Citroën's new SUV, the C-Crosser, uses clean diesel engine, but did Citroën drop biodiesel capability?
The SUV poolmobile? (click to see a high-resolution image gallery of the C-Crosser)
Ready for an official unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show, Citroën's new C-Crosser SUV is a clean-burning diesel vehicle with all the comforts of your modern SUVs. It's what's under the hood that interests us here.
The C-Crosser has a new 160 bhp (115kW or 156 bhp EEC) HDi diesel engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. With a diesel particulate filter, this engine has a fuel consumption of 7.3 liters over 100 km (combined cycle) and emissions of 194 g/km. The HDi engine is the result of Citroën's work with Ford, and is based on the 173 bhp HDi engine already in use in the C5 and C6. Emissions are reduced (and performance is increased) using the ECCS (Extreme Conventional Combustion System) to optimize the air/fuel mix and a third-gen common rail system for finer fuel spray.
The first announcement of the C-Crosser (which came out in October) said the vehicle would be able to run on B30, but this biodiesel-friendly notice is missing from today's press release. I know biodiesel can technically be used in any diesel engine, but companies are sometimes reluctant to officially allow biodiesel in their cars thanks to varying levels of fuel quality. Either someone made a mistake somewhere or we'll be treated to a "The C-Crosser does biodiesel" release soon. (Update - most recent the press release I have from Citroën does not mention the biodiesel feature, but the one Autoblog has matches our original reports that the C-Crosser is B30-compatible)
Click on the image above or the thumbnails below to see a high-resolution (1,280 pixel wide) image gallery of the C-Crosser. The images are downloadable for your personal use.
Gallery: Citroen C-Crosser
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[Source: Citroën]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
atir 5:29PM (2/09/2007)
What you guys have with diesel? Obviously you are not living (I am) in smelly dirty noisy Europe with 70% of car diesel. To hell with diesel. I can't stand that noise.
Particulate filter is a great thing (no irony), should be mandatory. But still LESS CLEAN than petrol engine! Don't believe? Have a look at prepared EURO V and VI which allow higher limits of nasty NOx and other staff for diesels compared to petrol cars. EURO VI which will come into force around 2013 is dirtier than nowadays emission standard in 10 American states! I think it is scandalous and lobby-smelling (diesel car sells aprox.1500 eur more than equivalent petrol car)
And your darling biodiesel. Look at forests being burned to leave place for palm oil exported to Europe as feedstock for biodiesel.
Bio or not, no thak you.
Wake up America, go electric and show the way. Biofuels/diesel is dead end.
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Mike G 11:50PM (2/09/2007)
Atir, your accent almost beats out Borat in amusing eccentricity - I especially like the reference to the diesel smell as "lobby smelling". But seriously, diesel is not that bad - it's 30% more efficient than gasoline, and the new Bluetec clean diesel engines are much improved. Definitely part of the answer to reduced dependence on foreign oil.
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Benson Leung 3:30AM (2/10/2007)
Blutec clean diesel is an improvement over the last generation of diesels, but even with the advanced urea NOx control system, the Blutec cars only meet LEV II standards in the US, making them just average in terms of smog forming emissions compared to gasoline cars.
In contrast, many cars sold in the US today are ULEV II or SULEV II strict. In the case of SULEV II, that's 90% fewer smog forming emissions than a LEV II.
Furthermore, Blutec diesels are going to have the added disadvantage of a second tank of urea that you need to fill separate from the diesel tank... If the driver isn't diligent about keeping this urea tank filled, the car's emission control system stops working, and the car gets WORSE than LEV II.
Diesel is great for reducing fuel consumption and reducing CO2 emissions, but the technology isn't there yet to replace gasoline.
Furthermore, unlike hybrid technology, diesel doesn't have a roadmap with a 0 emissions goal in mind. In the case of hybrid, plug-in hybrids and pure electrics will be the evolution of the technology, with zero emissions fuel cell hybrids on the horizon.
No matter how clean a diesel will get, you're still going to be burning something in your car and producing emissions locally, while hybrids will lead to electrics, and fuel cells and the end of the internal combustion engine for good.
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carbonsink 4:38AM (2/10/2007)
I didn't know that diesels and hybrids were an either/or proposition!
Oh and BTW, outside of the U.S. we're a little concerned about these CO2 emissions, perhaps even more than ULEV, SULEV or dependence on foreign oil.
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lotto 8:05AM (4/19/2007)
What happened to the famous citroen suspension, the c-crosser would be the ideal vehicle for it.
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