BUMP
.
Posted on 03/10/2002 10:34:40 AM PST by John Jamieson
2002 Ford Focus Diesel:
"Out on the road, you can feel the benefit of the 206lb/ft of torque in the strong mid-range pull. There's no overboost, as in the Mondeo engine, and not much need for it. The hatchback gets to 62mph in 10.8 seconds, revs at around 2250rpm at an indicated 70mph on the motorway, and has an ultimate top speed of 120mph. Combined fuel consumption is 51.4mpg, and the CO2 emissions figure is down at 145g/km."
62 mpg at cruise. Ultra Low Emmisions version in test; uses uretha injection.
Can't buy it in US, gas is too cheap here!
Waaaaay too painful for this dude!
With all due respect to John, not because the oil companies are making gasoline they want to sell at exhorbitent prices but because the fuzzys who make the rules at EPA don't like the smell of diesel fuel; think that diesels are noisy and do not like to hear them; and who observe old technology diesels and see the emmission as an undiserable side consequence. These fuzzys make the rules for all of us who would prefer to use diesel.
.
Sounds like a pisser of an injection!
I thought people were starting to like the rattle of the big diesel pickups.
The problem is that sulfur compounds (which can be as high as 2,000 parts per million on some refined Diesel #2 fuel sold in the USA) can chemically act like sulfuric acid (one of the strongest industrial acids out there) and quickly corrode the fuel-delivery system and exhaust system of the diesel cars sold in Europe. Fortunately, that issue will change within the next 18 months. By then, the EPA will mandate that the sulfur content of diesel fuel must not exceed 80 parts per million, identical to the standard in California now for motor fuels.
With the sulfur impurity issue resolved, we can now get diesel engines with direct combustion chamber fuel injection, common-rail high-pressure delivery systems, relatively simple catalytic converters and particulate traps. This will allow diesel cars to even meet the very strict ULEV standard for exhaust emissions.
Besides the obvious benefit of 30-35% lower fuel consumption, the other advantage of diesel engines is that they can also run with only minor modifications motor fuels that are derived from any high carbohydate plant source (most common grains, soybean, sugar beet, sugar cane and the jojoba bean as examples). This plant-based fuel--called biodiesel--is actually even more beneficial to the environment since this fuel has no issues with sulfur impurities and also the exhaust byproduct from the fuel does not have particulates, either. That's why biodiesel is of such interest to a number of large transit agencies that operate a large number of diesel-powered buses.
Ohhh, but only as long as I can leave the uretha injection turned off.
ps. I presume that if one reads both front and rear plates, it becomes the theme from Dragnet.
So if some punk puts sugar in the gas tank of this baby, you just say 'thank you whoever you are'!
What a slug, I wouldn't even consider it!
That's almost as bad as riding a bicycle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.