[Vwdiesel] Input on a new project

[Scott Kair]

>>Compared to this car, a Prius sucks donkey ass.<<

    Or elephant...

    Since you have access to a Honda hybrid for baseline comparison, shoot
for a straight-up cross-country interstate comparison run of a couple of
hundred miles.  You might not have to do any modifications to a decent
running VWD at all to come up with superior mileage.

    My brother has a Honda for his commute, but learned not to take it on
extended road trips because the mileage falls off precipitously when only
the gasoline engine is engaged. Beyond a metro-area stop-and-go drive, the
advantages aren't at all related to efficiency. Most honest & well informed
owners- which is to say those who think  through the purchase rather than
merely succumbing to the herd instinct to be trendy and fashionable- will
tell you that they bought hybrids for the tax credit and HOV lane
privileges. (This excludes gadget techies who worship complexity.) They'll
also tell you that they plan to ditch them as soon as the warranty expires
and/or the HOV lane privileges and tax credits end. In some areas, they'll
tell you about getting pulled over by the highway cops for illegal HOV lane
usage, which is how they discover that someone has ripped off their "hybrid"
trunk badge for their own illicit use of the lane.

    It also might not hurt to point out that if you live in the Land of
Winter Chlorides, once the body rots away a hybrid will leave you with a
large doorstop, while a VWD will leave you with an engine to transplant into
another car, or the beginnings of a genset. 

    Good luck,

    Scott Kair