Would diesel cars be the best thing to happen to America?

[Langers]

As I'm from England, I can't understand why diesel cars have never really caught on in America. We have had pressure from governments all over Europe to buy more diesel cars for years. In light of the fact that Emissions is a hot topic at the moment this could prompt an interesting debate........?

[dalem]

As I'm from England, I can't understand why diesel cars have never really caught on in America. We have had pressure from governments all over Europe to buy more diesel cars for years. In light of the fact that Emissions is a hot topic at the moment this could prompt an interesting debate........?

We don't have a Green Party in power over here wetting panties about emissions. We have more of a "Green-light Party" in the Democrats.

That being said, certain areas with dense traffic - most of the U.S. is quite empty, not like Europe at all - do have more stringent emission requirements than the average. One-off cities though clearly have far less regional influence than a European state government does, so a major shift towards diesel, which wouldn't give us the kinds of cars we like to drive, is not going to come from that direction anyway.

-dale

[Langers]

which wouldn't give us the kinds of cars we like to drive,

-dale

Isn't this a little irresponsible? I could give you a list of about 20 cars that I'd like to drive (one of which Mr Shelby derived from a AC Ace). Not many of them are diesel I have to admit but if we all thought like that things would go downhill pretty rapidly.......

Having said that there are some pretty potent diesels out there, VW Touareg V10, Jaguar S-Type Disel (lapped the Nurburgring in under 10 minutes - that's better than a Porshe 911!) to name but a few!

[dalem]

Isn't this a little irresponsible? I could give you a list of about 20 cars that I'd like to drive (one of which Mr Shelby derived from a AC Ace). Not many of them are diesel I have to admit but if we all thought like that things would go downhill pretty rapidly.......

Having said that there are some pretty potent diesels out there, VW Touareg V10, Jaguar S-Type Disel (lapped the Nurburgring in under 10 minutes - that's better than a Porshe 911!) to name but a few!

Irresponsible? Not at all. What responsibility do you feel that the desire to drive the kind of car you wish to abrogates?

-dale

[Bill]

I prefer my fire breathing Porsche V-8 thank you very much. :)

[Julie]

Diesels are noisy and sound like the motor is about to sling a rod, the emissions from think stink, and they are not mechanically dependable. I also prefer V-8.

[Bill]

Actually, diesels are a lot more mechanically reliable.

[Julie]

Actually, diesels are a lot more mechanically reliable.

I have 3 or 4 friends that bought trucks with diesels in them...they stayed in the shop. THEY recommended that I NOT buy a diesel. :)

[Bill]

If you can find a commercial gas cargo hauler i'll be impressed.

Diesels normally last about 1,000,000 miles.

[Julie]

If you can find a commercial gas cargo hauler i'll be impressed.

Diesels normally last about 1,000,000 miles.

True. But I prefer fast acceleration. Fast turning diesels have substantially shorter life spans. Slow speed diesels have longer life because they do turn much slower. The adaptation of a commercial diesel engine in a 250 pickup just doesn't cut it for me. Sorry. Diesel engines are more costlier to replace than a V-8 gas engine.

[2DREZQ]

I'd give up a ductless gland for a VM diesel powered Grand Cherokee. My homebrew Biodiesel costs me less then $0.75/gallon.

[BenRoethig]

Most of the european diesels won't pass U.S. emissions laws and are very expensive compared to gasoline engines. Believe me, if it were feasible there would be very few gasoline powered trucks.

[bonehead]

I have 3 or 4 friends that bought trucks with diesels in them...they stayed in the shop. THEY recommended that I NOT buy a diesel. :)

Were they by any chance the older diesels in GM trucks. Those were crap. I have found the newest generation of diesels in the big three full size trucks to have impressive acceleration, gas milage and longevity vs the gas counterparts. I doubt a gas engine will ever match the combination of torque and gas milage of a diesel. The "lack of tunups" is also nice. If they could only find and remove that damned can of marbles from the engine. I once knew someone who had an 80,s model toyota 2WD truck. It had 40+ mpg. The moter was loud, but it never seemed to get tired.

[Bill]

The Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo deisel is probably the most serious passenger truck on the road.

But julie is right about several things:

Diesels cost more initially.
Older technology diesels cost more to maintain.
High-revving diesels are ticking time bombs.

[Julie]

A few years ago my neighbor had a (1998?) Dodge Ram Cummins Dually for sale. He was straight up with me when I approached him about it. His neighbor across the street had a white 2000 model (I believe it was a GMC) diesel dually also for sale at the same time. I took the 2000 to drive for a few days, but took it back, and said, nah.

For pulling (gasoline engines), I have found you can't beat a Ford 300 STRAIGHT 6, which they do not make anymore.