why is diesel not popular in the us?

[BillGates]

Diesel = STANK

 

[jaydee]

Originally posted by: Giblet

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: zCypher

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

Yeah, that's so true... that's why the turbodiesel VW Golf gets the best gas mileage in its class (and it's a small car) RIGHT?

Doh I typed too fast, that was suppose to be in the form of a question. My bad. I was unaware anyone made small cars with diesel engines. Why do see them predominately in tractors, trucks, heavy duty type vehicles?

because of the increased power and milage. think if they were powered by regular gas. they would get like 6 miles to tha galon. i know my car only gets 12

Well ya, but why wouldn't they take the next logical step and use it for all vehicles instead of just bigger rigs?

 

[Giblet]

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: Giblet

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: zCypher

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

Yeah, that's so true... that's why the turbodiesel VW Golf gets the best gas mileage in its class (and it's a small car) RIGHT?

Doh I typed too fast, that was suppose to be in the form of a question. My bad. I was unaware anyone made small cars with diesel engines. Why do see them predominately in tractors, trucks, heavy duty type vehicles?

because of the increased power and milage. think if they were powered by regular gas. they would get like 6 miles to tha galon. i know my car only gets 12

Well ya, but why wouldn't they take the next logical step and use it for all vehicles instead of just bigger rigs?

its still not as clean as it needs to be. plus the next step isn't deisel. its fuel cells

 

[Atrail]

Honda has some 3 cylinder Turbo diesel cars.
They were contmeplating bringing them over. I believe they get high mid 40s to low 50 MPG...

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Quixfire
The 1980's diesel engines ruined the enviroment for US buyers. They were noisey, smokey, leaky money pits. I should know I owned a few and repaired several dozen 5.7L & 6.2L GMs and the 6.9L International/Ford Diesels.

Bingo. The problem with diesels in America is that the Big Three built half-assed diesels out of gasoline engine in an attempt to get better efficiency and the American buying public was put off. My HS principal had and still has a 1970's Mercedes Deisel that does not smoke, is not loud, starts just fine in northern Ohio winters, and is incredibly reliable. Unfortunately, most Americans were intorduced to diesels by the junk diesels that the Big Three rushed into production, and the public image of the diesel has never really recovered.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

Give this man a cookie.

bio-diesel and ethanol(instead of gasoline) are the ways to go. Fuel-cells are a good alternative, too.. but I question whether people are going to accept the death of the Internal Combustion Engine in favor of electric motors that fast and easily.

I know I won't give them up 🙂 Engines are infinately more fascinating than electroc motors.

 

[Giblet]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

Give this man a cookie.

bio-diesel and ethanol(instead of gasoline) are the ways to go. Fuel-cells are a good alternative, too.. but I question whether people are going to accept the death of the Internal Combustion Engine in favor of electric motors that fast and easily.

I know I won't give them up 🙂 Engines are infinately more fascinating than electroc motors.

heck im ready to pump oxegen and hydrogen into my car and have only water come out. im looking to buy the fuel cell comuter scooter thats scedualed to hit the market in 2004

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

how does the performance suffer vis a vis the engine you're comparing with?

 

[RU482]

are there any sports cars with diesel engines?
I mean real sports cars

Would it be possible to put a diesel in, say, a Vette or even a Firebird, and have performance similar to a gas engine?

 

[Pliablemoose]

There'll be Mercedes diesels & Jeep diesels in 04'

GM did make a pretty decent V6 diesel in the 80's, but they put it in the Celelebrity, not exactly a world shaking car...

 

[BeauJangles]

Has anyone actually seen the European Diesels these days? They don't stink, they aren't loud, in fact it's really hard to tell that the car is diesel to begin with!

The best thing about the diesel engine is that with modification it can run on a mixture of 95% oil (canola, corn, etc) + 5% diesel gas. Imagine the wonders this could do for emissions, fuel efficiency, and providing a cash crop to farmers!

 

[StageLeft]

Partly cause they're slower and partly because Americans are scared of diesels based on how they were 200 years ago and mostly because gas is so damn cheap here why bother thinking about anything more efficient?

As blinderbomber said good diesels are similar in feel to a gas engine in regular driving.

 

[Danman]

My Dad had a 2000 VW Beetle TDI.
It r0x0r3d.

He got about 50 mpg and it didn't have the blue smoke. It was smelly when you start up, but after that it was fine. It was a kick ass car IMO. 🙂

 

[FoBoT]

i like diesel cars, but i don't own one

i was working in europe most of the summer of '97 and rented several Diesel cars, very nice they are

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

how does the performance suffer vis a vis the engine you're comparing with?

I'm not sure. My guess is that the Diesel is comparable to the base Passat's gas engine.

ZV

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

how does the performance suffer vis a vis the engine you're comparing with?

I'm not sure. My guess is that the Diesel is comparable to the base Passat's gas engine.

ZV

It will feel that way in regular driving based upon my test drive of a TDI golf. If you're trying to go fast and really get some power out of the engine that's when you can tell that the Golf TDI, at least, has a mere 90 HP, but in regular driving due to the 150 ft/lbs torque the thing is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I gave my wife's TDI Golf some new synthetic diesel oil & air filter today😀

40+mpg in combined driving.

 

[BeauJangles]

For anyone that doesn't know about biodiesel; here is a link.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Giblet

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: zCypher

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

Yeah, that's so true... that's why the turbodiesel VW Golf gets the best gas mileage in its class (and it's a small car) RIGHT?

Doh I typed too fast, that was suppose to be in the form of a question. My bad. I was unaware anyone made small cars with diesel engines. Why do see them predominately in tractors, trucks, heavy duty type vehicles?

because of the increased power and milage. think if they were powered by regular gas. they would get like 6 miles to tha galon. i know my car only gets 12

You rarely get more power from a diesel than from a petrol of comparable size. However, I believe you are on the right track - just say torque instead.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Giblet

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: Giblet

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: zCypher

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

Yeah, that's so true... that's why the turbodiesel VW Golf gets the best gas mileage in its class (and it's a small car) RIGHT?

Doh I typed too fast, that was suppose to be in the form of a question. My bad. I was unaware anyone made small cars with diesel engines. Why do see them predominately in tractors, trucks, heavy duty type vehicles?

because of the increased power and milage. think if they were powered by regular gas. they would get like 6 miles to tha galon. i know my car only gets 12

Well ya, but why wouldn't they take the next logical step and use it for all vehicles instead of just bigger rigs?

its still not as clean as it needs to be. plus the next step isn't deisel. its fuel cells

In warmer climates I think biodiesel (from soybean or other biomass sources) will make a big impact. They are completely sulfur-free, which allows the use of highly-efficient catalytic converters (and their associated systems, like particle filtration).

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Giblet

Originally posted by: jaydee

Originally posted by: zCypher

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

Yeah, that's so true... that's why the turbodiesel VW Golf gets the best gas mileage in its class (and it's a small car) RIGHT?

Doh I typed too fast, that was suppose to be in the form of a question. My bad. I was unaware anyone made small cars with diesel engines. Why do see them predominately in tractors, trucks, heavy duty type vehicles?

because of the increased power and milage. think if they were powered by regular gas. they would get like 6 miles to tha galon. i know my car only gets 12

You rarely get more power from a diesel than from a petrol of comparable size. However, I believe you are on the right track - just say torque instead.

Torque = Power. HP = Power per unit of time.

ZV

 

[gump47371]

To answer the topic question, I think some of it has to do with Americans basing everything on payments, and they can't see paying a few thousand more dollars upfront for "the same car". What I have never been able to understand why people don't buy them. They last, on average, at least twice as many miles as a gasoline engine.

I personally don't own a car with one in it, but where I work, we do use a diesel engine in our trucks.

That, and alot of Americans are "prissy", as some of the posts have shown, and don't like the smell and loud engine.

EDIT: I am not an expert on them, but do have a little knowledge. I believe it is true that it compresses the fuel, correct, and that is what causes the explosion?

If this is the case, why does it need glow plugs?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jaydee
The gas mileage is only better with more powerful engines (pick-ups, V6 engines, school buses, ect.) If you ever put one in a Saturn, I don't think you'd get better mileage.

WRONG! A Passat's fuel mileage improves by 47% in the city and 75% on the freeway when you switch to diesel from the gasoline engine. A diesel will ALWAYS be more efficient than a gasoline engine because a diesel has no pumping losses since diesel does not require throttle butterflies.

ZV

EDIT: Also, bio-deisel would be a great next step. Diesel engines can cheaply and easily be converted to run on vegetable oil. 100% renewable. (And the exhaust smells like french fries.)

For some reason that reminded me of Homer Simpson.

There's a whole lot of reasons why diesels are more "efficient". Here are a few:

• Higher energy density (than octane)

• Higher compression ratios > higher thermal efficiency

• No creation of vacuum in intake manifold - already stated

• With the advent of high-pressure common rail injection, equivalent/better fuel atomization

• Less drain on engine from alternator > battery > sparking - this isn't really noticeable

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: redly1
are there any sports cars with diesel engines?
I mean real sports cars

Would it be possible to put a diesel in, say, a Vette or even a Firebird, and have performance similar to a gas engine?

Not with the standard transmission, no, and probably not ever. Diesels just can't rev as high.