Video: Popular Mechanics tries out the new Jetta TDi
The 2008 Jetta TDi exhaust system
Popular Mechanics got a chance to get an early look at a prototype for the new 2008 VW Jetta TDi with clean diesel exhaust. Volkswagen PR manager Keith Price gives the full rundown on how the system works. The new diesel Jetta will be available at US dealers next March and will be fifty-state legal without having to use a urea injection system. You can check out the video after the jump.
[Source: Popular Mechanics]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 8:30AM (6/19/2007)
With all this extra "stuff" to help the car meet the "toughest emission standards on the planet" (the US legislators obviously hate diesels), will I still be able to make and burn my own biodiesel or convert it to run on straight vegoil?
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Benson Leung 10:59AM (6/19/2007)
Us legislators do not hate diesels. The US, with it's huge expanses and dependence on interstate commerce, probably burns more diesel fuel in big trucks and semis than any other country on highways.
The emission standards were created not to exclude diesels in light duty cars and trucks. They were created to address the smog and air-quality issues that plagued areas like Los Angeles.
That means lower NOx, and lower particulates. Over the past 20 years, gasoline burning cars have come a long way in significantly reducing this pollution, but diesel cars still have some ways to go.
It should be noted that although car manufacturers label this new wave of diesels "clean diesels" in terms of the very emissions that we are discussing, NOx and particulates, the clean diesels will pass only LEV II rating, not the stricter ULEV II or SULEV II standards that many new conventional gasoline vehicles pass.
Using biodiesel or vegetable oil in your diesel car will be between you and Volkswagen. There may be implications for the emissions control system, now that these things become more complex.
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Tim 1:52PM (6/19/2007)
Benson Leung- The point here is to get off of foreign oil and go to more "carbon neutral" biofuels combined with renewable electricity until one day we can fully transition to just electricity. Cellulosic Butanol, Algae based B100 and Vegoil will be important liquid fuel sources to replace Petroleum. What's up, VW?
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Bill 1:47PM (6/19/2007)
But CARB does.
They're the prime reason there were no 2007 VW diesels.
It's time for a federal mandate to freeze LEV II levels for small diesel passenger cars.
>Us legislators do not hate diesels.
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bioburner 6:21PM (6/19/2007)
It's about time diesels bellied up to the clean air table. All this clean diesel is heavely dependent on ultra low sulphur diesel fuel which the government and big oil have been dragging tail for years. With any luck we will see a larger selection of diesel cars in the next couple of years.
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Chris M 9:27PM (6/19/2007)
US legeslators don't "hate diesel", they love clean air. The fault is not with the laws, but with the dirty nature of older diesel engines.
I congradulate VW (and Mercedes and BMW) on finally making diesels that meet minimum clean air standards, though they are still way behind the cleanest hybrids and can never match the coming plug-ins.
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ThwartedEfforts 7:14AM (6/20/2007)
Look, if Uncle Sam loves clean air, why is it the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases? Why is it responsible for a quarter of all CO2 emissions? I keep seeing references here to "dirty diesel engines" and yet the cars on US roads not only account for 20% of the country's ENTIRE energy emissions, they are also grossly inefficient, the average vehicle on America's SUV-obsessed roads being capable of less than 20mpg. This obsession with the dreadfulness of diesels and the saintliness of US legislators drawing up rules against them is hiding the real problem here.
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gsolman6 11:22AM (6/20/2007)
ThwartedEfforts: I think you have to distinguish between greenhouse gases, i.e. CO2, and other "coventional" pollutants. While CO2 has not been considered a pollutant until recently the existing regulations out there were trying to address formation of ozone and other emissions like NO, SO, and soot.
Anyway I'm glad VW is back in the game though Accord and Maxima diesels will probably outsell them. Back in '02 I was looking at a Golf TDI and GTI. I really liked the diesel but couldn't abide its handling. If it were the same today I would definitely take the diesel and go aftermarket for suspension.
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bhtooefr 7:11PM (7/23/2007)
Tim: PLEASE do not run vegetable oil in any direct injection engine. They don't like it, especially modern ones.
And, the injection pumps in the old indirect injection VWs aren't suited to it, either. Really, you need an old Benz to do it right.
Making your own biodiesel... if you're careful, you'd be fine in a 2006 or older, but you have to be RIGHT on top of the quality controls. However, there's one guy on TDIClub claiming that the common rail TDIs won't be compatible with ANY percentage of biodiesel, due to emissions and fuel breaking down. I personally don't believe him, though... due to Germany implementing a 10% biodiesel mandate (and they're currently at 5%,) and Minnesota mandating 2%.
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