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250 MPG
- Thread starter Les Kern
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mpw said:
FWIW, I enjoy travel, plus I have a friend/coworker who IIRC has family that they visit in Guernsey, so a trip from New Jersey to Original Jersey wouldn't be out of the question
Gotcha. I've already caught on to the "don't call them all Englishmen" bit; my general confounding has been on if its less offensive to say "British" versus "From UK" when I don't know if they're from Briton, Scotland, Wales, etc...it kind of sounds like "British" is inoffensively safe, whereas "Briton" would not neccessarily so.
-hh
Newsflash: no amount of brain washing or advertising can change the odor and vibration that continues to plague diesel cars. I've ridden in several "contemporary" fiat and citroen diesels. They undeniably quake at idle. Their exhaust fumes still smell noxious. None of the complaints of 20 years ago have truly been fixed, despite the best efforts of diesel proponents to silence them.
Then there is the ridiculous power delivery. Who really enjoys a peak torque value at 2000rpm with a precipitous drop-off at 3000? This results in constant shifting; extremely annoying to the driver, obnoxiously uncomfortable to passengers. The power delivery will never be as smooth as an inline 6 "petrol" burner in a moderately priced bmw.
Face it: they're still smelly, vibration-ridden, and annoying to drive.
Then there is the ridiculous power delivery. Who really enjoys a peak torque value at 2000rpm with a precipitous drop-off at 3000? This results in constant shifting; extremely annoying to the driver, obnoxiously uncomfortable to passengers. The power delivery will never be as smooth as an inline 6 "petrol" burner in a moderately priced bmw.
Face it: they're still smelly, vibration-ridden, and annoying to drive.
On that note, please check out the following thread, where I detail my efforts to get a new diesel registered in California.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148998
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148998
-hh said:
actually the B is more set up in the extremly popular microvan class (Meriva, Golf+, Scenic, Touran) and for the european market
you americans will get the R-class instead which is described as "sports coupe touring car" or something ridiculous like that.. and guess what? it's a 5+ meter freighter
europe will get a shorter version with _smaller_ cupholders (yes that's no joke)
and about the people complaining about diesel: 70% of all new cars in austria are diesels ... (and no switzerland isn't diesel free either)
that's why the reaction to gasoline-hybrids has been rather..well underwhelming ...
europeans like stationwagons,micro-vans,hatchbacks _and_ diesel engines ... chrysler learned that the hard way ...
and the current difference between diesel and gasoline is around 5-7 cent per liter.. the price advantage is there because the diesel uses less fuel while being as powerfull (or even a little bit more with all that torque)
EDIT: and Audi is of course already preparing their answer to the R with their Q7 freighter
Jon'sLightBulbs said:
Er...What are you talking about? Diesel engines have come on leaps and bounds in the last 10years and in Europe they are fast gaining ground against petrol.
You specifically mention the BMW in-line 6 so lets take a look at the BMW specs for a 3.0Ltr 3-Series diesel on the left:
Max. Speed = 155mph 155mph
0-62mph = 6.7sec.s 6.3secs.
50-70mph = 5.0secs. 6.6secs.
Power = 231hp/4000rpm 258bhp/6600rpm
Torque = 500Nm/1750rpm 300Nm/2500rpm
Fuel economy = 43.5mpg 32.5mpg
Amongst all those figures the two that sell the diesel to me are the fuel economy and usable overtaking speed, the rest are pretty immaterial.
You say youve ridden in Fiat and Citroen diesel that smell and quake, have you actually driven them? Have you also driven the petrol equivalents from Fiat and Citroen? Ive got a petrol Renault that smells awful. Ive had petrol cars that would shake till they fell apart.
Compare like for like as in the BMW example above and diesels prove their worth.
mpw said:
that said the smart still sells pretty well it's just that more than 50-60% are companies who put advrtisments on them as well
Les Kern said:
Congratulations, Les Kern!
I commend you. I'd love to hear all about it when you finally get one. I've been looking at them for a while, but have decided to eek as much life out of my (now 50mpg) Geo Metro as I can. I hope you don't have to wait too long!!!