News: Only 6% of Americans think diesel will succeed as powertrain option

[tasdrouille]

Big Dave, I wonder how VW was able to crank up the the power from 100 hp - 177 lbs/ft in the 2006 TDI to 140 hp - 235 lbs/ft in the new 2009 50 state compliant TDI while keeping the same FE ratings. IMHO diesels in passenger cars have a bright future in NA.

Who wouldn't want to drive one of those

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

Who wouldn't want to drive one of those

Let's not ask questions we don't want to know the answer to, . JPJP

[Big Dave]

There is often a gap between the hucksters' claims and harsh reality. Let's wait and see if VW can deliver on their claims.

How much of a premium will these diesels command over the same car with a gas engine?

[cfg83]

Big Dave -

Originally Posted by Big Dave

There is often a gap between the hucksters' claims and harsh reality. Let's wait and see if VW can deliver on their claims.

How much of a premium will these diesels command over the same car with a gas engine?

I don't mind the emissions restrictions because I live in LA and the EU is trying to go in the same direction because of the Kyoto protocols anyway.

I don't have much faith in Blue-Tec, but what about Honda's diesel solution :

Acura Will Have First Application of Honda i-DTEC Diesel in North America - 13 January 2008
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008...will-have.html

Honda will introduce its new 2.2-liter Tier 2 Bin 5 diesel—the i-DTEC—in the Acura line in North America in 2009, according to Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui at the North American International Auto Show.

A first Euro 5-compliant version of the i-DTEC—shown at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show—will debut in the new Accord range in Europe in mid-2008.

The “phase two� i-DTEC engine complies with the US EPA Tier 2 Bin 5 and future Euro 6 emissions standards through the use of a new NOx-reducing catalytic converter. With the reduction of engine-out NOx resulting from its combustion system (Premixed Charge Compression Ignition, PCCI), the engine will not require the use of a urea SCR NOx aftertreatment system to meet regulations.

Fukui said that the i-DTEC engine will appear in a Honda model in the US in the future.

But, I never knew about the "diesels are bad for automatics" scenario. I actually like that because I am biased against automatics .

CarloSW2

[tasdrouille]

As far as VW diesels are concerned it's always been fairly easy to beat the EPA ratings, and from what I've read over at TDIclub of peoples who have test driven the car, the new engine walks the walk in regards to FE and power figures.

The comment about automatics should be more like "diesels are bad for cheaply made automatic transmissions". Build it strong enough and there won't be any problems.

[roflwaffle]

The EPA thing has more to do with the adjustment for the energy content of the fuel than anything else. AFAIK, compensating for this shows that diesels and gassers both tend to get however much higher or lower than the EPA figures on average.

[tasdrouille]

In regards to my comment on the EPA ratings, it's based on my personal experience with VW diesels. All I know is that my worst tank on my TDI was 34 mpg with all sub 10 miles city trip and I was driving it like I stole it. Still the city rating for my car is 33 mpg. I was not tracking FE on my previous cars but I remember my 92 TD Jetta and my 90 D Golf to beat the hwy ratings on long enough highway trips @ 70 mph.

[roflwaffle]

The EPA adjusts their mileage figures downward by ~12-14%, or however much more energy diesel has compared to gasoline, so on average people with diesels will do much better than the EPA compared to gassers.

[Frank Lee]

Is that how they do it?

I wonder, because those who calculate mpg differences based on BTU content, like that between regular and E85, inevitably end up way off.

[roflwaffle]

Off how?