History repeating itself.

[Ed Birch]

> Nothing is wrong with diesel, but it does contain less energy per gallon
> than gasoline (which I believe contains the most BTU/gal of any presently
> readily available fuel source......

Not quite true, young man!   One US gallon of Diesel fuel produces 147,000
BTU while one US gallon of Gasoline produces 125,000 BTU.  (Steam is a
distant third).  Diesel fuel does have a higher energy density than other
common fuels.

>Plus people don't like having to wait for the glow plugs to warm up on cold
mornings (or >worse yet, having to plug in the engine overnight,)  the cloud
of black smoke, or the 'diesel
> clatter.'.........

Wrong again, young man!  With the VW-TDI, just press the remote control
button to unlock car doors and the Diesel intake heating system activates,
so you get into the car and it's ready to start.  Clatter? Cloud of black
smoke?  Nonsense!

>Some of the above mentioned problems may have been addressed in newer
diesels, but I >haven't seen any advertisement stating that, so I guess they
haven't fixed those problems.  If >they have, maybe they need to advertise,
so I could find out about it.....

Why advertise a car that it selling well above MSRP?

>Another problem is service.  At the present moment, most American mechanics
are familiar >with gasoline engines.  Although they could all get more
familiar with diesels, they
> would have to be trained, and that would drive up the price of repairs.
Another repair >aspect:  fluid changes are more expensive in diesels, and
most hard parts are too, as they have >to endure a much higher compression
ratio, yada, yda, yada........

Come on, now, fer cripes sakes!  Stop listening to "Old Wives Tales" and
test drive a VW-TDI.

50% of all vehicle sales in Europe are Diesel powered, even Audi builds a
V-8 Diesel TDI.

Ed Birch.......93-100S

(Former Mercedes-Benz Diesel-head)