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What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?
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Tell you what, when the economy does pick up, in earnest that is, there are a lot of people ready to trade up. We should see a boom, eventually.
Everyone is jumping on the "sustainability" bandwagon--so people will be looking for innovative ways to get around.
Almost any new "innovative" ways to get around will almost of necessities and realities ... cost more monies and at every parameter you can name. So to me, diesel engines will continue to lead the way. Just in case there are those that think electrical is a NEW and innovative way to go, just remember that electric cars were on the market 100+ years ago. Indeed my local utility of the natural gas pipe line explosion fame, just tacked on a .30 cent+ kilowatt charge category just in case I was thinking of adding a 40,000 dollar Volt or Leaf to my stable. It is so expensive per mile driven that even the oems do not post what it will cost mpg equivalency.
One thing I do like about VW's (not to pitch VW's) are the body's have 12 year body work warranty's.
Indeed, I have cars with 3 year body work warranties (Toyota) that are going on the 17/19 year old time frames. So the galvanized body panels are a gimme. I fully intend for them to do a minimum of 20 years. 20 to 30 years of use when 5 years is expected of say a Prius, meets one of my definitions of "sustainabiliy."
Seeing how cars have been forced to change since the 1970s, this could all be a good thing.
You know that when you have NASCAR officials using the term "sustainability", (which they are) -- that the earth has definitely tilted! :P
http://www.motivemag.com/pub/news/Diesel_Dominates_Sportscar_Racing_Round_2_Peug- eot.shtml
Although Ferrari and Porsche, along with other big name sports car builders like Aston Martin, Lotus and the Chevrolet Corvette, are still chasing victory, they are relegated to class contenders while the outright prize is now the domain of the people who can build the best diesel powerplants.
http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/technical-news/articleid/74195.aspx
When diesel reigns supreme what will Exxon do with all their excess gasoline? The same dilemma Rockefeller was in at the turn of the century. Maybe sell it cheap to the 3rd world. By then that will be US.
Won't happen for several reasons:
* The Feds will tax the bejeezus out of it
* Increase demand will mean even higher diesel prices
* Lower demand for gas will mean cheaper gas prices
* Turbos and DI are helping gas engines protect market share
* Tougher to meet emissions standards with diesels
* Diesels cost more, and Americans in general are cheap
"bias" suggests some kind of keen, evil and focused intelligence working efficiently to implement a direct goal----this is giving way too much credit to any government agency. Surely you remember junior high school? It's like that.
Don't the feds tax diesel at a higher rate? Anyone know diesel vs. gas taxes?
Combined taxes on diesel (local, state, and fed) varies considerably among states, from about 39 cents to 70 cents per gallon.
If we attempted to predict proliferation of diesel cars based strictly on the lowest taxes (probably not very accurate), then we'd have boatloads of diesel cars in Georgia, So. Carolina and Oklahoma, and none in Hawaii, CA, NY, PENNA, Illinois, Indiana and Washington state.
http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/upload/July2011_gasoline_diesel_summary.- - pdf
I don't think the oil companies are creating a conspiracy. It is simply a business decision. No matter what they do in the cracking they get a certain amount of gasoline. For you young fellers, gas was a byproduct of making kerosene. It was dumped back before gasoline engines were developed. Now you want the real conspiracy. Henry Ford wanted his cars to run on ethanol (alcohol) His enemy Rockefeller wanted to get rid of that nasty gasoline he had been dumping. So Rockefeller gave the Ladies Temperance movement a few million to promote their campaign against alcohol and you know the rest of the story. The oil companies want a balance of gas to diesel. They have a mess in Europe with too many diesel vehicles. I am sure they are not above putting a bug in the ear of our politicians. Spreading stories about how awful diesel is etc. It will all change when they get biodiesel from algae profitable. In the mean time I am waiting for my perfect diesel vehicle to come along.
I take it you are saying this tongue in cheek, correct?. If you (if you were king or Harry Reid) switched that right around tomorrow, where the gasser folks paid the higher taxation price, you'd have to beat back a scalded pit bull pack protest !!! Just for the record your example is 33% more TAXATION !!!
So if I filled up a diesel MINI rather than a gasoline MINI I'd be paying .66 cents a week more in taxes. Gee, call out the Minutemen, man the barricades---I'm oppressed!
Audi is having their best year ever in the USA. I would say diesel has been the difference.
Audi reports best-ever August U.S. sales, marking the eighth straight record-setting month of 2011
• August 2011 marked fourth-best month ever with sales of 10,201, an 11.1% gain
• Demand for the all-new 2012 Audi A6 increased 36.4%; Q7 sales climbed 28.6%
• Audi A3 TDI and Audi Q7 TDI accounted for 69% and 45.5% of sales mix, respectively
Audi SUV models constituted a healthy 30% of overall Audi sales in August. Sales of the popular Audi Q7 full-size luxury sport-utility vehicle increased 28.6% YOY to 720 vehicles sold, when compared to August 2010.
The only Lexus with gains is the hybrid CT. It is at the bottom of the price scale. I would say the Japanese better get working on diesels if they want to stay on top of the game.
I figure about $23 million in sales for Audi on the Q7 TDI alone last month. A decently equipped Q7 will be about $70k. And they are not giving incentives to move them. Still people with money to spend.
It is really hard to come to any other conclusion that the US follows a burning more is less policy. . A like model VW gasser (2.0 and 1.8 T) gets 30.6 to 27.5. to the snap shot 49 mpg. This is 60 to 78% more respectively.
I'm all for biodiesel from Algae, 100%. Unlike ethanol, you get good btu's and power out of biodiesel, pretty much online with regular diesel, downside of biodiesel, it gels at higher temps. The real question is, can current diesel vehicles run on pure biodiesel? I know My Kubota can, and my 99 F350 can, but can the latest gen diesels with the particular filters and other doohickeys survive on bio?
I call fuel taxes "hidden taxes" because ultimately, we, the consumer, pay them. E.G., price of diesel goes up, the bread truck fuel bill goes up, price of bread goes up.
I'm not sure I felt discriminated against when I had a diesel car---perhaps a little bit, as I wondered why I was paying MORE than Hummers pay for high test gasoline....but once the economy of operation on my car sunk in, I felt compensated in that regard.
I object more to the wild speculations in the energy market...these people have nothing on the Somali pirates when it comes to their view of a moral world.
The big downside of these sudden jumps in fuel prices is that it immediately starts sucking huge amounts of money out of the economy---resulting in less spending, resulting in recession, etc.
I think the BO Potus administration finally has "got it" that despite the efforts to bring the price of fuel to or higher than European levels, aka $10.00 per gal gasolline : it needs to DECREASE even from its current 3.99 per gal levels (I paid this for ULSD @ a Chevron station) They of course do not think any of the open and hidden TAXATION needs to decrease.
So when no less an authority figure as the US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu floats the European fuel scheme ($10.00 per gal fuel trial ballons) this should be down right SCARY. I am guessing the demeanor of a world renoun PHD physicist does not have the intimidation factor of say a DARTH VADER on WALLET CRUSH.
Good news, but those are both very low volume cars.
Let me do some math, I'm curious...
764 A3, so 527 are TDI
720 Q7, so 328 are TDI
CT sold 2087 units with severely restricted supply. That could easily have been 3000+.
Even if every one was a bare-bones stripper, that's $63 million in sales.
But the European model won't work because US citizens don't think the higher taxes on fuel will come back to them (and why should they?) In Europe, they pretty much expect that they do benefit from taxation, and I think in fact that they do in most cases.
Essentially my view is that the US military umbrella allowed for a European paradise in which Americans are not allowed to live.
The irony does not escape me when I travel in Europe with my weak dollars.
On the Europe issue, indeed that has been true for many decades. I am sure you have talked to a few expats. They should cut us a break but alas they actually charge us more for the privilege of propping them (now) ALL UP. Germany is now getting a gllimpse of the realities if they had won WW2.
SO---who do you think will introduce the first diesel sports car? (was there ever one?)
So for example, (NOT a sports car) my 03 Jetta TDI is and remains BONE stock. (shooting for ultra high reliability, durability, mpg, mileage, 400,000 miles clutch life, etc.)
So if I want make mods in the future, i.e., bigger injectors, chip and tune to intergrate, will easily overtake the 5 speed manuals' power handing capabilities. I really need to go from 155# ft (185# ft peak handling) to more like 285 to 300# ft just for a safety margin. This can mean a minimum of V-6 clutch (VW V-6 SACHS) and one or two gear swaps to even a 6 speed upgrade. The BEEFIER transmission upgrade with be the FIRST step.
What a lot of folks are pleasantly discovering on diesels, if one does not "get into it" and drive normally, fuel mileage actually can improve. I am led to believe on my example, 1-3 mpg BETTER.
They're having enough trouble pitching sporty hybrids, e.g. look at CR-Z sales.
Let's see how the Infiniti M hybrid does, though, it's perhaps the best attempt at a hybrid/sports sedan.
I'd like to see Subaru try a diesel/sports, and for the reasons you mention above - AWD helps put all that torque down on the pavement.
How about the new generation Mazda Miata with the new SkyActiv-D diesel engine mated to a 6-Speed manual?
Man, that's just cruel!
HECK YEAH, though, great idea!
Weight is a minor concern, but the ND is supposed to be lighter to begin with, so it should still be fun.
It went from 16 MPG to 18 MPG with the tune, and now is at 19 MPG with a gear swap after blowing the rear end out. Not bad for an 8000# 6 wheel brick.
Or the Mustang II.
Of course Alfa got away with making the Spider a FWD car, so maybe a Miata could be a diesel. I dunno, there could be a revolt. Consider the Miata demographic for instance. Does it encourage diesel-love? I don't think so.
The gas tank is tiny, and will remain tiny, since weight is so important in that small car.
So the only way to improve range is to add DI, since they're not going to gear it tall.