As oil prices spiked over the summer, consumers had exactly one choice if they wanted to buy themselves a supercar in terms of fuel economy: the Toyota Prius. There were so few options in the marketplace that Ebay saw record numbers of used economy cars and hybrids flood its auction pages. But what about a brand-new clean diesel ride? We drove the Volkswagen Jetta TDi in Europe right after VW introduced it here last fall—at which point many expected this would-be Prius-beater to arrive Stateside in June. It didn't.
Well after a long season at the pump, VW unleashed the 2009 Jetta TDi on the United States last week. So we picked up our new diesel ride and decided to take it right into battle against its natural hybrid foe (before Toyota's 2009 model gives way to the 2010 plug-in hybrid Prius), to the tune of a two-day, 474-mile efficiency showdown.
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