[BC] Gas Prices

[Cowboy]

On Saturday 09 July 2005 11:52, Sid Schweiger wrote:
> >>Dunno if they've improved them since the 80s, but diesels have lots of
> 
> drawbacks too...sluggish acceleration and they don't start well when 
> cold.<<
> 
> Neither one of those is true anymore.  Diesel engine technology has
> improved greatly, especially in the last decade. 

 And it's about time !
 I've been in some deisel powered race boats, and wondered why this
 kind of performance isn't in land vehicles.

 The cold start thing is still true, though, in really cold weather.

> Diesels are extremely 
> popular in Europe, where the price of gasoline is several times what it
> is in the US. 

 Speaking with a guy from Netherlands last week, I think we figgured
 around $7 / gal US equivalent, while I paid 2.30 in Ontario, 4 cents
 less than in New York state.

> Diesel engines also tend to last far longer than their 
> equivalent gasoline engines (ask any long-haul trucker...half a million
> miles on an engine is common),

 Half million to the first rebuild !
 Several million miles is not rare.
 Of course, today's gas engines can do that, too. ( though you're not likely
 to see any, but it's either a road salt thing, or a style thing )
 Still, diesel combustion produces far less acids to contaminate
 the lubrication system.

> and diesels can produce more torque than 
> an gasoline engine of the same displacement.

 At low RPM, yes.
 At high speeds, no, not yet with todays tech.

> One current drawback for those in the US who want a diesel is that
> diesel-engine passenger cars cannot be sold in California and the four
> other states which use California emission standards, because the
> current high-sulfur diesel fuel does not meet the California requirement
> for particulate emissions.  Low-sulfur diesel fuel will be mandated by
> law in, IIRC, 2006, and the vehicles will once again be made available
> nationwide.

 So, *I* can't find a really good diesel because they're not "good enough"
 for California ?
 Now, that just makes me all warm a fuzzy !
 ;-)