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Old 06-12-2009, 10:05 AM   #247 (permalink)
groar
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Toulouse, France
Posts: 595

scenic - '01 renault scenic
90 day: 43.09 mpg (US)

megane - '97 renault megane classic
Diesel
90 day: 72.53 mpg (US)

dennisius - '06 Toyota Prius
Team Toyota
90 day: 69.27 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OwenThursday View Post
High mileage is great, but if people are serious about "green" vehicles then you should consider emissions. Maybe it's on the site and I haven't found it yet, if so, please point it out to me.
Yes, some of us are concerned about pollution.

As there is different kind of pollutions, there is different kind of consequences. IMHO the worst pollutants aren't the more visible.

Yes diesel generate more particles than gasoline, but particles emitted today will soon disappear (cf London city toll and asthma regression). France has more diesel vehicles than gasoline ones, Diesel Filter Particles are rare and I don't count all the trucks that are traveling through France... Despite this in France transport is the third particle emitter after heating and agriculture, and our sky is always blue.

IMHO CO2 is the worst pollutant emitted by vehicles because any CO2 emitted now will always be present during several generations. As CO2 is proportional to consumption (in L/100), consuming less is emitting less.

Now in an ecological point of view, you must also look at the recycled material used in your car, how much of your car can be recycled and what are the costs of building and recycling the car.

Even if I'm driving a 12 years old Euro II diesel, it's better to use it while it doesn't generate more particles than it was conceived to because recycling a vehicle and building a new one use a lot of energy. But I'm the first to correct anybody talking about "clean diesel" as only "cleaner diesel" exist nowadays.

If you want to talk more about that, please open a dedicated thread.

Denis.
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Earth and health are priceless, so are kilotank and AT-PZEV
Best Mégane tank: 1268.9mi @ 77.847 MPG(US)
2008/06-2011/10 saving:
  • 5725.5 kg CO2 (5342.6+382.9)
  • Diesel / Money: 42.17% = 2446.25€ = 3357.26$


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megane : thread - kill switch.
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