popularmechanics.com — It's this year's ultimate MPG comparison test: the just-released 2009 Volskwagen Jetta TDi diesel against the uber-popular 2008 Toyota Prius hybrid. And PopularMechanics.com has it first, with nearly 500 miles of city and highway driving—and some very surprising results.
Sep 24, 2008 View in Crawl 4
glansbourgSep 25, 2008
VW's have long been marketed towards women and their design reflects that. I guess VW thinks women like "hip", unreliable cars.Whether you like it or not, the Prius' aero design is purely functional and I would venture to guess will be considered something of a classic down the road. I don't think I can say the same for the TDi. Plus gasoline is way cheaper.
b0nd23Sep 25, 2008
Check Le Mans racing prototypes, diesel powered cars have dominated this year.
Closed AccountSep 25, 2008
US has s**tty emissions laws. you cant sell american cars in china because they dont pass chinese emission laws.
fokovSep 26, 2008
Basically every fuel station around here has both gas and diesel, most of the newer pumps have them at the same location. It seems to me they are investing the hardware to the point where they can inject biodiesel into their regular stations without having to do any other work.
obamawins08Sep 26, 2008
NO, diesel is 25% more where I live.
madfastrideSep 26, 2008
The thing is the differences... The prius won by 12.7 MPH in the city and the Jetta won by .6 MPH on the highway! Considering most driving is done on city streets for commuting, grocery runs and the other things that take up 95% (making that up) of our driving. It's even more important. Plus I wonder how much of the highway driving was done once the Prius's battery was low forcing the engine to be the sole source of power. A known issue when driving on the highway for extended periods of time with little breaking to recharge the battery. This won't really happen in a commuting by highway situation since it takes time for the battery to drain.