50 Litre Challenge

Had they used the diesel golf, it would have been the clear winner. Had it been a euro-spec diesel golf, with euro-spec diesel, they'd still be trying to run it dry. BBC's top gear did a test in an Audi A8 last year, the one with the 4l V8 twin turbo engine, and it got 40mpg. thats a HUGE car, and a HUGE engine. (talking 6 second 0-100km/hr performance too). thats ona par with most of those there. Sooner north america embrases diesel fuel as a modern fuel efficient solution, and demands modern diesel fuel (current engine designs are over 20 years old, due to the old fashioned and spec'd dieselfuel currently on sale which doesn't work in moedrn efficient, quiet smooth engines)

Well, if you're going to change the rules to include car *you* like, I'll change them to.

Honda Insight, 40 litre tank, 3.3 litres/100km.

Hey Flo,

My impression from what i have read is that Diesel is a byproduct of the refining process, and that the more diesel you make, the more gas you make. I even remember reading that the ratio was like 3:1 Gas to Diesel, but can't remember where.

So based on the above, if EVERYBODY switched to diesel, their mileage would go up, but so would the price of Diesel. And I suppose the price of Gas would come down if demand was less.

HMMMMM...

flobert wrote:

"T L via CarKB.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@CarKB.com:

EVERYTHING that is derived from a barrel of oil is a "byproduct of the refining process".

No. The more of one, the less of the other. You can't make molecules from no molecules.

Correct. Simple macro-economics.

I am not sure that you could get that much... more like 5k Cnd, perhaps 5.5k. But if you can get 8k, the math seems to add up.

Go for it!

Well, my point was, they stuck to only petrol cars, and not the diesel versions (there are diesel versions of both the focus and the golf, and a sizable chunk of GM's european cars are diesel-powered.) Diesel cars provide significantly better mileage. The A8 was an example of that - it returned the same mileage as many of the smaller cars, and its a huge tank, with a large engine. VW also make a lupo (2 sizes below the golf) and have a diesel version of that which will get somewhere in the upper 60's for mpg.

Actually, found an article in usa today aboutt he lupo - called the lupo 3L, it uses 3l of fuel per 100km. Was printed in 1999

Even the dealer said wholesale around 6000-7500 depending on what needed to be done to it. It needs rear brakes (I have them, just haven't actually got around to it yet), and parking brake cables. Also needs a windshield, but everything else is up to snuff.

We'll see. The dealer is now talking discounts on 05s, so I may even be able to do better than I originally thought. Especially if I sell my car privately.

Frank wrote:

Tegger, what do you think of the mileage claims in this article? Attainable? how much of a wuss would I have to be while driving in order to achieve these numbers of 1022km / 50 litres of gas?

Also, do the mileage numbers from my 98 make sense?

And ya ok so what I said is kinda redundant. But there has to be a certain ratio of gas/diesel/other byproducts that is more efficient to produce then just diesel. Having a hard time wording this, but essentially what I remember reading was from the local Co-op gas retailer. They talked about having to start up another chain of gas stations to use up the excess gasoline produced since their regular Co-Op stations were using a lot of diesel. In other words they had an excess of gasoline, and needed to find a market for it.

TeGGeR® wrote:

I dunno man, I live in Winnipeg. When its -40, diesels are just damn annoying. Making a racket (yes even the newer ones) and all sorts of smoking and whatnot. A gas car just doesn't do that up here.

If I was to venture to a diesel it woudl be for only a few reasons.

1. I needed a truck. No way am I putting gas into a V8.
2. I wanted to run veggie oil. Of course, in Winnipeg this is harder than it sounds.

where you from flo?

flobert wrote:

heh, you're talking , still, about old diesel engines. the ones sold right now, in the US, by ford, Gm, W etc. are all diesel engines that are about 15-20 years behind the ones in europe. The racket is generally termed 'clatter', and modern direct injection diesels don't, same with the smoke (the smoke is unburnt fuel, DI diesels don't have but a tiny amount, if any most of the time). at 40 below, most engines tend to need a heater, no? Admitadly, diesels moreso, but once its gong, its going..I may be from way up north, but i still try and keep the Fahrenheit scale in the positive at all times (right now, i do wish it'd stay in double figures though)

most diesel engines you can run veggie oil in straight off (after its straigned, of course) - saw em do it in an old volvo diesel estate. just needed the engine priming, or whatever its called after they drained the diesel out.

me? north west england. spent my days driving up and across the welsh mountains, the pennine mountains, the lake district, and if i was lucky, a days run down to london and back (450mile round trip) in my youth. stopped so much with the mountains through, after i 'fell off' one once backwards at about 60mph in an early 70s escort wearing a lap belt

(lucjily the racing cge took most of the impact) ((It was a rally car!!)) (((In a race, for those that think we were being reckless)))

lol, well when it gets REALLY cold here, diesel turns into a jelly type substance. its pretty funny actually.

I guess the other side of the coin is that only VW and Audi pretty much offer diesels in passenger cars here in Canada. I don't want to drive a VW, and even if I wanted an Audi/VW, I couldn't afford it. They too espensive here.

flobert wrote:

Heh. Some of those roads in the Lakes feel like you're falling off backwards even when you're driving normally. I remember going over Hardknot Pass (a 1:3 grade) - we couldn't see the road in front of us over the hood of the car, and had to steer by the boulders on either side.

You knew another car was coming the other way when the sheep came stampeding down the (single-lane) road toward you...

Beautiful views, though, and there're the ruins of a Roman fort at the top.

Here in the US, of course, a 450-mile round trip doesn't get you much. My wife and I make one every month to get our hair done, and our stylist has another customer who has a 600-mile round-trip drive, though I don't believe he comes every month.

ObHonda: On our last trip, a couple of months back, we met up with my stepdaughter there, who was coming from college for a visit, and I drove her 1990 Accord LX back for her. The odometer shows 196K miles, but the speed sensor failed some months back, so it's well over 200K now. Pretty beaten up, but it's still easy to break the tires away from the pavement when the light changes.

Aye, my wife does a job collecting orders for a distribution company - she does about 300 miles a day, just driving between all her stores - comapny van and gas mind (but a 96 T+C whos transmission is going again - hope they'll replace it with an Ody)

My civics the same. 225k miles, or something on it right now (hard to tell, wife drives it to work on mondays, leaves it there, and takes the van, then drives the car back on fridays) Still gives people a shock with the peppyness (despite having met a few deer head on)