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...

Interesting question. Firstly yes it is a TDI, the 1.6 Common Rail 105hp engine - not sure if it made it to the US, but probably not.

Secondly I've just had a full day of stop start so I'm getting used to it.

It seems to come on as soon as the engine is warm - i.e. the temp gauge has moved - and is activated when the car is stopped and the clutch is out (Neutral). The engine then stops and the "Hill Start" handbrake is applied - so the car won't move even if you lift off the brake.

To restart you press the clutch and by the time the pedal is full down and first is selected the engine is started and ready to go. The car won't move until you actually engage the clutch, at which point the "Hill Start" brake is released.

I used it this evening on a very long traffic light queue downhill near home and it worked really well - stopped, cutch pedal, crawl, stop, engine off, brake on, repeat - no effort at all from me.

I haven't driven "on boost" much yet so I don't know if the facility is disabled if the turbo is hot. I did notice that when I turned up the heater on "stop" the engine started to provide the power. I will wear a pullover next time :D

First built in MPG display averages are 45 MPG "to" work (uphill mostly) and 59 MPG coming back (downhill mostly but more traffic). This is with no extra Eco driving effort at all except what the car had by default.

By comparison Hermann would struggle to get 30-35 on the first leg and maybe 35 on the home part if the traffic wasn't too bad.

Without much effort (I got too bored to not try some hypermiling) I got my first over 55 day, according to the on-board display. 54 MPG to work (uphill) and 74 back. 1/4 tank is at 200 so I estimate 650 miles for a tank as the gauge will drop faster.

You have a really nice looking auto!

When coming to a stop, I often shift to neutral without using the clutch (ie. move the lever when there's no load on the drivetrain, so no resistance).

Do you know if the system will still work in that case, or does it need to see the clutch used before selecting neutral and stopping?

Just curious.

The wee Mitsu Mirage also has stop/start in Europe. I'd love to see how it works in that car too.

Habit dictates I use the pedal myself. I do sometimes coast in neutral when I can't reliably dictate the stop profile. Usually when I stop (foot on the brake) the stop-start kicks in.

If I get a chance I'll maybe see if I can test drive a Mirage with Stop-Start or at least see how it works. I have seen a few Mirages here but not a huge number - more VW UP! (and related models from SEAT/Skoda) and Aygo (related models from Peugeot/Citroen).

UFI's stop start works in the above case. I suspect most of them do.

I rather suspect turbo temps aren't taken into account on most S/S turbo cars. The standard party line is that with modern turbos and oils you're safe as long as you're not on a race track. Even at freeway speed a lot of modern TD's are geared so high in top gear that the turbo's not really working too hard. A bit of DFCO before you stop is enough (doubly true on a diesel).

I have my reservations about the above though :confused:

I agree and I think Diesel Turbos run hotter than petrol ones ? I might have that backwards though ?

The SS seems not to depend on temps too much - it starts working after I have trundled in neutral downhill from my house to the end of the road (1/2 mile) from cold. At the end I have to stop until the lights nearby have cycled, and the engine has shutdown every time so far. Maybe it won't in winter ?

It also disables if the power draw is high enough but I have noticed that it has disabled sometimes when I've expected it to still work. For example just after reversing (e.g. onto my drive) it won't kick in at all - but that is logical, usually the driver would want to set off again or shut down manually after parking.

Other times the SS disabled symbol appears on the dash but I haven't quite worked out why. It could be turbo temps maybe.

If I wasn't so busy at work I would have an evening to study the instruction manual or Google and know for sure... :rolleyes:

So far done just short of 300 miles with a tank average of 53-54 on the built in display. The range estimate is another 460 miles but this is based on the most recent averages so it might go down. It does raise the question of a Kilo tank with some effort - I'm not doing anything special at the moment.

Minor issue is that the super long gearing does overwhelm the little 1.6 sometimes - it can be "off boost" at 70 (the motorway limit here) needing a change down to climb a steep hill for example. It will be interesting to try on the M74 - the road to England and civilisation of course - which is full of steep climbs and dips.

Please don't call this an "issue". :)

That's exactly the transmission many (most?) of us want!

The alternative is the current manual transmission status quo: a rev-happy top gear that wastes fuel all through the flats so that we are never troubled -- heaven forbid! -- to move the shifter out of top gear once it's been put there!

Yep had the alternative on holiday. That (the one in the link) was a good car ruined IMHO.

Its something to get used to again, remember I am swapping back from an Auto to a manual. :o

On the wrong side of the road, no less. You're doing a great job over there. ;)

I think that is worth at least a free 10% hypermiler rating.

Damn colonials. ;)

I think I might like this car...

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ar...re6821-wow.jpg

:thumbup:

Send one across the pond!
 

http://s26.postimg.org/tbd0z1z15/FB_...0332208294.jpg

Incredible FE, Arragonis!

First use of (mild) hypermiling.

I intended this tank as a baseline but as you can see it will be a couple if weeks at least before the next fill, and I got bored ;)

The tank won't match this unfortunately.

On the plus side my previous Audi would be at 35 at the same point, the Aygo would be at 55ish and our Prius was usually around 58. The Prius hated the motorway.

PS Imperial MPG. :snail:

Very nice ride Mr A!!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Don't care, still impressive! :turtle:

I think your improvements on the 'Scort standard stats are more impressive. It will be a slow process to get stats on Henning with each tank doing ~700 miles-ish ;)

I un-ecomodded Henning yesterday and added 200 grams of dog-friendly weight

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ar...509-141307.jpg

I compounded this crime against eco by adding the same weight to Mrs A's Octavia

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ar...509-163621.jpg

The dog we have is elderly (inhereted from my mum who died a couple of years ago) and needs all the help she can get. These combined with a step should be OK.

I'm intrigued..

My 950kg polo has 64bhp of non turbo diesel powah..this has 106?
What is the weight like(either with or without dogmods)

Looks like a nice enough car-hope you enjoy it a bit more than the Aldi..

Official kerb weight is 1505kg for the saloon, I would add maybe 50-100 for the estate perhaps but magazines and websites are not very reliable and it varies model to model.

BHP is the measure of charlatans (bhp = (torque x RPM) / 5252), torque is what you actually use. Henning has 184 lb/ft vs. 91 for your Polo.

If only the Aldi had those prices in mind ;)

Seem fairly evenly matched then-your passat is almost 2x weight of polo, and 2x torque..

We should drag race to settle it!

To settle what ?

Turbo vs N/a;)

I was being witty*

Ah, I see ;)

Could probably have a tug of war instead, I think you would win - the Contis are not the best...

Unlikely-wanli on front, linglong(yes they do exist!) On the rear.

Reckon a polo bluemotion grill could be made to fit?

You'd probably be better off getting the plastic and tape out :D Cheaper too.

:mad:I meant for yours!