2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI Car Review

Drive Time drives and gives a full review to the 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI

2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI Car Review Forever the champion of Diesel Engines Volkswagen delivers an all new golf TDI for 2010. VW’s 50-state compliant clean diesel lineup now includes four TDI models with all about the Touareg using a 2-liter, 4-cylinder turbo charge direct injection engine capable of netting 30 mpg city and 41 highway. As you probably know diesel engines used high compression ratios to take advantage of the fuels high energy content producing excellent low end torque but lower rpm’s which is why the turbo is here. So the Golf TDI makes only 140 horsepower but an impressive 236 pound-feet of either going torque and the Golf is sized right to make that feel more than adequate. My car has the sweet shifting six speed manual transmission and can accelerate to 60 miles per hour on 8.6 seconds. But trust me, in choosing the TDI model you’re not sacrificing on performance. It moves swiftly enough and it’s only 8 tons of a second behind its gas-powered counterpart. The Golf TDI comes in two or four-door models with an optional DSG 6-speed gearbox. VW makes the best dual clutch transmission on the market and it does achieve 1 mpg better on the highway but it costs $1100.00 and doesn’t improve acceleration plus this one is so fun to shift that you should save your money. Now I don’t need to tell you that these new diesels don’t smell, create soot or overly noisy or any of those 30-year-old preconceived diesel notions. VW has been doing a good enough job of those themselves so the question is how do you choose or more poignantly why would you choose the Golf TDI over one with a 5-cylinder gas engine. The pros are pretty obvious, 34 mpg combined with the TDI I suppose to 25mpg from the gas. But let me tell you my mileage for the week was even better than that closer to 38 mpg. You can go well over 400 miles on a tank, it emits less CO2 and your annual fuel cost averages about $1300.00 over $300.00 less than that in the gas engine. And as you would expect VW’s diesels carry a premium price tag, which of course is not on the pro’s list per se, but they do include premium content and design not to mention an upgraded sport suspension on the Golf TDI. And it’s easy to see why the Golf has a reputation as being a funded drive hatch bag. It’s got Volkswagens dynamic jeans throughout its mechanicals. It’s sure to bring a smile to your face and dispels the myth that small entry-level cars can’t be exciting to the driver. And last but not least as of this taping, Uncle Sam is still cutting you a check for up to $850.00 for your wise choice. On the downside that price premium for the TDI is about $4500.00 and diesel continues to run about a quarter more per gallon in gasoline. Now of course there are variables in this equation but no matter how you crunch the numbers it’s unlikely your higher initial investment in the Golf TDI would pay off for you financially but psychologically the upfront edit cost would likely be overshadowed by several years of seeing 40 mpg on your trip computer. MSRP of my well equipped tester is $25,914.00. From Drive Time on Yahoo Autos, I’m Steve Hammes.