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Thread: Diesel cars in America

  1. #91
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    How do you mean that?

  2. #92
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    Well, they've been selling them as matching the performance of bigger engines with the fuel consumption of normally aspirated similarly sized engines (sometimes even less). So far this option has been explored mainly on petrol engines, but it's becoming an option for diesel as well.

    As I said a couple of days ago I've been driving the Delta a lot lately, a car which has a 1.4 litre turbo engine with 150bhp. It may not have the latest engineering solutions, but for all intents and purposes it is a downsized engine. And it seems it is not the panacea they announce.

    Fuel consumption is highly dependent on throttle usage. The onboard computer range changes wildly (hundreds of kilometres) wheter you go fast or slow, wheter you accelerate or you maintain a constant speed. This is something I haven't seen in normally aspirated or supercharged petrol engines, or for sure diesels.

    I don't know. Does it work? Performance is good, there's a bit of turbo lag but mid range is excellent, and when you don't use it fuel consumption it is quite good. But as long as you have to use the fuel consumption rises alarmingly.

    Oh and by the way, the SLK is going diesel...
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  3. #93
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    Downsizing engines and adding turboes, according to some things I've read, was doomed from the start: To actually get the advertized economy you must stay off the turbo, essentially making it downsized NA engine tuned for forced induction. This makes it less driveable than a NA engine, tuned as-such, of the same size.
    To get the advertized power you must use the turbo, blowing a comparable amount of air and fuel into the chamber as a... wait for it: larger naturally-aspirated engine.

    Downsizing of cars, on the other hand, seems almost it should be good at all the things downsized engines are good at and more.
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  4. #94
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    The range thing is probably just not being calculated very well. Or you're confusing the poor thing. Given the laws of physics, fuel consumption is always going to rise when you mash your foot into the rug, and the more they debiggen engines and embiggen turbos the more wildly it'll vary with boost levels. You can't have great fuel consumption and fantastic performance at once, but at least you have an option on a nicely balanced turbo engine.
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  5. #95
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    Quote Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13 View Post
    Downsizing engines and adding turboes, according to some things I've read, was doomed from the start: To actually get the advertized economy you must stay off the turbo, essentially making it downsized NA engine tuned for forced induction. This makes it less driveable than a NA engine, tuned as-such, of the same size.
    To get the advertized power you must use the turbo, blowing a comparable amount of air and fuel into the chamber as a... wait for it: larger naturally-aspirated engine.

    Downsizing of cars, on the other hand, seems almost it should be good at all the things downsized engines are good at and more.
    Less weight and better aerodynamics are always a good thing.

    However, in the blog I follow and that I'vementioned several times the petrol cars that tend to have the best results are the ones with the simplest engines, and downsized ones often struggle curiously.
    Quote Originally Posted by pimento View Post
    The range thing is probably just not being calculated very well. Or you're confusing the poor thing. Given the laws of physics, fuel consumption is always going to rise when you mash your foot into the rug, and the more they debiggen engines and embiggen turbos the more wildly it'll vary with boost levels. You can't have great fuel consumption and fantastic performance at once, but at least you have an option on a nicely balanced turbo engine.
    But the Hyundai (1.4 litre normally aspirated engine with 109bhp) range computer thing varies quite a lot less regardless of driving style.
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  6. #96
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    But the Hyundai (1.4 litre normally aspirated engine with 109bhp) range computer thing varies quite a lot less regardless of driving style.
    So it's just rubbish then. My old Volvo's range didn't vary much at all day to day.
    Life's too short to drive bad cars.

  7. #97
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    Maybe it's an italian thing...

    However I still managed about 10l/100km in the last tank. 300kms motorway at about 160-170km/h, 175kms normal roads and ring roads (80-115km/h) and 20-25km city driving. Is that good or bad?
    Last edited by Ferrer; 08-18-2011 at 04:39 PM.
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  8. #98
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    There's about to be a diesel Chevy Cruze available in the US.

  9. #99
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia View Post
    There's about to be a diesel Chevy Cruze available in the US.
    But it's still two years away, they say.
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  10. #100
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    But it's still two years away, they say.
    They want to make sure to stay behind the competition.

  11. #101
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia View Post
    They want to make sure to stay behind the competition.
    Well, I never thought the VM Motori engine was at the forefront of diesel technology in the first place.

    However, the 163bhp diesel saloon is a very fast car (like 320d/C220 CDI fast) with an average fuel consumption. But above all it's a bargain at 17.350,00 €.
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  12. #102
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    Apparently it's an okay engine...but there are indeed more refined ones out there... American's won't know the difference, yet.

  13. #103
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    The difference in rack cost between regular petrol and diesel in America is at an all time high. On average diesel costs 53+ cents per gallon more than regular gas.

  14. #104
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino Scuderia View Post
    The difference in rack cost between regular petrol and diesel in America is at an all time high. On average diesel costs 53+ cents per gallon more than regular gas.
    has to with demand fluctuations, in the autumn period the (stockpiling) demand for fuel oil for heating purposes increases, while the demand for petrol declines, because of the winter period. In the spring you will prices coming closer together because petrol demand will increase due to the upcoming driving season.

    Because of differences in taxation in Holland I pay about 1,35 dollar less per gallon for diesel, than for regular petrol.
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  15. #105
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    Here despite taxes favouring diesel, diesel has become this week more expensive than petrol.

    That will not change the set perceptions of people on diesel cars.
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