Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Glimmer of Hope #1: Viewing Cars filling up on Diesel at the pumping station...
Living not too far from the local petrol station I get to see (if I care to look outside my front windows in that particular direction) how busy the station is.
I must admit that looking over and seeing a slew of Volkswagen TDI Golfs, Jettas/Boras and New Beetles, Vanagons filling up on #2 Diesel brings a smile to my face.
I also see a good deal of pickups, heavy duty lorries, and the occasional Mercedes lifts ones spirits as well. I do however long for the day when "Sport" models of many cars refer to the Turbo Diesel versions, and when luxury vehicles (real luxury vehicles, not what Americans (and apparently only Americans) consider luxury vehicles (given what Domestic manufacturers passed off as cars these last 60 years its no surprise) come standard with Diesel motors.
It will happen, hopefully sooner rather than later. And if anyone is going to respond to this, make sure you know what exists outside of the borders of the before making a comment, you may serve to save yourself the humiliation you'd be encumbered by if you speak too quickly, uninformed.
E
I must admit that looking over and seeing a slew of Volkswagen TDI Golfs, Jettas/Boras and New Beetles, Vanagons filling up on #2 Diesel brings a smile to my face.
I also see a good deal of pickups, heavy duty lorries, and the occasional Mercedes lifts ones spirits as well. I do however long for the day when "Sport" models of many cars refer to the Turbo Diesel versions, and when luxury vehicles (real luxury vehicles, not what Americans (and apparently only Americans) consider luxury vehicles (given what Domestic manufacturers passed off as cars these last 60 years its no surprise) come standard with Diesel motors.
It will happen, hopefully sooner rather than later. And if anyone is going to respond to this, make sure you know what exists outside of the borders of the before making a comment, you may serve to save yourself the humiliation you'd be encumbered by if you speak too quickly, uninformed.
E
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Eric, this is one I think we can agreee on. I also see the return of Diesels to the US as important.
I may be naieve, but hope that these powerplants and the alternative "Bio Diesel" fuel will go a long way to lessening our dependance on Oil and Cleaning the air.
I may be naieve, but hope that these powerplants and the alternative "Bio Diesel" fuel will go a long way to lessening our dependance on Oil and Cleaning the air.
Ford would be leading the way in this area as well in terms of offerings (outside of Volkswagen at this point, they offer Diesel in everything).
Now if they only had a way of bringing back the 1996 Ford Escort WRC (RS II Cossie Replacement) with a hi-po oil-burner... Wouldn't that be nice.. Hell, I'd even take an RS200..
All kidding aside, perusing the most recent Top Gear magazine, looking at all of the manufacturers, Ford seems to have more engine options than the others. The japanese have very littled in the alternative fuels arena. if I'm correct, Ford now offers Gas/Electric Hybrids, Diesel, Diesel/Electric Hybrids (?) and Compressed Natural Gas versions of various engines.
Other companies need to follow this trend. I think if the american market was able to see a nice torque heavy (with decent acceleration) vehicle (non truck) that was quiet enough, we'd see more converts.
Everytime I get into this discussion with your average "joe driver", they come back with "Diesel fuel is hard to find".. 1 out of every 4 stations in the United States sells Diesel. The station across from my house sells it as do most on my commute to work.
All that would need to occur is for the auto manufacturer selling the cars is to offer a fairly current book that shows all the diesel selling stations in the US, free with the purchase of the car (like VW Did (maybe they still do) a few years back... Just enough to get a decent amount of Diesels on the road, then from there out, word of mouth and leading by example would take over.
Eric
Thanks for your input, I read your blog (http://myforddreams.blogspot.com/) daily, and while I drive a Korean Build European Chevrolet with a Holden-build Opel motor, I still have a weak spot for many European fords, specifically the RS200, and the RSII Cosworths (and Pumas, and Kas).
Now if they only had a way of bringing back the 1996 Ford Escort WRC (RS II Cossie Replacement) with a hi-po oil-burner... Wouldn't that be nice.. Hell, I'd even take an RS200..
All kidding aside, perusing the most recent Top Gear magazine, looking at all of the manufacturers, Ford seems to have more engine options than the others. The japanese have very littled in the alternative fuels arena. if I'm correct, Ford now offers Gas/Electric Hybrids, Diesel, Diesel/Electric Hybrids (?) and Compressed Natural Gas versions of various engines.
Other companies need to follow this trend. I think if the american market was able to see a nice torque heavy (with decent acceleration) vehicle (non truck) that was quiet enough, we'd see more converts.
Everytime I get into this discussion with your average "joe driver", they come back with "Diesel fuel is hard to find".. 1 out of every 4 stations in the United States sells Diesel. The station across from my house sells it as do most on my commute to work.
All that would need to occur is for the auto manufacturer selling the cars is to offer a fairly current book that shows all the diesel selling stations in the US, free with the purchase of the car (like VW Did (maybe they still do) a few years back... Just enough to get a decent amount of Diesels on the road, then from there out, word of mouth and leading by example would take over.
Eric
Thanks for your input, I read your blog (http://myforddreams.blogspot.com/) daily, and while I drive a Korean Build European Chevrolet with a Holden-build Opel motor, I still have a weak spot for many European fords, specifically the RS200, and the RSII Cosworths (and Pumas, and Kas).
OK Eric, this is an IQ test right? A Korean built European Chevy with a Holden/Opel engine?
I'm going to take a stab, is it the Suzuki Forenza? Not the Chevy Aveo?
The Suzuki Forenza is a Daewoo, from Korea, sold in Europe (with a very cool WRC inspired version) but sold everywhere but the US as a Chevy. Am I right?
I'm going to take a stab, is it the Suzuki Forenza? Not the Chevy Aveo?
The Suzuki Forenza is a Daewoo, from Korea, sold in Europe (with a very cool WRC inspired version) but sold everywhere but the US as a Chevy. Am I right?
No IQ Test.. As mentioned in another post, it is the Italdesign designed Suzuki Reno (badge engineered Daewoo Lacetti/Buick Excelle/Chevy Lacetti/Chevy Optra5).. The hatch version of the saloon called the Forenza in the US. Primary differences being that there is a WTCC version driven by Alain Menu & Nicola Larini amongst one other.
I only wish that in the US they offered the 1.4l, 1.6l and 1.8l versions. The 1.8 gets the same output as the 2.0 and they even offer the WTTC R+ version (supercharged w/170ps).
Eric
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I only wish that in the US they offered the 1.4l, 1.6l and 1.8l versions. The 1.8 gets the same output as the 2.0 and they even offer the WTTC R+ version (supercharged w/170ps).
Eric
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