I was told that when the throttle is off, no (minimal) gas is being fed to the cylinders so I don't believe that that is true, variable valve timing or not.

Of course I have your, as yet undefined to me (you don't know the degree of anxiety that I'm suffering!), diagnosis of an incurable ailment, so I could be wrong.

I do know that it is illegal (in most if not all states) to "coast" (clutch in), as you describe, since when doing so one sacrifices a degree of control of the vehicle.

MY DD is an 08 Camry Hybrid. I keep my eye on the mpg gauge and find that with practice, I can optimize my fuel consumption quite a bit without interfering with traffic flow. The difference in city/hwy driivng in LA can easily be 5 mpg or more. When I'm out of town the wife drives it and seems to get about 30 mpg. When I drive I get closer to 40. She accelerates towards red lights, I coast.

When I drive the Targa, I just hammer it.

I get from 3 to 5 mpg better than my wife. She also accelerates to red lights etc.

On a drive from Bay Area to Portland last year, I was going around 60-65 mph and getting in the 60's (66-68 I think) mpg for half the drive. Wifey decided I was driving too slowly, so we went 75+ for the rest of the trip, which killed mileage, down to 50 mpg.

I get from 3 to 5 mpg better than my wife. She also accelerates to red lights etc.

On a drive from Bay Area to Portland last year, I was going around 60-65 mph and getting in the 60's (66-68 I think) mpg for half the drive. Wifey decided I was driving too slowly, so we went 75+ for the rest of the trip, which killed mileage, down to 50 mpg.

Idle still uses fuel. The only way you're not using gas is if the engine is not running. This is why some hybrids shut down the gasoline motor when the car is stopped. Diesels aren't great at quick starts, so I doubt that is what your TDi does.

For the last couple of months, I've been doing some common sense things to get better gas mileage out of my Ford Sport Trac V8 & my Porsche 944S2.

These include:
1. I try to coast down hills (still in gear - the revs don't really drop much in neutral anyway, especially with the AWD Sport Trac)
2. I look ahead and try to lift and coast to the stop instead of staying on the gas and hitting my brakes hard to stop.
3. I'm using cruise control on the highway portion of my commute (when there's no traffic)
4. I don't accelerate sharply, but let the car slowly get up to speed, as long as there isn't anyone behind me.
5. I try to keep the revs below 2,000 rpms, even when accelearting.
6. I try to keep the speeds below 70mph on the highway. Air resistence really takes a hit at speeds higher than 70mph.
7. I'm being very light with the throttle application.
8. Keep my idling to a minimum.
9. Keeping my tires inflated to the proper pressure.

While my Sport Trac will NEVER see 30mpg, I have seen an improvement of a couple of miles per gallon.

The sad thing is that often these hyper-milers don't realize:
1. Some of their ideas are extremely dangerous to others as well as to themselves, and often they are illegal. (IE: turning off the car on the highway at 60mph).
2. Their savings may often come at an overall greater cost (ex: driving 40mpg in the CA HOV lane while 10 cars behind them are trudging along at not-that-optimal speeds.)
3. The production and disposal of car batteries still has an environmental impact, albiet, in their eyes, it isn't their problem (ie: passing the buck)
4. The meager savings they achieve isn't going to put a dent in the current oil issues. Ex: how much oil / diesel / gas does a boat burn through when it delivers a slew of Hybrid Toyotas to our shores?

-Z-man.