VW Jetta TDI Performance & Economy Upgrades - Part V

People often ask us if it's worth their money and their time installing performance diesel parts like cold air intakes, programmers and exhaust systems.  We wanted to help newcomers and skeptics alike see that there really is money to be saved and a better driving experience waiting for them with just a few easy to install aftermarket upgrades.  Obviously for many VW TDI owners, diesel fuel economy is a primary motivation.

This is the 5th and concluding blog post about installing an AFE intake into a 2012 VW Jetta TDI Sedan.   If you haven't read them yet, we recommend starting at the beginning with the 1st Post.  If you've already viewed parts 1 through 4, read on.

In part 4, we measured an increase in fuel economy of 2.48 MPG on a mostly uphill trip of 217 miles from St. George Utah to Ely Nevada.  While in Ely the car was used so little that we didn't put more fuel into it after our fill up with the odometer at 1141 miles.  Here's a picture again of that odometer reading with a full tank of fuel.

On the trip back to St. George we again drove normally, averaging about 72 mph.  Temperatures were very nice, with about 55 degrees in Ely and 85 degrees when we arrived in St. George.  We didn't fill the tank up until the next day, and when we did the odometer was now at 1363 miles.

So the total trip distance was 1361 minus 1141, or 222 miles.  On our original test trip with the stock Jetta TDI, we had driven 220 miles.  The difference in trips was due to a very small amount of around town driving while in Ely.  Now let's check out the amount of fuel pumped.

With 222 miles driven on 5.012 gallons of diesel fuel, the return trip with the AFE 2.0L TDI intake installed works out to 44.29 miles per gallon.  In blog post 2 of this series, we reported fuel mileage of 41.30 mpg with the stock Jetta sedan.  So with the AFE intake our fuel mileage increase by 2.99 mpg on this trip.  

Just like before, we decided to figure out a combined mpg trip average.  439 total miles traveled (217 going, 222 coming) with 10.646 gallons of diesel used (5.634 going + 5.012 returning) equates to a trip average of 41.23 mpg.  The original trip average was 38.50 mpg, meaning with the AFE cold air intake we improved our overall fuel economy by 2.73 mpg.  And, we had better power and improved turbo spool.  

With results like these, we're convinced that adding an AFE cold air intake is one of the easiest and best ways to get improved VW TDI performance.

Next up, we're excited to test this car out on the soon to be released all new Diesel Power modules for 2012 & 2013 2.0L TDI's.  We're being told a pre-Christmas release date is likely, and since just like many of you we've been waiting over a year for this exciting upgrade, we can't wait!   The new Diesel Power modules for 2011 2.0L TDI's should be available in limited quantities by the 10th of December.  And all preliminary testing shows great driving characteristics, 20% torque gains, and fuel economy improvements too!

VW Jetta TDI Performance & Economy Upgrades - Part IV

Now that we have an AFE Stage 2 Si Cold Air Intake installed in our 2012 VW Jetta TDI Sedan, it's time to see what kind of fuel economy gains we'll get from the intake.  We originally took a trip from St. George Utah to Ely Nevada with a stock car to get a fuel mileage reading.  As mentioned in Part 1, this trip involves a decent amount of uphill driving, and our fuel mileage was 36.03 MPG on the first run.

It was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit in St. George the day we left on our first trip in August.  This trip was in early October, but it was still pretty warm, about 90 degrees.  Temperatures were cooler on the trip, especially as elevation increased.  After filling up the tank, we took a picture of the odometer.  924 miles on the car.

Just like our original trip in August, there was about 800 pounds between people and luggage in the Jetta.   Just like the first trip, we didn't stop much, averaged about 70-75 mph, and just drove "normally."  When we got to Ely we were very interested to see what results, if any, would come from having installed the TDI cold air intake from AFE.  After filling the tank in Ely, we took another picture of the digital readout.

The odometer now read 1,141 miles.  The receipt from our fill up in Ely showed that we had used 5.634 gallons of diesel fuel.

Doing the math, we take 1141 miles minus our starting miles of 924, for a total of 217 miles traveled, exactly the same distance as our original baseline trip.  Dividing 217 miles traveled by 5.634 gallons of diesel fuel, the mileage on our trip with the AFE cold air intake installed was 38.51 miles per gallon.  That's an increase of 2.48 miles per gallon - not too shabby.   Not scientific, either, but our best guess is that the AFE intake gave us a boost in fuel economy as advertised.

In the next part of this blog post thread, we'll see what fuel economy we get on the "downhill" return trip to St. George, and if this almost 2 and a half MPG increase was a fluke, or something we can expect to continue to get.  Thank you for reading, and remember we have a huge selection of performance diesel parts for VW TDI's, Ford, Dodge and GM diesel trucks.

VW Jetta TDI Performance & Economy Upgrades - Part III

In order to determine what kind of fuel economy gain, if any, would be achieved by adding different performance diesel parts to our 2012 VW Jetta TDI, we first established a baseline MPG reading of  38.5 MPG on a stock diesel with an automatic transmission.  (See previous blog posts parts 1 & 2).  Now it was time to add a cold air intake, and we went with one of the best.  We've had consistent success over the years with cold air intakes from Advanced Flow Engineering, or AFE, and their intake for 2009-2013 2.0L TDI's is no exception.

The first thing that really stands out when looking at the stock air filter, is the almost shocking thickness.  Measuring a whopping 3 inches thick and made from a pleated paper filtering topped off with a thin (about 1/4" inch) layer of gauze, it's no wonder optimal airflow just isn't there with the OE filter.

In contrast, the AFE intake filter itself is of course conical in shape, allowing for a bigger surface area.  It also isn't nearly so thick, approximately 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch, and the pleats are more open than on the original VW filter.  AFE offers multiple filter material choices, both oiled and dry.  We went with their Pro Guard 7 oiled filter.  Here's what the filter looks like.

And here's what the filter would look like installed.

With high filtration rates (high 98% for the 5 layer oiled cotton Pro 5 R filter, 99.2% for the 2 layer synthetic oil-free Pro Dry S, and 99.7% for the Pro Guard 7), and up to a 56% increase in airflow, it stands to reason that AFE cold air intakes will deliver power and fuel economy gains.  In our next post, we'll take another trip back to Ely Nevada.  With this 2.0L VW TDI intake installed we hope to see some kind of fuel economy gain.

Just one quick note; the addition of the AFE intake made a noticeable difference in reducing turbo lag off the line.  The car just drives better, both at lower speeds, and on the freeway.  Throttle response is improved, and the car is already more fun to drive!  

For all your VW TDI performance needs, shop Parleys Diesel Performance.

VW Jetta TDI Performance & Economy Upgrades - Part II

In our last post, we started trying to establish a baseline fuel economy reading on a new stock 2012 VW Jetta 2.0L TDI Sedan with the DSG transmission.  The first half of a 200 mile weekend road trip took us from an elevation of 2941 feet above sea level in St. George Utah to about 6400 ft. elevation in Ely Nevada.  The result was just a shade over 36 miles per gallon.

On our return trip, we started out with 479 miles on the odometer and a full tank of gas. (We did have to put a few dollars of gas in to top off the tank.)   The temperature in Ely was around 65 degrees Fahrenheit when we left back to St. George on August 12th.  Just like before, we drove right at the speed limit or over by 1-3 miles an hour.  We drove "normally" not focused on getting the best economy possible, but not pushing the vehicle at all either.  Getting back to St. George that afternoon the temperature was about 98 degrees.

When we went to the gas station in St. George the next day (thus explaining the extra 3 miles vs. the trip to Ely of only 217 miles) and filled the tank up, the odometer had reached 699 miles, for a total driven of 220 miles.  Again, this was almost all from highway miles at about 65-75 miles per hour.

 

The receipt below shows that we used 5.326 gallons of diesel fuel.

With 220 miles driven on 5.326 gallons of diesel, our trip mpg average came out to 41.30.  Obviously an improvement over the 36.03 mpg we got on the uphill trip.  The difference, in our opinion, was probably mostly attributable to driving uphill on the way there verses going downhill on the way back.

We decided to figure out a combined trip mpg average.  437 total miles traveled (217 going, 220 coming) with 11.348 gallons of diesel used (6.022 going + 5.326 returning) equates to a trip average of 38.50 mpg.  Not too shabby for a brand new diesel.

Now that we had an unscientific but usable baseline mpg figure, it was time to start bolting on some aftermarket diesel performance parts and then measuring the difference these made. First up, an AFE cold air intake kit.  Join us on our next blog post as we share some photos from that installation.

VW Jetta TDI Performance & Economy Upgrades

"What fuel economy gains can I expect from this upgrade on my diesel?"  That's a question we hear many times every day, so we've decided to do some rudimentary tests for some of our most popular aftermarket diesel performance parts and report the results back to you via this blog.  

Let's start by looking at a 2012 VW Jetta 2.0L TDI Sedan with an automatic transmission.  Our test car is basically brand new, with less than 250 miles on it.  The first thing we wanted to do is establish a baseline mileage reading on the bone stock vehicle.  To do this we used a trip of approximately 217 miles from St. George Utah (elevation 2941) to Ely Nevada (elevation 6427).  On August 9th 2012, we filled the fuel tank and took a picture of the odometer.

With 244 miles on the odometer, we hit the road with a full tank of diesel with no additives.  Temperature that day was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit in southern Utah.  With 3 people and luggage for a weekend trip, we had about 800 pounds in the car.  The drive is mostly in rural, farmland, or even high Great Basin desert terrain, with minimal traffic and only a handful of stops.  The average speed on the trip was about 70-75 mph, and it seemed that if we had kept to about 65-70 mph our rpm's would have been in a better fuel economy "sweet spot."  However, we just wanted to get where we were going, so mileage wasn't worried about - we just went the speed limit, or maybe a little over. 

After getting to central Nevada, we refilled the tank.

The odometer was now showing 461 miles.  

The receipt from our fill up in Ely showed that we had used 6.022 gallons of diesel.

So the math works like this; 461 miles on the odometer minus 244 miles on the odometer at the start of the trip equals 217 miles traveled on 6.022 gallons of diesel fuel.  Dividing 217 miles by 6.022 gives us a final trip average of 36.03 miles per gallon.

Since this trip takes you up over 3000 feet in elevation we were interested to see what fuel mileage it would get on the return trip with lots of downhill stretches of road.  We're also curious to see what effect "breaking in the engine" over the next year will have on fuel economy.  

Join us for our next blog post where we show you the numbers from our return "downhill" trip with the stock Jetta TDI sedan at the end of the weekend drive.  Thank you.  And don't forget to shop Parleys Diesel Performance for all your VW TDI performance needs.

84 MPG From a 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI!

Every day we talk to many of you who are looking for ways to improve your diesel fuel economy.  There are lots of performance diesel parts available that can help, but we came across this really cool news article that chronicled one couple who have figured out how to really push their fuel mileage to the limit just with driving technique.  

Fox News - Couple squeezes 84 MPG out of diesel VW Passat

What we're really curious to know is why a Houston Texas police officer was watching Mr. Taylor fill up his tank!  We know Houston is a hotbed of diesel performance activity, but good grief.  If you want other ideas for improved TDI fuel mileage in addition to just driving right, check out our selection of TDI performance parts.