Gas vs Diesel

I'm no specialist but i think VW still offers diesel engines in passenger cars...

people dont like smelly hands, and smelly cars, and gas has been relativly cheap, Notice car advertisments push horsepower not milage and suv are top sellers. Car milage is not going up, horsepower is being turned up. 3.00 a gallon gas will bring them back. US is a wasteful nation without a conservation policy.

The same reasons for not adopting -wide- spread use of diesel in passenger cars exists here in America.

But freedom is great!

Nope. Diesel's "comeback" would not be noticed anyway. Locally here in sourthern California, diesel is typically $1.82 while regular gasoline is $2.00. That's not enough of a price difference trade off a Corolla or Camry for a Jetta TDI.

"Almost a third of new European cars in 2000 were diesel powered"

Maybe some tax advantage to buying one? Maybe diesel is cheaper in Europe?

In summary;

- Diesel Engines are slower due to diesel being a heavier fuel.

- They are more costly to make since engines would have to have a stronger structure to withstand the higher pressures at peak performance.

- They are noisier, although in late models the noise has been brought significantly down, it still isn't that sexy.

- They require more time to start during cold weather

- They get better fuel economy because of their higher energy content

- They are mostly used on trucks because the higher energy content allows for more torque and towing capacity.

Check this link for more details

--Ibrahim

Get real.... Do you mean the US government is NOT ignorant to environmental issues ?

As long as gas remains cheap, noboddy will really care much about milage. What is the milage on a typical SUV (light truck?!?!?!?!) by the way? My diesel car uses 1 liter in 18 KM => 1 liter in 12 miles.

Jealous? My employer pays my fuell... hahahhaha

It is hard to beat a good diesel in any case.

I have a 2.2 diesel... 180 bhp, 316 Nm... My camry 2.5 V6 gas burner can't keep up with that...

Hello there,

I can only speak for Holland in this. I have a company Diesel car. There is a tax DISadvantage for Diesel cars. Diesel is NOT significantly cheaper then gas. Nevertheless, millage is sufficiently better to make diesels more attractive when driving a lot.. Depending on the car, the turning point is around 30.000 miles a year..

You feel like a drag race? I hardly ever run into gas-burners that can outperform my Diesel. Especially on a 80 to 160 acceleration.

True

I only hear the engine over 160...

Old info. I only have experiance with my Diesel down to -10 degrees C (22 degrees F)

Do not forget the Diesel revolution of the 80's. That was fueled buy rising gas costs. It was mostly crushed by the crappy converted GM diesel engines that constantly broke down. It is possible for gas price to cause that again.

Scot

Hey chipstate Philip the moron. The us uses more than 20% the worlds consumption of energy. But we sure as hell dont have 20 % the population, Nat gas consumption is growing

2.5 times faster than production. I have a Cad Deville to But for milage I drive the camry sometimes. Jelous , Of what, not of your stupidity , I have 2 big houses and try to conserve by using ' energy star apliances" Wait till your Nat gas bills come this winter HA HAAAAA , up maybe 50% . You think that is good for the economy you idiot. It will slow us down , big time. Europe and the world conserve unlike us in US . I live in Chicago so I know what it costs to heat a house at -20f You are the idiot with a narrow mind. 82 % efficent furnaces should not be sold , only +90 should. The Energy lobby shot down bills to make incandesant bulbs obsolete even though CFLs are 75% more efficent. Better small air conditioner standards were shot down. Does the gov have a program to inform us or rebate energy star products , no, did you know a 19.5 seer central air is 80 % more efficent than a 6 seer. If people knew and were educated they would buy better products and conserve and maybe there would have been no blackout. Its a fact new homebuyers 95% opt for a hottub or other luxery and put in the 82% furnace rather than the 94% units . Now Thats Stupid and people will see it this winter. Me jelous , why you idiot . Ive got it you dont.. The greens are the public you moron , its called GAS Prices that make you GREEN and with cheap gas who gives a shit. Milage is good enough ? not for me. Hybrids will help. Home insulation standards are 30 yrs old and obsolete, You moron go waste away

My apologies, I meant "are slower in acceleration from zero". But I would agree that your engine may be able to accelerate better at higher speed ranges due to its higher torque. Torque is roughly an indicator of higher acceleration ability, assuming other factors like transmission and tires are not influential.

Gas engines generally generate less torque for the same amount of power at higher RPMs, meaning they torque-peak earlier in the RPM range than trucks. That's why they take off faster.

Truck engines, especially heavier trucks tend to be advertised for their torque capabilities rather than horsepower, since speed is generally not an issue. Higher HP roughly indicates higher top speeds.

Case in point, the new Four Runner. Its V6 engine has higher HP but lower torque than the V8. This translates to the V8 having better acceleration and towing capacity, but lower top speed than the V6.

I have never competed with a Diesel car at higher speeds, so I agree to the above in theory, but I can tell you I'm yet to find a Diesel car or truck that out accelerated my gas car from a red light.

Noise is traditionally acceptable on trucks. But the engines on the TDI Jetta and Golf don't sound that nice, at least to me, even at idle speed, although not loud. The sound is like metal ball bearings being rapidly shaken inside a bottle!

--Ibrahim

Starting with the E.nvironmental P.rotection A.gency and all the spinoff agencies and regulations ... I would have to say Uncle Sam's Green Party is very much alive, well, and determined to preserve itself.

Fuel mileage is not a measure of pollution except in only the most recent creative efforts (CO2 emissions) to throttle petroleum use for all purposes. Of the exhaust emissions spewed out by your fuel sipping diesel, NOx and hard particulate carbon matter is unacceptable in regions of high naturally occurring photochemical smog. That you get 42 miles per US gallon is nice depending on the price and availability of LOW low sulfur fuel.

Math:

1 ltr = 3.78 US gallons. 3.78 x 18 km = 68.04 km, converted to miles = 42.27 miles per US gallon. 42 mpg is comparable to a Toyota Echo and I assure you the Echo has much cleaner exhaust emissions. That we American drivers do not drive Echo-like vehicles much reflects the large stature of both Americans and vastness of our country.

Diesel got such a BAD BAD start in the automotive market here back in the late 1970's that even drivers who weren't alive then want nothing to do with diesel. Mercedes has done nothing to improve the image and, relatively high sulfur fuel (until recently) relegated diesel power into a dull, noisy, stinky, smokey, quirky, slow, "only an accountant could love" experience. Everybody's diesel offerings even pissed off the State of California for a year or two in the late

1990's (ban on new diesel cars). Exhaust emissions Rule the Day here. Better to sweeten the air at 10 miles per gallon than to spew NOx and soot all over the landscape at 35 mpg. That's the EPA's thinking along with the California Air Resources Board.

The point was and is ... we produce a lot of surplus that is given, sold, even bartered with the rest of the world. As for "commodity prices", anything in common abundance falls under that heading so those products are going to be low priced. Your "other countries" are UNDOUBTEDLY socialist and depressed with increasing debt.

You wanna try living in the UK. Diesels are everywhere. More and more popular and more and more annoying. But at least the 3liter BMW diesel puts out over 200bhp and can keep up with its gas counterpart. But it still smells.