[V8] diesel tech

[Scott Justusson]

 The late 70's GM tried going diesel, and it was a disaster.  My old man's '79 Toronado the pinnacle of failure, as it spent more time in the shop than it ever did belching black smoke.  Such a stain on diesel application for automobiles, it still holds a bad flavor for US Automakers and consumers alike.  Hopefully Jeep stepping up with a diesel in the sport ute market this year will help change that.  BMW, Mercedes and VAG are chomping at the bit, because they only need a major perception change, and the war on fuel consumption will start at the consumer.  A couple of obstacles still remain....  Tax policy and energy policy.

Only recently has diesel been lower than premium, which when doing basic math, shows that owning a diesel yields better mpg, but not better $/mile by the consumer.  Which points to tax policy.  If taxes collected on gasoline is per gallon sold, tax revenue would decrease.  If taxes collected on gasoline are also price based, higher price = more tax revenue.  Over to energy policy, it's really hard to comprehend how one of the first skims of the refining pyramid (diesel) is more expensive than one of the last (premium).  Alas, the bottom line becomes the swell of consumer support in spite of regulations/taxation.

In the SUV light truck market, diesel has enjoyed a resurgence, and some good engines have come from Ford, GM and Dodge turbodiesels.  Alas, a bit of a cycle in durability vs the bean counters, as Ford demonstrated going from the 7.3 to 6.2....  In the end though, diesel technology (IMO) will eclipse Hybrid and electric technologies for the near term...  And I applaud VAG for being at the forefront of demonstrating that, with a winning formula of tdi in street and racing.

...  In the meantime, I'll just keep slaying dynosaurs with my v8s and Landcruiser for now.  And look forward to the day when 'diesel swaps' are the common theme on MG.

Rant off

Scott J
92 v8
91 v8
94 Landcruiser

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: toml99 <toml99 at todomundo.com>
To: v8audi <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Wed, Jun 6, 2012 9:57 pm
Subject: Re: [V8] UFO US


"just like the leftover bad rap american diesels have given that  
technology for almost as many decades"....

Hey Scott, confused by what you meant about that.....could you clarify?
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