It sounds, Winsor, as if you have little decent choice when it comes
to buying cars with diesel engines. But the news here is that US car
makers are in deeper trouble than ever and it could be that they have
not been investing in new technologies.
I didn't know that it cost more in oil to produce diesel fuel, but
the economics of whether to buy a diesel-engined machine or a petrol
one is a simple one to calculate; car publications have been making
such comparisons for at least 20 years in the UK.
I have had 2 oil changes in my BMW 320d (2 litre common rail diesel)
and it's coming up to 50k and 3.5 years old. Some diesels in this
country are smokier than others (the older 1.9TD VW engines are
normally culprits), but other than that it is difficult to discern
between petrol- and diesel-engined cars on the roads. My car is no
boy racer machine (it won't burn rubber off the lights), but it is a
safe overtaker on country roads and the computer shows 51mpg at the
moment (big gallons of course). I am sold on diesel engines and
couldn't coiutenance buying a petrol car again; well, OK, I do dream
of having a nice straight-six 2.5 litre M car, every now and then :-)
Chris
On 2 Jul 2007, at 16:53, Winsor Crosby wrote:
> My brother has had three large pickup trucks with diesel engines
> because he likes to tow things, but it is the low speed torque more
> than fuel consumption, I think. While the percentage increase in
> mileage from 8 MPG to 12 MPG is huge you wonder whether it is enough
> to overcome the extra cost of vehicle. The higher fuel cost partially
> wipes out the savings of the mileage increase. There are also twice
> as frequent oil changes because there is more "blow by" to dirty the
> oil with combustion products with 20+ to 1 compression ratios.
>
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