Diesels in the US

[Edward Birch]

Elie Spiesel <espiesel at yahoo.com> wrote.....
> For those of you interested in the absence of diesel Audis
> in the US, the NY Times had an article this weekend.  The
> basic idea was that 1) Americans have little interest in fuel
> economy due to cheap gas.........

Oh really!!!  The New York Times knows that ALL North American motorists
don't wish to save money.

>2) there is no price advantage to diesel in the US unlike in Europe where
there are lower taxes
> on diesel.....

Hold on now.....in my area, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 89 octane gasoline is
$1.75 at gallon, 91 octane is $1.85 at gallon, while Diesel is $1.54 at gallon.  With
my 93-100S, running 89 octane, I average 25MPG, while my neighbor gets 48MPG
with his VW-TDI.  Hmmmm, do I see a fuel price advantage?

>3) tight diesel particulate emission standards.......

Emission standards that were enacted because of older mass transit vehicles,
and older Diesel automobiles. There have been considerable improvements in
the Oil Motor powered passenger car in the past decade.

>(making)it unlikely that manufacturers are going to put a lot of work into
certifying cars with >little demand.

Is there little demand for the VW-TDI?  In my area, try to find one for less
than full markup price!

Ed Birch....Diesel-less after 20 years.