It's not your father's Oldsmobile diesel: checking out modern oil-burners
2007 BMW 535d
In the U.S. market, drivers who were around in the early eighties might still have some bad memories of noisy, smoky, slow diesel engines. In more recent years - aside from heavy duty pickup trucks - relatively few diesels have been available to American buyers. With gas prices on the rise and new fuel economy regulations on the way, diesels look poised for a comeback. With diesel engines able to achieve twenty-five to thirty percent better efficiency than gas engines of similar output, they definitely have a certain appeal. Combined with levels of refinement unheard of two decades ago and low-end torque that American drivers will love, diesels have huge potential. Huge. A whole range of fifty-state legal diesels will be introduced over the next two years that could lead to significant sales increases. Do you have your eye on one already?
[Source: CNN Money]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bill Laine 11:41AM (12/14/2007)
The teaser on this article is "checking out modern oil burners" What modern oil burners did we check out? "A whole range of them?"
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GoodCheer 11:59AM (12/14/2007)
Bill: Did you read the linked article? It talks about Benz, Chrysler and VW diesels.
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MarkR 12:22PM (12/14/2007)
I keep hearing all the talk about these supposed "quiet" and "clean" Diesels but if they are out there they are not in Texas. Sam your right about the Pickups they are still loud and stink. Also some of the smaller modern Diesels such as '06 Jeep liberty Diesel is still to much like the 80's a rattle trap its loud, clanks and after a year or so stinks and produces the carbon smoke when you goose it. Reminds me a lot of the 80's VW Rabbit Diesel and I wouldn't drive either one if someone gave it to me.
I'm not sold on the non-heavy duty diesel vehicle and part of the reason is the Fuel price. Here in Texas we pay about a 10-12% or .27 - .33 cent premium for regular diesel, and bio-diesel is even more expensive. Don't know about the new '08-'09 Diesels but the '06 liberty, you will void your warranty if they find out you put bio-diesel in it.
Diesel isn't an option I'd consider for a daily driver. the whole New Quiet Diesel to me looks to much like a sales job. Like Coke-a-cola trying to convince you that Diet coke tastes the same as regular coke. Well guess what its not the same and not as quiet. And if your talking Diesels in more expensive luxury cars my question is. Why bother with a stinky, clanky Diesel when you could soon drive a quiet low co2 output hybrid?
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Ray Hazen 1:05PM (12/14/2007)
I'm hopeful for the future of new diesels. We do a lot of long distance driving which allows diesels to achieve their best fuel economy. Hybrids shine in city driving of which we do little. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the extra cost for a diesel engine is significantly less than the extra cost for a hybrid system. The real problem for diesels, as the writer from Texas points out, is the higher cost of diesel fuel compared to unleaded regular. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the cost differential has been about $0.50 per gallon, although it seems to be coming down recently. I don't know the reason for the differential, but suspect its demand (more cars use unleaded regular), the finite number of refineries in the country, the need to produce different mixes of gasoline for different parts of the country at different times of the year, and the seasonal demand for home heating oil (which seems to have coincided with a drop in diesel prices here). Investigating the reasons for the cost differential would be a good thing.
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Karkus 1:22PM (12/14/2007)
There's no need start this diesel-hybrid fight again, especially since most of us haven't actually driven or even seen one of the new T2B5 diesels yet. So let's hold off on speculative, biased comments like the one above. Although I'm not the biggest diesel fan, I'm certainly willing to give the new cleaner diesels a chance to prove themselves.
Bottom line - diesel and hybrids both have their place (and can even be combined, so the vs. arguements are illogical). We need all kinds of solutions to reduce CO2, so fighting amongst ourselves about which is "best" is just counterproductive.
As far as "Investigating the reasons for the cost differential would be a good thing."
There are many factors (supply/demand, taxes, etc.etc). One simple way to justify it is that diesel contains about 10% more energy (i.e. carbon) per volume than gasoline, so it should cost 10% more (of course that's a very simplistic argument, but it seems like a good way to justify it).
One other note to Sam: I don't think that the tendency that diesel proponents have for calling them "oil burners" is going to help the public perception of diesels. It suggest (to me and probably others) they burn motor oil, which of course pollutes a lot.
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Phil L. 2:13PM (12/14/2007)
Personally, I have great hopes for diesel's future. But my reality (3 kids in car seats) means I'm hoping for a diesel minivan - something that's not currently in the US market.
With DCX gone, I've given up hope of a BlueTec Grand Caravan. But we should see a diesel Odyssey in a few years.
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RB 5:08PM (12/14/2007)
If the available technology for diesel engines were allowed to be used the actual fuel economy of vehicles could be increased comparatively quickly.
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MikeW 8:54PM (12/14/2007)
Who cares if diesel is 10-12% more expensive than gasoline, it contains about that much percent more energy.
Since it is winter now, the price for diesel is 20% greater than regular grade gasoline.
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Dad 8:55PM (12/14/2007)
"Do you have your eye on one already?"
Nope, looks like with diesel costing 20% per gallon and only getting 30% better mileage with a 2K cost premium, unless my goal is torque and smelly shoes, no way.
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alan 9:55PM (12/14/2007)
Ray, in my part of the Portland Metro area, diesel is within 3-5 cents of regular gas (at least it was a few days ago when I checked). But I do agree with you that (well, at least for me) diesels make more sense than hybrids. It's a more proven engine that is much more popular in Europe and I wish there were more options here for diesels.
I wouldn't mind a Subaru Impreza or Legacy with a Boxer diesel. Or even the Audi Q7 TDI.
Also, we should start focusing on how we can make petrol burn more efficiently without using a hybrid system. I could be wrong, but I've heard that when gas is a vapor, it is much more efficient than being in it's liquid state.
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budweiserfrogie 5:29AM (12/15/2007)
I've been reading your comments with amazement.
Here in Europe a large percentage of cars are diesel powered. They have very low co2 emissions, much lower than all vehicles running on unleaded and on average return 40 to 60mpg. Most people could never accept any vehicle that gets less that 30mpg. There just isn't an endless supply of natural fuel.
I can only hope that the US people wake up to this reality and give our nice little planet a fighting chance. Gas Guzzlers as you call them, are criminal and selfish.
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diesel 8:27AM (12/15/2007)
Hello From Ireland,
Diesels are not just about economy(it is very important I know)Over here they are often seen as the performance option.The new Ford Mondeo in Diesel is way ahead in the midrange. Sure if I drive the 2.0 petrol to the redline all the time it is quicker to 60mph, but very few people drive like that, if you put the foot to the floor in top gear the diesel will leap forward like a scalded cat the petrol will not.
That Jeep liberty that the guy from Texas talks about, Is i believe an old vm engine, not all that modern. You might tell them to put in a new air filter or to get the egr checked.
You are right about diet cola I hate that stuff but large luxury diesel cars I love. The big lexus was recently tested against the audi a8 diesel the audi was doing 30mpg and the lexus about 20 no comparison. So for the time being the reasons for buying diesel are two fold performance and economy. I am not against hybrids just answering a question.
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Bill 12:49PM (12/15/2007)
I think people are comparing the wrong fuels.
Those MB and BMW cars are using premium fuel, not regular unleaded.
Choosing the diesel model of those cars (when available) gives you significantly more mileage with practically no fuel cost differential.
More vehicles require premium than you might think.
I'm just a regular guy driving an old Subaru, but if I buy a new one the top of the line model (same trim I have) now also requires premium gasoline.
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