December 27, 2007
Why do hybrid owners hate Nature?
If all those holier-than-thou types driving the Toyota Pious Prius really wanted to make a difference about reducing pollution, they'd be clamoring for diesels.
Diesels? Those dirty, stinky, noisy rattletraps we remember from the '80s?
Erm, no.
The latest generation of diesel engines are fast, quiet, clean, and very, very efficient.
Take the aforementioned Prius, widely touted as the most eco-friendly thing on wheels.
Aside from the fact that it contains huge batteries chock-full-'o heavy metals and difficult-to-dispose-of toxic waste, the Prius gets a whopping 54 mpg on average.
That VW gets 74.3 mpg!
And did you notice that the Prius puts out more CO2 than the VW? Which would be important if anthropogenic Global Warming really existed. But still, it's great that the diesel has a smaller "carbon footprint" than the good-for-rainbows-and-unicorns Toyota.
And the Vee-Dub does it without those heavy, expensive batteries that'll need replacing in five years (or less), making do with a diesel engine that ought to last 250,000 miles without blinking an eye.
Other automakers are waking up to the potential of the diesel, too.
Popular Mechanics has a great article with an easy-to-grasp explanation of how the diesel engine differs from its gasoline cousin, as well as details of the new generation of oil burners -- with the scoop on why they're so much better than what we've seen in the past.
Sweet.
Posted by Mike Lief at December 27, 2007 09:48 PM
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Comments
That 1.4 liter, 3 cylinder turbo-diesel VW has an engine smaller and less powerful than most decent motorcycles. Have you driven one? Now a BIG diesel truck--that's the ticket. My Dad's 1994 Ford F-250 diesel is still running strong with over 200,000 miles.....
Posted by: Gene at December 28, 2007 08:25 PM