Diesel power: TDI Jetta FTW, tow champ, savior, winner.
 

So as we are pulling onto the freeway to leave Saline MI and the Volvo decides that's a good time to lose oil pressure. We get it towed, drop the pan, clean it, replace o-rings, put it back together... clacking badly began shortly after re-startup.

We were out of options. I did some thinking and the Jetta TDIs in Europe are rated to tow something like 3500 pounds. The Volvo's curb weight is like 3250 (was surprised to find it that low... but it's a front wheel drive V70 non turbo). Of course, the back of the Volvo was completely crammed with stuff. I would estimate total Volvo weight to be around 4000 pounds. The tow dolly was probably another, oh, 300? The back of the Jetta was also crammed full. We were out of options, so we loaded it up. Went to bed with a few reservations, no doubt.



Set off in the morning and man, it felt sketchy. It was prone to sway, but took great care in driving, small steering inputs, and just took it slow. Was it kinda stupid? Yeah, a bit. But this car was the champ of champs. I used 4th gear exclusively for the first 300 miles or so, but then started using 5th (top) for flat ground and downhill. The car just... did it. It was difficult to get the load moving from a stop but once I got used to how the rig felt, it really pulled nice and straight. Across Wyoming we had wind gusts in excess of 55 mph (according to the warning signs) and it didn't bother the rig at all.

Now... this isn't something I would have PLANNED to do, and absolutely not something I would recommend doing... but it's possible :fawk:

Arrived safely after all that.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1365787498

miata looks dirty bro

better clean it :D

I'm pretty sure you know how impressed i am because of my reaction on facebook. But dang, i give the miata props too. Not that it wouldn't make it normally, but through all the snow on summer tires.

Already done yesterday. Spent an hour and a half washing and scrubbing the crud off of it. Got some water spots cuz I couldn't get the thing dry before it, well, dried (arid Utah air... thing dries by itself in about 5 minutes with a breeze...). Will go at it with some cleaner wax... eventually (rained today).

Anyway... yes it's clean. Miata is still filthy. Damn volvo is still broken.

Dillon -- yeah huge props to the Miata for sure. My dad drove it through most of the ugly weather but it really worked well, considering RE-11s, hehe...

What is the back story? You drove from Michigan to Wyoming? Were you moving residences?

Why would you move to Wyoming? I'm sure there are good reasons, it's just not a state that ever comes up. It's like Splittime buying a Fiat from the disco era.

Why are all the cars so filthy - do you have to cross a limestone gravel road to get to your subdivision or something?

Pretty sure he didn't move to wyoming

haha we were moving from Saline, MI to Utah. Currently staying in Saratoga Springs with my folks and will get a place when I find a job. (weighing my options right now...)

While driving across Wyoming my wife and I said countless times how much we'd DISLIKE living there.

Filthy because Wyoming is still stuck in frozen hell. Monday night we were hoping to go on through to Utah but they put in place a chain law requiring snow chains or snow tires on I-80 west. Also, the trailer lights weren't much good on the dolly and the Volvo ate its battery so its flashers wouldn't work. Unsafe, so we stayed the night. In the morning, I-80 was closed til 11 am. We got through after that, but it was a slushy mess.

Oh, right. Snow and slush and filth. I try to avoid that. It always gets on my loafers - which I wear with no socks - or my linen slacks. Don't even get me started on keeping my white sports coat clean!

:dealwithit:

or your pink scarf

No scarfs. I only wear pastel colored v-neck t-shirts with my white sports coats.

How did you ever find this? I'm guessing I'm missing something.

The fact that you can't find it, indicates you are not lacking testosterone and/or an interest in women, which the ability to find it implies.

I'm really just saying that either:

1. Scrappy Jack was making reference to something I do not understand or;
2. Geoff has memes stored for, well, everything. "pastel colored v-neck and white blazer? I have a meme for that."

Step 1. Find picture of Don Johnson wearing pastel v-neck and white sport coat.
Step 2. Add funny and appropriate meme text to picture.
Step 3. ???
Step 4. Profit!

Awhile back a friend, who had a 72 el camino at the tme, sent me a text saying. "How do I get my new tool box home. Its a 52" box." My reply was "Put it in the bed and strap it down." His response was a picture of his green 4 cylinder camry with a huge craftsman box sitting on the roof with one strap going over it and then through the windows. a text saying "Impulse purchase...Im in the camry. Dont worry Ill keep a Hand on it"

He ended up making it home, he told me they bought it to his car on a forklift and when he told them to drop it on the camry, they thought it was a joke and didnt want to do it at first.

Looks like I also forgot to mention:

I averaged over 27 mpg on this escapade. drove 60 mph at first but after the first 400 miles or so we averaged over 70 mph. Pulled most hills without dropping any speed.

Just blows my mind. Name another vehicle that could do this! 27mpg towing and fully loaded. Name one.

Turbodiesel ftw. Torque tows.

I have a Golf with the 2.0 TDI 140 engine and a 6 speed. Even though the peak power isn't anything to write home about, it has gobs of torque which makes it awesome fun to drive. It makes you feel like you are being a badass even when doing way less than the posted limit.

So for a tow vehicle, I should be looking for a Jetta TDI wagon?

Do they make the Tiguan with the TDI?

And Mark was picking up what I was putting down: a reference to Miami Vice attire. :)

What you want is this.

Hey... i was born during that time....

And wtf... how did i become a reference point.....

By doing something conceivably rational but totally unexpected. :party:

I do. Does it come in the Q5 version? Where can I buy this?

Jetta TDI wagon can be an awesome and stable tow vehicle for light things. Like I said, having done this once, I wouldn't again unless I had no other plausible choice. If I have to bring that dMn Volvo back from the shop on a trailer I'll borrow my dad's truck. But I would not hesitate to tow the Miata behind one.

Tiguan not available in a TDI. I used to sell VWs and that frustrated me to no end. The new CR140 TDIs are some of the sweetest engines on the road for a DD.

They don't make a Q5 version of the Touareg shown above, but they make a Q7 version. You can buy either the new Touareg or Q7 with a 3.0 V6 TDI with something like 240 HP and around 450 lb ft. Audi offers a v12 TDI with over 700 lb ft but I don't believe that's coming to the states :)

I love that vid Dillon. Good stuff.

I saw a test of the new Touareg TDI. Guy got just over 30 mpg highway at 70+, averaged over 24 around town, and over 18 towing 6000 pounds (7000 pound tow rating). Epic.

I have a TDI wagon and love it. I even tracked it for a year after selling my R32 and before I got the miata. Tow capacity is only 2500 lbs though. Has the power, but not the weight to properly tow. For highway I see 45 - 50 all the time in the summer.

You have to go with a Touareg to get a TDI SUV with VW in the states. When looking for one, I ended up going with the V8 with Air Suspension. It was almost $15,000 less on the used market than the same equiped TDI. I was not going to see a gas savings offset the cost of the car. The air suspension is awesome if you tow. Auto levels and it's like nothing is back there. You also get a factory rated 8500 lb capacity. Albeit assume 80% of that for saftey. I don't like the newest Touaregs though as they lose the bad ass AWD and don't offer air suspension. However, you can get them at a cheaper price.

Nevermind. I thought the video title was "V10 TDi Tiguan vs Chevy..." and it was some crazy sleeper swap.

Don't mind me.


I thought the newest Tiguan had the diesel, but I guess I was thinking of the European option. 2.0L turbo diesel, 140 bhp and 236 ft-lb. Available in Europe with AWD and a 6-speed manual gearbox.

yup, that's the same exact engine you get in the TDI Jettas and Passats. Would be perfect for the tiguan. I truly don't understand why it's not offered, since that engine is already certified for the U.S.

^ Conspiracy. Thats why we don't get all the cool Diesels. At least VW brings us something.

So, that video is awesome. I already sent it to all my coworkers in Atlanta and really butt hurt some hillbillies.

"Well it's AWD and a V10!"
"Well that's just a simple 4wd and probably only had it in 2wd"

I just remind them that a 3/4 ton truck is marketed for towing and power. That Touareg is a luxury Mid Sized SUV and it just pulled that truck like a bitch. :)

That's awesome. I've always wanted a Turbo Diesel VW.

They're tow pigs from the factory it seems!

The silverado probably would have fared much better if it still had stock suspension/wheels/tires, but I think the better traction of the AWD would still have won.

Simple 4x4 traction is not great. At one time we had a 95 4x4 GMC pickup as well as our Forester. It had much less traction in 6" of snow than the Forester.

Edit: V10 Tuareg makes me excited, since you can park it in reasonable places, get good mileage, and pull a couple of boats if you need to. The Duramax/Allison transmission combo is awesome though, the frame will rust out on the truck before they break down. My father in law just purchased his second. The first one is still running like a champ at 12 years / 190k miles.

Been loving my Jetta TDi wagon, good to know it can tow a bit.

I installed a hitch on it a while back to put a bike rack on because it's more aerodynamic having bikes hanging off of the back than on the roof. Even loaded with luggage and bikes I still pull MPG figures in the 40s on the highway. Great car.

Just wanted to resurrect this a bit... The Q5 is now available in a diesel. it's not the V10, but it IS a V6 with about 230 hp and 440 lb-ft. Very nice.

Also, Mazda is bringing diesels, and I'm selling Mazdas now... can't wait.

I'm looking into the 01-03 Jetta TDI manual. Word on the street is the are the best years. Thoughts?

I hear the same word on the street. Just prepare to buy something with a lot of miles or pay a lot of money for it. Also, be prepared to do an intake manifold clean out procedure unless the previous owner has specifically stated that they have done so, or had the EGR disabled since nearly new. They plug up. The photos are fantastic.

They really do go forever though, and as long as you can fix the minor things that go on high mileage vehicles you'll have super cheap transportation. Are you a member of TDIclub forums?

lol no

Go MK3 before MK4

Problem is, VW didn't sell a whole ton of MK3s here. What's more, the '01-'03s are already 10-12 years old. An MK3 would be a '97-98 so now you're looking at a 15 year old car minimum. Not a whole ton made to begin with, and most that were made have about 2 million miles on them and/or have been destroyed.

If you can find a clean, low miles '96-97 those are a good option too but IMO the MK4 is the better car.

You are right about the limited number of sweet MK3's. But the MK4 is NOT the better car.

As someone who has spent extensive time fixing tons of broke-ass MK4's, I'd say just avoid VW altogether. It's not that the engines aren't great, they are, it's everything else that is a brittle plastic shit heap. I've seen everything from axles exploding at the trans, headliners falling completely off (and causing accidents because the car was moving), tons and tons and tons of coolant leaks from the 19 or so plastic junctions that VW uses in the hot ass engine bay, sunroofs not closing and then OPENING back up and getting rained in, nearly every plastic piece of the interior snapping or falling apart, etc... I could never convince myself to buy one. Not after having a miata. There is no excuse for stuffing a great engine inside of a piece of shit body.

Tell us how you REALLY feel. Haha!

I agree that they could learn a lesson in resilience from Japanese manufacturers. But I dunno, as long as you accept that it's an old-ish car to begin with I don't think there will be too many surprises. Also, because TDIs have such a cult following, EVERY ISSUE has been covered and recovered, with pictures and stories and love notes.

Our has almost 150k now. Total issues: alternator pulley, serp belt tensioner, right rear window regulator, blower motor resistor pack, and the turn signal pack is dirty so sometimes you get random turn signal click sounds lol!

I can't wait for other manufacturers to build diesels. But until they're built, then depreciate, the only way is VW in small diesels. No regrets here that's for sure.

/rant toned down

I am super stoked to see more diesels coming out. Supposedly there are 14 more diesels models being released in the next 2-3 years.

I can deal with small repairs but it seems on these vws there are both more expensive and more labor intensive to do.

My truck has double the miles and only non maintenance repair has been radiator and water pump, both very easy and cheap.

You've got a truck with 300k on it that's had only one radiator and water pump replaced? Impressive. What is it, a big rig tractor?

The stuff on the VW wasn't expensive. New belt tensioner was less than $50 and takes 15 min to swap. New alternator w/pulley was $180 and took 20 minutes to swap. Blower resistor pack is less than $40 and the turn signal repair is free, just needs cleaning. The rear window regulator can be spendy though.

I definitely would prefer not to have these little issues, but for what the car gives me back I can't complain.

Its an 03 dodge. My dads 05 is similar except its had the front end redone, which is something Ive just come to accept with a high mileage 4wd truck from the big three.

With what you spent on the jetta I wouldnt really mind either. Personal experience is all the plastic crap under hood that you can only get at VW and cost an arm and a leg. I dont know why a car would need so many small different coolant hoses.'

At least vw didnt pull the plastic oil pickup shenanigans on the tdi, like they did on there gas engines. Thats points in my book.

380k miles on Toyota T100 2wd SR5 3.4l Ext Cab with radiator and water pump replaced only once due to being a dumbass and rear-ending a Dodge Caravan. Do you even Toyota, bro? Current 2001 V8 Tundra at 232k on original radiator and water pump, too.

I wish Toyota would bring their diesels into the country for light trucks and passenger vehicles.

My buddy is not a toyota or diesel fan at all, but when he was in south america he said everyone had hilux diesels. He said they were awesome and if there was something like that here he would daily drive the hell out of it.

Meh, my 05 Dodge quad cab 4x4 has 174K, original everything including the battery. Never been to the shop. Two front wheel hubs, one set of brakes, one trans flush, one set of shocks and just installed the third set of tires. That's it other than oil changes every 7-8K with whatever is cheapest on sale. And fram filters.