Weekly Test-Drive: 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI

Posted: Jan 19, 2010
 Email 13 Comments

Today, we welcome the first diesel to ever enter egmCarTech’s garage for a full week-long test drive – the 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI.

First Impressions: We are very impressed. We recently asked you guys whether or not you would consider a diesel powered vehicle over gasoline – with most of you leaning towards diesel (which was a bit surprising to us). There are some obvious benefits to buying a diesel powered car over a gasoline powered car including a boost in fuel-economy, a boost in torque and the final price differential over gasoline models is generally much smaller than that for hybrids vehicles.

The starting MSRP on our 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI comes in at $21,990. With the addition of a $1,750 touchscreen navigation, $1,000 power sunroof, $225 Cold Weather Package and $199 for the Bluetooth connectivity, our test VW Golf TDI carries a final price tag of $25,914.

Power comes from a 2.0L inline 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine making 140-hp and 236 lb-ft of torque. Standard with a 6-speed manual, the Volkswagen Golf TDI goes from rest to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds while averaging an EPA estimated fuel-economy of 30/41 mpg (city/highway). Buyers can also opt for the optional 6-speed automatic DSG gearbox but we wouldn’t recommend it if you have an enthusiast driving style. Having a little fun, we are driving our 6-speed manual Golf TDI a little faster than usual and are still averaging 33 mpg.

As always (more often than not), we’ll be providing you with daily updates during our week-long drive – so make sure you ask us all the questions you want answered about the 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI in the comments section below.

2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI (Weekly Test-Drive):

- By: Omar Rana

All Photos Copyright © 2009 Omar Rana ““ egmCarTech.


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  • Pat

    Omar – how's the pickup on this? I mean 0-60 mph in 8.6 seconds is a little slow but do you feel the extra torque when sifting through gears. Also is there a big turbo lag?

  • kabluey

    I'm not so much worried about the power. How would you guys compare in terms of driving personality/demeanor to other vehicles??
    Does it drive like a MINI, Mazda 3, those awful Beetles, etcetera??

    Oh and p.s. what's the back seat room like?

  • watcher68

    Great questions from the other folks already, so let me ask one on the interior features —

    Does your test car have iPod adapter installed? If so, how do you like the interface and stereo sound?

  • http://www.egmcartech.com egmCarTech

    Don't expect VW GTI like acceleration or handling with the TDI; nonetheless, the TDI is fun to drive. It's very solid, feels quite zippy and handles very nice on the corners. There is a bit of a turbo lag, but nothing that takes away from the overall driving experience.

    Omar Rana
    Editor in Chief

  • http://www.egmcartech.com egmCarTech

    In terms of drive quality, the VW TDI can be best compared to a mix between Mini and Mazda3. Like I mentioned in the answer to Pat, handling is a big plus. It's an overall solid hatchback – especially the 6-speed manual.

    Omar Rana
    Editor in Chief

  • http://www.egmcartech.com egmCarTech

    watcher68,

    Interior quality is superb. Very nice build quality. All Volkswagen's come standard with an AUX connectivity, but if you want to control your iPod from the steering wheel or from the center instrument control, you'll have to upgrade to the touchscreen media interface (available with or without navigation). Our test model has the touchscreen media interface with navigation and it's very smooth. You can easily flip through playlists, artists, albums etc. Stereo sound quality is also very good. The bass, however, rumbles way too much if you have it up high.

    Thanks for your question.

    Omar Rana
    Editor in Chief

  • Rob

    How is cold weather engine starting? Does the car have a glow plug?

  • j man

    I would love to have a diesel car. To bad the company I work for will not import any from Europe and sell them in the USA.

  • http://www.egmcartech.com egmCarTech

    Rob,

    Good question. Unlike most old diesels where you had to wait for the glow plug light to go off before starting the engine, in the 2010 Golf TDI you don't have to. Apparently when you unlock the car it uses some power from the battery to get things going. you can unlock the car, hop in, start it, let it warm up like you would any other car and get going.

    Omar Rana
    Editor in Chief

  • watcher68

    Very cool review guys! Keep up the good work! Thanks for the quick answers on questions!

    I had a 2001 Golf Diesel and it had the glow plug issue (wait about 10 seconds before turning it over). It also was a bit too soft in the handling department for me (which could be easily cured with a set of aftermarket springs/shocks). Finally, in traffic you had to flog it quite a bit to keep up. It was only 90hp and roughly 130lb-ft of torque though so it was like having an asthmatic old Honda. Having said that though, great mpg and super functional. I hauled a bunch of stuff in it regularly and it was reliable. Quite the workhorse. Got rid of it primarily due to being able to keep up with traffic.

    Good to hear these issues have been cured with the current oil burner!

  • watcher68

    Isn't this the same chassis and engine as the Audi A3 diesel? Other than the obvious body and interior differences of course.

  • http://www.egmcartech.com egmCarTech

    watcher68, these are just updates on our week-long test-drive. Full-review should come out by next week. Stay tuned.

  • kornjd

    It looks like your test vehicle is a manual, but you say that you don't recommend the DSG if you have a more sporting nature. You should really try out the DSG with this engine. It's actually faster … and some even say that it's better matched.