With gas prices soaring over $4, the time has come to rethink my energy consumption. This means retiring my aging lifted 1999 Ford F150 for a vehicle that won’t cost me $100 every time I visit the local Shell station. In fact, I want something economical… something along the lines of a small, sporty sedan. With all the hype over hybrids, I set out to test drive a Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid. Once behind the wheel, I found easing into the throttle of a hybrid to be foreign with both vehicles quietly motoring off the line on electric power alone. The Civic engine tended to kick-in earlier than did the Prius, and it also liked to rev its 1.3-liter i-VTEC noisily, particularly when trying those challenging uphill freeway onramps. While the Prius is quieter and smoother to engage its engine, it too lacks the oomph of a comparable gas-only vehicle. Ride? Both cars were comfortable yet the Prius was a bit softly sprung for my liking, which brings up handling. The Honda's rolling stock just isn't up to higher-speed corners and the Prius liked the slow-in, slow-out approach. Apparently, when you buy a hybrid, you completely forgo driving fun. Then I happened upon the 50-state legal 2009 Jetta TDI. Its 2.0-liter turbo diesel is said to yield near hybrid fuel consumption while being, dare I say, green. To find out more, I crawled behind the wheel of a vinyl tree laden test vehicle (production models due out soon). What I found was beyond my expectations—the Jetta was fun, rather exhilarating to drive. It handled with all of the prowess of a VW, but with more bite on tap... sure the TDI produces a middling 140 HP, but its 236 ft.-lbs. of torque kicks you in the butt with enough thrust show a Prius or Civic Hybrid it soot-free tailpipe, onramp after onramp. And, to top it off, I averaged 44 MPG on the freeway over a reasonably flat 7 mile span (in a car that had barely 180 miles on it, no less), and the 2.0-liter didn’t smoke or chatter like diesels of the past. In fact, once moving the engine was as quiet, or quieter, than the gas model. So why did I bother with this blog? Because I wanted to prove a point to those forum goers who are in constant battle about hybrids vs. diesels—it’s not all about MPGs. Sure the Prius and Civic Hybrid might win that battle (time will tell), but it’s likely to be close. But for those of us who enjoy spirited driving on occasion (and are willing to give up 2-3 MPGs to get it), there is no comparison—the diesel Jetta wins.
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