Comments on: 35 MPG: Why Wait Until 2020?

By: johny1fin

johny1fin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:34:10 +0000

I live in the UK.
I have had 2 Seat Toledo’s, 1 Renault Magane over the years. I currently have a 2003 Renault Laguna and a 6 month old Dodge Journey (from new). They have all
been deisel engines, the 2 Seats 1.9 VW and the Dodge 2.0 VW.
The Dodge is the best car I have ever had certainly for space and features. It’s a SXT with Sat nav etc.
The engine has more guts than any other car I have had and can compare this with the two Grand Voyager/Dodge Caravans I have driven in the states.
I believe that these were both 3.5 petrol and my 2.0 diesel has just as much mid range pull. I regularly pull both a boat and a horse trailer with no problems at all. The boat going on a 1000 mile trip to Scotland in August in 6th gear most of the way. You could say that I am a deisel fanatic but after driving more that 3000 miles in then you can keep your 3.5 petrol engines. I for one do not need them.
When it comes to mileage consumption and emmisions checking the only way to tell is to drive the same car over the same journey with both a petrol and diesel engine. IT what does the car produce in emmisions on each. Checking what a gallon of each contains is a bit pointless as the diesel engine will go futher on a tank anyway.

By: mpg-o-editor

mpg-o-editor — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:33:56 +0000

@Steve – Many thanks for your kind words … the good news is that thing have changed dramatically in the nearly two years since this post. A new generation of diesel-powered cars has finally found its way across the pond and have been widely praised. With the slowdown in world economy, diesel prices have moderated.

A diesel hybrid is not as far away as you might think (although it’s unlikely to come from Toyota).

By: Steve O

Steve O — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:17:46 +0000

Just stumbled acoss this site…Lots of great ideas…however, automobiles with diesel engines tend to cost about 4K to 5K more than their gas counterparts and, I know with trucks, are more costly to maintain. Also traditionally diesel fuel has been considerably more expensive than gasoline. Americans are unwilling to make a sacrafice or take a chance on a diesel (Thanks GM). It makes me wonder why the Prius or the Insight aren’t diesels or even a small turbine. In responce to #97…the Chrysler Turbine got about 17mpg (about typical for the day) but the exhaust was about 900°F

By: David Chandler

David Chandler — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:44:14 +0000

I personally think that the reason that Diesels are not made available to Us, is due to keeping us buying their gas cars. They do not last as long as diesel cars therefore we must buy another. Plus we spend more on gas, to run our cars. It all amounts to GREED.

By: 35.5 MPG by 2016? Bring it On!

35.5 MPG by 2016? Bring it On! — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:47:13 +0000

[...] in March of 2008, MPGomatic opened some eyeballs and raised a lot of eyebrows when we published 35 MPG: Why Wait Until 2020, an article that provided details on the export-only fuel-efficient diesel-powered cars and SUVs [...]

By: mpg-o-editor

mpg-o-editor — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:54:19 +0000

@Akhenaten – Turbines? Great stuff! Lets not forget Andy Granatelli’s turbine-powered STP Oil Treatment Special Indy car … it was wicked cool …

By: AKHENATEN

AKHENATEN — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:43:35 +0000

Chrysler had a Turbine Engine way back in 1962 the thing ran on hair tonic, nailpolish remover almost any thing that you could burn in liquid form… it got decent fuel mileage and had 1/3 fewer moving parts than the infernal combustion engine.. so where is it today.. the Federal Government uses it in the M -1 A -1 TANK… the big drawback was the heat from it’s exhaust… they used a regenerator to recycle the heat and aid combustion… this is the engine of the future… complete burn of fuel… no water vapor.. screw the BIG THREE…. everybody buy a TANK…

AKHENATEN

By: Chrysler 300 Gas Mileage

Chrysler 300 Gas Mileage — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:27:56 +0000

[...] Jeep sells the Grand Cherokee CRD with the same engine here in the States, Chrysler has never sold a diesel-engined Chrysler 300 domestically. This is truly unfortunate, as the turbo-diesel 300 is capable of highway mileage in [...]

By: LSN

LSN — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:08:13 +0000

I’d love to own an AWD Diesel Dodge Caliber w/ 6-speed… dreaming, I know. The 2010 Dodge EV may be my next new car. Hopefully, that isn’t a dream!

By: Senator Corker Goes to Detroit

Senator Corker Goes to Detroit — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:13:24 +0000

[...] pollution standards, channeling what yours truly wrote way back when with the infamous MPGomatic Chrysler diesel [...]