"Ford Prefect" <f.prefect@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Modern turbo-diesel engines are very competitive in performance to
gasoline engines and they use much less fuel.
They use much less fuel but like for like they are still light years behind
the any petrol engine of similar size and displacement in refinement and
performance , take a petrol engine of similar capacity and turbo charge it
and the resulting car will leave the turbo desisel version like its in
reverse. Diesels soot production is still approximately a thousand time
higher than a petrol engine and its these particulates that can cause asthma
once the link is proved it will be interesting to see what happens in
california.. as for Gas powered cars the infrastructure is there you just
have to look for it.. LPG has another name.. Propane, I think you will fnd
its fairly easily available but not from a gas station!
I own a Volkswagen Jetta turbodiesel. Its 1.9 liter engine develops
somewhat less horsepower than the 2.0 liter gasoline engine. However,
it generates as much torque as VW's 1.8 liter turbo gasoline engine.
The results: up to about 40 mph, the turbodiesel easily keeps up with
the gas engines. At speed, owing to noise levels and gearing, the
diesel is turning over slower (and more quietly) than either gasoline
engine. And I get 42-46 mpg on a combination of city and highway
driving; neither gasoline engine can touch that (I also will note
that, unlike the Japanese hybrid-engined cars, the turbodiesel can
actually hit its EPA numbers). All this from what is arguably the
"worst" diesel in VW's line.
Yes, some elements of pollution are higher in diesels right now.
However, the VW TDI is still clean enough to sell in California. The
issues are being worked on. The United States has what is generally
regarded as the crappiest diesel fuel of all the more-industrialized
countries; by 2006, low-sulfur diesel is mandated. Some diesels are
being fitted with catalytic converters to address exhaust issues.
Peugeot and Toyota (and perhaps other companies) are working on
pyrolytic techniques for collecting and periodically burning off the
soot.
Then there are the bigger issues of total energy use. Diesel is more
efficient to refine than gasoline. Biodiesel can be produced from
farm crops like soybeans. In fact, many diesels don't need to run on
diesel fuel at all -- there are several diesel car and truck owners
who run straight vegetable oil in their cars! It needs some
modification for colder climates and some help when starting, but,
once the engine is running, Crisco is all the car needs.
Diesels have come a long way from those miserable excuses General
Motors tried to palm off on the American public in the '80s. They are
a viable alternative to very expensive technologies like hybrid
gasoline-electric and fuel cells. And they work -- now. I'm looking
forward to seeing more modern diesels in the U.S.
Steve
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