If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up to much space!
We’ve had the chance to drive just about every version of Volkswagen’s Jetta. We’ve driven the GLI with the Turbo motor, the now discontinued 5 cylinder, the excellent TDI, and now the Hybrid.
The big question with the Jetta Hybrid, is, is it the better value, and the better choice over the TDI. As you can tell from the title of this video, the answer to that is a resounding NO!
Why is that? Well, we break it all down for you on this episode of Rumblestrip.NET and Ten Minute Test Drive.
A little over a year ago we had the VW Beetle in for a week of testing, it was the 2.5L 5 cylinder with an automatic. We never published a review on it, because we flat out didn’t like it, though it was for personal reasons more than anything else. It felt like a pure nostalgia play, and it wasn’t enjoyable to drive.
When our VW rep called and asked if we wanted to try the Beetle with the TDI Clean Diesel, we said, “sure, why not”. We wondered if Volkswagen’s terrific TDI engine could be a saving grace. Turns out it absolutely transformed the car!
This TDI Beetle with a manual was not only a hoot to drive, it returned 47-48mpg on the highway at 80mph! Sit back and have a look as Rumblestrip.NET and Ten Minute Test Drive have a go with the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI.
Dan Gray from MPGomatic.com has been a friend of the site for some time, and he’s got a Kickstarter project that we think is fantastic! He wants to take a 10 year old car, and show you not only how to keep it running in tip top shape, but how to get better gas mileage with simple upgrades!
We like the project so much we have pleged money to the project and created a support video for him which you can see below. If you’d like to help Dan achive his goal of raising $7,777 by April April 5th you can donate here.
Earlier this year we had the opportunity to spend a week with the all new Jetta, in this case the 2011 2.5 SEL model, and came away with some good impressions. We also got some great feedback from that post which was most appreciated. What we really wanted to try though was the TDI Clean Diesel version of the car.
Recently we got to spend a week with the TDI Jetta and these our our thoughts:
There has been a lot of contriversy about the Chevy Volt, it is an electric car, is it a hybrid car, is it something inbetween. Who cares, what it is, is brilliant! We are in the middle of our week with the car, and we think it’s a 5 Star kind of car.
We will have more in a few weeks, but what we want to do now is take your for a walkaround of the car and have a look at some of the features and highlights. This video is a bit long, but it is very through.
Our thanks to Scott Vandekerckhove from ESI for helping us out and walking us through.
Hybrid sales in the U.S. account about 2.5% of total sales, of that amount, 53% of those sales are Toyota Prius’. There are 16 other car companies building hybrids and 30 other hybrid models on the market, but none of them can hold a candle to the Prius when it comes to sales and market acceptance. The next question then becomes, is this level of sales all the market will hold, or are their opportunities to expand, sales and a brand. Toyota is setting out to answer this question with the Prius v.
There is no doubt, and Toyota executives acknowledge the fact that the Hollywood crowd had a significant impact in getting mainstream people interested in and purchasing Prius’. However, as families grew, many outgrew their Prius and needed something with more space for said family and their related gear. Sure some moved up to Toyota’s RAV4 or other crossovers and small SUV’s, but Toyota wanted an option for those that still wanted to drive a hybrid, or something with superior fuel economy.
What they have come up with is the Prius v, the first extension of the Prius family. While the Prius v looks very similar in size to the current Prius, it is actually larger. The Prius v has a three inch longer wheelbase, is six inches longer overall, 3 inches taller and one inch wider. This all adds up to 58% more cargo space for the car which equals or exceeds 80% of CUV’s and small SUV’s in the market. The extended wheelbase has a noticeable effect on rear seat room. Rear seats can move forwards and backwards to alter legroom and or cargo area. With the drivers seat adjusted for a 6’4” person, there is still plenty of room behind the drivers seat for that same 6’4” person to ride comfortably. The Prius v weighs in at 236 pounds more than the current Prius and has an drag coefficient of .29 versus .25 from the standard Prius.
With additional width and height of the Prius v it makes a difference in how airy the cabin feels. There is plenty of headroom for front and back seat passengers and the additional shoulder room is welcome. Three adults should be able to fit comfortably in the back seat.
A few other things of note in the interior. The Prius v carries the first sunroof offered in the line. It is made of a resin that is 40% lighter than conventional glass and reflects 99% of all UV rays to keep the interior cooler and materials from fading. The seat material used is a synthetic leather like surface that has a good feel to it yet is 50% lighter than conventional leather. Toyota have also worked with JBL Audio on the sound system. Not only are the related amps and speakers lighter than normal, they also draw less power. At 100dB, a conventional system might draw 7.6 amps of power, the JBL Green Edge system only draws 3.9 amps. If you crank up the volume to 105dB that difference grows to 11.7 amps for the conventional system versus 4.8 for the JBL system. JBL claim that the 120 watt system available int eh Prius v is equal it a 600 watt conventional system.
Also debuting on the Prius v is Toyota’s new telematics system called Entune. It works with iPhones and Android devices to provide connectivity for the system. There are apps built into the Entune system, Bing for searching the navigation and other apps, but not the internet, Pandora, Open Table, iHeart Radio and others. Entune requires that you download the corresponding applications onto your smartphone and then syncs them together to work seamlessly.
If you’ve driven the current generation of Toyota Prius then the driving dynamics of the Prius v will be very familiar. The Prius v does seem to ride a bit better, tar strips, bumps and pot holes don’t seem as noticeable, the Prius v also rides a bit quieter as well. We did notice a difference in sound level between the drivers seat and the passengers seat. In the drivers seat we noticed more wind and road noises then we did in the passengers seat, and the person we did the drive with made the same comments.
Both of us felt that a big culprit to the ride and noise issues were the tires selected for the car. Just like the standard Prius, the Prius v has low rolling resistance tires that aren’t the most compliant of rubber. We’d like to see what effect to the mileage a set of “conventional” tires would have, and what difference that would have for the ride and comfort of the car as well. Tossed into corners the Prius v understeers as you would expect and the back end can get a little light as well, but we don’t believe anyone has illusions of this car being anything resembling sporty.
The Prius v has electric steering and while providing a very light feel, provides little feedback. The front end of the car feels “out there” as in, input goes into the steering wheel and the car turns, but there is no connected feel.
If you like and enjoy the current Prius then you will like the Prius v as well. If you are a fan of the Prius, but your family needs more cargo space and room, but your don’t want a traditional crossover or small SUV then this might be your answer. The Prius v is rated by the EPA at 44 city, 40 highway and 42 combined. The Prius v is also classified by the EPA as a midsize wagon. In our 40 mile loop of two lane back roads we saw 41 mpg, and we weren’t taking it easy.
There will be three trim packages available the 2, 3 and 5 which correspond to current Prius options packages. Other markets will see the Prius v sold as a seven passenger vehicle, but not in North America, Toyota’s market research said that people were more interested in cargo room then extra seating. Also by going with a five passenger rather than a seven passenger configuration, Toyota were able to charge several thousand dollars less for the vehicle.
The Prius v will go on sale in the fall with mid October being the target time frame. Toyota believe that they will be able to sell 25,000 to 30,000 of the Prius v’s a year without having any impact on current Prius sales, pricing when it goes on sale will be slightly higher than the current Prius, but no official pricing has been announced.
If you’d like to see the rest of the photo’s for the Prius v please check out the photo gallery
My fellow RoundAboutShow panelist Zack Bowman posted this video on the ExhaustNote blog. I can almost guarantee that thanks to lawyers and special interest groups, you won’t see this on TV in the US because it will offend three people in a country of 300 Million!
Also in this era of “Green” where the politicians and leaders of Social Conscience who preach “green” fly in private aircraft and are driven around in SUV to all their speeches. Also the same IDIOT’S prevent cars like this from being sold in the US at affordable prices because they think technology that’s not ready for primetime for 7-10 years is a better idea then technology available TODAY than can cut petrolium use in the US by 20+% in a very short period of time.
Anyway have a look at this very funny Audi commercial.