Good by 16 MPG.
Hello 35 MPG.
Either a CDI, Bluetech or Saab is in my future.

Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec Test Drive and Report: The Road to Kennebunkport – The Diesel Driver - The Joy of Diesel Driving

And maybe another D2 if I can find a broken one :-)

 

It's hard to argue diesel for anyone who has to drive distances.

The Prius is nice for economy, bad for the soul. Easier on the wallet than the Mercs.

My Rover is for offroad primarily, secondary on bad weather. Daily driver for my 100+mi /day commute has been diesel for several years now. The jump from $2-4/gal for gasoline made the switch for me. Parked my brandy-new SUV and got an '80's BMW 325e. Very similar to the diesels - low HP, high torque. Got 30mpg all day long while still being a pleasure to drive.

Moved from that to running a few old Mercedes W123. Two of which were run on vegetable oil. That was some fun tech and tinkering. 25-30mpg diesel, 146mpg combined diesel mpg w/ vegetable oil.

Today, I'm riding along in a 2000 VW Beetle TDI. Turbo, Injectors, Tune, Exhaust - 42-46mpg and MANY smiles per gallon. Purchased it because it was cheaper than the VW Golfs w/ the same engine, by about $2k. Turns out - I REALLY like the interior of the car. More comfy than I ever expected!

I doubt I'll ever go back to buying new cars. Math just doesn't work for me w/ higher mileage commuting.

Dave

 

146? great gobs of goose ****. is that a typo? wow, my ocd would have me manually checking the fuel level to know that the gauge is still working.

I have a redneck buddy, that had a "gasifier" and ran his truck on wood.

 

No Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy either..................


What........................another load of BS.....................who's been telling me porky pies all these years...........................

 

[QUOTE=Ghaniba;453431]

.................................Moved from that to running a few old Mercedes W123. Two of which were run on vegetable oil. That was some fun tech and tinkering. 25-30mpg diesel, 146mpg combined diesel mpg w/ vegetable oil.........................................

Jeeeeeeeeeeez, I'll have some of that then with the price of fuel in europe................just point me at it pronto........

 

yeah, what is the cost of petrol- somewhere around $8-$10/ gal? we're around $4/gal (premium) here in the States. a lot of carmakers are doing another round of pushing diesel engines for the States, we'll see how that works out.

 

Not a typo at all, however more of a shenanigan. Much like how they rate the electric primary hybrid type vehicles -- some whacky math adjustments to make it look like a car that can do 13 miles on it's battery before switching on the gas motor somehow now gets like 98mpg... when in reality, if you were to drive it on a long drive, you'd get like 35mpg, because it never got charged back up until it got plugged in.

Long story short - running on the vegetable oil, you'd start the engine and shut down the engine while it was running on diesel. You could only switch to veg once the vehicle was up to temperature, and I'd switch off of veg 5 mins before I got to my destination. The miles in the middle were free, minus sweat equity. The further I drove, the more efficient it was due to not having to switch back to diesel. I'd generally drive ~600mi a week and fill up my diesel tank once a month. Definitely fun, more of an experience than a money saver. I do miss the tempura scent!

Dave

 

I like to think of the TDI as the efficient car for people who actually like to drive. On a long run you'll get better mpg than a Prius, and it doesn't encourage inconsiderate driving like the Prius does. No obnoxious hypermiling techniques required - even if you drive it hard the fuel economy is still excellent.

 

All sounds too complex to me, reminiscent of the Mobil Economy Run some decades ago. You drive under power up the hills, gently of course, and free wheel downhill in neutral with the engine switched off. No wonder they got better mileage than most until someone discovered their game and blew the whistle. That was in the days of petrol cars only where each brand made outrageous claims about power and economy. Never did swallow the 'party line' on that.

I'll never forget the crap TV ads for different brands of petrol. But Esso puts a Tiger in your tank..................yeah............right.

 

And if you wear a fire suit, maybe get into a TESLA.


Remember, one of the TESLA's caught on fire?


What ever happened to good 'ol steam engines?