Originally posted by Surf Green
Let's ignore the flamebait tone of M&F for a sec, and fix some misconceptions.
1) Any Car with batteries is a step backwards. Batteries eventually need to be replaced, and waste batteries are often toxic... not to mention if you have an accident, and "get some on you".
2) TDI racecars? Well... there are several. There's a Soy powered TDI SCCA Pro-Rally car that does extremely well. Low end torque is not best on the track. Just as revving out to 6+k is less than practical on the street.
3) Diesel pollution? The biggest knee-jerk misconception. These things aren't MB diesels of the past, nor are they belching 18 wheelers. You'd be hard pressed to see any soot from my TDi. Greenhouse gasses? Go to http://www.fueleconomy.gov and look at TDI greenhouse emissions.
Particulates are a controversial matter. Do they cause cancer? Does the char on BBQ chicken cause cancer? Just because some particulates cause cancer, does not mean that all of them do. And Diesel soot is too large to be absorbed by the lungs... unlike the particulates created in gasoline engines.
And that's all with Non-renewable high sulphur Dino-Diesel that we're stuck with in this country.
Look at Bio-Diesel, and you might even start waving the flag. It's renewable. It's growable by American farmers. The refining process (as with Dino) is far less energy intensive than refining gasoline. It burns clean, and smells good.
Most people who make claims against diesel are relying on old arguments, and have clearly never driven one.
that link you supplied shows that the 1.9 liter turbo diesel gets a 1 out of 10 in greenhouse scores (
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymak...agen2002.shtml)...so that's great progress?...i admit they don't have the usual smoke trail of the older mb or even today's 18 wheelers...but they still pollute like mad and just b/c you can't see the smoke any more doesn't mean its better at emissions than a gasoline powered car...in fact if you look at vw's other engines they get 5-7 out of 10...at least five times better emissions scoring then the diesel...see pic below
this only aguments my point...fuel economy at the expense of emissions isn't the best solution...gas engines have much better pollution control b/c the fuel is cleaner
just the civic lineup with its gasoline engines get great emissions scores as well as good gas mileage...the 2003 civic hybrid gets 7/10 in emissions (7 times better than what the tdi can do) and has an annual fuel mileage cost of $438...along with much better acceleration
the insight gets near max points as well as lowest fuel cost...best of these two attributes...btw...a 120hp/liter s2000 gets 6/10...power and environmentally friendliness is very uncommon
