Henning (2014 VW Passat, 1.6 TDI Bluemotion)
 

Replacement for Hermann has arrived.

Henning.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ar...06-henning.jpg

It is a Passat, 1.6 TDI Bluemotion - the FE biased version. We still need something bigg-ish and dog friendly (low loading sill) so this seems to fit quite well.

Official stats are urban 53.3 mpg, extra urban mpg 70.6 mpg and overall 64.2 mpg. It also only cost £30 a year to tax vs. £475 for Hermann so I'm about 5 tanks of Diesel ahead already. Insurance (also annual) is £18 less.

Not planning much, if any, moddage to it except for higher tyre pressures and to see what techniques work best. In terms of FE mods the grill isn't blocked much (unlike the Polo Bluemotion) but it has (supposedly, will need to check what is on it) LRR tyres and slightly lowered suspension. Main feature is stop-start which works really well combined with hill-hold. It is also a manual 6 Speed.

It will be interesting to compare with Mrs A's Skoda Octavia estate which has the same engine but the 7 speed DSG.

So far using the built in display it has managed 48 and 55 MPG in fairly heavy traffic on two short trips - one to collect it and one to fill up.

I wish we could get the 1.6L TDI on this side of the pond.

Nice upgrade.

Why the huge difference in tax, age?

regards
mech

I can't see why it couldn't be sold there if the other TDIs make it but we end up in that debate about demand and why Americans are needing vastly more power than everyone else - EDIT - the 1.6 has "only" 105hp and does 0-60 in "only" 12-13 seconds.

UK car tax (meant to pay for roads and maintenance but is really used as general taxation) is based on CO2 emission "bands". The Audi fell into the 2nd or 3rd highest. If I had bought one a year younger is was "only" £275, even if I had a 3.0 instead of my 2.7.

This is a Carbon tax for real, and one even I support even if I did have to pay it. If reducing CO2 is your big deal then this is how to do it effectively as it also means makers want their cars to be in the lower 3 bands which go from £0 - £30. This is a win-win as emissions go down and consumers save. Except uk.gov likes taxes so they have pondered taxing us by usage instead.

P.S. The source of Henning. EDIT Some mild swearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wJaCedLfdg

Looks nice.

UK or US mpg stated?

I don't suppose those roof rails will easily come off from the outside.

Maybe a bit of coroplast fairing.

All MPGs are imperial.

Not planning on removing the bars at the moment.

Nice grab. Is it a turbo diesel? I didn't think turbos and lots of on/off made for a good match; wondering how VW handled that possible issue...