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While diesel high MPG cars are not new in Europe, with for instance the VW Bluemotion [1] , it is not necessarily better than unleaded gasoline. It's true dies
by vmarsy 13y ago
While diesel high MPG cars are not new in Europe, with for instance the VW Bluemotion [1] , it is not necessarily better than unleaded gasoline.
It's true diesel rejects less CO2 than unleaded gasoline cars but it also rejects more NO2 and has some unhealthy particles [2].
So diesel is good for people who drive hundreds of miles in big landscapes, but in cities and suburb, investing in better unleaded/hybrid cars seems wiser.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlueMotion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlueMotion
[2] http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-says-diesel-exhaust-causes-cancer http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-...
- toyg 13y agoI have a diesel VW Golf BlueMotion 1.6 from 2011. Sticking to the motorway at 70mph (which is what I originally bought it for) it really burns less than 72mpg, it's fantastic; in the more prosaic stop/start city commute, it averages out around 50mpg. Still, I spend less than £1k in fuel per year, and it's quite a win. I really, really wanted a hybrid, back then; but the price of a Prius in the UK was ridiculously high (haven't checked recently), and on long motorway trips it likely wouldn't have paid off.
- switch007 13y agoIt's a win in fuel costs, yes, but you need to compare total motoring costs when choosing petrol vs diesel. £1k/year means you do about 10,000 miles a year? That's typically not enough to justify diesels with a DPF. (Short journeys are not sufficient to clean the DPF)
- toyg 13y agoI do infrequent but very long trips, so that shouldn't be a problem.
- ubercore 13y agoVW TDI engines either combust the nitrogen oxide or mix it with urea to reduce emissions: http://thinkblue.vw.com/tdi-academy-clean-diesel-vs-gasoline/ http://thinkblue.vw.com/tdi-academy-clean-diesel-vs-gasoline...