2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI: Engines and Fuel Economy
What's New:
- The 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI introduces a turbocharged diesel engine onto the options sheet.
The 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI comes with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine that has been tuned to provide 140 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, which is 40 additional horses and almost 50 lb-ft more twist than was found in the New Beetle’s diesel model. The EPA ranks the more robust diesel unit’s fuel consumption equally as impressive as that of the smaller mill it replaces: 28-mpg city and 38-mpg highway for the six-speed dual-clutch automated manual version of the car that we drove (add an extra 3-mpg for the standard six-speed manual on the highway).
Unfortunately for us – in more ways than one – the weather in Montreal during our time with the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI was less than ideal, with the mercury in the thermometer dropping well below the freezing point and verging on the sub-Arctic in terms of wind chill. The cold temperatures and city-heavy driving were not kind to the TDI’s efficiency in our hands, as we recorded a surprisingly low 15-mpg. It’s possible that balancing this out with highway trips might have made a difference in the final fuel bill for the week, and also allowed the diesel engine to warm up to proper operating temperature. For those with short commutes in winter climates, however, it’s clear that there is a disconnect between factory testing and the toll exacted by very low temperatures on a drivetrain known for its fair weather efficiency.