NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm curious. Are they more common than gas cars?

Some pretty recent numbers from Germany, published by the German Federal Statistical Office.

About one third and more of the vehicles have Diesel engines:

http://www.destatis.de/presse/englisch/pm2005/p3680151.htm

Some pretty recent numbers from Germany, published by the German Federal Statistical Office.

About one third and more of the vehicles have Diesel engines:

http://www.destatis.de/presse/englisch/pm2005/p3680151.htm


I'm warming up to Germany already. Well, I do drive a German made diesel car :p

Wish I could get a new Mercedes Benz deisel for under 20k or so. That'd be nice.

I wish I could afford a car! :eek:

When I get one I'm pretty sure it'll be a diesel. Cheaper fuel costs and better mileage.
Craziest thing I've seen is using filtered frying fat as an ersatz fuel. You drive your car and it smells like french fries :D [The fast food places are glad that they get rid of their old fat and you don't pay anything more than for the filter and some slight adjustment to your car].

I wish I could afford a car! :eek:

When I get one I'm pretty sure it'll be a diesel. Cheaper fuel costs and better mileage.
Craziest thing I've seen is using filtered frying fat as an ersatz fuel. You drive your car and it smells like french fries :D [The fast food places are glad that they get rid of their old fat and you don't pay anything more than for the filter and some slight adjustment to your car].
On Trucks, they dedicated an entire episode to showing the viewers how to make desiel from McDonald's greese. It worked out to 27c per liter IIRC.

EDIT: Of course that does not include the initial cost of the equipment: $800US IIRC.

Last three vehicles have been German for me.

The US is starting to catch up, kind of slow. Last year there where 82% more diesels available and diesel sales went up 80%-though most of those are large capacity trucks. But hey, if they're gonna buy those beasts at least they could be diesel. Puegot apparently has a pretty good filter on their diesels that's going to run next years Le Mans following this year being DOMINATED by Audi's R10 diesel-the first diesel to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Dr. Z is advertising new Jeep diesels, something I don't remember ever being but I could be wrong. And Jeep is, of course, owned by Benz.

Ford had a hybrid diesel (which also had solar panels...) that got 65 mpg. And was fast, with AWD. Of course, since Ford can't actually do something good, at least in it's home country, they put it in the basement.

Yeah, but as soon as you have more people driving those kind of cars than you have fast food places, you run into another shortage...

But you could still buy cooking oil. How much's that a gallon compared to diesel fuel?

When I get one I'm pretty sure it'll be a diesel. Cheaper fuel costs and better mileage.

Same here. Thankfully, now that the new EPA requirements for diesel fuel are equal to the emissions requirements for the cars themselves we can actually buy diesels here without a lot of difficulty. The ultra-low sulfur diesel requirement means they're as clean or cleaner than gasoline cars and get 30% more mileage.

Companies used to not sell many of them in the US because the diesel fuel was far dirtier than the emissions standards for the cars/trucks.

Craziest thing I've seen is using filtered frying fat as an ersatz fuel. You drive your car and it smells like french fries :D [The fast food places are glad that they get rid of their old fat and you don't pay anything more

Biodiesel ftw. :cool:

Yeah, but as soon as you have more people driving those kind of cars than you have fast food places, you run into another shortage...

But you could still buy cooking oil. How much's that a gallon compared to diesel fuel?
Cooking oil probably cost several times more than Diesel fuel itself.

On Trucks, they dedicated an entire episode to showing the viewers how to make desiel from McDonald's greese. It worked out to 27c per liter IIRC.

EDIT: Of course that does not include the initial cost of the equipment: $800US IIRC.
Greasecar is $795, others are more expensive. you can compare them here (http://www.frybrid.com/). Can you guess what I've been what been looking into for my Vanagon work truck?

Yeah, but as soon as you have more people driving those kind of cars than you have fast food places, you run into another shortage...

But you could still buy cooking oil. How much's that a gallon compared to diesel fuel?
It's a funky system and isn't going to work for everyone. For quite a while there will be more than enough waste vegetable oil. Unless it gets a whole lot easier it will remain a fringe thing. Which is cool with me, being on the fringe and all.

I'm warming up to Germany already. Well, I do drive a German made diesel car :p

Wish I could get a new Mercedes Benz deisel for under 20k or so. That'd be nice.
Benz makes some nice diesels.

-snip-
How does one become an official lesbian judge?

Benz makes some nice diesels.

I rented one of these in diesel a few years ago when I lived in Germany and absolutely loved it. I thought about getting one, but then they came up with the new Mini....

http://www.mercedes-benz.fr/DCF/eMB_DataContents/PASSENGER_CARS/HOME/PRODUCTS/NEW_CARS/CLASSEA3PORTES/IMPRESSIONS/0000006448.T15/PRD/FR_19015_0,116330125888963TABS_TAB%5B@ID='0001'%5D_VIEWSWITCH%5B@ID='0001'%5D_MEDIA.JPG

I rented one of these in diesel a few years ago when I lived in Germany and absolutely loved it. I thought about getting one, but then they came up with the new Mini....

http://www.mercedes-benz.fr/DCF/eMB_DataContents/PASSENGER_CARS/HOME/PRODUCTS/NEW_CARS/CLASSEA3PORTES/IMPRESSIONS/0000006448.T15/PRD/FR_19015_0,116330125888963TABS_TAB%5B@ID='0001'%5D_VIEWSWITCH%5B@ID='0001'%5D_MEDIA.JPG
Pug Fugly


But that's just my opinion, yada yada yada.

If you are driving a newer 07 diesel you are getting raped by the EPA.....

Stupid emissions crap. Gotta love beaurocrats. I'm happy mine was made well before any of this went down. Hell I could take off the cat/converter if I wanted.

The US is starting to catch up, kind of slow. Last year there where 82% more diesels available and diesel sales went up 80%-though most of those are large capacity trucks. But hey, if they're gonna buy those beasts at least they could be diesel. Puegot apparently has a pretty good filter on their diesels that's going to run next years Le Mans following this year being DOMINATED by Audi's R10 diesel-the first diesel to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Diesel is one of the most expensive fuels in the US, up there with Super Premium.

If you are driving a newer 07 diesel you are getting raped by the EPA.....

Stupid emissions crap. Gotta love beaurocrats. I'm happy mine was made well before any of this went down. Hell I could take off the cat/converter if I wanted.

The main drawback of ULSD is the lack of sulfur; losing that lubricity costs you a decent amount of mileage. It's cleaner, but you're still burning more of it to get the same effect. The good thing is that it makes it a lot easier for diesels to penetrate the US market, so it's kind of a tradeoff.

However, biodiesel mixtures like B5 or B10 have been shown to be a lot better for compatible diesel engines than the older 15-500ppm diesel; pure biodiesel, or B100, is the best for diesel engines and doesn't have the emissions standard problems associated with 15-500ppm petrodiesel. If you can get them, pure biodiesel or blends are excellent for diesel engines and can really boost performance.

I read at a car forum that Euro diesel engines are quite a bit better designs than the ones we are stuck with here in the US. A couple of the reasons that diesel has been primarily relegated to cargo-hauling has been noise, and smell. Especially smell. There is nothing worse than being stuck behind an old diesel Benz or Volkswagen on a two lane road.

I understand that is NOT an issue in Europe anymore?

Diesels are pretty good now, I've been able to drive a few recently.

The new Golf TDI is a good, quite car. Plus the turbo is really well tuned on it, so it doesn't have massive lag before it kicks in. And it still does around 50 mpg depending on how you drive it... Plus its great fun to drive...

I've driven a Merc M class (270) model. That was ok but the gear box (a manual) was atrocious as there was no feeling to the clutch or the gear positions. The drive wasn't great either, no real feedback from the steering and it felt like I was trying to turn a canal boat when it came to cornering.

Thats compared to the BMW X3 which was really nice to drive, bar the gear box once again, which didn't have a gate over reverse which was right next to first gear...bloody stupid place to put it.

But they all shared the same qualities in the engines, nice, clean, quiet and good power. Plus neither of these cars you are likely to get stuck behind...they're more likely to be stuck behind you :D In all honesty they're pretty much as good fun to drive as most petrol cars bar a few and as a standard every day car they're pretty good.

I'm curious. Are they more common than gas cars?
In Iceland, very rare. Mostly big cars like trucks and heavy machines use diesel. The public transport is actually trying to move to hydrogen but still runs mostly on diesel.

They're very common.

But I wouldn't drive a diesely wheezely. If I wanted to sound like I was driving a farm vehicle while making about as much progress as one then I'd buy a tractor.

They're very common.

But I wouldn't drive a diesely wheezely. If I wanted to sound like I was driving a farm vehicle while making about as much progress as one then I'd buy a tractor.

But they don't make that kinda noise anymore. esp. not the new models, which have pretty much the same performance but better fuel consumption than petrol cars...

But they don't make that kinda noise anymore. esp. not the new models, which have pretty much the same performance but better fuel consumption than petrol cars...
You can still tell a diesel from a petrol car. At least I find it very easy.

There are a few very niche performance models, but mostly diesels are for people who like to make...leisurely progress.

Hi, btw, I haven't seen you in ages.

Ford had a hybrid diesel (which also had solar panels...) that got 65 mpg. And was fast, with AWD. Of course, since Ford can't actually do something good, at least in it's home country, they put it in the basement.
Well, half the time when the auto manufacturers come out with something good for the environment, they come up with a "progressive" design for their "progressive" fuel choice. Well, "progressive" often equals beyond hideous and, therefore, unbuyable. Example: Toyota Prius. Good little car, great mileage, ugly as sin.

You can still tell a diesel from a petrol car. At least I find it very easy.

There are a few very niche performance models, but mostly diesels are for people who like to make...leisurely progress.

Hi, btw, I haven't seen you in ages.

Yeah, easy to tell, but performance isn't bad...well as long as its a turbo charged one...without a turbo they're crap!!! :D

Yeah, I lost any form of decent internet connection for about a month...but I'm back for now :D Hows things with you?

The public transport is actually trying to move to hydrogen but still runs mostly on diesel.
Well, I'll plan my trip to Iceland for BEFORE the thousands of Mini-Hindenbergs start cruising around at 100 kph.

Yeah, easy to tell, but performance isn't bad...well as long as its a turbo charged one...without a turbo they're crap!!! :D

Yeah, I lost any form of decent internet connection for about a month...but I'm back for now :D Hows things with you?
I'm amazed they still haven't brought out a diesel-electric hybrid; the current petrol hybrids only manage about the same fuel economy as a standard diesel anyway, so if economy is the only goal why not hook up the electric motor to an engine that is getting those figures before conversion?

Not too bad thanks...I'm still too bloody hot though. Blasted heat is going to go on for months yet. :(

Diesels pretty common in england, although the cheaper prices of petrol cars are more attractive, the efficiency and cheapness of diesel is still a great factor.

Diesels pretty common in england, although the cheaper prices of petrol cars are more attractive, the efficiency and cheapness of diesel is still a great factor.
Ah, but diesels cost more to buy in the first place. If I remember correctly, on average you must drive a diesel car for at least three years (doing average mileage) just to regain the initial extra outlay. Seeing as a lot of people change their cars that frequently, buying a diesel to save money may well be a false economy.

Well, I'll plan my trip to Iceland for BEFORE the thousands of Mini-Hindenbergs start cruising around at 100 kph.

We've got some Buses running on it allready. No accidents yet. I don't know much about chemistry, but apparantly its no more dangerous than driving with a car full of flammable petrol.

I'm amazed they still haven't brought out a diesel-electric hybrid; the current petrol hybrids only manage about the same fuel economy as a standard diesel anyway, so if economy is the only goal why not hook up the electric motor to an engine that is getting those figures before conversion?

Not too bad thanks...I'm still too bloody hot though. Blasted heat is going to go on for months yet. :(


Because that would be a good and sensible idea...

tell me about it, i'm sitting outside using wireless at the moment but sat in the shade...I would actually be working on building a patio but because of the heat its impossible to build anything because the heat just drains your strength so quickly...

We've got some Buses running on it allready. No accidents yet. I don't know much about chemistry, but apparantly its no more dangerous than driving with a car full of flammable petrol.

I don't know. I still have my doubts. [worry]
From EcoWorld (http://ecoworld.com/Home/articles2.cfm?TID=284):
The danger from accidental hydrogen fires was even less of a problem, according to Tuso, because "Hydrogen is a very clean fuel, it would ignite easier than gasoline, but the likelihood of it igniting is still slim. If it did ignite, the flame doesn't put out much heat. Gasoline fires usually consume the whole car." He cited tests where hydrogen gas tanks were exploded and ignited, and invariably the flame went upwards and didn't burn very hot. The back windows, for example, would not typically be damaged in a hydrogen tank fire, whereas in a gasoline tank fire, the back windows usually melt.

I don't know. I still have my doubts. [worry]
From EcoWorld (http://ecoworld.com/Home/articles2.cfm?TID=284):

Well, thats kinda saying that even though it burns more easily its not as dangerous as petrol...so less to worry about really...

ICraziest thing I've seen is using filtered frying fat as an ersatz fuel. You drive your car and it smells like french fries :D [The fast food places are glad that they get rid of their old fat and you don't pay anything more than for the filter and some slight adjustment to your car].Unfortunately that's illegal here, you're not allowed to run a vehical on fuel that isn't taxed (or something silly ands beaurocratic like that). Not even if it's better for the environment. And the police are quick to notice a car smelling like fries.
Which is one of the reasons biofuel isn't taking off at all here.

I'm curious. Are they more common than gas cars?
not generally speaking in this neck of the woods

tho my dad has one, and i want to get meself one for my next car

Well, thats kinda saying that even though it burns more easily its not as dangerous as petrol...so less to worry about really...
Yeah, I know. It's the "burns more easily" that gets me. And I don't want my car to explode, gas, diesel, or hydrogen. If I didn't live in a mountainous area, I'd seriously consider getting a bicycle.

Yeah, I know. It's the "burns more easily" that gets me. And I don't want my car to explode, gas, diesel, or hydrogen. If I didn't live in a mountainous area, I'd seriously consider getting a bicycle.

Heh, I just walk near enough everywhere...I do normally cycle during the summer, but the heat here is pretty high at the moment making highly impractical if the place I'm going to doesn't have changing rooms at the other end...

I'm curious. Are they more common than gas cars?
I don't have stats, but deisel drivers seem to be a small minority.

I don't have stats, but deisel drivers seem to be a small minority.
You're right, you clearly don't have stats.

I don't know. I still have my doubts. [worry]


Well, if they turn out to be napalm bombs on wheels, you'll hear about it from us before you get them over there. So theres no need to worry.

Well, half the time when the auto manufacturers come out with something good for the environment, they come up with a "progressive" design for their "progressive" fuel choice. Well, "progressive" often equals beyond hideous and, therefore, unbuyable. Example: Toyota Prius. Good little car, great mileage, ugly as sin.
I wouldn't classify the Prius as unbuyable, especially when there is such a demand for it that people sell used ones for a higher premium than new ones just to avoid the long waiting list.

And in the face of all this, the US introduced a new Hummer and Cadillac SUV. Good job, guys.

Diesel is one of the most expensive fuels in the US, up there with Super Premium.
When you get twice the mileage, it doesn't matter as much.