Topic: Comparison Test: 2013 Toyota Prius V hybrid vs 2014 VW Golf Wagon TDI Clean Diesel

[Autos_Editor]

Hybrid vs diesel utility ' Peter Bleakney loads up a Prius V and Golf TDI wagon and drives hundreds of klicks.

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[dkaz]

I like both cars. Was it 5.9 L/100km in a Golf full of instruments and 4.9 L/100km in a Prius V with the mountain bike? We're both driven the same way? Or maybe the Prius V doesn't inspire heavy use of the throttle pedal?

[northsparrow]

German (Mexican) cars are notorious for inaccurate speedometers. Has anyone checked the accuracy
of the odometer in the Golf to verify the distance traveled? This would be crucial in determining the true fuel
consumption.

[redman]

Both being great. 5G's buys a lot of lederhosen !! : and Oktoberfest beer.

[hemusbull]

German (Mexican) cars are notorious for inaccurate speedometers. Has anyone checked the accuracy
of the odometer in the Golf to verify the distance traveled? This would be crucial in determining the true fuel
consumption.

I'm a long time proponent of independent of manufacturers and in accordance with Canadian standards measurements of gas mileage, speed, acceleration, inside and outside cabin noise and so on. And Germans in their magazines like AutoBild do it perfectly accurate (not like in Mexican cars). The Autos readers deserve this!

[dkaz]

You can get a Golf Wagon TDI Comfortline for $28.5k with 6 speed manual, freight and PDI in.

[jpd]

''diesel four-pot and six-speed DSG are a match made in heaven'' .

I couldn't use better words!!

[Sir Osis of Liver]

German (Mexican) cars are notorious for inaccurate speedometers. Has anyone checked the accuracy
of the odometer in the Golf to verify the distance traveled? This would be crucial in determining the true fuel
consumption.

Cars built in Europe exaggerate more than Japanese cars, which in turn fib more than North American ones. And by manufacturer, GM's domestic products are the most accurate, and BMW's are the least accurate by far.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/speedometer-scandal-speedometer-scandal-page-2

Euro regulations don't allow a speedometer to read on the low side, so they build in a pretty healthy margin. But the odometers are required to read accurately, so that, the trip odometers and the trip computer should all be pretty close to actual.

[cruzzer]

My choice would for sure be the VW with a manual. But part of the reason for wanting a hybrid isn't just purely for the fuel savings, it's the lower levels of emissions. Any idea how they compare in this area?

[nlm]

Poor Fluffy....

The load floor in the Prius seems relatively high. Even though it has more volume I would be less comfortable using that volume up by stacking above the 2nd-row head rests.

And here I thought wagon+diesel+(available) manual trasmission = match made in heaven. Oh wait, I guess AWD is needed in that formula. Oop, I honestly didn't mean to bring up that winning formula....

[Sir Osis of Liver]

One minor quibble with the article, DEF fluid isn't expensive. It runs about $5/US gal the last time I looked it up. On the Cruze, the tank needs to be filled at 16k km, and it takes about 5L IIRC. It's not going to break the bank.

Diesel is currently $1.269 and regular gasoline is $1.174 at my local station. Over the summer, diesel was a couple of pennies cheaper than gas, but not enough to make up for the winter spread.

I'd pick one of the Priuses, maybe the C-Max or the CT200 for our usage.

[mixmanmash]

One minor quibble with the article, DEF fluid isn't expensive. It runs about $5/US gal the last time I looked it up. On the Cruze, the tank needs to be filled at 16k km, and it takes about 5L IIRC. It's not going to break the bank.

Diesel is currently $1.269 and regular gasoline is $1.174 at my local station. Over the summer, diesel was a couple of pennies cheaper than gas, but not enough to make up for the winter spread.

I'd pick one of the Priuses, maybe the C-Max or the CT200 for our usage.

In the summer, diesel was on about 10-12 cents per litre cheaper than gasoline here.

[dkaz]

Still waiting for Mazda to put a Skyactiv engine into the 5.

[PJ]

One minor quibble with the article, DEF fluid isn't expensive. It runs about $5/US gal the last time I looked it up. On the Cruze, the tank needs to be filled at 16k km, and it takes about 5L IIRC. It's not going to break the bank.

Diesel is currently $1.269 and regular gasoline is $1.174 at my local station. Over the summer, diesel was a couple of pennies cheaper than gas, but not enough to make up for the winter spread.

I'd pick one of the Priuses, maybe the C-Max or the CT200 for our usage.

In the summer, diesel was on about 10-12 cents per litre cheaper than gasoline here.

Here too but not now.  Saw diesel at 1.44 and reg at 1.32 this morning.  I figure they average out to the same price over the year.

[dkaz]

Does diesel have a winter blend in the winter as well? Like anti-gelling additives? Does that reduce the amount of energy per litre of fuel?

[tpl]

Does diesel have a winter blend in the winter as well? Like anti-gelling additives? Does that reduce the amount of energy per litre of fuel?

There is a different diesel for cold weather but I don't know what the difference is.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

  I figure they average out to the same price over the year.

I have been curious about this too, so I looked up the EnerCan numbers.

http://www2.nrcan.gc.ca/eneene/sources/pripri/prices_byfuel_e.cfm

Based on the 52 week national averages, I got an average price of $1.293 for diesel and $1.297 for regular gasoline from this time last year. Not enough difference to worry about.

[WRX_Pilot]

Anybody here drive their diesels in mostly city driving and experience intake and/or valve problems?  Seems to me they don't do very well unless they can get up to temp with some highway driving...

[KD]

Anybody here drive their diesels in mostly city driving and experience intake and/or valve problems?  Seems to me they don't do very well unless they can get up to temp with some highway driving...

This has been mentioned to me by current owners.  It seems that diesels run much better on the highway and tend to be more reliable when they are run a lot.

[johngenx]

Tough choice.  The Dub is much more attractive and those TDIs are quite nice to drive.  Both have crazy good resale.  The Prius has the edge in long term operating costs thanks to the reliability and barely-ever-needs-service schedule and ribust components.

I think in our family, if the missus were driving it more, the Prius would win instantly.  If it were me driving more, I'd still be undecided.