TDI Truth & Dare: Video 1

Volkswagen has opened a TDI Truth & Dare microsite on vw.com to promote their all new lineup of TDI powered vehicles. On that site you'll find links to articles featuring their TDI vehicles, TDI Cup race reports, the interactive "TDI Tank Wars", as well as videos debunking diesel myths.



Also at the microsite you'll find the TDI Toolbox which allows you to find the nearest diesel pumps as well as the lowest diesel prices. There's also a savings calculator to compare the operating cost of a TDI to others cars.

Source: Autobloggreen.com

Who Is To Blame For Inefficient Cars?

What could this car do in 1986 that the vast majority of cars today can't?

It got 50 miles per gallon.... and that was without any sort of hybrid technology, special computers to manage the fuel consumption, or the power of a flux capacitor.

Twenty three years later there are just a handful of cars in showrooms across America capable of getting 50 miles per gallon.

And whose fault is that?

The consumers!

And the government.

And the automakers.

Michael Le Roy blames the consumers in his article printed in The Spartan Daily. I'm only partly inclined to agree. He writes:

"Imagine owning a car that achieved 50 miles per gallon. It would not be some fancy hybrid that would have the newest in battery technology or a special computer to manage the mileage. No this car would be a 1986 Honda CRX.

A Honda CRX is tiny, and despite being more than 20 years older than a Smart Fortwo, it gets nearly equal or better gas mileage.

You might be wondering why modern cars such as the Smart Fortwo and Prius are not getting better gas mileage. Where is the technological advancement over the past 20 years?

A reason why modern cars get poor mileage is because they are just too damn heavy."

At this point I totally agree with him. The cars we drive are definitely too heavy.

"Consumer demand for luxury and government safety regulations have weighed down cars. The combination of couch-like comfort and the safety of a Panzer tank have made cars into fat pigs. All this added weight affects gas mileage and the range of electric vehicles.

Modern sedans weigh more than 3,000 pounds. Keeping with the Honda weight comparison, let's look at the Honda Accord.

A first generation model that came out in 1976 weighed around 2,000 pounds. A 2008 model is 3,200 pounds.

If you look back at the Honda CRX there is no wonder it got great gas mileage. It also weighed around 2,000 pounds, did not have to comply with modern emissions requirements and would be crushed like a tin can when hit by a 4,500 pound modern sport utility vehicle."

Again, good points. But read between the lines... "consumer demand for luxury" is only a part of the problem. Consumers also demand size. Everyone wants bigger and better. People are so self-absorbed they aren't willing to make any compromise. They buy the biggest car with the biggest engine they can afford.

Here in North America the many foreign (read: Euro and Japanese) automakers all offer V6 engines in the cars they sell, while those same vehicles sold anywhere else in the world only come with 4 cylinder engines. In some cases, here in North America we can only get the 6 cylinder model, while the rest of the world has smaller, more efficient options available to them. BMW is a perfect example of this... their 1 Series only sells with the 6 cylinder engine in the US and Canada, while Europe gets a seemingly endless list of engine options ranging from fire breathing performance to frugal & efficient.

And who is to blame for that?

Where I really don't agree with the writer is the "I feel safer in a bigger vehicle" argument, which has been proven a fallacy. And besides being false, it wouldn't even be an issue if those 4500 pounds SUVs hadn't been foisted on the general driving population by the greedy automakers looking to sell their highest profit margin vehicles in the first place.

"We can only blame ourselves when it comes to cars on the market having relatively poor gas mileage. Our demand to tack on stuff such as heated seats, emission equipment and side air bags have greatly diminished gas mileage."

On this point I disagree with Michael. The blame isn't only on the consumer. I blame the automakers for pushing their larger engines on us in the first place. The BMW 1 Series is a car I'd happily consider as my next vehicle IF one of the diesel options was available. 75% of my annual driving in my daily commute, and as much as I'd love to drive the hottest baby Beemer available, that would be a total waste of resources. A diesel powered 1 Series would be the best of both worlds for me... the dynamics that I want, with the efficiency I need. Unfortunately for me, BMW doesn't sell any diesels, nor any small displacement engines, in the North American 1 Series, and the last time I asked they said they had no immediate plans to start.

"If federal law and consumer demand allowed, car companies would happily sell high gas mileage models that are currently sold overseas. Japan has a number of 660cc cars that get more than 50 miles per gallon and are far cheaper than a hybrid. The problem is no American would buy them. American consumers have also ignored high gas mileage, diesel-powered cars.

Car companies are trying to release gas-efficient models. They are not evil corporate entities that wish only to destroy the planet. The automotive industry would love to sell you a 200 mile per gallon car as long as they could make a profit."

Again, I can't agree here. Some companies are just starting to look at offering efficient vehicles in North America, but compared to other countries in the world, the US and Canada (to a lesser extent) are far behind. If the car companies really were trying to release more efficient models, where are all the small displacement engines? Why are most North American models now selling with larger engines than there were a decade ago?

Eight years ago I purchased a Mazda Protege5. The only available engine was a 2.0L. That same year the sedan version of the Protege was available with a 1.6L, and a 2.0L. For the 2010 models that are in dealerships now, the only available engine options are a 2.0L and a 2.5L in either the sedan or the hatchback.

In England, the Mazda3 sedan is available with 1.6L or 2.0L (gasoline powered) engines, and the Mazda3 hatchback is available with 1.4L, 1.6L, or 2.0L (gasoline powered) engines, as well as 1.6L and 2.0L (diesel powered) engines.

So who's to blame? The consumers for "demanding" more, or the automakers for only offering more?

"Even though Chevrolet is not doing too well right now, they do have models coming out that provide descent gas mileage. The 2010 Chevy Cruze will have a 1.4 liter turbocharged engine that Chevy claims will get 40 miles per gallon. That is nearly hybrid territory, all without a battery pack. With a base price of around $16,000 the Cruze will be very competitive, providing the car lives up to General Motors' claims. The car will also be relatively light by modern standards, at 2,900 pounds.

The next Prius will get 50 miles per gallon, but the Cruze will still be the better deal. If the next generation Prius comes in at $22,000, the Cruze will still undercut it by $6,000. That much money will buy approximately 80,000 miles worth of gas for the Cruze.

The automobile industry would like to manufacture lighter and more fuel-efficient models, but currently the only way to do that is to either make them less safe or use expensive composite materials.

Higher prices or less safety - pick your poison."

Now the Cruze is my kind of car... except that it's ugly. But that's just a matter of taste. It's small, light, and is propelled by a small engine using turbo technology to give it some extra power when needed. Turbos are a great thing. They give you power when you need it, but don't add any extra consumption when you don't need it (ie: most of the time you're rolling down the highway with the cruise-control on).

The rest of the world gets it! When will we?

Source: The Spartan Daily

Diesels We Can't Buy in North America

North America has been, let's face it, utterly slow in accepting diesel as an alternate fuel for passenger cars. To the average North American driver a diesel is what powers dumptrucks, farm tractors, and 18-wheeled rigs.

On the other side of the Atlantic where they average automobile driving consumer is somewhat more enlightened, diesels account for about half the passenger cars on the road.

Autobloggreen.com put together a gallery of 10 diesels available in Europe that are not sold here in North America.

Check out some of these numbers:

10) Chrysler Grand Voyager CRD - 9.4L/100km (25 mpg US)
9) Porsche Cayenne Diesel - 9.4L/100km (25 mpg US)
8) Volvo XC60 - 7.6L/100km (31 mpg US)
7) Jaguar XF S Diesel - 6.7L/100km (35 mpg US)
6) Honda Accord Tourer Type-S - 5.9L/100km (40 mpg US)
5) VW CC Blue TDi - 5.6L/100km (42 mpg US)
4) BMW 116d - 4.4L/100km (53 mpg US)
3) MINI Cooper D - 3.9L/100km (60 mpg US)
2) Ford Fiesta ecoNetic - 3.7L/100km (64 mpg US)
1) smart ForTwo CDI - 3.3L/100km (72 mpg US)

From minivans, to SUVs, to luxury sedans, to wagons, to compacts and subcompacts... each of these vehicles is sold in North America (not always the same name, but the same vehicle nonetheless) with a gasoline burning engine that doesn't even come close to the fuel economy of their diesel burning counterparts, and in some cases doesn't even match the performance numbers either.

Holy Crap! Mitsubishi pulling out of Dakar rallying!

I'm shocked!

After watching this years absolutely amazing rally, featuring a battle of the diesel titans between Mitsubishi and VW, as well as the privateer BMW X-Raids, I'm stunned to read that Mitsu are pulling out of cross country rallying.

This was their first year running diesels (compared to Volkswagen who've run them for years), and despite some setbacks, as well as finishing off the podium, I'd sincerely hoped they'd be back to challenge VW in 2010.

Source.

Lexus Europe: No Hybrids Here!

This is too funny...

Autobloggreen.com

Short version: "Our hybrid really isn't significantly better than our diesel, so we aren't going to bother with the trouble of selling it to you."

Europeans are smart, and they don't waste time with greenwashing... one drivetrain is just much simpler and more cost effective than two.

EVs & Diesels in Detroit

I've been closely following autobloggreen.com for the past couple of days as they cover the eco side of the Detroit International Auto Show. It's pretty cool to see the concepts, but even cooler to see the cars that are actually going to be found in dealer showroom this year.

You can check it out yourself HERE, or click the links below to specific articles.

MB Unveils Concept BlueZero

The Lotus... er, I mean Dodge Circuit
57 Miles Per Gallon Roadster: The BlueSport from VW

More Pics of VW's Diesel Performance Roadster

Audi A3 TDI Coming to US Dealers in '09

ED smart (a poor choice of acronyms)

Fisker Karma & Karma-S (will these ever been seen on a road near you?)

Clash Of The (Diesel) Titans

The 2009 edition of the infamous Dakar Rally (formerly Paris-Dakar) kicks off in just over 6 hours from the time I'm writing this. Competing in that event will be Volkswagen with their TDI Touareg, and for the first time, Mitsubishi in the clean diesel powered Racing Lancer. They formerly entered this rally-raid event in a conventional gasoline powered Pajero. This is the first time two clean diesels will be facing off in the Dakar and it's shaping up to be an epic battle between these two powerhouses.

And just take a look at this video of the Racing Lancer!



That's about as much fun in a 4 wheeled vehicle as can be had!

Clean Diesel Gets Dirty!

Hmm... fishnets!

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Volkswagen entered a Clean Diesel powered Touareg in the Baja for the very first time and finished a respectable 13th in their class out of 26 starters.

Autoblog.com has a full article up now about their experience covering the event and watching the TDI (relatively) quietly perform.

Even better than that though, is this video from streetfire.net all about Volkswagen Motorsport's involvement with the project. It's awesome to see them stepping up with absolute commitment to developing and fielding ultra high performance diesel engines in racing.


Volkswagen TDI Touareg at the Baja 1000

VW Touareg TDI's First Outting

Last weekend was the 41st running of the Baja 1000 race in Mexico.

It was also the first time in the event's history that a Clean Diesel powered vehicle successfully competed in, and completed, the event. VW's Touareg TDI placed 13th in it's class of 26 trucks.

This Touareg TDI was powered by a 550-hp 5.5l V12 diesel, which is quite a bit more substantial than their forthcoming Dakar entry, but still... clean diesels are slowly but surely becoming an integral part of endurance motorsports.

LINK