The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have

[3v0]

My SO found this. It shows what could be (can be?) done with the technology we have. Ford's thinking that the US will not buy a high mileage diesel car is a few years out of date ?

Buisnessweek

Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic gets an astonishing 65 mpg, but the carmaker can't afford to sell it in the U.S. ...
Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

 

[audioguru]

Only a few European people in North america buy a smoking stinking noisy diesel car.
Diesel fuel costs more than gasoline.

 

[Hero999]

Diesel is actually cheaper to produce than petrol, it's just that the governement tax it more because it's more efficient so less of it is used.

 

[Pommie]

Only a few European people in North america buy a smoking stinking noisy diesel car.
Diesel fuel costs more than gasoline.

I think you would get a big shock if you had a drive of one of the modern diesel cars.

Mike.

 

[Torben]

I think you would get a big shock if you had a drive of one of the modern diesel cars.

Mike.

Yup. They ain't farm truck engines in tiny little bodies anymore.


Torben

 

[picbits]

Only a few European people in North america buy a smoking stinking noisy diesel car.
Diesel fuel costs more than gasoline.

We've just got a brand new Honda Civic cDTi 2.2 Turbo Diesel.

140Bhp, 350NM torque, top speed of over 120mph and up to 75MPG.

0-60mph in around 8.5 seconds as well.

Engine noise isn't that much more than a smaller engined "eco-car" and it will cruise in triple figured speeds (MPH) without breaking a sweat.

The car before that was a 2008 VW Golf 2.0 GT Tdi Sport automatic (DSG twin clutch automatic gearbox).

140Bhp, 320NM torque, top speed of over 120mph and around 65MPG.

Felt more refined and better built than the Honda and was much more fun to drive but was an extra £3000 more expensive than the Honda to buy.

You'd be shocked and impressed with some of the new diesels on the market these days.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I think you would get a big shock if you had a drive of one of the modern diesel cars.

Yes he would, I had a drive in a BMW 1 series diesel a few weeks ago, only 1.8L - yet it went like a rocket, you can't tell it's a diesel at all - apart from how little fuel you have to put in it

Also, Audi diesels have won the Le Mans 24 hour race the last few years.

I would suggest diesel is the way of the future, with diesel easily manufactured from many different sources.

 

[Hero999]

Modern diesels are quite good cars, I've driven a Ford Focus TDI, I can't remember what the engine size was but it was much faster than a 1.2L Renault Clio.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Modern diesels are quite good cars, I've driven a Ford Focus TDI, I can't remember what the engine size was but it was much faster than a 1.2L Renault Clio.

It's about time Ford started making decent diesels - they used to be the worst ones you get get!.

 

[picbits]

It's about time Ford started making decent diesels - they used to be the worst ones you get get!.

You've owned an old 1.8 Diesel Ford as well have you ?

I remember buying a low mileage 1995 Ford Fiesta 1.8 Diesel and it was a slug. Had around 60bhp, no turbo and the front end weighed more than the rest of the car put together. Getting round corners (without PAS) was a task and a half.

Saying that though I managed 270 miles in 3 hours in it once (on private roads of course) when I found myself at the wrong end of the country on Christmas day ........

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

You've owned an old 1.8 Diesel Ford as well have you ?

No, but we used to have them at work - really terrible performance, low reliability - plus no PAS.

We've replaced Ford with Citroen Berlingo vans now - they are just so much better on all fronts.

I remember buying a low mileage 1995 Ford Fiesta 1.8 Diesel and it was a slug. Had around 60bhp, no turbo and the front end weighed more than the rest of the car put together. Getting round corners (without PAS) was a task and a half.

Saying that though I managed 270 miles in 3 hours in it once (on private roads of course) when I found myself at the wrong end of the country on Christmas day ........

Must have been a big private estate to have 270 miles of roads

 

[audioguru]

The SMART car is the only car on roads in Canada with a tiny little smoking stinking noisy diesel engine. Trains, school buses and trucks use diesel. Some buses are still diesel but now some use natural gas and diesel-electric hybrid. I saw some buses that use bio-fuel (used oil from french-fries?).
There are very few diesel cars, mostly Mercedes and Volkswagen.

 

[Pommie]

I guess you're just set in your ways. Funny how the old sayings are just so true. Can't teach an old dog. I'll bet the youngsters on here learn the new stuff so much quicker.

Mike.

 

[audioguru]

I am an old dog in Cadada where inexpensive gasoline comes out of the ground and is not taxed to death.
I haven't been to the UK and Europe to see and smell the smoking stinking noisy tiny little diesel engines since about 43 years ago. The smoking stinking noisy tiny SMART car came to Canada, it is not made here (yet).

 

[Pommie]

Lol, you state in another thread that transistors were used hundreds of years ago and everyone now uses ICs and then state that diesels are (insert any derogatory term you can think of). You then state it's 43 years since you looked at one as they're not in Canada yet. What a small minded backward thinker you are. Obviously just living in the past. Wake up and smell, well, anything.

Mike.

 

[kchriste]

AudioGuru probably hasn't seen many diesels because he lives in eastern Canada where it's a lot colder in the winter. They plug their cars in to keep them warm with electric block heaters; even the gas powered ones. Diesels are harder to start in colder weather and the fuel tends to crystallize when very cold. The newer diesels with common rail injection tend to start better in the cold than the older ones did.
Out west here, in the banana belt as they say, you see quite a few diesel passenger cars such as the Golf TDI, SmartCar, etc. They are not as quiet as a gas engine car but not as bad as the classic rattling diesel of yesteryear.

 

[audioguru]

The school kid has a teacher that uses a very old circuit. I exaggerated "hundreds of years ago".

Canada has only a few smoking stinking noisy diesel cars as I have said many times.
I think Euopeans brought them when they came here.

It is true that I haven't seen, smelled and heard a modern diesel car because there aren't any here.
I also haven't seen any of the tiny little cars that are discussed in this thread except the SMART car.

I have never seen an ATV running. I have seen only a few Vespas.
I hear motorcycles but rarely see one.

 

[audioguru]

I have lived here for about 45 years and have never plugged in a car to keep it warm. My car spends nights outside all the time and always starts fine.

In winter it snows sometimes but is rarely very cold. The Great Lakes keep my area from the extreme cold as in the center of Canada. Go to Winnipeg to see cars plugged in.

When I lived in Hongcouver I never saw bananas grown. It rains too much with hardly any sunshine.

 

[3v0]

The European Honda Civic 2.2L iCDTi Turbo Diesel is a high MPG car. The MPG numbers I have seen so far vary but look at least as good as the Ford car I started the thread with.

Has anyone driven or seen this car?

**broken link removed**

 

[audioguru]

High end Honda cars in Canada are called Acura. Medium Honda cars are called Accord.
There are no tiny little diesel engines in Honda cars in Canada. They make many Honda cars here.