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Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.....
If you want ON or OFF the DIESEL ”KnOcK” LIST just FReepmail me.....
This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days.....
Posted on 12/31/2009 5:35:27 AM PST by Red Badger
Plug-in hybrids may generate more eco-buzz when the calendar flips, but diesels could prove more powerful in revving up the automotive economy.
Those of us who remember diesel-powered hatchbacks of the '70s as loud, dirty and troublesome may have to adjust our thinking to see them as "Green Cars." But the diesel-powered Audi A3 TDI won the title of Green Car of the Year at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, following in the tracks of Jetta TDI, another diesel from Audi's parent Volkswagen. And there are more where those came from.
In truth, diesels have become quiet, strong and clean, not to mention amazingly economical. I recently drove a diesel-powered Lancia Delta through the hills and highways of Italy's Tuscany region for a week and came away very impressed with the compact hatchback's comfort and performance. After more than 200 miles of sight-seeing, I only needed to replace a quarter of a tank of fuel before returning the Delta to the rental car agency.
Now, there's serious talk about Chrysler's new parent Fiat rebadging the Delta for the North American market. Chrysler is expected to show its version of the Delta at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Jan. 11-24. While Chrysler would no doubt introduce the gasoline-powered version first, the diesel might be coming later.
Chrysler has already blazed trails with diesel versions of its Grand Cherokee SUV and Liberty crossover SUV.
Europe's affinity for diesel is also prompting Nissan's Infiniti luxury division to introduce a V6 diesel version of the M sedan. To compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and the other luxury brands in Europe, Infiniti must have a diesel, company execs have said. To turn the diesel version profitable, Infiniti needs to make it available in its largest market, North America.
And another Japanese brand, Suzuki, could gain a diesel engine through Volkswagen's nearly 20 percent stake in the company. Suzuki, which specializes in small cars like the impressive SX4, is likely to offer diesels first in India before attempting to sell the concept in the U.S.
While 50 percent of the cars in Europe are diesels, they are only likely to reach 10 percent of the U.S. market by 2015, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
Past perceptions of diesels are only part of the explanation for the lagging demand. Politics and economics are overarching factors in the marketing of the cars.
When fuel prices spiked to record levels after Operation Iraqi Freedom, diesel fuel prices surpassed those of premium unleaded, despite the fact that diesel is easier to refine. Supplies of diesel were reduced as refiners shifted their capacity to gasoline in all its myriad formulations.
Diesel fuel pumps are also more difficult to find, though they are not as rare as natural gas stations or hybrid plug-in posts.
To comply with U.S. particulate standards, most diesels have to be fitted with more expensive after-treatment equipment than what Europe requires.
Europeans demand greater fuel economy than Americans for one simple reason: Their fuel costs more. A $3 gallon of diesel fuel in the U.S. would cost $7 in Italy. While taxes account for 70 percent of the pump price in European and only 17 percent in the U.S., Europe keeps taxes lower on diesel than on gasoline. Tax incentives would go a long way toward making diesels and bio-fuel diesels a growing trend in the U.S.
To make diesels more attractive, the European carmakers are seeking to educate American buyers on how the new engines perform.
The Audi A3 TDI's 42 miles per gallon on the highway is competitive with that of a hybrid.
The 2-liter diesel 4-cylinder engine in Volkswagen's 2010 Jetta TDI (Turbo Diesel Injection) powered a Jetta to a Guinness World Record for Lowest Fuel Consumption. Production models of the TDI trim are rated at 30 mpg in the city and 42 mpg on the highway. While pricier than the gasoline-powered version, the TDI is attractively priced at $22,660.
VW also sold a TDI version of the Golf, which is a descendant of the original Rabbit that was known as a smoky noisemaker. With the diesel Golf, observers are unlikely to identify the car as a diesel, even with the engine running.
BMW, which has been building diesel engines since 1983, is promoting the new clean diesel technology with a dedicated Web site www.bmwdieselcars.com. With its 335d and X5 diesels already on the road in the U.S., BMW promises that more are on the way.
(E-mail Richard Williamson at motorfriend(at)sbcglobal.net)
Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.....
If you want ON or OFF the DIESEL ”KnOcK” LIST just FReepmail me.....
This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days.....
KnOcK!.......................
Another interesting article by this same writer................can’t post............
I believe our diesel restrictions are tougher than Europe’s. If so, we should match their’s so we can get cheaper diesels.
I'm kinda surprised to hear this.When I recently had my 335d in for service the service manager,while explaining why it was taking so long to fix,admitted that BMW hasn't sold many diesels here...implying,in fact,that their sales have been *very* disappointing.
If true,I hope this changes because so far,at least,I'm now a *believer* in diesels.
We owned a Peugeot diesel auto for nearly a decade.
We had no problem finding fuel, it was economical to run and at that time diesel fuel cost much less per gallon than regular gasoline.
What has happened to the price per gallon? Anyone have any insight into the steep increase?
Besides, with all these carbon restrictions where are you going to plug the thing in?
I am surprised that the '10 Jetta diesel TDI only gets 30/42. The diesel TDI that was briefly sold in the US back in the late 90s got better mileage. I recall in the year that Honda's hybrid was released, the diesel was available and utterly shamed the hybrid's MPG performance.
I will be happy as a clam if diesels can regain some portion of the market. Especially if foreign-built diesels come in and destroy sales of Obama's fascist GM. We're going to need to repeal some laws though... good luck with that.
Diesel passenger vehicles would have a sizeable share of the market today in the US, if it had not been for some unfortunate marketing back in the 1970’s when GM tried to “Dieselize” the small-block spark-ignition V-8’s. Unable to stand up to the increased compression, and lacking the necessary specialized engineering of intake and exhaust porting, these contraptions smoked, started hard, and failed early. A decent Diesel design appears to have WAY too much heft, it has to be machined to extremely precise tolerances, and ir requires meticulous attention to detail during assembly.
International Harvestor, Cummins, Detroit Diesel and Caterpiller, among others, have been doing this for years. There are few SMALL Diesel engines produced here in the US, and none that is specifically designed for passenger car use.
And I would utilize a different sort of power delivery to the wheels. Instead of transmissions and shafts, a hydrostatic pump and pressure reservoir, with a slave motor at each wheel, combined with a planetary gearset at each wheel hub. This would permit some extreme flexibility in suspension, as wheel travel up and down would be limited only by body design. The flex hoses to each of the slave units would be much lighter than complicated shaft flex systems. The hydrostatic feature could also be used as a braking assist, building up pressure in the resevoir as the flow pattern from the slave unit is shifted, then the accumulated pressure could be used to launch, with minimal demands made on the power unit. Advantage: the Diesel engine stays within a relatively narrow (and more efficient) point on its power output curve, the system is regenerative, and the whole thing could be controlled by sensors linked to a computer which applies or restricts power to each of the wheels during operation. This level of technology already exists, it would require only the necessary refinement to implement it for passenger car use.
And we will not have to extract billions and billions of tons of lithium to provide the power storage capacity.
It would be amazing if the congress actually passed anything that would make fuel cheaper, they haven’t done that in a long time.
2 years ago I was on a business trip in germany and drove a diesel powered rental car. I drove it for 7 days putting on several hundred kilometers on the original tank full of diesel fuel. I don’t remember what the mileage was, but knew from my service time in Germany in the 80s, my old Chevy Monza would have needed at least one fillup. As I was driving in much of my old Army days area from Friedberg to Hanau to Frankfurt to Heidelberg (and around that area for 5 days) and back to Freidberg and then to Frankfurt Flughaven. I think my fill up before turning in the car was 35 liters
An observation I have made - fuel mileage ratings for gasoline powered vehicles tend to be optimistic - take my Nissan Titan pickup. Rated for like 13 and 18. It is hard for me to get 18 mpg, even under the best of circumstances on the highway.
But I have known several people with the Jetta TDI’s over the last several years that, while the rated mpg was in the ballpark of the current posted numbers, they easily got better than the rating. One such person, who kept immaculate records for their Jetta TDI, regularly recorded over 40mpg in combined driving, and it wasn’t unusual to get 48+ with mostly reasonable highway driving.
And as far as the Diesel regulations - Europe has some of the most stringent environmental regulations in many aspects, but for some unknown reason, the US has crazy diesel regs... for auto diesels. Still lots of new big rigs that produce plenty of particulates and pollutants. But their lobby is pretty strong.
And as far as Diesel prices - all I can say, the producers charge what they can. There is very little logic to the high cost of the much easier to produce Diesel fuel. I guess we need to get the Trucker’s lobby to address this...
Two forces:
Worldwide demand for diesel
New U.S. regulations on sulfur content in diesel
Why not diesel hyprids? Seems like a natural combination, like in freight trains and submarines.
I want a diesel small truck.
However, now we have to get rid of the "boutique" blends that vary from city to city, and the taxes that have driven Diesel fuel prices up to the sky.
I was hoping Chrysler would be in the forefront of this movement with those cute little turbo-diesels from FIAT. The little guy (500 with the 1.1 liter turbo diesel gets 65mpg!)VW TDI used to be over 50 mpg. Peugeot, which was happy with anything north of Bunker C in the tank, was good for 45 mpg. Toyota, Suzuki, have great diesels, too.
Chrysler was doing great with the MB 2.5 turbo-diesel in their commercial van lines ... why isn't that engine available in the Pacifica, or a small Dodge pickup?
Great point about the auto versus truck regulations. That's one argument I'd overlooked.
My 2003 Jetta TDI with 215,000 miles on it has having turbo problems (goes into limp mode for over boost) due to EGR soot carbonizing up the variable vanes ... new turbo in my near future for $1,000+ NOT HAPPY about that.
Now I worry about soot problems in my 2008 Dodge 4500 6.7L Cummins.
Urea is now required for 2010+ diesels! How do you keep that stuff from freezing (it freezes at 15 degrees F.)? Absolutely insane laws.
My old 1997 Dodge Cummins with NONE of this emissions junk ran great, got 20+ mpg and never had a turbo or intake problem in the 250,000+ miles I owned it (now happily living its life in North Carolina with my old neighbor's 17 year old kid).
Emissions are ridiculous and not needed for diesels. Roll these insane laws back to the 1980’s and diesels will be the best thing going.
You should consider a supercharged diesel instead of a turbo............
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