Bought a TDI

On our 98 beetle right inside the fuel filler to the left was a little vent button, if pushed in with the fuel nozzle it allowed you to top off the tank a little more, found that on the TDI forums, plus it made filling it nicer. Not sure on what you have on the new model Eric. Would have been nice with 20 gallon tanks eh!

I believe they do that because the pumps are higher volume and there's some potential for fuel foam spraying back out the filler neck on a small car/pickup tank.

43mpg sounds about right. With cold temps and winter fuel the mileage will be a bit lower, something to keep in mind.

I generally fill my car at around 1/4 tank, have been stuck in traffic before and been thankful I wasn't trying to nurse the last drop out of the tank!

I'm getting better at driving it. It really is more efficient at higher RPMs than I'd usually run. I generally don't get into 6th gear. My commute is 60 miles uphill (about 2,000 feet of elevation gain). I'm getting about 47 on the way up and 53 on the way home. Of course, I know the road very well, so that helps. Better fuel probably helps. The additive may help a bit. But that's an average of 50 mpg on my commute, which is all I ever wanted or expected. Yep, if it ever gets cold, I'm sure I'll take a hit. It still equals more beer money. Anyway, I'm hooked. I'm going to buy a little computer that plugs into the car's monitoring system and spits out all kinds of neat measurements. I didn't realize that I was buying another hobby instead of just another car.

I'm warning you, don't get too wrapped up in all the stuff the people at tdiclub.com are doing. It'll cost you a fortune before you're through. A start: http://ross-tech.com/vag-com/index.html . Also I wouldn't necessarily believe the trip computer until I verified it. Also all German cars' odometers seem to run 4 mph high, but it doesn't affect the miles driven. Also, you gotta use that diesel torque. Don't forget to get the anti gel especially if there's a cold snap coming.

I know, man.

My first fill pretty well matched the mpg on the meter for that tank, so it's in the ballpark, I think.

I like how the fuel supply to the engine cuts off when you're coasting. Totally alters my driving style. I've been gunning it up the hills then coasting back to cruising speed on the way back down the other side. The meter likes that. It's also fun to wind it up, which is not something I usually do with a gas engine.

Winding up a diesel? It's the torque!

Winding it up with a load on, of course. WOT in tdiforum lingo.

The diesel torque curve is flat. A wonderful thing that means you can rev it up and get the same torque the whole way. All that happens is the HP goes up and up as the rpms climb. HP on all engines, at a given torque, is directly related to RPM. Torque is great but top end on a turbo diesel will blow you away. Spool'er up.

top end...4000rpm

I see Mazda is going to offer a 2.2 liter Skyactiv diesel option in the '14 Mazda 6

Thanks for the tip!

FYI, on my A4 Golf something like 90% of the torque was at idle. For the fun of it I used to take off on a flat and shift through all the gears and never touch the accelerator.

It's interesting that you are getting such good mileage with your car. Everything thing I had heard about the new TDIs is they sacrificed mileage for HP and that 40/45MPG was the new mark.

My A4 will do 50MPG day in and day out on the highway as long has I don't go over 75MPH. That's with over 200,000 miles on it. I'm quickly closing in on the quarter of a million mile club.

Oddly enough I'm not sure I would buy another. If the MPG is what I hear then it's really not saving much. Diesel fuel in Maine is pretty expensive compared to gas (road tax). Combine that with the initial cost and cost of maintenance it just isn't that great of a pay off anymore when you can find gas cars that are with in a stones throw of 40MPG.

That being said enjoy yours, my Golf is almost like an old friend at this point. It's not going to be easy when I move on as silly as that sounds.

K

I really miss the torque.

I put a Nissan SD-22 diesel into a Ford Ranger. Gets me about 35 - 40 MPG highway.