http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center-article_110/

I came across this article today:

I found the summation of the pluses and minuses (and there are some big minuses) of diesel to be interesting. One particularly salient bit reads as follows:

Any thoughts? Any diesel fans? Foes?

I am a "clean diesel fan" and EXTREME "dirty diesel foe."

Apparently, this Accord diesel engine is one pretty amazing piece of machinery. we will have to wait until Honda gets a USA version and the EPA tests it to see how close it approaches PZEV as one of the cleanest vehicles you can buy.

Once THAT happens, one of these would be a decent alternative to a TCH.

My dream car is a DIESEL/ELECTRIC hybrid 5-passenger sedan rated at 70+ combined MPG and AT-PZEV from the EPA.

Someone makes one of those, and I move both Heaven and Earf to get one in my driveway.

Honda has to get the diesel Accord here quickly before the TCH takes all the accolades and press from Honda. Honda covets the 'most fuel efficient' auto maker title and it's had to pull back on the Insight and HAH leaving all the good press to Toyota.

This new diesel Accord will be their answer to the TCH as the diesel Ody will likely arrive at the same time as the hybrid Sienna and the diesel MDX will answer the HH/400h. The strategies seem clear. Midsized diesels for Honda and midsized hybrids for Toyota. Let the market decide.

Toyota cannot let HOnda's new technology go unanswered either. The new Prius in Oct 2008 has to be that much better ( 20%? ) than what's on the road now and the cost has to be lower than at present. This is just to keep the lead with the Honda diesels being introduced.

After the acceptance of the new 2009 Prius then that technology can be migrated to the TCH, HH, and TSH - say in 2010 - upping the ante again.

Lifetime fuel usage: 2.1 GPC ( 1.99 recent )

A big plus to deisels:
The more clean minded diesel owners out there, the more the US will focus on biodiesel. Sure, the exhaust smells like hamburgers, but there are no, repeat NO sulfates in a pure biodiesel engine. Though, most biodiesel users mix with regular diesel, this is not needed. The University I attend uses biodiesel in every diesel burning vehicle they own. Personally, I own an HCH-II, but would seriously consider getting a diesel VW or most definitely a diesel Accord if biodiesel were made readily available.

You make it sound as if hamburger scented exhaust is a bad thing....

-Tim

2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid AWD
Black with Pebble interior
Premium Package with Nav & Moonroof



Current ODO: 22,909
Typical Drive: 20 min crosstown in heavy traffic (3.5mi there and back twice a day)


457 Gallons of gas saved
That's 9,150 lbs less CO2

Like hybrid technology, give clean diesels a chance....

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Tim,
By no means is hamburger exhaust a bad thing, I have, however, gained weight being around such fumes. Think of it this way, the campus bus goes by, and for some reason all you can think of are McDonald's fries. Temptation is so sneaky!

It's a conspiracy by the fast food companies and the automakers I tell you!!!

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Big companies ganging up... I sense an antitrust lawsuit in the making!

The obvious answer is to put a diesel in for the ICE and use a hybrid-electric drive. This is not an 'either' / 'or' but more correctly, an 'and'. Heck, there already are diesel-electric drive systems in wide spread use, they are called trains.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
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