quattro digest, Vol 1 #3110 - history repeats....

[Larry C Leung]

My understanding is that the VW TDI's are essentially transparent in
operation. I test drove an Ur (US) Passat TDI, power was "plentiful"
(okay it FELT zippy, but the reality is it was merely adequate, but in
this case it's all in how it feels) and supposedly less involved in
maintenance (although I'd imagine other than ignition and spark plugs,
the maintenance is probably no different than any other TURBO car (i.e.
not THAT simple). I would have to say that this particular Passat died on
us (my friend and I), we don't know why, but it died close to my house so
I walked back to my house, picked up my then 4KQ, drove my friend and I
back to the car at the "auto-show", returned the keys to the salesman and
explained the situation, they said fine, we'll pick up the car, and then
we went to the movies like we were originally going to do. Never did find
out why the TDI died.

LL - NY

BTW - for the short time I owned a Rabbit Diesel, waiting for the glow
plugs and plugging the car in (I only powered up the plug for about an
hour when I got up) really wasn't a hassle at all, and I lived in the
Binghamton, NY area (i.e. snow belt) at the time. The biggest hassle
about that particular car was the water leaks, which meant you had to
scrape the INSIDE of the windows instead of the outside. Hence it's short
life for me. Not bad considering I paid $300 and sold for $250.....


>Message: 2
>Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 00:11:02 -0500
>From: Ed Birch <edwbirch at comcast.net>
>Subject: Re: History repeating itself.
>To: quattro at audifans.com
>
>> 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)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--__--__--
>
>Message: 3
>Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 00:15:02 -0500
>From: Kent McLean <kentmclean at mindspring.com>
>To: Robert Myers <robert at s-cars.org>
>Cc: Quattro Audi Group <quattro at audifans.com>
>Subject: Re: History repeating itself
>
>Bob Myers wrote:
>
>> As Isaac Asimov would say, "TANSTAAFL - There ain't no 
>> such thing as a free lunch."  
>
>
>I believe that was Robert Heinlein who said that.
>One o' my favorite authors, who penned such classics
>as "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Cat Who Walks
>Through Walls".
>
>Kent
>'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy"
>
>