irony (was:RE: [thechat] Car Buffs ..)
Bob Davis
bobd at members.evolt.org
Wed Jun 6 13:01:09 CDT 2001
On Wednesday, June 6, 2001, at 01:33 PM, Judah McAuley wrote:
> I do like the VW diesels. I got a chance to drive one the of the older
> Rabbits. That thing was zippy. But it sure wasn't quiet. Are the
> newer diesels more quiet?
Yeah - they're a lot quieter than the old ones. Not as "smoky" either.
They're using some kind of catalyst to burn the soot more cleanly.
They're using direct injection (fuel goes directly into the cylinder
instead of into the intake manifold or port) so the amount of fuel that
gets sprayed in is exactly what can be burned. Turbos help too - they
make the exhaust a lot quieter, and give that nice "wheeeeeeeee" sound.
So, quieter, less stinky, and quick...diesel's getting nice.
Land Rover sells diesel Discoveries (and, presumably, other models) in
other markets - but we can't get them. Tons of torque, low revs, better
fuel economy, low maintenance. Too bad we can't get them.
A lesson from boating - diesel weighs less than gasoline, which is one
of the reasons diesels are used so extensively in marine applications.
Less weight in fuel means less hull in water, which means better
economy. The same could be said for automotive applications (though
we're talking about 20 gallons of fuel versus 200-500 in a bigish
boat - sometimes more.)
bob
--
bob davis
bobd at members.evolt.org
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