Zach said:Wow, that's completely untrue.
My car's got five gears, just like every other car on the road. The torque curve of a gasoline engine is not wide so much as it is peaky, meaning it's only reached at a certain range that is almost never overlapping maximum horsepower. The torque of my TDI isn't so much a curve as a gentle plateau. I've got maximum pull from 1900 to near redline at 3750 RPM.
It may be slower off the line than a sports car but in cruising it certainly holds its own and can drive circles around hybrids on the highway. There simply isn't another 4 cylinder out there I know of that can do 1900 RPM at 55 mph and have almost instant pull in top gear — no constant shifting like in the gasser I sometimes drive. With 6 speeds on the tranny.
I'll "second" everything you've said -- I have a 2005 Jetta TDI wagon which isn't just more fun to drive than my Jeep or pickup, but has also averaged 46 mpg since I bought it earlier this year. 600+ miles between fill-ups is commonplace.
To steer this thread back towards radio, I upgraded the receiver to a VW Bluetooth-compatible RMT100, which not only works well with the phone but also has excellent FM performance. Sensitivity on AM is also very good, just wish it had more bandwidth.