Quote:
Originally Posted by wdb
I did an extended bicycle tour in Europe in 1990. Within the first 2 days I was sick of the smell of diesel fumes. That has lasted until the present. I'd ban the damned things just because of the stink they make!
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Even though old-school IDI engines were still the rule for Diesel cars and light-duty commercial vehicles by then, I never got actually bothered by the smell of old Diesel cars not even during the summer in Florianópolis when lots of Argentinians and Uruguayans went there mostly in Diesel-powered vehicles. The problem was mostly the Paraguayans and Bolivians who neglected the maintenance. But anyway, I still believe some different approaches could be taken instead of simply forbidding older Diesels, such as retrofitting more accurate emission controls when the engine is due to an overhaul, or even some devices usually more popular among the high-performance folks such as water injection (which not just allows an even leaner burn in order to save fuel and decrease the particulate matter emission, but also decrease the NOx levels which are now under a higher scrutiny than ever).