Although the eco ‘Bluemotion’ powered Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TDI’s fuel economy is calculated at 62.8mpg in UK imperial gallons, the 52.3mpg US number isn’t half bad either (conversion tool). The Sporty VeeDub’s impressive efficiency may not be it’s only attraction since there are many past Scirocco and current VW TDI owner drooling for a sleeker diesel coupe.
Volkswagen has added eco ‘Bluemotion Technology’ tweaks to its Scirocco 2.0 TDI to improve economy to 62.8mpg and cut CO2 emissions to 118g/km.
All Scirocco models equipped with the 138bhp oil-burner will now get the improvements as standard, which include stop-start and battery regeneration systems. Before the changes, economy was rated at 55.4mpg and CO2 at 134g/km on models equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox.
I fell for the “cash for appliances” boondoggle last spring when replacing our dishwasher, but now after the fact I couldn’t be happier with how much easier dishwashing has become. It’s hard to believe that in my lifetime Brenda and I have never had a dishwasher that cleans … or scrubs dishes. We’ve owned three different brands in the past, Kenmore, Maytag and KitchenAid — none have cleaned the dishes. We always had to handwash, or at minimum really soak the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. There was no way we could have put dried ‘gunky pans or plates into the machine expecting them to come out clean … until now. Our new Bosch dishwasher was worth every penny.
I ran a test this past weekend with one of my wife’s staple foods, dried beef gravy (on toast) and didn’t get to cleaning up until it had hardened and ‘glued’ itself to the pan. After just loading it into the Bosch and setting it to ‘automatic’ it came out clean. Amazing!
My eyes never wander when we are talking about the female form … I keep them focused straight ahead … for my health and safely.
But … I will admit to looking at cars. What’s interesting after reviewing a new Mercedes-Benz.TV video, the most “eye-catching” part of the CLS for me is the little CDI badge on the rear corner … you know, the one that is not available on the CL or CLS in the U.S. (video below)
I almost forget … but I promised Jacob I would post this video. Here’s the footage that survived a CinciTDI How-To video attempt a year or so ago. Unfortunately the second part of the video (the more difficult part) covered the seal which requires more delicate adjustment and didn’t survive. I’m hoping we get a chance to retake that sometime again … but for now, here’s the How-To clip for the ALH Volkswagen TDI diesel “Top Seal” that most owners can do.
I received an email a few weeks ago asking “what’s Airventure?” Rather than telling them it’s an airshow, tradeshow and a social gathering for lovers of aviation, I felt a better explanation was to show them this video 2010 Airventure – Beyond This Historic Brown Gate(well done Slick).
The latest expensive gift catalog arrived from Hammacher Schlemmer in our mailbox just in time for me to add the Terrafugia Transition to Santa’s list. Actually I was shocked to see the “flying car” appear on the cover … a perfect gift for someone with money to burn. It is priced at $350,000, although you could have order direct about a year and a half ago for $194,000. (click images for larger)
The boot modifying program called Soluto seems to help keep my Windows 7 notebook computer’s cold boot a bit snappier. Although my older Windows machine may not be up to netbook, tablet or Macbook speeds, the improved one minute and 44 second boot is better than without the Soluto tweaks. The company’s tagline as “anti-frustration” software is partially true and I enjoy the improved control and ability to delay some boot program starts when doing a full boot. I generally “hibernate” my notebook, but purposely reboot a couple times of week to refresh the memory and clear the sluggishness that often creeps in after day to day use.
So give Soluto a try and tell me what you think. It’s a free download and the folks at Soluto offer feedback from others in percentages for advice in which boot programs to ‘pause’ or ‘delay.’
Although I’m not rushing to melt down my wedding band just yet, the impressive decade long run-up in gold prices does have me thinking about cashing in. Maybe I can convince my wife to send in a few of those rarely worn gifts to goldstash.com. (If it’s good enough for the conservative financial radio guy Dave Ramsey, maybe it’s worth a try? Other suggestions?)
Actually I think we do have a couple of old 1980-90s gold chains (twisted or broken) that were popular jewelry items at the time.
In fact, I think I still have a box chain that my wife gave me when we were dating … hmm, what was gold trading at back then? Perhaps a couple bucks for some Christmas shopping – stay tuned.
I’m archiving an older forum post from a few years back when I still had my little diesel Jetta. Occasionally someone asks me why I’m “pro-skidplate” on a Volkswagen TDI and I point them to this post …
Don’t be on the fence. Here’s a older photo taken shortly after I installed a skidplate … and the ‘chunk’ that caused it.
