For those of you in Europe,
Is Diesel less expensive than Unleaded Gasoline? If it is, how much less - a little or a lot?
Just out of curiosity, now that Audi has developed a kick ass Diesel engine I am thinking they have a far stronger market for that technology in Europe than here in the States (although I don't think it will be too many more years before we end up going another route ourselves).
Wag
We're ahead of you on this purely because of fuel taxation, which might
not be popular, but it's certainly prepared us for peak oil (the point
where global supply can't really keep up with demand) a little better
than the USA.
Andrew McP
> Is Diesel less expensive than Unleaded Gasoline? If it is, how much
> less - a little or a lot?
Modern high-pressure direct-injection fed turbo-Diesel engines are
inherently very efficient, so the typical Diesel version of a car has a
better mileage than the equivalent petrol version (up to 30%
improvement). And now that most European (VW/Audi, Fiat, Renault) and
Japan (Honda, Toyota, Isuzu) manufacturers do produce decent Diesel
engines, you can even have some driving pleasure in these cars. I know I
do (after having said for years that there was no way I would ever drive
a Diesel).
BTW, the Japanese and Italians are now on their way to squeeze out up to
100HP (76 KW) from a puny 1.3 litre turbo-diesel (take the latest
iteration of the Fiat-designed JTD 1.3 engine, for instance).
In France, Diesel cars currently outnumber petrol ones. Which makes me
wonder if maybe Diesel could be a bad idea, after all ;)
Driving a Diesel-powered car frequently since two years now, I am pretty
sure these cars could be very successfull in the States, as these are
even better adapted to the more relaxed type of driving you have over
there (driving on the torque) rather than the stuggle-for-life driving
style that is often practised here. An additional factor is that GM
actually controls Opel and Isuzu, so the technology should be readily
available to Detroit.
IMHO, a possible drawback of high performance Diesel engines might be
the very fine particules that can be released from the exhaust, which
can penetrate deep in the lungs and might prove to be strong carcinogens
in the long term. That, and the noise which is definitively less ***
than a screaming Honda VTEC revving 8000 RPM.
Regards,
Mr. S.
The US is full of a bunch of Diesel Weenies. Hopefully that will change soon.
I just don't believe in Hybrids. Not their cost, their long-term reliability/durability, nor do they provide the mileage they are promised to.
Biodiesel and Fuel-Cell is probably where we are headed.
-Larry
For those of you in Europe,
Is Diesel less expensive than Unleaded Gasoline? If it is, how much less - a little or a lot?
Just out of curiosity, now that Audi has developed a kick ass Diesel engine I am thinking they have a far stronger market for that technology in Europe than here in the States (although I don't think it will be too many more years before we end up going another route ourselves).
Wag
The reason diesels haven't seen growth in the states is that Diesel is more expensive in most cases. When China & India start consuming more & more unleaded I think you'll see more diesel technology put to use here. In the meantime, it will stay on the shelf until it's economically the smarter choice.
Thanks to everyone for their responses..........
Wag
> am thinking they have a far stronger market for that
> technology in Europe than here in the States
Diesel's generally a little cheaper, and diesel engined cars are very
common these days. Nowhere near as common as petrol, but diesel has been
mainstream for a very long time thanks to its (relative) fuel economy. I
think it's fair to say that most ranges of popular car will have a
diesel engine as an option.
We're ahead of you on this purely because of fuel taxation, which might
not be popular, but it's certainly prepared us for peak oil (the point
where global supply can't really keep up with demand) a little better
than the USA.
Andrew McP
GR
>Thanks to everyone for their responses..........
As for the whole Diesels-in-the-US thing, GM didn't help the situation, PR
wise, with their boneheaded attempts at Diesel cars in the mid-late
70's/early 80's. Thanks Oldsmobile for setting us back 1/2 century.
-Larry
> GR
>>On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:54:15 -0500, "B Wegner"
>>The reason diesels haven't seen growth in the states is that Diesel is
>>more expensive in most cases. When China & India start consuming more &
>>more unleaded I think you'll see more diesel technology put to use here.
>>In the meantime, it will stay on the shelf until it's economically the
>>smarter choice.
>>Thanks to everyone for their responses..........
> As for the whole Diesels-in-the-US thing, GM didn't help the situation, PR
> wise, with their boneheaded attempts at Diesel cars in the mid-late
> 70's/early 80's. Thanks Oldsmobile for setting us back 1/2 century.
Don McCorkle
I thought it was also due to the fact that the way diesel is formulated
over here it's hi sulphur content made it less attractive for car
companies who are trying to meet there overall emissions quotas.
-Larry
>> As for the whole Diesels-in-the-US thing, GM didn't help the situation,
>> PR wise, with their boneheaded attempts at Diesel cars in the mid-late
>> 70's/early 80's. Thanks Oldsmobile for setting us back 1/2 century.
> I had one of those, fabulous car. The only problem it ever had was the
> fuel pump went out at 150K miles. They replaced it free because of the
> bad reputation these cars had.
> Don McCorkle
In Scotland, diesel is usually around 2-3 pence per litre more expensive
than unleaded. Up until around two years ago diesel was the cheaper option.
Mitch
Then the injector pump governor nightmare, then the first gen injectors
were junk,
not to mention they were dangerous in busy cities, you could actually
run faster than
they would accelerate. LOL
And that was about the same time as the first gen T200 ***s...
So if the engine didn't start slapping, the *** would go out.
