32 - Friday. October 2. 1998 — North Shore News

THE original VW
Beetle never had a
diesel engine.

At the tine it was sold in
North America, diese! engine
technology was relatively
primitive — diesel engines
were underpowered, noisy,
and dirty. With its air-
cooled, flat four-cylinder gas
engine, the old Beetle was
slew enough and noi:
enough as it was. Can you
imagine an even slower,
noisier, dirtier diesel Beetle?

Diesel technology has
improved a lot since then.
Today’s turbocharged, fuel-
injected diesels have more
power, better fuel consump-
tion, reduced soor and
smoke from the exhaust
pipe, and quieter running. If
you ever get a chance to
drive a turbo-diesel
Mercedes or Volkswagen
(the only two manufacturers
still offering diesel. engines),
you will be surprised at how
powerful and sophisticated
these engines have become.

A diesel-engined version
of the New Beetle was intro-
duced a couple of months
after the first New Beetle
came out last spring. It has
Volkswagen’s latest tur-
bocharged 1.9-litre four-
cylinder diesel engine’with
fuel injection, and develops a
respectable 90 horscpower at
4000 r.p.m. (compared to
115 horsepower at 5200
r.p.m. for the gas Beetle).

More importantly, it
cranks out 149 foot pounds
of torque at 1900 r.p.m.
(compared te 122 ft.-Ibs. ar
2600 r.p.m.). That means
the diesel-powered Beetle is

faking performan

MORREY SATURN SAAB ISUZU

north shore ney

avs AU

TO

Volkswagen Canada photo

THE New Beetle is available with a 90 horsepower 1.9-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine that gets up to 4.5 I/100 km (63 m.p.g.) on the

highway.

more responsive at lower
engine revolutions than the
gas-powered model.

From the stoplight, the
New Beetle Diesel leaps
away with surprising verve,
and though you have to
change gears earlier with the
manual transmission
(because of its lower rev
limit), the New Beetle gets
the job done up to abour 80
km-h (50 m.p.h.). Merging
onto the freeway is also no
problem, however I would-
n’t recommend high-speed
passing on the Coquihalla
highway.

At highway cruising

speeds, the diesel engine is
surprisingly quiet. It’s only
when you accelerate hard, or
stop and idle, that you

Base price: $21,685

Type: two-door, four-passenger hatchback
Layout: transverse front engine /front-wheel-

drive
Engine: ] .9-litre four-cylinder,
SOHC, eight valves

Horsepower: 90 @ 4000 r.p.m.
Transmission: five-speed manual (four-speed

automatic)
Tires: 205/55R-16

4451 Lougheed Hwy at Willingdon, Burnaby

in the cylinders. Diesel
engine's use a higher com-
pression ratio to ignite the
fuel/air mixture rather than

notice the familiar clatter of
the diesel engine.

That noise, by the way, is
caused by compression-firing

‘ Technical data

Wheelbase: 2512 mm (98.9 in.)

Length: 4089 mm (160.9 in.)

Width: 1724 mm (67.9 in.)

Height: 1511 mm (59.5 in.)

Trunk space: 423 litres (12 cu. ft.)

Fuel consumption: City — 5.8 1/100 km
(49 np.g.); Hwy — 4.5 1/100 km (63
nt.p.g.)

Warranty: Basic — two vears/40,000 kms;
Powertrain — five years/80,000 kms

turbocharged,

ce with safely to new heights.

spark plugs.

The big advantage to
owning a New Beetle with a
diesel engine is the excellent
fuel economy and extended
driving range. The New
Beetle with a diesel engine
and manual transmission
consumes only 4.5-litres of
diesel fuel for every 100
kilometres on the highway
(63 m.p.g.). That compares
to 7.3 [/100 km (39 m.p.g.)
for the gasoline engine.

Around town, the New
Beetle Diesel achieves 5.8
1/100 km (49 m.p.g.) com-

See Excellent page 33

The all new 1999 9-3 starts at $33,200* ©
The all new 1999 9-5 starts at $39,800*
See them today at Morrey Saab.

Available for immediate. delivery. _

saa

294-1831

"Includes PDI, add $800 trensportation

on