On December 27, 2004 I purchased a 2005 VW Jetta Wagon GLS TDI (e.g. turbo diesel), and I have been very pleased with it. The diesel engine has come a long way over the last 20 years, and no longer make any more noise, or smelly fumes than the gasoline engine. I like the diesel engine because it is a commercial grade engine. With proper maintenance the diesel engine will give three or four times more service life than the gasoline engine. Diesel engines produce allot of low end torque, so it gives plenty of power, even as it idles down the highway at speeds of 60 to 70 MPH. The diesel engine yields much more compression than the gasoline engine, so where a gasoline engine may have a compression ratio of 9 to 1, a diesel engine might have a compression ration between [19..25] to 1. The diesel engine doesn't use spark plugs. It uses a high pressure jet nozzle to spray a fine mist of diesel into the engine cylinders, and the high compression of the engine heats the air enough to explode the fine mist of diesel, no spark plugs needed.
Volkswagen in its ads states the tdi turbo diesel is rated at 38 mpg city and 47 mpg highway, but many of the VW crowd claim to get much better mileage. With a 14.5 gallon gas tank, many prudent drivers can expect to travel 600, 700, and even more miles on a single tank of diesel. I like the diesel because it give exceptional performance and economy, all in one package, and its fun to drive. Why go with a gasser, when you get 90% of the gasser's performance, while sacrificing little, if anything, in the way of performance?
About 1 in 4 petrol stations in the US offer diesel, so finding high quality diesel is not a problem. Remember, the US distribution system is based on eighteen wheelers, and 9 out of 10 eighteen wheelers on the highway are driving a diesel engine; because, the diesel engines is more commercial grade for heavy duty jobs, has a long life, and is nuch more efficient in using petrol fuel, than the gasoline engine.
Although the diesel is not mainstream in the US, in Europe over half of the new cars sold are diesels, probably because of the improvements made to the diesel engine over the past 20 years, and the much high price of petrol in Europe.
The VW TDI engine can be easily modified (know as mods around the VW forums) to greatly increase horse power and torque. For example, a simple $400 chip (eg VW computer board) can replace the from factory chip to boost horse power of the tdi from 100 HP to 140 HP, and torque from 177 lbs per square inche to around 250 lbs per square inche. Also, for around $900, anyone can have a turbo jet kit installed which give you a larger jet nozzle to run biodiesel or cooking oil. The larger nozzle is needed for biodiesel; because, the biodiesel is thicker than diesel and need more pressure to create the fine mist of spay to the engine cylinders. There is already many stations that offer biodiesel fuel, so you might check to see if there is one in your neighborhood.
Biodiesel is made from corn or other plants, and is completely safe to the environment, so it holds much promise for the US in cleaning up the environment, and weaning the US off of its dependence on foreign oil.
Here are some links for anyone interested in more information.
http://www.vw.com/http://forums.tdiclub.com/categories.phphttp://cars.about.com/cs/cleangreencars/a/vw_diesel_colin.htmhttp://www.vwvortex.com/http://www.rocketchip.com/http://forums.tdiclub.com/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB44Regards,
LelandJ
