The VW that out-sips a Prius

One of the less pie-in-the-sky concepts of this year’s Geneva International Motor Show (although the Rinspeed sQuba car was rather cool) is this VW Golf TDI Hybrid.

This version of the Golf (a model known as the Rabbit over here) uses an electric motor system similar to that of the Toyota Prius but mates that to a clean and frugal 1.2-liter, three-cylinder diesel-powered engine. Bottom line, in a European fuel economy test cycle, the Prius achieves 54 miles per gallon. This VW could get 69, an improvement of about 28%.

VW says a hybrid diesel car might make it into production in the near future — for the European market. Its U.S. debut looks a little farther off, however. That’s because federal emissions laws are tougher, so more effort has to go into making diesel engines cleaner. This is reflected in sticker prices. According to VW, its 2009 diesel Jetta will sell for $2,000 more than a gasoline-powered equivalent model.

Another factor that might make the American buyer wary is resale value. A conventional diesel-powered car keeps its value pretty well (because its engine generally has greater longevity), whereas a hybrid tends to depreciate somewhat faster than a mainstream model. A marriage of the two will have an outcome no one can predict.

As drivers become more familiar with new technologies and learn to embrace them, these obstacles should sort themselves out. If diesel’s popularity continues to rise, more oil-burning cars will be made, production costs will decline and companies can price their products at more tempting levels.

— Colin Ryan

Photo: Volkswagen

Comments

[Steve]

Every article I have seen indicates that the Toyota Prius holds its value better than "mainstream models." This seems to be true based on a perusal of kbb.com.

CO2 emissions are important, but so are soot and NOx emissions. How do those emissions compare to the Prius?

It's also worth mentioning that a 28% improvement in the miles-per-gallon figure is partly due to the fact that diesel has 10% more energy content per gallon. 69 mpg on diesel is the equivalent to 62 mpg on gasoline. That's still 15% better than the current prius. If VW PRODUCES a car that beats the current Prius (which hit the market in August 2003) by 15%, I'll be impressed. That's a substantial improvement in only five years. Of course, we'll have to compare it to the 2009 Prius once specs become available.

[Cheap]

Wow this is great. Bring it on. I drive a Prius because I do get great gas mileage but I'll buy what ever is better for my wallet.

I do have one question though? Why did they leave off the plug? Plug-in hybrids can get well over 100mpg. 69mpg does not seem so great if I can plug it in to some home made electricity so that I can drive some miles for free.

[smokeonit]

the tdi hybrid is not that far off... i think 2009, in us terms 2010 model year is realistic...

all new german diesel engines from mercedes, bmw and VW have the urea technology to clean the nox emissions and achieving the CA emissions standard...

what i'm hoping/waitung for is a sporty small car that has 60-80mpg and the sportiness of a 2 seater roadster... the tesla as a sport convertible @ an affrodable price, or the vw gold GTI with the 200HP motor and the hybrid drivetrain to achieve like 50-60mpg would be it!

i test drove the prius and i liked the concept, but it's not sporty and i don't need the space...

in terms of marketing i think a hybrid always has to be styled very different from the normal gas/diesel driven models, people want to show off their choice. if the car is easily distinguishable from 100 yards as a hybrid then it will sell well... that's why honda and other good hybrids were no success in the showroom... and i also drove the cibiv hybrid and it felt cheap and crappy comppared to the prius! that's the good thing about VW, the cars feel solid and the materials feel/look nice. i refuse to buy the cheaper japanese/korean cars, the look and feel of the interior is a complete turn off...!

[markl]

The hybrid fad is just a marketing scam.High mileage has been achieved with plain gas engines.
In the late 70s and early 80s many gasoline cars got 40 and 50mpg+......
Unbeleivably many of these cars using 25-30yr old technology get better gas mileage than hybrid prius.
Hybrid isnt that great if it cant get better mileage than old 25 yr old compacts.It is just an excuse to sell a car for double what it would if it didnt have the hybrid tech.
My 81 mazda wagon got 40-42mpg on the highway.Many rabbits of that era got mid 40s as did hondas,toyota starlets etc...Many rabbit/ jetta diesels have been getting 50-60mpg for over 20 yrs!!Honda civics vx got 55mpg hiway,48 city!!!
Just go to the website link below and search for the year you want to check and be astonished by the gas mpg(you can also plug in the year in the url where it reads 1992).
How this has slipped most people except Senator Chris Dodd is beyond me.We dont need fancy hybrids just demand that car companies make less profitable high mpg cars with old tech.

http://www.mpgomatic.com/2007/10/23/cheap-high-mpg-cars-1992/

[Dr. JwB]

Sign me up! I love my VWs and I'd love them even more if they got twice (or nearly three times) the MPG.

But right now VW is going pretty slow in getting the diesel here, so holding your breath for the diesel hybrid is just silly.

Hopefully VW will see the direction gas prices are headed, and realize that there is a market for a car like this.

[M1EK]

This car is a lot smaller than the Prius. Like every other diesel which supposedly beat it in mileage - none of which ever made it to our shores.

[Kevin Eckhart]

The Rabbit is not smaller than the Prius. Get ready because the "none of which ever made it to our shores" is about to change. The new deisel which will be here in September of this year will already be a viable alternative to the Prius - hybrid is right behind it.

[smokeonit]

to markl:

the cars that achieved good mileage in the 70s and 80s weighed much less than the cars off today! MUCH less!!!

weight is the #1 enemy of good mpg!!!

that's why high tech is needed to get the weight down. carbon fiber, aluminium, all that cost a lot of money! and the hybrid drivetrain adds another 20% better mpg...

if you compare a 80s civic with a 2007 civic it will weigh like 80-100% more!!!

almost every car will have the same weight gain!!!

for every 200 pounds saved you get like around 7mpg more out of the car...

that's why experts always remind us not to drive around with a full trunk that adds like another 100-200 pounds to the car... there low resitance tires one can buy, low weight rims that cost a fortune and other stuff one can add... every pound less counts... that's why bmw's for example cost so much, axles are alumium, parts of the motor are aluminum... every little bit of high tech material adds cost... but will save moeny in the long run....

[markl]

yes weight is important but engine size and power is whats at fault in todays small supergo compact cars.These new small cars have much bigger engines and are souped up.Why you need 200+ horsepower in a corolla-type car or 6 cylinders in a camry is beyond me.All the cars i mentioned from the 70s-80s have 1.5 or 1.6liter engines.As soon as you go above 1.6 the mpg goes out the window.
The honda v tech engine came out in the early 90s and crx and civics equipped with this engine got 55mpg.Why honda doesnt bring that out or why other makers cant put out an efficent engine/car like that is ridiculous ...

[markl]

while weight is a problem i think the engine size is more the culprit here.Todays small car engines are 2.5 liter souped up drag cars...The gas misers of the 70s,80s were 1.5 liters and didnt have souped up motors.As soon as you go over 1.6 liters,gas mpg goes way down.

[Nick, Medina]

There's another gasoline market killer debuted every week...but look at what is actually available on the market--not much. Cool prototype designs and hyped-up press releases never seem to develop into a car I can go to the dealership and actually buy.
--Vaporware

[dw314]

I HAD A CRX THAT I DROVE EVERYDAY FROM SILVERLAKE TO FONTANA AND BACK AND I FILLED UP MY TANK AT MOST ONCE EVERY FIVE DAYS. DON'T KNOW THE MATH BUT I AVERAGED ABOUT 70MPH. I THINK IT IS A WEIGHT ISSUE. I THEN BOUGHT AN AUDI A4 QUATTRO AND BEGAN WISHING I HAD MY CRX BACK.

[Greg]

I'm a diesel fan, however, the Rabbit is smaller than the Prius, at least the way our EPA classifies them. The Prius is a mid-size car due to its inside, cubic-inch capacity which puts it in the same class as a Malibu, Camry, and Accord. The Rabbit, on the other hand, goes in the compact class with the Civic, Jetta, Cobalt, Focus, and Corolla.

However, the Rabbit TDI, even without the hybrid component, will probably beat out the Prius on the highway, even with the standard, 2.0-liter TDI engine. If VW designers decided to give the Rabbit more head room, so that it could classify as a mid-size car, they would be comparable. The Prius is really no mid-size car, but has lots of cubic inches above the seating area.

If we had the ability to compare equal cars with differing power trains, it would be easier to compare diesels to hybrids (since everyone feels that we must). A Prius could receive a 1.6-liter Peugeot diesel engine with BMW's EfficientDynamics (this set up already exist in the Mini D). This diesel combination would blow away the most efficient hybrid in the world in real world fuel economy, performance, and CO2 output. Additionally, the hybrid Prius could use only 10% ethanol for a 2% fuel economy loss, while the diesel Prius could use 100% biodiesel in the tank with only a 7% fuel economy loss. The only area in which the hybrid Prius could compete would be in stop and go driving. So, if you drive in the city only, go out and get the most fuel efficient hybrid on the planet, but if you drive on the road and can wait a year on the automakers to catch up with the EPA's latest roadblocks for diesel cars, wait for a wide variety of diesel choices by model year 2010 (Fall of '09).

[M1EK]

Greg, the Prius darn well IS a midsized car - it has much better rear leg room than compacts, which is generally where I figure most people draw the line.

[Steve Hazelton]

I had a1986 Golf diesel, which regularly got over 50MPG. True it was alittle slow up hills in upstate NY, but the car went 250,000 miles and would have gone much farther and longerhad it not been so ugly. It 's body was rusty, the interior worn, but the heart kept going. I wish I had kept it.I don't understand why NY outlawed them especially since I never saw the issue on any ballots.

[NV]

in 2003 we traveled through Europe in a 1999 BMW 320tD. that 2000 cc 4 cyl dual turbo engine put out something like 150 hp, and loads of torque (can't remember the number). It was a pleasure to ride, and ride fast we did -:). despite all my heavy foot on the gas, we averaged something like 40 mpg in the city traffic (6 l/100 km) and about 46 (5l/100km) mpg on the open roads.
I wonder what it feels like to drive the newest version of that engine, as it puts out over 200 hp now.