The long wait for Volkswagen diesel fans is almost over.  The Environmental Protection Agency has published the official fuel efficiency ratings for the 2009 Jetta TDI on its FuelEconomy.gov website. The diesel Jetta has been rated at 30mpg city and 41mpg highway when equipped with a 6 speed manual transmission.

When equipped with a 6 speed DSG dual clutch transmission each of those figures drop by 1 mpg to 29 and 40 respectively. Those figures are somewhat lower than expected. Since announcing the 2009 Jetta TDI last summer, Volkswagen had been touting mileage figures in the low to mid 40mpg range. More recently, VW officials have indicated that the Jetta TDI could achieve as much as 60mpg when cruising at highway speeds.

VW spokesman Keith Price explained to Diesel Forecast that the company's "diesel models typically do better in real world fuel efficiency than the EPA sticker values." The first Jetta TDIs are expected to be available for test in late June and DF will be taking a look at how the Jetta fares in everyday use soon after.

Regardless of how the EPA numbers fare compared to expectations, the mileage figures for the TDI are still significantly higher than the current gasoline engines in the Jetta lineup. The combined mileage figure for the manual transmission TDI is 34mpg which is 41.6 percent better than the 24mpg achieved by the base 2.5L five cylinder engine. The diesel also scores a 36 percent improvement over the optional 2.0L TFSI four cylinder.

The 2009 Jetta TDI is expected to be the first fifty state legal diesel to meet Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards. It is equipped with a diesel particulate filter and a lean NOx trap to eliminate over 90-95 percent of soot and nitrogen oxide emissions.

MAY 2008