What is so great about diesel cars?

I think the newest "clean" diesel on the block is the 2009 VW Jetta TDI - coming in August. Although the EPA rated it around 41 on the highway, it seems that it may really get around 50 mpg - although we won't know until we start getting some real world experience with it. It's supposed to be non-polluting. So it might get around the same mpg's on the highway that the Prius gets overall (city plus highway). But since diesel is selling for 20 to 25% more than regular gas, it seems to me that the Prius will be cheaper to run. Another variable is reliability. The Prius is known for low maintenance reliability. Who knows how reliable the new VW diesel will be. I think Toyota has it hands down over VW in terms of reliability. That's why I picked the Prius over the Jetta.

I'm not sure what other diesels your looking at that are "clean diesels."

 

The torque...

 

Tier-2, Bin-5 is the emission rating.

That's the dirtiest allowed for legal new vehicle sales in the United States.

The advertised "clean" references are with respect to the older diesel vehicles, not everything else on the road. Prius emits much less smog-related emissions, as the SULEV/PZEV emission rating clearly indicates.

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I had a 1985 Mercedes 300sd. I retired it at over 400k miles. It still had life. I powered it on used fry grease for almost 100k miles.

I had a 1999 VW beetle TDI, I reguarly got 48 mpg with it and regularly had 700 mile tanks.

There is room in the automotive market for both Gas electric hybrids and diesels.

I have owned a Prius and a diesel tdi, they BOTH have a place in my heart.

1- I like to drive stick.
2- I like fueling my car on something that was grown in Iowa.
3- I like torque.

I drive both thanks.

 

Every diesel I ever hear reminds me of my 1st trip to Israel in 1967 -- where the taxis were ancient (even then) 1948 DeSoto limousines, whose original engines had been replaced with black-smoke-belching diesels.

 

Well, cleaner than they used to be. Still dirtier than a Prius. And they feel faster due to high torque, but 0-60 of an '06 jetta tdi is actually slower than the prius. The TDI is probably more fun to drive though. The '09 TDI is faster, but then again so will the '10 Prius be.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/49909-2009-vw-jetta-tdi-emissions-results.html

If you drive exclusively at high speeds on the highway, you might use less gallons than a Prius. But since the fuel is more expensive and puts out more CO2/gallon you still end up worse off. For any sort of mixed driving the Prius rules hands down.

So the TDI is probably more fun to drive (at least with a stick), but the Prius is cheaper to buy, cheaper to own/maintain, cheaper to fuel, puts out less CO2, puts out less smog emissions, is larger, uses less petroleum, etc. No real competition in my mind. And thats from a guy who used to drive a WRX. I have as much fun trying to see how good I can get the mileage on the Prius as I did squealing the tires on the WRX. Its a lot better for my blood pressure too.

Rob

 

Not responding to the diesel question in general, but the tdi specifically: comfort. The TDI (drove one yesterday) has both height and lumbar adjusts (pretty silly, a rolled towel still is better), and much longer leg room. For someone with sciatica it was a really comfortable ride!!! The prius is pretty painful for me. OTOH, for people in the 2nd row, the prius wins hands down. There is no leg room in the TDI for 2nd row passengers (not an issue in my case as the passenger is a dog), but in the drivers seat the benefits all swing the other way!

 

What's great about diesels right now is they run on used vegetable oil--the stuff that restaurants have to pay somebody to take away--or used to.
I met a guy yesterday with a VW passat diesel who said you can either mix the oil with diesel fuel ( more oil vs diesel in warmer months), or pay $2000 to install an oil tank in your spare tire well. I understand some owners of old Mercedes diesel cars are running their cars on diesel/veggie oil mixtures. You can run on 100% oil when the engine temp. is above 110 F.
Restaurants now have no problem disposing of used oil for free, and may even be selling it. Some people are trying to make a business of selling it.

Cheaper than running a Prius, if you can get your fuel for free.

 

except you have to filter and dewater the oil first. kind of a pita doing that. you can invest several hundred in better, less time-consuming setups but then you're taking that right out of your cost savings of course.

you really don't want to be running oil into the engine unless the oil itself is about 160F. a two-tank setup is best for long haul kind of driving- DH uses 100% oil after he's warmed the car up. diesel just starts the car, and purges the lines before you quit.

and then you're still driving an ancient diesel mercedes. ours kinda pisses us off every so often. we have literally thrown parts at it. :rant:

 

Diesel automobiles have demonstrated an ability to deliver performance that cannot be matched by just about any hybrid on the market. For many drivers diesel will be a better option - more torque, not having to have two engines, no batteries to worry about (what happens when they die? what happens if you crash? no need for additional batteries to leak)

Don't forget that even if you just wanted to maximise your $ and don't care about performance and practicality diesel still is superior. Diesel hybrids will soon take over assuming pesky emissions hurdles can be overcome. A prius diesel or similar car from a competitor could well make the current prius obsolete.

 

not obsolete
because myzelf and a lot of people with me will never buy a diesel
and diesel combined with hybrid is not a good combination
how clean you can make a diesel you can always make a petrol car cleaner....

 

Used in a serial hybrid (where the engine is only under a light & constant load), a very small diesel engine could be made to operate cleanly. In other words, there's potential as just a generator.

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