Volkswagen Diesels
Lots of car companies are planning to bring diesel-powered vehicles to Canada or would like to, but Volkswagen of America is busy making it happen. Indeed, about 40 percent of the cars VW sold in Canada in 2003 were powered by the oil burners and that percentage could even grow.
The Detroit-based firm has recently added diesel engines to its Passat and Touareg lines in Canada, joining Beetle, Golf and Jetta.
Along with the two brand new diesel-powered models, VW is also adding a TDI Sport model to the Jetta lineup.
The Jetta and Passat models both feature what VW calls the Pumpe Duse, which features what the company's Canadian PR person, Bernice Holman, calls ''a revolutionary fuel delivery and management system.''
Holman says it uses a camshaft-driven high pressure pump that injects fuel directly into each cylinder at 30,000 pounds per square inch, a pressure that is nearly 50% higher than in common rail-injection.
''This results in lower combustion noise, clean emissions, high engine efficiency and low fuel consumption,'' Holman says.
Holman says the Jetta TDI Sport Edition is a limited production vehicle with only 2,000 being produced for the Canadian market, beginning in March.
This Jetta model has the 2-litre, 134-hp Pumpe Düse diesel engine with either a manual or automatic transmission, for $26,900.
Standard equipment includes a sport-tuned suspension, 16-inch alloy "Bugatti" wheels, TDI Sport Edition badging under the side blinkers, sport seats, a leather 3-spoke sport steering wheel, leather shift knob and leather handbrake.
Holman says the 2004 diesel Passat GLS should be a ''very popular edition to this year's model lineup,'' with a sedan going for $31,450 and a wagon for $32,920. That makes them $500 more expensive than similarly-equipped GLS models with the turbocharged 1.8-litre inline-four gasoline engine.
Both are front-wheel-drive (there's no all-wheel-drive with the diesel), come with the five-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission, and are on dealer lots now.
VW's Touareg SUV gets the 5-litre TDI V10 with a six-speed automatic and is available at VW dealers now for $85,400.