Entries Tagged 'diesel' ↓

A pair of cheeky coast-to-coast efforts in Volkswagen Jetta TDIs will have America asking the question, “why aren’t we driving fuel efficient clean diesels?”

Volkswagen and Shell are backing the efforts of John and Helen Taylor, an Australian couple billed as “two of the world’s most fuel-efficient drivers,” in a counter-clockwise 8,000 mile trek to set a new record for the lowest fuel consumption on a nationwide drive. The Taylors will be driving a new 2009 clean diesel Jetta TDI, rated by the EPA at a very (!) conservative 29 city / 40 miles per gallon (MPG) highway.

The Taylors take off from Virginia today (September 3rd) are planning on a dozen fuel stops. Given their thrifty ways with the throttle, the Taylors should have little difficulty eclipsing the current record of 51.8 miles per gallon. The Taylors hold a Guinness World Record for their 2006 trip around the world in a VW Golf on just 24 tanks of fuel.

Like your diesel with a renewable twist?

Earth Biofuels is tackling the classic New York to Los Angeles route with Willie Run 2008, a biofueled adventure that seeks to go cross-country without stopping once for fuel. The trip aims to breath new life into Earth Biofuel’s Willie Nelson-branded biodiesel.

A jumbo auxiliary tank in the Willie One Jetta TDI will hold all the Bio Willie biodiesel needed to make the trip. Or so co-drivers Nik Bristow and Brian Pierce hope. Willie Run kicks off on September 22. Everyone is invited to become a sponsor … just five bucks will get your name on the car.

Earlier this year, the Taylors drove a pair of diesel powered Jeeps (a Compass and a Patriot) from London to Berlin - a total distance of 698.4 miles) on less than one tank of fuel each. Helen scored 66.76 MPG (approximately 55.6 US MPG) driving the Jeep Compass, while John hit 67.46 MPG (approximately 56.2 US MPG) in the Jeep Patriot.

I’ve been alternatively amused and agitated by CNN’s recent biodiesel road trip. It seemed like a novel idea for the mainstream media to tackle, but wrapping it up with a sideshow twist was bound to paint things with a skeptic’s light.

Did CNN intend for the voyage to run into problems? Was this just a stunt, merely intended for a portion of the audience to say, “hey, I told you so!” Did it happen by chance or was it planned, in the hope of producing some memorable segments?

With all of the abundant information on the use of commercial biodiesel, why would CNN choose a thirty-year-old International Harvester Scout that was inadequately prepared (if at all) for the trip?

It’s common knowledge that biodiesel will loosen up the junk in a dirty fuel tank and clog up the fuel filter. It’s common knowledge that biodiesel attacks old school rubber fuel lines, requiring replacement with Vitron or other synthetic lines.

Why didn’t they hit the road with a modern diesel, rather then a decades-old relic?

Without the drama of a breakdown, the segments might have become downright boring. And they might have painted the oil industry in a less than positive light.

With a modern clean diesel, the trip would have been entirely uneventful … even cushy. The picture painted cruising down the Interstate in a Mercedes-Benz 320 Bluetec, VW Jetta TDI, or Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD just couldn’t compare …

Here’s a challenge to CNN.

Lets do a real biodiesel road trip. Lets take a fleet of cutting-edge high-MPG clean diesels and put them on the road for a week or two. Lets keep track of the real-world mileage results produced by each and every vehicle. Lets collect the data electronically and publish it on the Internet for every hard-working American to see as it happens.

I double dare ya …

The choices thinned for diesel owners in America in the years between 1998 and 2008, with Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz continuing to be the only manufacturers to offer diesel passenger cars in the United States. Budget conscious Jetta, Golf, Passat, and Beetle TDI owners enjoyed excellent mileage throughout the period, benefiting from VWs commitment to the market. 1999 marked the last year for a domestic diesel SUV - with the GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe - until Jeep ever-so-briefly bolted a VM Motori diesel under the hood of the domestic Liberty. 1998 saw the last of the light diesel pickup trucks with the GMC and Chevy K2500 and C1500 models, as diesel-power retreated to the heavy-duty trucks. The end of this period offers hints of the clean diesel revolution, with Jeep’s introduction of the world-class six-cylinder Mercedes-Benz diesel in the Grand Cherokee CRD.

Diesel Mileage: 1998 - 2008

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The selection of domestically produced diesel vehicles shrank through the late eighties and into the nineties. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen were the only automakers to sell diesel-powered passenger cars in America during this period, with the Jetta, Golf and Passat delivering chart-topping mileage. While American automakers continued to build a range of light diesel pickup trucks, diesel vans, and a smattering of diesel SUVs, the writing was clearly on the wall.

Diesel Mileage: 1989 - 1997

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The 1985 through 1987 model years are packed with diesel-engine cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs. A number of these vehicles provide excellent mileage results. If you can find an old oil burner that’s stood up to the years, it could be your low budget ticket into the world of biodiesel and straight vegetable oil (SVO) conversions. But make no mistake about it, these are loud and smelly old school diesels. While there may be gems to find, rust aside, you’ll do well to avoid many of the diesel-powered vehicles of this vintage, regardless of their mileage ratings.

Diesel Mileage: 1985 - 1987

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