Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurentiu
As far as engines go on pick-up, why not go the turbo-diesel way ? I NEVER understood why the US regulators are so anti-Diesel.
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NOx and particulate emissions. Particulates are particularly bad in areas like Southern California.
They're reformulating diesel to reduce the sulfur content in the U.S. This will allow manufacturers to use catalysts and other devices to reduce these emissions. I would expect diesels to be more accepted in the next 5-10 years as these emissions are brought under control and CO2 becomes a bigger target.
Unfortunately, they're doing the same thing to diesels they do to gasoline cars. California mandates squeakier-clean new car standards, but they completely exempt pre-1973 vehicles from any testing at all. Consequently, people legally drive old pieces of junk that emit 1,000 times more pollution than a new car.
Similarly, new diesels are getting tighter emissions controls, but existing commercial diesel trucks, buses and equipment can run as dirty as they want, and diesel pickup owners are buying "power chips" that basically spew partially burned fuel into the atmosphere as black smoke in order to cool EGTs and allow more power.