Originally Posted by Dervman

I'm no tree-hugger, but I don't think any right minded person can argue against clean air legislation PROVIDED it is applied equally to all polluters.
RWThomas1 hit the nail on the head, cars are NOT the problem anymore in North America. It is the industrial polluters, and unregulated vehicles that are causing the problems and the politicians don't have the guts to do anything about it. Much easier to penalize the car buyers and drivers that have been brainwashed into thinking they are still the reason the smog accumulates in our cities.

Originally Posted by AustinsCE

i live 30 minutes from mt baldy and you can see the air, in LA. Why should one county with about 8X the people living there than should be living there dictate the rest of the state? Obviously its overcrowded and there is always going to be a bunch of pollution in a metropolis. What, Chicago or indianapolis doesnt have smog? CARB isnt the solution. LA dropping into the pacific IS. I think if Mercedes would market and push the performance diesels here, and not jack the prices way too high like everything else they sell these days, there would be no problem selling them. I dont know anyone who would turn down a 300 hp, 400 lb ft of torque car that gets 30 MPG. And the Gov. needs to get off his high horse, stop thinking about becoming president and actually DO something, anything, so far in office he has not done a single thing, about anything. More of the same, useless politicians and idiots in office. Hybrids are way too expensive after you buy them and will never catch on.Useless anyway, with the AC on, driving on the freeway at 60, you get like 10 MPG. Usually theres like 1 tech. that can work on one in any given shop, if that many. Had the pleasure of riding in one for school, nice little MPG digital deal right there on the dash. With the AC on in the parking lot, got only 15 MPG

Originally Posted by cascais

Gentleman,

I am an European born US citizen and I have lived in the USA since 1980.
i was just in Europe for the last 3 years and. In Portugal I would say 70% of
all cars are diesel. MB would be about 95%. You can buy any model including US cars with a diesel engine. I was driving a 87 300SDL. Yes diesel is more efficient and breaks down less but the main reason is fuel price. Europeanse pay about $4.75 USD per gallon of gasoline. Diesel is about 30% cheaper. Yes the cars cost more but in long run are still cheaper. So for the europeans is mainly cost effective. Diesel in our country in more expensive. Yes you get better MPG so essentialy they are cheaper to run on a long run but americans dont keep their cars for as long as the europeans.

good luck

Originally Posted by whunter

GM and Ford buyer surveys show little or no market for diesels in cars, why should they waste engineering R&D money on at best a submarket?

Originally Posted by mikemover

Right on target, bro.

Our main electricity supplier here in Atlanta and the surrounding area, Georgia Power, puts out more air pollution, water pollution, and solid waste pollutants than ALL of the cars in the metro area COMBINED! And that's just one company! There are factories, refineries, and utility companies of all types that are belching out WAY more pollution than cars ever have.

Then there's trucks, city busses, school busses, trains, planes, tractors and other farm equipment, heavy construction equipment, generators, incinerators, lawnmowers/weedeaters/chainsaws/leafblowers/etc. (surprisingly gross polluters!), military vehicles...... all of which are completely unregulated by the EPA or CARB, and all of which are putting out more air pollution than modern cars AND well-kept older cars like our trusty old MB diesels.

The clueless diesel car haters are barking up the wrong tree.

Mike

Originally Posted by jseries

What R&D money will be wasted? Can't say for Ford but DC's Jeep Grand Cherokees etc are all avail already w/dsl motors in Europe and have been for years. Even back when AMC owned Jeep the 80's era CJ's built in the US ran 4 cyl Suzy dsl but built for export only. US Cherokees had a 2.1L Renault dsl option in the mid 80's. Granted that was bad idea and didn't help the dsl image in the US at all. Point being there is no extra R&D money needed but there will be some marketing money required to wake up the US buyers.

Originally Posted by bill murrow

The main problem is you can't fight big business-big business= big bucks and big bucks can get you anything in this country. The government will protect them to the bitter end.

And about the hybrids-I don't see it catching on at all out here in the sticks. Maybe in the cities, I don't know. There is one hybrid in this area and, after looking it over, I must say God help you in the event of an accident. You'd have more protection driving a beer can. :D

Isn't Honda or Toyota coming out with a new diesel that meets U.S. requirements? Thought I read that somewhere recently.

Cheers,

Bill

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

In a serious accident, what would keep battery acid from immolating the passengers......or are these gell cells?

Originally Posted by Diesel Power

They are NiMh batteries, just like the rechargables you can buy at Wal Mart internally. The ones in my Prius are round, and about the size of a "D" cell battery. I don't remember how many cells it has total, but the battery pack makes for a nice little shelf in the back section of the trunk by the seat. If I didn't point it out to you, you wouldn't notice it's presence. The new battery pack in the '04 and newer Prius, the cells look like cassette cartridges. If the car is involved in a major collision, the system triggers relays that totally isolates the battery pack from the vehicle.

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

OK, that answers a BIG question I had about those. That makes all the difference. I thought they used Lead-acid batteries. I never looked at the Prius up close because I think they are butt ugly.

Originally Posted by bill murrow

What hybrid isn't ugly?

Sorry hybrid owners-no offense. Just my personal taste ;)

Cheers,

Bill