Prius who? VW Passat TDI Sets MPG Fuel Economy Record
Step aside Prius, there is a new fuel economy leader in town... the VW Passat TDI Diesel! This 2012 VW Passat TDI traveled an incredible 1626.1 miles on a single tank of fuel!
John and Helen Taylor are the proud owners of this VW Passat TDI SE that is equipped with a 6 speed manual transmission. They drove across 9 US states and beat the previous Passat 1.6 BlueMotion diesel record of 1526 miles.
Volkswagen is set to prove that their TDI diesel technology is superior and less expensive to maintain and repair than hybrids such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic. With records like this, the hybrid folks will have their work cut out of them to prove their technology is superior to save fuel.
John and Helen decided to try and break the record on May 3rd, and drove from Houston, TX to Sterling, VA in 3 days, driving 14 hours a day.
Their 2012 Passat TDI Diesel is powered by a 2.0L diesel engine that makes 140 horsepower and 236 ft lbs of torque. The EPA estimates this car to have a MPG fuel economy rating of 43 mpg. The Taylors proved they were able to have 84.1 miles per gallon. This would give the car a 19.3 gallon tank. I wonder if they drove it until it stopped.
We look forward to the fuel economy records to be broken with existing technology that just keeps getting better.
1973 VW Beetle Turbo with Subaru WRX STi Engine
Awesome! This 1973 VW Beetle was modified to stuff a Subaru WRX STi turbo engine into! For a chassis that's designed to have a 44 horsepower engine, the 282 horsepower STi motor sure makes it fun... and challenging!
I'm not too sure if the STi engine was put in here stock, but if it was, then I would be interested to find out what the quarter mile time would be in this trim. However, when doing a swap like this, you can't leave the intake or exhaust stock, so there must be some power upgrade here... I would estimate at least 300-320 horsepower.
The engine looks like a tight fit, but also looks right at home. I hope this becomes a more common swap. However, you won't make everyone happy here. VW diehards will hate it and always want to keep it pure VW. But for those who want to try something new, creating a motor mount and transmission mount kit to make this a bolt on would be very fun. And imagine... since the car is old, you won't even need to smog this!
Forum Wars: Honda Civic Si vs VW GTI
In Season 1 Episode 7 of Forum Wars, we have a Honda Civic Si vs a VW GTi. This video takes two of the biggest talkers from each forum and puts them head to head to see who can put their car where their mouth is.
8thcivic.com vs myfastgti.com in this episode of Forum Wars. Presented by Royal Purple.
The contestants first have a drag race, then road course.
Drag Race Results: GTI (9.36@76.68) Si (11.3@72.66) in the 1/8th Mile
Road Course Results: GTI (54.19) Si (55.12 sec)
Winner: GTI