# New TDI - Zowie



## JamWill (Oct 15, 2012)

Less than 100 miles on my brand new Beetle TDI Diesel Sun/Sound/Nav. Performance is pretty impressive. Gas mileage even more so. I'm loving just cruising around.

Been trying to get familiar with the quirks and problems others are having. I have an answer to sombody's post regarding disabling DRL's while at a drive-in movie; set the emer brake--it kills the DRL's. I'll try to find that post and relay this info there.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have a jillion questions over the next little while. I'm off for another short cruise...
-- 
JamWill


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## djmatte (Sep 16, 2012)

Nice! Another tdi beetle. You get stick or auto? How do you like the nav unit?


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## djmatte (Sep 16, 2012)

Btw pics asap or people get angry around here


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

djmatte said:


> Btw pics asap or people get angry around here


I bet it looks like a beetle

Sent from Tapatalk


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## JamWill (Oct 15, 2012)

hehe...I was sorta thinking the same thing. In lieu of pics, I'll say it's platinum gray metallic with black seats and DSG gearbox. That was one of the things I really wanted was the DSG. I've been driving my 5-speed truck for so long and am really tired of having to remember to shift--I don't mind the actual shifting part, I dislike having to *remember* to shift--the truck has a really strong third gear and is quiet so I quite often find myself in a gear other than I should be. Anyway, that truck is now backup transport.

I've kept the Beetle pretty much in the "D" position but so far I really like the way the DSG works up through the gears. Not yet having a handle on the RPM/speed/gear relationship, is there an easy way to tell what gear it's in without moving the lever over to the manual mode?

Also I've noticed that engine braking can be somewhat attention-grabbing. When slowing down, the DSG downshifts for me (cool!) but it's proving difficult to anticipate when I need to back off the brake pedal--I end up slowing down too quickly too soon and then, even with my foot completely off the brake, it continues to slow like I'm still on the pedal. Really weird feeling.

Anyway, so far this is one cool ride and I'm glad I got it.
-- 
Regards,
JamWill


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## JDSnead (Apr 10, 2011)

*Another New TDI Beetle!!*

We just got a 2013 Beetle TDI this morning for my wife.

Yellow, DSG, no other options.

This is our fourth Beetle, third TDI. Always love the fuel mileage!

Now to make it more "ours." Spoiler, tints, what else?


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## vdub10golf (Jan 23, 2010)

Congrats! :thumbup:


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## MelindaJBZ (Dec 21, 2012)

I just put my deposit down on my 2013 Beetle TDI w/sunroof in black. I will get her on new years eve ...I hope! I am thinking of adding one of the spoilers from CarID.com http://www.carid.com/2013-volkswagen-beetle-spoiler/
I just dont know which one is best. I am so excited for my tdi!


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## Cadenza_7o (Jan 23, 2001)

Congrats to the new TDI owners. 

Remember, folks here have the "constitutional" right to say you're making up stories if you don't post pix of your new toys. 

I second their sentiment. :laugh:


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## JDSnead (Apr 10, 2011)

*TDI Pictures*



Cadenza_7o said:


> Congrats to the new TDI owners.
> 
> Remember, folks here have the "constitutional" right to say you're making up stories if you don't post pix of your new toys.
> 
> I second their sentiment. :laugh:


I put mine in the other threadL
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5904384-The-Official-TDI-Beetle-Picture-Thread


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## Front Runner (Nov 29, 2012)

What type of fuel mileage are you guys seeing? Hand calculated or computer?


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## JDSnead (Apr 10, 2011)

*All CIty Driving w/ DSG*



Front Runner said:


> What type of fuel mileage are you guys seeing? Hand calculated or computer?


In all city driving with DSG, we have averaged 32.0 calculated MPG. Of course, this is mainly my wife driving; I usually get 2-3 better MPG.

I've tried to teach her about watching the boost gauge, and how its readings affect MPG, but she doesn't seem to care. :banghead:


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## LEBlackRob (Feb 1, 2012)

Welcome to the forums and hope you enjoy your time here.


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## alchagio (Dec 15, 2012)

JDSnead said:


> In all city driving with DSG, we have averaged 32.0 calculated MPG. Of course, this is mainly my wife driving; I usually get 2-3 better MPG.
> 
> I've tried to teach her about watching the boost gauge, and how its readings affect MPG, but she doesn't seem to care. :banghead:


As a newbie to turbo, diesel, and beetle can you explain what the boost gauge does or means affecting MPG?


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## LEBlackRob (Feb 1, 2012)

alchagio said:


> As a newbie to turbo, diesel, and beetle can you explain what the boost gauge does or means affecting MPG?


Speaking from experience from owning a TDI. If you want good MPG your best bet is gradual acceleration and try keep a steady speed. I had a 2010 Jetta Sportwagon with a 6 speed "CCTA" engine code for the noobs. I would beat on the car and get on avg 38mpg in the summer and 36mpg in the winter. Now in the summer I went 3 tanks and babied it and avged 44mpg. This was to mess with a friend that had a Prius. Since he always claimed that TDI's where junk now he owns one. I had sporting mods to help with this. Best MPG I ever saw was on a road trip I cracked 53.4mpg on a tank, but to be honest I did allot of hyper millage tricks like coasting down hills.


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## Front Runner (Nov 29, 2012)

alchagio said:


> As a newbie to turbo, diesel, and beetle can you explain what the boost gauge does or means affecting MPG?


 
The boost gauge indicates the amount of boost (forced air) the turbo is giving the engine. If the turbo is providing a tremedous amount of boost your mpgs are going to decrease. As stated gradual acceleration and keeping a steady speed will help mileage.


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## MarkSquare (Jan 1, 2013)

*2013 tdi red nav/sunroof/dsg*

I can drop this into S and bitchslap it around and still average 38. If i can hold it on the highway to 65 I get upper 40's. 75-80 and 42 is about all it will do. S mode is fun. paddle shifting is not all that thrilling except for cold start/cold days when it wants to get into 6th way too fast. Red with the black interior is a great balance to the otherwise very dark interior. Love the Sunroof and NAV. Nav very fast to recalculate if you miss a turn or choose to ignor.


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## MarkSquare (Jan 1, 2013)

*more mpg*

Strangely after a 4 hour drive in a heavy snow storm, with very little wheelspin, and average speed of 45-50 I achieved 44 mpg. Usually snow would have dragged non diesel mpg down much further than that.


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## the beet (May 5, 2012)

... without pics, it's just Bla, bla, bla, bla...


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## Front Runner (Nov 29, 2012)

MarkSquare said:


> I can drop this into S and bitchslap it around and still average 38. If i can hold it on the highway to 65 I get upper 40's. 75-80 and 42 is about all it will do. S mode is fun. paddle shifting is not all that thrilling except for cold start/cold days when it wants to get into 6th way too fast. Red with the black interior is a great balance to the otherwise very dark interior. Love the Sunroof and NAV. Nav very fast to recalculate if you miss a turn or choose to ignor.





MarkSquare said:


> Strangely after a 4 hour drive in a heavy snow storm, with very little wheelspin, and average speed of 45-50 I achieved 44 mpg. Usually snow would have dragged non diesel mpg down much further than that.


Are your mileage numbers hand calculated or computer display?


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## LEBlackRob (Feb 1, 2012)

Front Runner said:


> Are your mileage numbers hand calculated or computer display?


Agree this does not wound correct at all.


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## atomicvibe (Feb 12, 2013)

Hey everyone.

Another forum noob here.

Owner of a 3-day old black 6MT Beetle TDI. Pics and a bit of my story posted here.

Whereas at one point in my life, I was all about speed and performance, now I'm geeking over mpg. It's funny what happens when you're approaching 40.

Anyway, I drive 70 mi. round trip for work 4 days a week — including in and out of Baltimore, MD, USA — and my best average in the course of 2 days of commuting has been 46.3 mpg.


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## MelindaJBZ (Dec 21, 2012)

atomicvibe said:


> Hey everyone.
> 
> Another forum noob here.
> 
> ...


The good thing about this car is you get the best of both worlds performance and MPGs. It just depends on how you drive it. Some days I watch my mpgs and others I just zip in and out of traffic. My hubby one day beat a porsche cayenne off the line at a light and the person strugled to catch up to see what kind of car zipped right by him.


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## atomicvibe (Feb 12, 2013)

MelindaJBZ said:


> The good thing about this car is you get the best of both worlds performance and MPGs. It just depends on how you drive it. Some days I watch my mpgs and others I just zip in and out of traffic. My hubby one day beat a porsche cayenne off the line at a light and the person strugled to catch up to see what kind of car zipped right by him.


Yeah, it's definitely an interesting driving experience. I've never driven a diesel or a turbo before, so this car has a different feel than any other car I've owned. After dumping my Mustang GT in '08, and then being on DSG and auto transmissions since, reacquainting myself with manual transmission — on a diesel, no less — was interesting, but got the hang of it quickly. 

This car seems happy to just cruise along, but it moves when you want it to. And that high torque is great because you don't _need_ to downshift from high gears to gain speed.

I only wish the steering weren't so...sloshy. I like my steering response to be much tighter, and the Bug's steering isn't quite so. It's not horrible, but I'm used to much more agile, responsive performers.

All in all, I like driving this Bug.


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## SaberOne (Apr 1, 2012)

atomicvibe said:


> ...I only wish the steering weren't so...sloshy. I like my steering response to be much tighter, and the Bug's steering isn't quite so. It's not horrible, but I'm used to much more agile, responsive performers.
> 
> All in all, I like driving this Bug.


What?! I've been driving my TDi A/T for less than a month and I feel its far more responsive than any other of the four Dubs' I have owned (in a row). I traded in my 2007 Passat Sport and it handled like a barge compared to this Bug's shorter wheelbase with the optional 235/45 Conti's on 18" wheels. 

I love how quick it responds and it turns tighter than a cats' meow!  Maybe the 18's I had swapped out makes a difference combined with the shorter wheelbase. I would consider adding more air to the tires to see if that improves the handling because I know it does on all my Dubs. Aside from that, you may consider a performance sway-bar but I have never tried one myself. In fact I'd be a little concerned with potential over-steer.

Sidebar: The only downside that I see to this bug along with most every other Dub is the rock-hard seats. My son's bare-bones Rabbit with basic foam/fabric seats are more comfortable than those high-speed, leather-electric, air-lumbar 'BS' sport seats in my previous Passat. I do a lot of highway driving so I'm seriously looking at the Recaro ErgoMed when I have the cash.


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## MelindaJBZ (Dec 21, 2012)

You got me thinking about how the seats are not the most comfortable seats Ive sat in. My leather Monte Carlo seats are so nice and the beetles feel like stone. So I searched for recaro ergomed and orthopaed seats. $2500 per seat is crazy! Thats not hapening ever! Is there a brand of aftermarket seats that are not stupid priced?


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## atomicvibe (Feb 12, 2013)

SaberOne said:


> What?! I've been driving my TDi A/T for less than a month and I feel its far more responsive than any other of the four Dubs' I have owned (in a row). I traded in my 2007 Passat Sport and it handled like a barge compared to this Bug's shorter wheelbase with the optional 235/45 Conti's on 18" wheels.
> 
> I love how quick it responds and it turns tighter than a cats' meow!  Maybe the 18's I had swapped out makes a difference combined with the shorter wheelbase. I would consider adding more air to the tires to see if that improves the handling because I know it does on all my Dubs. Aside from that, you may consider a performance sway-bar but I have never tried one myself. In fact I'd be a little concerned with potential over-steer.


Besides your Passat (which understandably did not handle as well as you'd like, since it's not a performance vehicle), what other Dubs have you owned?

The standard wheels/rubber may have something to do with the slightly-less-than-tactile experience I get from the wheel. Yours had 18s as an option? The only wheel option on VW's site is the standard 17". Are you in Europe? Or was this some special dealership swap?


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## SaberOne (Apr 1, 2012)

*more to say...*

My previous Dub’s include a '96 Jetta (Base), 2005 1/2 Jetta (fully loaded), 2007 Rabbit (Base), 2007 Passat Sport. I swapped out the 18’s for 17’s on the Passat as a futile attempt to soften the harsh ride from the lowered suspension. It was the sharpest looking rig ever although it was also the worst riding Dub of the bunch! Likewise, the TSi 2.0 was absolutely gutless in that car-class and the air conditioner was soOoo very weak! Still, I tricked it out with lots of Euro add-ons but I always hated it. 

Fast-forward to my new TDi Bug with Nav/Sun and there you have it. I really wanted to special order the rare Moonstruck/Beige color combo and frankly I wish I had held to my plan. However, when the dealer offered to swap-out the stock 17’s with any wheel set I wanted I was hooked. I accepted the plain-Jane white over black and I chose the 18-inch ‘Twisters’. Yes, I could have chosen the 19’s from the Turbo model but I didn’t really want a repeat of the rough ride from the Passat. I know full well the cool looking' larger wheels and shorter profile tires come at the expense of a noisier and rougher ride. Yes, I’m old and my friends still can’t believe I opted for a bug. 

Seats: With regard to the ErgoMed's I fully agree they are over-the-top crazy expensive and believe me I won't be getting them anytime soon. It's a huge risk as I have yet to find anybody in the tri-state area that floor stocks those seats to test fit. I plan to start with sheepskins (tailored fit) to see if they'll help. 

As evidenced above, I like the VW designs and build quality but they are quite proud of their crappy seats and they absolutely refuse to change. I suppose if you're in your 20’s you may not feel any discomfort at all, but after a 200 mile road trip I'm sure they’ll feel their lower back give out just like us dinosaurs.


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## stainlineho (Aug 20, 2011)

Front Runner said:


> The boost gauge indicates the amount of boost (forced air) the turbo is giving the engine. If the turbo is providing a tremedous amount of boost your mpgs are going to decrease. As stated gradual acceleration and keeping a steady speed will help mileage.


Negative sir. Boost is a measurement of restriction, not forced air.


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