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Old 09-19-2012, 02:12 PM   #21
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According to Wikipedia The sixth generation Volkswagen Jetta sold in the USA starting in 2010 "was primarily designed by Volkswagen Mexico under the supervision of Volkswagen Germany and 70% of the parts are designed and manufactured in Mexico."

If you scroll down to the 6th generation on the Wikipedia page you will also find that most of the engines offered in Europe on the Jetta are also different as well.

As I said comparing applies to oranges is probable not a great thing to be doing especially when it comes to safety or legal issues.

I agree 35 mpg would indeed be nice but until they build such a vehicle to meet NA safety & legal standards I will keep towing at 19 mpg.
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Old 09-19-2012, 02:15 PM   #22
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i do not know what the torq ratings mean really,,,i do know torq is that force that gets things going. i would think an all electric drive would have a ton more usable torq. but who knows. never buy new technology till they prove it for about ten years,,,otherwise you end up with a chrysler turbo,,,,remember them?
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Old 09-19-2012, 04:48 PM   #23
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Luke do you also happen to know what all the differences are in regards to what all the parts used in building the Jetta in the Europe vs those sold in the US are? Do you happen to know what the differences are in the hitches used in Europe and the attachments for them are vs those used in North America? and the legal issues behind why the hitches are different? or why different parts may have been used? If you do would you be willing to share with us where that information was obtained? Without the knowing all the differences and the factual reasons why may be likened to comparing apples to oranges.
More questions?
How does the suspension compare? From what I could gather while in UK the Europeans like a firmer more responsive suspension that Americans. Americans want a softer less jarring suspension. One more apples and oranges comparison.
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Old 09-19-2012, 05:23 PM   #24
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Per Car Magazine story located here in regards to the 2011 Jetta "it doesn’t use the full all-singing/all-dancing multi-link rear of the current Euro-spec car. Conversely, when this Jetta does make it to Europe in 2011, it will feature a multi-link rear"

Edit: per according to VW the only thing the US and Euro version of the Jetta have in common is the chassie. Thus the reason the Euro version costs a lot more.
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Old 09-22-2012, 10:47 PM   #25
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I have both a Ford Fusion Hybrid and a VW Touareg diesel. Obviously I don't tow anything with the Fusion, but Toyota's "hybrid synergy drive" (discussed one one of these forums) sounds like it might work for towing.
I disagree with Tom that nobody knows how to fix hybrids. In my conversations with service people at the two different dealers we've been to for service (it goes in every 10k miles), they clearly had extensive training from Ford. Plus, if the electric system fails completely, you basically have a pretty standard 4-cylinder gas engine with an admittedly strange transmission.
After towing with the VW Touareg, I will never go back to gas. Whether the *non-towing* mileage makes up for the diesel premium depends on where you live--in some places like Seattle, diesel is as much higher than super unleaded as super is above regular. But I've spent time in California where diesel can be as cheap as regular unleaded. I think it depends a lot on local demand and location of refineries.
But the real advantage to towing with the diesel is the torque. It's not really a consideration with the Scamp, but when towing my 32-foot sailboat or a 3500 lb. cargo trailer, the diesel makes a world of difference in power, and gets far better mileage than a gas engine to boot. The diesel fuel economy advantage is even greater when you're towing, because the flat torque curve means you're always in the "sweet spot" instead of running a gas engine at max RPM every time you go up a hill.
Now if only somebody would make a diesel/electric hybrid (that's not a locomotive).
Bill
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Old 09-22-2012, 11:40 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by wjquigs View Post
I have both a Ford Fusion Hybrid and a VW Touareg diesel. Obviously I don't tow anything with the Fusion, but Toyota's "hybrid synergy drive" (discussed one one of these forums) sounds like it might work for towing.
I disagree with Tom that nobody knows how to fix hybrids. In my conversations with service people at the two different dealers we've been to for service (it goes in every 10k miles), they clearly had extensive training from Ford. Plus, if the electric system fails completely, you basically have a pretty standard 4-cylinder gas engine with an admittedly strange transmission.
After towing with the VW Touareg, I will never go back to gas. Whether the *non-towing* mileage makes up for the diesel premium depends on where you live--in some places like Seattle, diesel is as much higher than super unleaded as super is above regular. But I've spent time in California where diesel can be as cheap as regular unleaded. I think it depends a lot on local demand and location of refineries.
But the real advantage to towing with the diesel is the torque. It's not really a consideration with the Scamp, but when towing my 32-foot sailboat or a 3500 lb. cargo trailer, the diesel makes a world of difference in power, and gets far better mileage than a gas engine to boot. The diesel fuel economy advantage is even greater when you're towing, because the flat torque curve means you're always in the "sweet spot" instead of running a gas engine at max RPM every time you go up a hill.
Now if only somebody would make a diesel/electric hybrid (that's not a locomotive).
Bill
Do you have any MPG numbers for towing the cargo trailer with the Touareg? Thanks in advance.
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Old 09-23-2012, 06:00 AM   #27
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get the sportwagon tdi. still made in Germany and a 2000 pound limit
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Old 09-23-2012, 06:05 AM   #28
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get the sportwagon tdi. still made in Germany and a North American 2000 pound limit or wait for the 2014 Tiguan - redesigned and with TDI
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Old 09-23-2012, 07:02 AM   #29
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..........I disagree with Tom that nobody knows how to fix hybrids. In my conversations with service people at the two different dealers we've been to for service (it goes in every 10k miles), they clearly had extensive training from Ford. Plus, if the electric system fails completely, you basically have a pretty standard 4-cylinder gas engine with an admittedly strange transmission................Bill
Bill, my posting was based on 6 years of reading the GreenHybrid and Yahoo Escape forums. While it seems logical that if the hybrid portion failed you could just drive on gas, that is not the case. For instance, a common Escape failure is the electric water pump in the electronics system and the whole vehicle dies to protect the expensive DC-DC converter and motor generator.

As far as training, all we have are anecdotes. An interesting case was Gary G., a person that I would describe as a rabidly knowledgeable hybrid fan who paid the Ford dealer $1200 to fix an intermittent problem that threw a host of computer fault codes. When the dust settled, all that was wrong was a bad $14 relay.
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