Ancedotal, I know, but my little sister has a 2005 VW Jetta, and its a giant POS.

As for efficency, the Diesel Golf can get 72mpg. Thats better than most hybrids. Thankfully the US has updated their diesel laws to allow these kinds of cars into the country soon.

(something about the sulfur content in the US Diesel wouldn't work on these cars)

Didn't the old VW Rabbit diesel get about 45 mpg? I drove one a few times in the late 80's and it was a no-frills little zippy car. Of course, this was compared to my "Big Daddy Mac" Chevy Chevette.... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Eric

I had a Diesel Rabbit back in 1978 when they first came out in Canada. It got around 60 mpg <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> (Imperial gallon which is about 20% bigger than an American Gallon)

It was a dog on the highway <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> especially when it had a few miles on it. It would smoke like crazy <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> when accelerating to pass on the highway. I cannot imagine getting it up to even 150 KPH (93 mph)

Had a few wierd problems. When condensation formed on the windows it would drip down to the fuse panel and eventually it would corrode the steel fuse posts and then the corrosion would run and short out the next fuse item which would create interesting "ghost in the Machine" sort of stuff. You'd be driving along when suddenly the horn would blast for awhile and then the wipers would dance for awhile. Apparently some people had the starter operate while the car was parked in gear with disasterous results.

Then one day I had happen what I had read about. I was cruising down the highway when it started to accelerate on it's own. The family was aboard and I was confused about what was happening. I took my foot off of the pedal but it was on auto-accelerate. I then put the brake on but it was determined to accelerate to destruction and I had to press very firmly on the brake to get it to stop. Had I not done this I would have had a diesel bomb. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

You see what was happening was that the extremely high compression ratio in the engine (and other reasons) had damaged the rings. This allowed the pressure from combustion to blow by and theoretically this should vent out the crankcase vent to the atmosphere. But the crankcase was vented to the intake to keep emissions down and when you got the right conditions the frothing oil in the crankcase vented out the crank vent into the engine. So now since diesels run on oil, it didn't need the accelerator to get fuel. Voila, Rabbit Cleared for Take off.. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

They no doubt fixed the fuse problems as they probably got sued, but the other problem I have not heard of since.

It's most interesting that fuel efficiency of vehicles has been proven all over the world for 60 years (including manufacturers familiar to US such as Ford & GM) and only after government regulations has mileage of the US models changed.

But it really hasn't. They're still building the same cars and the domestic manufacturers openly admit that they failed to recognize the demand for smaller, more fuel efficient, cars and they really don't have any attractive models in this area. There are really few attractive options if you want a car that can do better than 40mpg. Even the available hybrid's payback is not justifiable for the upcharge vs. the fuel savings.

Something noteworthy for all you "gas hog" guys!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15715744/?GT1=8717 Note that the article doesn't mention the word "cheap"!

Even the available hybrid's payback is not justifiable for the upcharge vs. the fuel savings.

I've burned bio-diesel in my truck and felt no noticable change in performance and it even smells a little better.

Do the sails move in unison? They look like windsurfer rigs.

Towing behind motorhomes can be a big problem because of all the turbulence coming off the flat back of the motorhome. We have so far broken two trailer tongues towing cats behind a motorhome. In both cases the trailers had long, straight tongues without triangulated stiffening arms, and I think this is an important factor.

The turbulence behind the motorhme would cause the trailer to oscillate back and forth and eventually break the tongue.

The scary thing about it is that the tongue breaks behind where the chains hold the trailer to the vehicle. So when the tongue breaks, the trailer is on its own.

That's why I am thinking that maybe those "Airtabs" would work on the back of a motorhome to decrease the turbulence for the trailer.

Sorry. I did not want to hijack this thread, because it is not about trailering; it is about what vehicle you tow with. I was just interjecting the motorhome into it as a tow vehicle and some of the safety problems related to towing with a motorhome.

Mary - the trailer occilations behind the motor home are caused by vortex shedding in the slipstream behind the motorhome.

A cool movie of the flow behind a square body (=motorhome) can be found here.

Aluminum trailers are particularly susceptible because, in addition to being light, they are flexible. When the tongue flexes too much, too many times, it breaks from fatigue.

The cure is to make the tongue stiffer. Trailex has done this over the years, but I attach my sailbox to the tougue, making it a structual part of the trailer to help stiffen it up.