors in addition to the above.  Cold temperatures increase the air resistance because colder air is denser.  Wind against you or somewhat against you will increase resistance.  Cold temperatures increase engine & transmission friction (think of how hard it is to pour cold oil versus hot oil).  Your tire pressure drops at colder temperatures so if they weren't adjusted for it, that can have an influence.  If there is snow & ice on the road, that increases rolling resistance.

Temperature I get, but windchill isnt temperature, its a way to quantify  the way wind causes a living organism to feel colder than the ambient temperature alone due to evaporative cooling of the skin. 

Surely if its a factor for cars then driving at 100kmh is going to have a seriously negative effect all the time due to the air speed against the vehicle....  Im not buying that.   Increased cooling rates would be marginal at best.... thats why radiators have fans after all.

[Soram6275]

The only thing I don't like about this car is the cheap ass nav/media interface.  The one on the GTI is much different and much better (and bigger).  I don't mind this nav on the cheapo Jetta, but not on a car costing this much.  Hopefully the next model will have the upgraded media interface system.

[mixmanmash]

Many factors in addition to the above.  Cold temperatures increase the air resistance because colder air is denser.  Wind against you or somewhat against you will increase resistance.  Cold temperatures increase engine & transmission friction (think of how hard it is to pour cold oil versus hot oil).  Your tire pressure drops at colder temperatures so if they weren't adjusted for it, that can have an influence.  If there is snow & ice on the road, that increases rolling resistance.

Temperature I get, but windchill isnt temperature, its a way to quantify  the way wind causes a living organism to feel colder than the ambient temperature alone due to evaporative cooling of the skin. 

Surely if its a factor for cars then driving at 100kmh is going to have a seriously negative effect all the time due to the air speed against the vehicle....  Im not buying that.   Increased cooling rates would be marginal at best.... thats why radiators have fans after all.

Radiators have fans for stop and go traffic...

[Northland]

We own a 2011 VW Golf TDI and will never buy another vehicle that is not a diesel.

Where we live diesel fuel is from 5 to 10 cents cheaper that gas from April until November. The diesel costs go up in winter as home heating oil prices go higher. With the summer tires on we get up to 4.4 litres/100 km on the highway.  With winter tires it is more like 5.5 litres/100 km. My wife has a 34 km commute to work on a rural highway with few stops.   

The writer's comments about dirty diesel are silly. He should find another place to refuel. My wife has never complained about filling up the Golf and since she drives it 90% of the time she also fills it up-usually at Mac's store.   

We also have a 2001 Subaru Forester with 270,000 km which is running well but only gets 32 mpgs on the same highway trip. I had a 2005 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 which was the worst vehicle I ever owned. Clumsy, sucked gas (15+litres/100 km) and was terrible for winter driving-even with 2 Great Danes in the back and 150 lbs of sand bags.

We bought the VW after having bought a fairly large 30hp Kubota B7800 tractor. Immense power, reliability and sips fuel. It convinced me of the merits of diesel technology.