I am very careful in the presence of automotive journalists to not describe myself as such. I feel it is somewhat disrespectful to those who do this job as their main career when I do it as more of a hobby that barely makes enough money to cover costs.

There is a running joke amongst the automotive journalist crowd that any car, no matter what it is, could be made better if it was made available in a wagon, with all-wheel-drive, a diesel, and a manual transmission... all in one package.

This week, my rental car was a new VW Passat. Driving between Pittsburgh and Columbus, I glanced down at the computer generated average mpg... I was pulling about 37mpg.

The rest of the story is my internal monologue while driving, but I'm sure you can see where this is going:

Hmm.. 37mpg, not too bad... but the diesel can get over 50mpg on this same drive...... maybe I should look at the Passat diesel again as a car for me....

.... but I'd still need some utility.... hey, weren't they going to build that Passat-Outback lookalike? That would work! .... I bet it would come with all-wheel drive too... Albert would insist on that....... hmmm an AWD diesel passat wagon.... Albert wouldn't let me get it in a manual though... that would be sweet though..... yeah a manual diesel passat wagon with AWD....

DOH! I have been assimilated!

Except for the AWD, I think you can get all those elements in the Jetta wagon. Diesels are great...wouldn't mind having another someday..... though what I'd like see in a diesel is unlikely to happen.

Welcome to the Borg! I thought Subaru made what you describe?

VW does show a TDI Jetta Wagon.

Subaru doesn't in a diesel

Except for the AWD, I think you can get all those elements in the Jetta wagon. Diesels are great...wouldn't mind having another someday..... though what I'd like see in a diesel is unlikely to happen.

I'd like something a bit larger than a Jetta though... and that is the old body jetta, not the new one.

Except for the AWD, I think you can get all those elements in the Jetta wagon. Diesels are great...wouldn't mind having another someday..... though what I'd like see in a diesel is unlikely to happen.

I'd like something a bit larger than a Jetta though... and that is the old body jetta, not the new one.

yes, the nice one before the decontented current sedan. It's too bad the Passat wagon isn't still offered in NA.

Edited October 31, 201311 yr by Cubical-aka-Moltar

The All-Track was supposed to come here.... but haven't heard anything of it lately.

The Volkswagen diesel is an excellent engine, imo. This new one coming should be even better, except for the pee tank.

It's too bad GM doesn't have a US market V6 or V8 diesel (a V8 with the dimensions of the SBC).

All track could work here...

All track with hybrid / diesel / CNG engine options would be a great competitor to Subaru.