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August 08, 2006
Can you find the mileage of a VW Passat?
Here, friend, do this: go to Volkswagen's website, and try to find out how many miles per gallon a Passat gets.
Then come back here and leave a comment for me.
Really, just try it. I want to hear from you!
Technorati Tags: automobile, electriccars, gasmileage, oil, volkswagen
August 8, 2006 in Iraq War // 2003-present, Web site + graphic design | Permalink
Comments
Ha, you're right. It's not even in their colorful PDF brochure, even though they mention several times that the EPA mileage is only an estimate. For whatever it's worth, the Google search for "2006 Volkswagen Passat EPA fuel mileage" produces the correct answer: 22 city. 32 highway.
Posted by: Jeffrey W. Baker | Aug 8, 2006 6:33:53 PM
Umm... 23/32 for the manual, 22/31 for the automatic. From clicking on the "specs" link, and scrolling down four pages.
Posted by: Dan | Aug 10, 2006 2:10:59 PM
Thanks for finding that, Dan. On my Mac, I tried that link with both Firefox and Safari (both of which have pop-up windows blocked), and it never opened the PDF. I've made it easier here: get the Passat specs PDF here.
What bothers me is that gas mileage is an afterthought in the marketing of these cars. No, not even an afterthought; it's insignificant.
And yet the U.S. is involved in endless wars for oil.
If people who want status and luxury gave a damn about the lives of other humans, they'd choose their cars on the basis of gas mileage. Use less gas, require less war. That's the choice we have. Yet it's difficult - and in my experience impossible - to simply learn the mileage of a particular car. So the illusion is perpetuated: you can drive a luxury vehicle and you needn't worry about all those bombs being rained down on the Middle East; you needn't worry about civilians and soldiers getting blown apart and traumatized for the imperialist ambitions of our insane President Bush.
Volkswagen, you done wrong.
Posted by: Matt | Aug 10, 2006 3:18:06 PM
How fast?
2 mouse clicks from VW home page, then page thru the Passat Specifications pdf file.
- hover over Passat, choose the Features and Specifications link
- choose the Download Passat Specifications link to bring up the PDF file
How quickly can we answer the same question from other automakers' web sites for similar-ish cars?
1) Honda Accord - 3 clicks, PDF.
2) Toyota Camry - 1 click - but double hovering to bring up multiple levels of menus
3) BMW 3 series - 3 clicks
4) Ford 500 - 4 clicks and a most annoying interface
5) Mazda 6 series - 3 clicks
6) Saturn Ion - 2 clicks
7) Cadillac STS - 3 clicks
VW seems right on par, hardly "doing wrong." And none of this competition seems to start with the numerical measure of mileage as a primary marketing message either.
Perhaps that specific fact, especially for mid-sized cars with some luxury/performance characteristics, is not one of the first things that potential buyers as a whole use as a primary decision point.
If mileage is your first choice, you'd probably look at a hybrid or a smaller car than a Passat, and I suspect that mileage metrics are featured much earlier in the advertising messages for that type of car.
The EPA publishes a mileage guide http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/FEG2006.pdf that is an excellent tool to compare vehicles primarily by mileage. Of course, it doesn't cover availability of leather seats, climate control, sun roofs, MP3 players, paint colors, towing capacity, and all those other hundreds of other features people use to compare vehicles. Neither does it outline the break-and-repair history, the price, the perceived status, etc. Car buying is hardly a one-dimensional choice.
Disclaimers: I own a Passat and an Accord. I am neither employed by nor do any business with VW nor any other automaker nor the EPA.
Posted by: Kent | Aug 23, 2006 10:56:00 AM
12-7-06
Does anyone know what kind of mileage the VW Passat really gets in the city and on tha highway? I believe it's the 2006 200hp, 2.OL, 4 cylinder, Turbocharged FSI Engine, I'm seriously looking at one and the salespeople are telling me it actually gets 28 MPG in the city and 32 to 34 highway, even though the sticker fuel economy figure is less. It's hard to believe the Passat gets MORE than it's rated to get. The norm seems to be that cars get lower gas mileage than their official ratings. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by: RMessina | Dec 7, 2006 7:36:28 AM
My 2003 V6 Passat gets 19-21 mpg in the city,21-24 mpg on the Highway...pretty dismal,and pretty disappointing.My old 1964 Beetle would get by for two weeks on six dollars worth of gas...leaded gas,at that! VW was my first car,and my latest car,but I probably would have bought something else if I had known that the mileage was so bad.
Posted by: Matt Law | Feb 28, 2007 8:12:20 PM
fuel economy varies very widely by driving style. If you gas and brake constantly, you get poor milage, but if you do a lot of coasting it improves. And hybrids are extremely hard to judge by the EPA numbers. Those two numbers are determined in a lab, not on the road. Some of the more efficient european cars can't actually meet the acceleration rates defined in the EPA drive cycles, so they wouldn't be able to advertise any numbers, if you could even sell them here. The car companies fenagled that into the EPA regs so they could make sure car engines stay way bigger than they need to be.
Posted by: edward | Mar 7, 2007 12:40:54 PM
I laughed when I saw this! I like your stuff and the blog too, but it's a much bigger issue than your joke makes out. I have a three year old Passat Estate, and I actually get 47mpg, that's urban cycle with between one and five occupants - it aint bad... I notice you don't have diesel engines in the states! For anyone interested I drive a 1.9TurboDiesel which will take Biodiesel without conversion (ie old chip oil straight from the can, but I've not been brave enough to try it yet) which is slowly making an appearance here in the UK.
Like the impeach message, ...shout load ....shout often....!
Posted by: Jon Brown | Mar 16, 2007 4:25:01 PM
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