My lowest came in at 38.1 mpg on the first tank, 2nd tank was 38.4, and from there it's been over 40 mpg with the highest at 45 mpg - almost all highway - high speed! I couldn't get that out of my v5 at the same hwy speeds. I don't have an all-city route as my typical daily driving is about 50/50. I have 16 stop lights and 3 stop signs each way on my commute. Unfortunately, the spread between diesel and gas is still between 50 cents and $1.10 around here. But that's the price I'm willing to pay. If you don't know my story of how I ended up with the Passat, look under the Prius v forum for a thread titled "My accident".
I do use a fuel supplement - Optilube Summer Blend+, with contains a lubricity additive. I bought a small container of anti-gel/cetane booster from Walmart the other day, just in case the Polar Express decides to make a visit here. The other night it got down to 26 degrees, but I garage the car and when I'm out driving, it's not below freezing - so far. But winter hasn't arrived yet (at least here anyway) and I'll be prepared when it does.
Does the liquid smell urine-like ? It would be very unfortunate if the cabin stunk after an exchange.
I read an article, cant' recall where, that some DI gas engines produced more soot than the new clean diesels now - I couldn't believe it. If true, then DI engines will likely need DPF's added to keep them clean enough in the future.
I wouldn't know that yet, but I'm also not going stick my nose in it to find out either - lol! The only problem I've seen occurring is if it's spilled, when it dries out, it leave a white flaky residue. One owner wrote about the bad service he got at his dealer - the service must have spilled or leaked the fluid all over his trunk. There was white residue all over the place. Once it dries out, you can vac it up easily, but I can't recall if there were any comments about an odor. That's why I can't understand why VW located the filler in the trunk. Unfortunately, urine doesn't contain enough urea to use, otherwise I'd just pee into the tank - without anyone looking of course! LOL I do know the fuel additives do stink quite a bit. Don't ever get that stuff on you! You need to keep them in a tightly sealed bottle that won't leak. I only keep a small bottle in the trunk, enough for 2 fill-ups, on the left side and held/squeezed in tight enough to keep it upright. I'm not carrying around the 1 gallon jug of it in my car - it really does stink bad.
Diesel exhaust fluid ("AdBlue") has no detectable odor. JH is correct however, the urea in the aqueous solution does produce a white crystalline substance if spilled.
Mercedes apparently is already using filters (GPF) on at least one of its (European?) models - Green Car Congress: Report: Mercedes-Benz equipping S500 with gasoline particulate filter .
If spills aren't cleaned up, the DEF can damage the car's paint. How close are painted surfaces to the DEF filler? I believe the Cruze diesel's filler is also in the trunk. Not convenient, but it isn't something that needs to added everytime you stop for fuel. DEF is just water and urea. While there is less urea in urine, it also contains other metabilites, salts, and hormones. Then bacteria will start feeding on it fairly quickly.
Other German makes have placed their Adblue filler next to the fuel filler cap, under the fuel door. The Dodge Ram diesel also does this - not sure about Ford. This makes the most sense. If filled correctly, there should no spills, unless you have an idiot just pouring it in with a spout and it overflows. The 1/2 gallon bottle dispenser prevents spills in the way it's designed - it must be screwed on, then pushed down to release the fluid into the tank. Urine, in addition to other stuff, only contains 2 - 4% urea, while Adblue or similar fluid contains 32.5% urea in deionized water. You can't outsmart the system due to sensors in the tank.
Prius tail pipe, as any petrol engine, has no excess air. Diesel flows a lot of air through (more velocity, and PM more diluted), and probably the PM do not aggregate as much over the inner surface because of the temperatures during the regen cycle.
Then it is likely a cost cutting measure to use the same sheet metal as the gasoline version. Or there is simply a lot less PM getting past the DPF to begin with. Pre-DPF diesel tailpipes are just as, if not more, dirty as gasoline ones. Same engine displacement means about the same amount of gases flowing through the exhaust, and many diesels have larger bore exhaust than gasoline. PM is produced by both types of engines. A filtered diesel emits less particulates than a direct or ported injection engine. So there is simply less to accumulate inside the tailpipe.
If you mean unburnt oxygen, you don't need to explain it; they burn lean most of the time. Or if you are referring to the lack of a throttle plate, which creates a partial vacuum in a petrol? Since the majority of exhaust flow is from combustion heat, the extra air that a diesel inhales isn't going to help 'sweep' the tailpipe clean. It will speed up due to heating from the explosion, but the fuel is expanding and speeding up to a far greater magnitude in the explosion. If it were the case, then pre-DPF diesel tailpipes would be clean also. They aren't, and depending on how often they get washed, the their bumper and backside can also have a build up of soot. Which can also be said of poorly tuned and modified gas cars. The DPF is right after the engine, and can even be part of the exhaust manifold. The extra heat and gas expansion from regeneration has to pass through the rest of the exhaust system. That, and the frequency of the cycle likely mean the exhaust speed and heat shouldn't be much different than a non-DPF diesel. Besides, if it has a DPF, there simply isn't any particulates to accumulate. ICEs produce particulates. The amount depends on the fuel(diesel>gasoline>CNG), and engine design(DI>port), but there will be enough to dirty up the tailpipe insides. Unless there is an exhaust filter in place. Regulations are written so that diesels have to reduce their particulates to virtually zero, and a clean tailpipe is a very minor benefit of that.
The consensus of opinion on this website is that diesels are all dirty, smelly, sooty and blow smoke. It has been suggested that this only applies to older diesels but Americans generally seem to only recall diesels from 1979 when they last saw them in number. I have previously mentioned about the inside of tail pipes being totally clean after tens of thousands of miles and how the previous opinion of diesels being sooty is out of date. I could never find a photo to back this up, until a kind member took a picture of his. Modern diesels are many things, but smokey and sooty they are not.
The days of black/blue smoke belching out of the tail-pipes of modern diesels is almost gone! We have very strict emissions tests here in Ireland (cars must be tested every 2 years up to 10 yrs old and every year thereafter) and all the modern diesel cars are passing these tests. The only time that they may struggle with the test of if there's very big mileage on the car, but if they're looked after service-wise, there's no issues. If I had a long motorway commute, I'd be driving a modern diesel car, but as I live in Dublin city & 75% of my driving is city driving, I'll be sticking with the Prius or similar car
