But this time, to heck with it. The 2010 Jetta Sportwagen TDI was driven on short trips, keeping pace or faster than the flow of traffic, making jackrabbit starts, and avoiding the vigilant speed control and mindful coasting that many green-car drivers practice.
As we’ve previously reported, you’re likely to quite easily meet or exceed the EPA’s fuel economy ratings for the Jetta TDI in real-world driving. And the exercise highlighted one of the real strengths of diesels
Editors chose the Jetta Sportwagen TDI as the vehicle of choice for the Burning Man road trip at The Playa, Black Rock City, Nevada. The Burning Man event attracts nearly 50,000 people between August 30 and September 6 to a thriving metropolis in the middle of the Nevada desert.
“Driving through the wastelands of Nevada in search of a dry lakebed just 120 miles North of Reno, you want a car that’s comfortable, has tons of cargo room and is friendly to the planet, like the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI,” the editors wrote. “Not only does it have enough room for a week’s worth of Burning Man necessities, it also features a clean-burning and fuel-efficient turbo-diesel engine that delivers 41 miles per gallon on the highway. Plus on those 107-degree days when your tent fails to protect you from the grueling hot sun, you can crawl in back for shade and shelter.”
To me, driving cross country demands a car that can go fast, handle tight curves, maintain its power when traversing mountains at altitude, store plenty of gear, and still deliver exceptional fuel economy. Wrap those attributes into a car that starts at around 24K, and I can say definitely that the VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI is an excellent touring vehicle. As mentioned previously, Squeen and I both like to go fast (she even faster than me) and yet even at super quick highway speeds, overall we still averaged about 37 miles per gallon over the course of more than 2200 miles. The most startling thing about the Jetta TDI is that it only packs a 4-cylinder engine because nothing about its driving performance smacks of meekness. The car doesn’t wheeze or rev loudly at higher speeds. In fact, my only complaint with the Jetta Sportwagen TDI is that you can be going 70 miles per hour and the car will still hover at such a low rpm that it can take a second or two for the engine to rev high enough for the turbo to kick in if you want to pass someone. The alternative is to take the car out of automatic and use the DSG shifter to quickly accelerate, which, of course, is slightly more work but much more fun.
Once we got to Colorado, we felt like our trip really began. Both Squeen and I love small towns and while we’ve been enjoying our time in Asheville, NC we’re still open to heading elsewhere especially if we can be close to really good skiing, which Colorado offers in abundance. We passed through Pagosa Springs, Durango, Silverton, and Telluride but fell in love with Crested Butte. The small town set in a vast, expansive valley has much to offer that we like: a bike- and pedestrian-friendly culture, well-designed small homes, easy access to nature, welcoming locals, a well-stocked local bookstore, and awesome tacos. We ended up spending four days there and will very likely be back again.
