[Vwdiesel] Crappy fuel? (was Touareg)

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/22/2003 2:51:05 PM Pacific Standard Time,
matt_lisa at sprynet.com writes:

> because it requires clean diesel and we don't have any. Same reason
>  > Mercedes,
>  > Audi, Toyota, etc don't import any of there diesels to the US anymore.
>  > VW only
>  > imports it's 1.9TDI which they detuned just for the US market to run
>  > on crappy fuel.

  I keep seeing this argument over and over and I don't quite understand
why, especially in this group.  The big difference is in the sulfur content
then cetane.  Neither of these, especially the sulfur will keep the engine
from running well.  Poor cetane ratings will give less power, performance
and economy than a good fuel but unless it's absolute crap then the
engine will still run a good long time.  The sulfur being the main argument
that's generally heard has to do with emissions rather than drivability.  You
can't use any of the fancy CAT's with sulfur content.  I believe these are
mostly to combat NOx.
  If I'm all wet on this I'd like to actually know, but part of what makes a
diesel great is that it will run on quite a variety of fuels.  To call the US
fuel garbage and non-digestible to the new diesels seems to be quite
the overstatement to me and seems to be the result of what is broadcast
by the "greenies" that don't like diesels.
  Am I way off???
     Loren