40 mpg Prius vs 50 mpg European Diesel cars - Page 17

 
Still dont see it, my friend has a commonrail TD and gets 45 doing city
driving, which is still above a hybrid?


Would be harder than with a petrol - re-starting a diesel requires far more
cranking torque, so you'd need more powerful motors and its likely to cause
a jerk, unlike a petrol car that can smoothly be 'bumped' as its low
compression.

J

  "my friend has a commonrail TD and gets 45 doing city driving"

interesting, what make model car is that?

 
We get mid/upper 40s in our hybrid around this hilly mountain town even with
short trips and cold weather. In Phoenix it is consistently over 50 mpg in
town, running A/C in a car that carries 5 adults easily and has what is
effectively a perfectly smooth automatic transmission. Sitting at lights it
is dead quiet most of the time and on the road it's still on the quiet side
of average. In all states in the US it has the SULEV emissions rating. The
merging capability is better than any of our other cars, including our 1985
turbo Volvo (gotta hate that turbo lag!) Ours is the older, less efficient
version - and represents a technology in its infancy.

I give diesel its due: it has undeniable advantages as an auto fuel.

Mike

 

No, it would be done the way the Prius does it: spin the engine up to
speed before applying compression (that is, hold the valves open) and
fuel.

 richard schumacher wrote:


So it has valve lifters.  Is the only reason this is not done on regular
engines the extra complexity?


--
http://www.petezilla.co.uk