Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Etc., Volkswagen
VW Jetta TDI sets Guinness World Record of 58.82 mpg

The VW Jetta TDI has proven to be quite popular in the short time it's been on sale here in the U.S.: it has put sales of the Tiguan in the cooler and the ones that are available are very hard to get. Now the fairest Jetta of them all has set a Guinness World Record by traversing the lower 48 U.S. states while returning 58.82 mpg thanks to John and Helen Taylor.
The Taylors took 20 days to cover the 9,419 miles in a counter clockwise direction, and this wasn't a hypermiling slow-as-you-can-go affair – they stayed within 5 mph of the speed limit. Their car was completely stock as it consumed just 11 tanks of ultra low sulfur diesel and traveled 853 miles per fill up. With that kind of mileage and handling high up on the fun factor, the Jetta TDI makes an excellent case for itself if you like driving and want to lower your fuel consumption.
VW also recently told us that the go-fast Jetta TDIs in the TDI Cup Series are returning an average of 25 mpg and doing their entire 7-race series on just two tanks of gas, which includes qualifying. If that's true, there's got to be another world record in there somewhere...
[Source: AutoblogGreen]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Torrent 12:31PM (9/30/2008)
Makes me almost want a Jetta TDI.
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John 12:34PM (9/30/2008)
Me too! I'd own one of these any day over a Prius!
J M C 3 3:00PM (9/30/2008)
My apologies Yar.I meant Greg.
GDUB 12:39PM (9/30/2008)
"they stayed within 5 mph of the speed limit"
Lord It must have been a epic journey spanning decades. Why not just take horse and buggy and be done with it.
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rsfourever 12:41PM (9/30/2008)
lol
Bluestreak 12:42PM (9/30/2008)
Once you're over 17 years old and start paying for your own gas, you actually grow up and observe speed limits.
Vintage 5:35PM (10/01/2008)
Maybe if you choose to drive some stupid SUV, but I go 10-15 over at all times, and still manage over 30mpg. Have fun in your deathtrap!
.josh. 1:23PM (9/30/2008)
really, you do?
I'm over 17, pay for my own gas, and well lets say I observe the signs but not the message most of the time.
John 1:28PM (9/30/2008)
The article has nothing to do with SUV's moron!
Yar 1:49PM (9/30/2008)
"Once you're over 17 years old and start paying for your own gas, you actually grow up and observe speed limits."
I don't think this is the right website for you to present your "responsible driving" speech. I'm almost certain that more than 3/4 of the people here have driven over 100 mph in the past week (if, of course, they have the vehicular capability).
Gregg 2:16PM (9/30/2008)
Yar, you are relatively certain of something that just isn't so. One does not have to exceed 100 to drive spiritedly. Speaking of that, maybe you also think creationism should be taught in schools?
J M C 3 2:56PM (9/30/2008)
Hey , as long as You can tell me who 'created' the ' big bang'we could re-visit that argument.
J M C 3 2:58PM (9/30/2008)
Previous J M C 3 comment to Yar.
Matt 3:04PM (9/30/2008)
Interesting. I'm actually 17, pay for my own gas and for my own car, and I pretty much always go over the speed limit. Yet, I've also never been pulled over. I also return high 20's gas mileage.
McLovin 4:36PM (9/30/2008)
Yar wrote:
"I don't think this is the right website for you to present your "responsible driving" speech. I'm almost certain that more than 3/4 of the people here have driven over 100 mph in the past week"
Yar, you are a jackass. I've driven over 100mph in the last 10 days but I DID IT ON A TRACK! Why? Because I didn't want to kill someone while conducting some vehicular jack-assery. If you're doing over 100mph on public roads in the US, then I hope you are caught and your car taken from you.
It is one thing to be an auto-enthusiast, it is a totally different thing to be a di*k.
Emmo213 10:16AM (10/01/2008)
Yar, being an enthusiast doesn't mean you have to drive like an idiot.
FThorn 12:41PM (9/30/2008)
853 miles per tank is impressive.
My Prius has had about 540 in a tank. But, that's about 10 gallons.
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Sam Russell 12:42PM (9/30/2008)
Now if we could only get some cheaper (less taxed) diesel fuel in North America (i know here in Canada it's not insignificantly more expensive) we'd be alright. It also seems like Diesel fuel is harder to find (at least here in newfoundland). Great to see that real world numbers are better than expected for once...
http://www.samalamadingdong.com
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abcd 12:42PM (9/30/2008)
That`s quite good , they probably didn`t drive in city much , rather more outside city where diesels get good numbers .
In europe owners of the Golf 2.0 TDI have average consumption of 6,3 liter per 100 km which is about 37-38 mpg and their cars haven`t as many catalysts as that sold in US which are also increasing consumption .
http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/overview/50-Volkswagen/452-Golf.html?fueltype=1&power_s=100&power_e=115
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Bluestreak 12:45PM (9/30/2008)
I'm assuming this particular car is equipped with a manual transmission, but I saw no mention of the spec in the article text. I'd be curious to see how differently the slushbox and manual perfom, though I'd never buy anything but the latter.
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