Elmo P. Shagnasty > wrote:
> In article >,
> wrote:
>> I get 46 overall, with 50+ at 70mph on the freeway.
>> 2003 CVT. 50,000 miles.

> A buddy of mine, on a complete lark, went and bought a used Beetle
> diesel. 47K miles on it.

> His first full tank, in town, with the AC blowing hard, was 47mpg.

The VW golf TDI was on my short list. At first I didn't think I'd like it,
remembering a VW Rabbit diesel rattling in my driveway in the 70's.
The new TDI is pretty quiet. You can hear something rattling around, but
it is a different pitch than what I remember and not obnoxious.

The smell of diesel is still there, which varies greatly from time to time
and vehicle to vehicle.

There is also a drop in MPG between 5 speed and automatic.
The EPA rating is 42 hwy with auto.
The EPA rating for highway 5 speed is 47, and the personal reports on
fueleconomy.gov indicate that the A/C might not have been the only thing
blowing hard for your friend.
The city ratings for stick and auto are 38 and 35.
The Golf suffers more in the city.
The difference is 42/34, higher stick, lower automatic.
I hadn't looked at the Beetle.

The TDI diesel was redesigned in 2004 for higher mileage than what was
available when I was shopping.

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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5