Out with the old, in with the new... goodbye trusty ol' Mazda Protege, hello 2012 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI!
After our move back to Hawai'i, I felt that it was time to upgrade our car to something more "family-friendly". A lifted Tacoma doesn't fit that bill and a small compact car wasn't going to cut it either. My wife really liked the Toyota Highlanders, but those were crazy expensive. My thinking was we needed something bigger, but something also economical. Sure, Highlanders have a Hybrid trim, but you'll be looking at a $40K price tag for only 28 mpg (ouch). Then there's the Toyota Prius, but... really? Not really my flavor. Ok, ok, obviously if you're a surfer, the top item on your checklist is:
CAN IT FIT MY SURFBOARD?!
Hahaha, admit it! Every surfer thinks about it, I don't care what you say. Well, I'm definitely no exception. Our new car needed to accommodate a family and be able to haul/store the occasional surfboard. So now tell me if a Prius sounds tempting... not really! Since SUV's pretty much suck on gas mileage, I started searching for the one thing I never thought I would own... a "station wagon". But never fear, Subaru Impreza WRX, Volvo, Audi, VW, Toyota Venza... all great choices, but the one car that caught my eye was the VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI (Turbocharged Direct Injection).
It's not your typical soccer mom vehicle. Although it's still technically a "station wagon", I'm in denial and will refer to it as my "Sportwagen" :) . The best part, it's a DIESEL. This isn't your "normal" diesel engine though... it's a clean burning diesel, which means no diesel soot (black smoke), no diesel smell, a quieter diesel engine and enough torque on a little car to get your ass hauling on the road. I can also fit up to a 9'6" SUP in the car... yes IN THE CAR, where it'll be safe from the casual board snatching asshole roaming the streets.
Also adding to the awesomeness is the crazy gas mileage: 30 city/42 highway. 42 mpg! The TDI engine requires a special break-in process though, so you will not realize those numbers until the engine is properly broken in, which is around 10K miles (here's an excellent thread on proper TDI break-in procedures - http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=252501). But with aggressive city driving, I'm still getting 34 mpg... not bad!
Enough of the yapping, here's the main details:
2012 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI (Candy White)
2.0L 4-cylinder 140hp, 236lbs/ft torque clean burning diesel engine (30/42 mpg)
6-speed DSG automatic transmission with Tiptronic and Sport mode
67 cubic ft. of rear cargo room with rear seats folded down (60/40 fold down)
Panoramic sliding sunroof
In-dash touchscreen navigation (w/ Bluetooth, iPod connection, SD media slot, MP3 playback, AUX in)
Key-less entry and push-button start
4 power outlets including 115V outlet in read center console
Here are some exterior pictures for you to enjoy. I'll be blogging more on our new "family-friendly-soccer-mom-and-hybrid-destroying" Sportwagen as time goes on. Stay tuned...
Will you post a pic of boards in the car? My wife and I might get a TDI in a few months but I didn't wanna bring my surfboard to the dealer for the test drive. I'm curious how short/long/SUP's fit...
ReplyDeletehowzit Matthew! yeah, let me get some pictures up of my boards in the car. I'll try to explain the best I can here first:
Deletesince I mainly SUP, I have an 8'10" and used to have a 9'6". now, since you're probably familiar with the JSW already, here's what I found most convenient for storing/hauling boards inside:
I remove the rear passenger side headrest (which can be a pain in the ass, btw) and the front passenger headrest. depending on the length of the board, you can actually move the front passenger seat into more of an upright position so your board can lay flat and not touch the dashboard.
ok, I'm sure none of this is earth-shattering news, so using this technique, I'm able to fit a 9'6", pretty much straight in (i.e. without angling from driver's rear to passenger front) with about 6"-8" to spare. unfortunately, I recently sold my 9'6" so the biggest board I have is a 9'1" longboard, but I can stick that in the car and snap off a few pictures (as well as my 8'10" SUP and 7'6" mini-LB).
you're probably wondering why I don't put down the backseat and fully recline the front seat. initially, that made the most sense... just slide the board right into the car. but, I think all TDI's are power seats, so reclining/inclining the passenger seat (daily) is pretty much a very slow and painful death. I figure I can save on the seat motor and just remove the headrest and incline it an inch or two.
another thing to look at is Yakima's Rail Grabber racks (which I have in another post on this blog). I got mines for ~$300 and I don't regret it. throw the board on, surf, and if/when I need to stop somewhere, it takes me less than 2 minutes to unstrap and stick the board in the car.
hope that helps! I'll get a few pictures together and post them up in the next few days.
aloha...