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8143 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 12:10 PM
You are in the Diesels Forum. Your Host is kcram
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Jetta review Turbo Diesels Take on Hybrids By John Addison (6/17/08). Last week, I test drove of the new Volkswagen Jetta TDI Diesel. It accelerated on to the freeway faster than my Toyota Prius. Driving freeways and stop-go city, I wondered which would be the bigger seller, the new European turbodiesels or the Japanese Hybrids. For Detroit, May was the cruelest month, as they were outsold by Asia for the first time. Fuel economy is in; gas guzzling is being punished. General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler combined for a record low market share of 44.4 percent, compared with 48.1 percent for 10 Asian brands, according to the Autodata Corporation, the industry statistics firm. Toyota and Honda continued to gain market share. In the months ahead, Detroit will also lose share to the new fuel efficient diesels from Europe where diesel vehicles outsell gasoline alternatives. The VW Jetta TDI Diesel has an EPA rated mileage on 41 mpg highway and 30 city with a 6-speed stick; 40/29 with an automatic. With 140 horsepower, the Jetta has plenty of performance. The diesel Jetta has a combined EPA rating of 33, compared with 25 for its gasoline cousin. In other words, diesel delivers over 30 percent better mileage, making a real difference to the pocket book even with diesel fuel’s higher prices, and to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Over 1.5 million Toyota Priuses are now on the road. The 2008 Priuses has an EPA rated mileage of 48 city and 45 highway. Notice that this hybrid with regenerative braking actually gets better mileage in stop and go than on freeways where there is added wind resistance. The Prius computer automatically disengages the engine most of the time when stopped and going slowly, making it more quiet than diesels. The Prius has a bit more passenger room than the Jetta. Both have the same trunk space. The new turbo diesels are not your diesels of the past. They are quiet. I could smell no emissions. Emissions are far lower than those of the previous decade, meeting the tough new 50 state requirements including using ultra-low sulfur diesel. Forget putting B100 biodiesel in these new engines with common rail and very high pressure injection. Don’t think about home brewed vegetable oil or recycled restaurant grease. Even B20 voids the warranty in the U.S., although not in Europe where biodiesel quality is better. B5 is the limit in the U.S. Biodiesel's Future That's a shame, that B20 cannot be used............
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How Japan hopes to compete in the diesel market In Japan, Nissan’s M9R four-cylinder diesel engine will be used in its X-Trail SUV this fall. Derived from the Renault 2.0-liter CDI in use in Europe, the engine will meet Japan’s stringent new emissions regulations by employing piezoelectric-controlled injectors, a variable nozzle turbo, a diesel particulate filter, and NOx storage-reduction catalyst that doesn’t require urea. Along with its low emissions, the engine is expected to deliver on the traditional diesel strong points: power and fuel efficiency. In Europe, Renault's engine provides about 150 horsepower with 240 foot-pounds of torque—comparable to Nissan’s 3.5-liter V6—while offering 40 mpg fuel economy. Before Nissan’s diesel Maxima reaches American showrooms, Honda will probably have a diesel available on its Acura TSX models. The company has said it will offer the engine in 2009, but it has yet to officially confirm the model that will carry it. The Honda diesel features V6-like acceleration while producing fuel economy better than its similar-sized four-cylinder engines. Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi have all talked about bringing diesels to their light-duty vehicles in the U.S. around 2010. |
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This article is a very good primer for people unfamiliar with "modern clean diesel" technology: All you need to know about modern clean diesel In Europe, 53 percent of all new cars have diesel engines. On our side of the Atlantic, 13 diesel products, including compact cars and family automobiles, were introduced at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. Diesels are more fuel-efficient than gasoline-powered vehicles. Is there a diesel invasion in our future? "Everybody thinks it's coming, and it's coming like a freight train," says Wendy Dafoe, of the Department of Energy's Clean Cities program. Yet most Americans have bad memories of diesel vehicles from the '80s. And, if you think gasoline is expensive, have you seen the price of diesel fuel lately? What's the deal with the diesel? Is it a viable option for those of us struggling with increasing gas bills? |
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The price of diesel at the one station I look at every day dropped 20 cents a gallon in one day. It was $4.99 on Monday and $4.79 on Tuesday.......... Anyone have any ideas as to why that might have happened?
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London Times Article Loves the car, didn't like the engine...uh-oh. |
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Replying to: larsb (Jun 18, 2008 5:55 am) 
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BlueTec makes the most fuel efficient Big Rigs in the Wurld The Actros BlueTec 5 (built to Euro efficiency standards coming on line in October 2009) is the most fuel-efficient 40-ton truck in the world. It's even set a Guinness World Record, thanks to a recent test run (at the Nardo circuit in Italy) in which an Actros pulling a 25-ton trailer delivered an average 12.39 mpg over seven straight days at an average speed of 50 mph. The Actros also proved remarkably clean, producing just 20.5 grams per ton of payload and kilometer (multiply kilometers traveled by number of tons transported) of CO2 -- more than twice as efficient per g/tkm as a typical one-liter gasoline automobile getting 29 mpg. The Actros, redesigned this year, is now in its third generation (since the truck's debut in 1996, Mercedes has sold roughly 550,000). New is a standard PowerShift fully automatic transmission -- the first in this class. Engines choices include six V-6s and three V-8s, ranging in output from 316 horsepower to 580. You climb aboard the Actros, literally; the air-suspended driver's seat is about eight feet off the ground. Once you get up there, you're greeted by a cockpit that's spacious and comfortable -- though Mercedes does not offer the giant, luxurious sleeper cabs you'll find on, say, Kenworths and Peterbilts. Visibility to the front is fabulous, nothing but glass. To the rear, of course, all you've got are those reflective ears on each side. My rig was an "1851." Translation: Payload of 18 metric tons, engine making 510 horsepower (the "51" in the designation). It lights off easily, then I slip the transmission into Drive, release the parking brake, and we're rolling. If I hadn't seen it, I'd never have guessed there's a 40,000-pound trailer behind me. Acceleration isn't brisk, but the Actros pulls off the line smoothly, seemingly immune to its burden. The sixteen-speed automatic shifts quickly and often -- though sometimes a bit choppily -- divvying up the torque into neat, bite-sized chunks. Steering is as light and easy as a car's; brakes are discs all around, with additional engine-compression braking (à la "Jake Brake") available by clicking a column lever. The ride is soft, cushioned by air. |
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Replying to: larsb (Jun 18, 2008 5:45 am) I just read this in passing but there are some diesel models that are being fitted with the system to cut the engine off under correct conditions. Heretofore, this has been a Prius competitive advantage. With the diesel cut off option becoming more mainstream (and even I would admit that currently is an oxymoron with a diesel car population of less than 1%) the diesel situational mpg would go up, with the overally mpg going up. |
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more fuel. The talking head says 1 B more gals per year MORE fuel. CNBC cable tv report 6/18/08 So suck it up boyz and gurls, one way or the other !!!  Eating too much causes global warming!! 
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New from VeeDub On the other hand, VW did let us test drive the new 2009 2.0L Jetta “clean” TDI Sedan (which will be released in the US in August) and the gas-powered 2.0L Tiguan TSI. I took the wheel of the Tiguan first, which felt like just about any other new car but was noticeably sluggish in responding to the gas pedal. I wasn’t particularly impressed by its 18 mpg city / 25 mpg highway rating either. But the Jetta sedan was worth waiting around for. Having zero experience with newer diesels (I own a 1987 Toyota Truck, which is a heartless 2L diesel), I was surprised to find out just about everything they’ve been saying is true: the new diesels are so quiet you can hardly tell it’s a diesel, except at idle, and it handles like any other comparable sedan on the road. It also has power. Close your ears/eyes VW, but during the downtown SF test drive I was somehow able to hit a clear straightaway onto a freeway onramp that left my passenger and I deeply imprinted in our seats. If you’re worried about acceleration and horsepower in these new diesels, well, don’t be. It’s been several years since VW introduced a new model diesel in the US, due to the implementation of strict new emissions standards. I’ve written before (see Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline) about how the new clean diesel Jetta has cleaner emissions than your average car. My only gripe is that the EPA mileage estimate is listed as 29 mpg city / 40 mpg highway. Older Jetta’s seem relatively well-known for getting up to 55 mpg, and I’m not sure if the difference has to do with the new emissions technology or changes in horsepower.
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