[Vwdiesel] First impressions on the Passat TDI

[Hayden Chasteen]

Well, after about a 3 week holdup at the port, we pickup up the new 
Passat on Tuesday night.  Although I haven't gotten to drive it much 
(technically the wife's car) here are my impressions so far:
Fit and Finish - very good, but it should be for the price I paid for 
the car ($27000).  the car has leather, wood inlay, heated seats, full 
function MFA display on the dash and all the other goodies.
Engine - wow, what can I say, smooth, powerful and the most quiet TDI 
engine that I have ever heard.  Would like to hear from folks with the 
1.9 PD engine to see if it is the lack of an injection pump that makes 
it so quiet.
Tiptronic transmission - this was the biggest worry for me as it has 
been way back to the minivan days (we traded our last minivan in for a 
car in 94) since we have had an automatic, although it will take 
getting used to, I think that I will be able to adapt.  It has multiple 
programs that adapt to the driver.  So my punch and go driving style 
can be accommodated as well as my wife's slow and go driving style.
Deal - well dealer would not come off of list so I negotiated window 
tint, a Brookstone roadside emergency kit and a few other extras.  I 
got a $500 VW loyalty payment and 4.75% interest from VW credit, 1.15% 
less than my credit union offered.

We intend to take a 600 mile trip this weekend to break the car in 
well.  I will update every one on mileage ect.  I have pics of the car 
on my website and as soon as I can, I intend to remove all of the 
plastic covers on the upper engine and take a picture of the engine 
also.  BTW, while researching this 2.0L engine on the German website, I 
discovered that it specifically says that the engine should not use PME 
(processed methyl esters - biodiesel).  I didn't find any other engine 
for the Passat listed with this absolute restriction.  This of course 
is strange since VW Germany has always allowed the use of biodiesel so 
this must be something specific to the PD engines.  Perhaps biodiesel 
is too thick (viscosity) for the unit injectors?  Thoughts?
Hayden

Visit my website at  www.home.earthlink.net/~dieseltdi
Proud owner of:
2004 Passat TDI GLS, 2.0l, 16 valve, 136 HP, 247 lb/ft of torque, Blue 
Graphite, Anthracite leather interior, ABS, ESP.
1998 Jetta TDI (Wetterauer Chipset, 2 1/2" exhaust, K&N Filter, propane 
dual fuel system, 109K+ miles, and running biodiesel)
1981 Rabbit Pickup ( with a freshly rebuilt turbo engine), Will burn 
biodiesel and WVO with a propane injection system.
One, yet to be finished, Caddy trailer (the back end of the truck that 
gave its life to my just completed Rabbit Pickup).
And many, many, many VWs; from a 1946 Beetle (11 Beetles total), to 
Vans (5), Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1), Jettas (5), Passat (2), Dasher 
(1), New Beetle (1), and Rabbit Pickups (3) most now gone but not 
forgotten.