Diesel vehicles outside of the US.

sequoias

sequoias

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I've noticed that diesel vehicles are much more common outside the US, which is a fact. I'm sure many of you already know that.

Recently, my friend went to Costa Rica few weeks ago and he rented a Mitsubishi SUV with 4 cylinder diesel with 5 speed manual transmission. He said it has plenty of power and gets good gas mileage. The SUV is similar size to Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer or similar. Also lot of cabover minivans have diesels as well. It's ironic in some poorer countries worldwide have diesel vehicles but they are expensive to fix.
 
Because they're poor and we're not lol
 
sequoias said:
I've noticed that diesel vehicles are much more common outside the US, which is a fact. I'm sure many of you already know that.

Recently, my friend went to Costa Rica few weeks ago and he rented a Mitsubishi SUV with 4 cylinder diesel with 5 speed manual transmission. He said it has plenty of power and gets good gas mileage. The SUV is similar size to Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer or similar. Also lot of cabover minivans have diesels as well. It's ironic in some poorer countries worldwide have diesel vehicles but they are expensive to fix.
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Blame to CARB.
 
I hope one day, America will the first country to have all powerful electric vehicles. Take that, Europe!
 
Only in a dream, I highly doubt it will ever happen. I just read somewhere in CNN few weeks ago that all electric cars sales has declined.

PowerON said:
I hope one day, America will the first country to have all powerful electric vehicles. Take that, Europe!
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That s reason why there are so many diesel cars available in other countries that are not available in the United States. EPA has more stringent requirements than Europe does for controlling NOx (Nitric Oxide, the key compound that produces smog).
 
The Highlander said:
Blame to CARB.
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Maybe, Too many diesel powered trucks on the US roads and limit to the import diesel powered vehicles. Like what OP mentioned that lot of diesel powered vehicles in Costa Rica is cuz there are few commercial trucks in small country, or maybe cheap diesel price. Just say.
 
deafsmogtech said:
Maybe, Too many diesel powered trucks on the US roads and limit to the import diesel powered vehicles. Like what OP mentioned that lot of diesel powered vehicles in Costa Rica is cuz there are few commercial trucks in small country, or maybe cheap diesel price. Just say.
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Yes, diesel is about 10% cheaper than regular gas in Costa Rica.
 
diehardbiker said:
Only in a dream, I highly doubt it will ever happen. I just read somewhere in CNN few weeks ago that all electric cars sales has declined.
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It's declining in UK, which you were referring to. Of course, diesel vehicles are popular over there. Almost every brand of them have diesel version of the engines even the Honda Accords and Civics.
 
If I was doing a lot of long distance driving, I would get a diesel car/small truck for a good mileage. But the diesel car/truck is too expensive to buy in Australia/New Zealand.
 
~SG~ said:
If I was doing a lot of long distance driving, I would get a diesel car/small truck for a good mileage. But the diesel car/truck is too expensive to buy in Australia/New Zealand.
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Interesting. Maybe it's expensive over there and cheaper in other countries? Who knows.
 
If manufacturers want to sell diesel engines in cars here, they have to meet EPA's regulation, and it costs a lot of money to modify them.

Really, American consumers in general think diesels are noisy, smelly, and loud. (Diesels make a loud knocking sound at idle, cannot be controlled). If the general population demands diesels, and there is a good market, we probably would get more diesels. Subaru was in the middle of preparing to put them in their Outbacks in 2008, but when gas prices dropped, they pulled the plug. I was disappointed.

Keep in mind that diesel engines cost more to make than gasoline engines. Today's small cars get close to 40MPG, and diesels are just a little bit more, but the average automobile diesel engine costs $2000-$4000 more, so the cost savings is not that different.

Plus, diesel engines have a powerful fuel pump that injects fuel in the combustion chamber (VW's TDI is rated at 2200psi), and the fuel needs to be heated, so they require bigger alternators. Big batteries are needed too.
 
sequoias said:
Interesting. Maybe it's expensive over there and cheaper in other countries? Who knows.
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Here in the US, diesel fuel is also known as #2 Fuel Oil. The only difference is the red dye in #2. High taxes are paid on automotive diesel, so to prevent fraud, red dye is required. If authorities happen to see a diesel car or truck leaking red fuel, immediate fines can be thousands.

#2 Fuel Oil is used for oil-burning furnaces, so our demand for it is high, which drives prices up.

It is kind of stupid, considering it takes more energy to make gasoline than it takes to make diesel.
 
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