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I tried to simplify the figures and calculations in laymen terms for ordinary folks that are not too familiar with all details.
There is problem, as you mentioned, now more than ever with Toyota "residuals" for example.... these cars will have much lower values at the end of the lease than originally projected. That will cost (whoever carries these leases) a lot of money as the lease/lien holders will have a tough time to re-sell these cars.
At Costco, I purchased a big bag of 600 8oz paper cups (NOT waxed) I carry about 20 cups in the trunk with the additive bottle. I form a 'spout' on a paper cup and approxamate 6oz of additive. Pour in tank and toss cup.... no mess, no smell. (that additive is stinky stuff)
I figure 600 paper cups at over 650 miles per tank .... that means I wont have to purchase any more cups till 390K miles on the odemeter. 8-)
IMHO the fuel additives are all superfluous!
FWIW, with my 2003 TDI, I did find that powerservice white-bottle made for quieter & less-smoky very-cold-starts & quieter very-cold-morning-warmup (20F or below). so basically the additive seemed superfluous in that case too.
VW does endorse the use of 'Stanadyne' additive in the TDI's they sell it at their parts counter.
But on the up side, you did get to use "superfflous" twice in one post..
Indeed I did not care about my 03 TDI engine being loud & smoky on startup.
I agree that VW does endorse the use of their Stanadyne additive and they mention very-cold-weather. But I don't think they recommend or require it. As I recall the gist in the owners manual for all 4 of my TDIs, additives are considered extraneous.
However some TDI owners are very lugubrious with their engines and so they always use additive!
1) VW does infact suggest and recommend use of diesel-fuel additives.
2) VW TDI is engineered to burn European diesel fuel which is FAR better than any
North American diesel fuel.
3) The MPG gain from bringing the cetane up to the minimum level which the engine is designed has MEASURABLE improvments in MPG
4) Increased lubricity of the additives helps the close-tolerance of the expensive high-pressure fuelpump. (Mack Trucks do not need this kind of fuel-lubrication)
Perhaps you are thinking of gasoline additives which are, indeed, mostly a waste of money... except perhaps if one is trying to prevent frozen gaslines in the winter.
I can tell you that I have a MEASURED overall average MPG of 50. (and peak of 57MPG) This is over 110,000 miles of measuring every drop of fuel. Folks who do NOT use additives religiously, have not been able to show the same numbers.
I like that you were able to get "superfluous" and "lugubrious" into contiguous posts. 8-)
The USA diesel fuel is all I can get - somehow I keep running dry when I drive to Europe to refuel. I could make it to Canada to refuel and to pay import-duty on malt-beverages. Hmm...
Gas engine manuals are often correctly alarmist and prohibitive about additives. Hey, did I mention the amazing additive that you can distribute for me? It re-magnetizes the ionic pentameter of the gasoline molecules, increasing mpg 46%! Just private-message me your bank account number and i'll set you up.
My first TDI got 48 mpg tank after tank and the current/4th one started at 44 mpg is approaching 48 at 100k miles. I am endeavoring to be a very cheap very old coot but it's not worth *any* PITA for 3% more (placebo) mpg on a base mpg of ~45, all from your "so-called" additives. :shades:
Us salutatious semi-literate TDI guys smell bad enough without adding the stench from driving with half-empty bottles of fuel additive. It's better for society aromatically if we shun the stanadyne/power-service.
ps - if I've harmed the TDI engines by avoiding additives, don't buy a used TDI from me! zero fuel pumps consumed so far, zero engine problems, ~400k TDI miles and counting...
I would love to have the diesel TDI and the car looks and sounds very good. Unfortunately, comfort is the number one item on my auto list. My main car is an old 2001 Intrepid with 155k miles on it. I refer to the seats as a lazy boy on wheels. I am going to be replacing it with whatever I buy. My wife has a 2001 Impala which has those angled sides on the seats but they are soft enough I just squish them down and can make due. I sat in one of the new beetles at the dealership and those seats are more comfortable for me. I see that the new beetle came in a TDI up to 2006 so may explore that possibility.
Charlie D.
Not sure if an upholstery shop can replace the foam because many seats have seat heaters in the foam so it would not be an easy job to do.
Charlie D.
I would assume with nearly 30K miles that you have had the tires rotated several times by now. If not, then you may have some goofy wear-patterns in your tires which are now perminant.
So now that it's time to take them off I decided to order another set of 4 new 15" summer tires (General Altimax HP's) with steel rims as well. I personally think the factory rims on my 2006 Jetta look downright ugly, and the tires were rags anyway.
For some strange reason, I have a fondness for the chrome 'wire wheel look' and think the Jetta looks great with those style wheel covers, mind you I also have a taste for thin gold pinstriping, chrome exhaust tips, vent visors and wood grain dash trim.....
(I know,.... to each his own)
On a more practical note tho', a 15" tire is on average at least $30 or more less than an OEM 205 55 16's of the same brand, are available everywhere and feel just the same or better, for me.
So please don't laugh if you see my tarted up White Jetta parked outside the local A&W on Cruise Night. :shades:
Where I drive the roads are heaved up by the winter frosts and form 2 to 4 " breaks across in the pavement every 20 to 30 feet for endless miles. It's like diving down the road on railroad cross tires,,,whap.... whap.... whap...for miles on end.
A "wide, rigid tire" is just what I don't want. Been there on that one.
The 15" "Poofy Buick tires" from the 1980's are much quieter and easier on the nerves.
BTW the 195 65 15 is less "poofy" than the OEM 205 55 16..they are about 1" narrower and have a 1/2" more sidewall, and more air volume to ease out the "Whumps"...
The only bad thing about my new 15"ers is, I couldn't get them in WHITEWALLS! :shades:
I have a MINI, a notoriously hard riding car, on 17". I drove one on 16" with run flats and they were way worse than the 17" go-flats I have on there now.
The brand new Scion xA I bought had cheapo OEM poofy tires, 15", and they were terrible. That little car was all over the road. We took care of that with wider tires of lower profile, sway bars front and back, and strut tower braces.
But if 95% of one's driving is just punching cruise control and driving in a straight line on smooth as glass highways, then sure, poofy tires, no problem.
I never EVER want to go back to a sloppy handling car myself.
I have found in my 60 years of driving everything from Water Trucks, to Tractors to sports cars, that whenever I lean a speeding car over into a hard turn, on no matter what kind of tires, I had immediate second thoughts about my driving style.
I have I learned a long time ago to slow down for 'hard turns'. and if I don't, there's a very loud voice in my ear telling me to do so...and her name is Barb',... our 51st anniversary this month.
I can live with the Numerical chances of me Meeting my Maker due to nice quiet Poofy Tires.
I hope you got wide white sidewalls, continental kit and fender skirts to make it a REAL cruiser.
Sadly we live in the People's Socialist Republic of California. Where the roads are poorly maintained and 17" low profiles are not well adapted to 3" potholes every few hundred feet. I liked the handling of the Passat with the 17inchers. Only on smooth highways.
Your lucky. Try IL and Mich and the 6-10" deep potholes. They not only blow the tire and crack your rim but can do some serious damage to the undercarriage as well. I have been on the expressway and seen over a dozen cars pulled over with flats all stemming from one pothole during rush hour.
But to hang a Continental kit on a Jetta you would also have to fit a rear bumper off a 56 Ford Thunderbird. Might not mount too good with no frame and all the plastic push pins that hold our new cars together.
Last time I parked next to a 57 Chevy outside a Chineese resturant in Lake Havasue City, I got 3 people who wanted to know all about the TDI and a few thumbs up.
Zero negative comments about my Poofy tires and wire wheels.
The 17s aren't bad at all. I get more rough riding from a short wheelbase car than from the tires, and this is part of what all "small" cars experience to some extent.
No Road of Lost Souls where I live, just lost mufflers, plastic body parts, shock absorbers, oil pans, and wheel covers.
And in the 5 months of winter here, the Upside Down SUV Festival is called Friday rush hour. :sick:
They have a very good interactive website where you can dress up your car with their rims and tires and actually see, how they would look on your car.
Is there a maintenance bulletin out on this nagging and irritating electrical problem? If not, has anyone had the same problem and, if so, how has it been solved (if it ever has been)?
Green drove a vehicle powered by two diesel engines that have a combined total of 1,500 horsepower. Each is a 4-cylinder, 4.4-liter engine used commercially as a backhoe .
The tires on the car are designed to only go 350 mph, but Green's crew said the car is capable of going 400 mph.