Joseph Grant wrote:
> I was surprised to see a vast amount of diesel powered vehicles. Ditto for
> city streets, either in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, etc.
Small high speed diesels in cars have been popular in Europe for decades,
accounting for substantial
percentages in new car sales. Longevity and fuel economy are the key features
that endear them to
many, while the cost of fuel in many European countries is significantly lower
than gasoline. I've
run several diesel cars myself and my last one was a 1.9 litre Citroen Xantia
with a turbocharger as
stock. With this car, I regularly achieved nearly 50mpg on mixed driving and
with no loss of
performance in high speed driving. The days when small diesels were a pain to
use because of their
noise, vibration and exhaust smell are over. They are quiet, amazingly smooth,
very responsive with
truckloads of torque at very low rpm and supremely reliable. I suppose the only
downside I can think
of is the clatter on a cold start. Sounds rather like fire-irons being thrown
down a metal staircase
but that's a very small price to pay for the incredible economy, relaibility
and driving pleasure
that they offer. Were Triumphs still being made, there is no doubt a range of
diesels would feature
prominently in the product offering, bearing in mind that sports cars were only
a small proportion
of the company's total output.
Jonmac
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