Coming Soon to All 50 States: VW's 60 mpg Jetta Diesel

As many of my friends know, I am not quite as enamored with the hybrid cars as all the Prius drivers out there. I've been a fan of diesel cars since the mid-90s when I was first traveling to Europe and drove their economy diesels and their large diesel sedans. They generally get between 20 and 30% better fuel economy, take far less energy to refine the fuel (though with this I don't understand why the fuel generally costs more at the US pumps), and the engines seem to last forever with normal maintenance. VW has been producing passenger diesel engines for a while now and they're pretty good but many of the German manufacturers are stepping things up with cleaner diesels.

One thing that is often over looked in the US is that until about a year or so ago, most of the US petroleum diesel fuel was a very low grade of fuel with an exceptionally high sulphur content. New federal regulations went into effect and we now have far cleaner diesel which alone will contribute significantly to reduced emissions. This old almost kerosene diesel fuel was also one of the main reasons so few diesel options were available in the US. I applaud VW for supplying cars to the US during the 90s and into the 2000s although it was a pretty anemic diesel, largely because they knew it could safely run with the lower grade diesel that we had until the clean diesel came out.

Now, living in Sonoma-Marin area, there are a handful of bio-diesel fuel stations. There is a ~10% premium for the bio-diesel but it's available at the pump and allegedly no modifications to the engine or fuel system are necessary. The drawback is that the bio-diesel congeals at higher temperatures than petroleum-based diesel so you might want to do a mix of fuel or go exclusively petrol-based for the ski trips but it's great to have options.

I believe that most American drivers will appreciate and enjoy the performance characteristics of diesel engines as they tend to be higher torque (low-RPM power) albeit lower revving (but V-8's have similar characteristics anyhow so it's a pretty natural fit).

Now if only these diesels would qualify for the HOV lane the same way that the hybrid cars do, then these would sell like gangbusters in the Bay Area.....

Coming Soon to All 50 States: VW's 60 mpg Jetta Diesel: "Sick of paying an arm and a leg for gas? Volkswagen's got you covered with its latest diesel, which gets 60 miles to the gallon and is so clean even Californians can drive it. Look for it in showrooms later this year.

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(Via Wired: Top Stories.)