Short Commute and Diesel

[capngrouch]

Sorry, did not mean to offend anyone. One of my weekends can see more travel miles than 2 weeks of daily commute.

I would love to be somewhere I can take public transportation to work, but here in Texas, the SUV culture and Toll roads rule.

Not to change the subject, but I am all for being green, but why does it cost so much more? Example: went to buy aluminum pan at grocery store and noticed recycled aluminum pan for sale. The recylced version was .80 cents more than the virgin pan.

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by JCL

Vehicles like the diesel X5 are getting lots of attention right now. But they are reported by the US federal government to consume more barrels of oil at the wellhead (due to diesel fuel production issues) than their gasoline counterparts.

Does this take into account the relative on-road consumption of diesel vs petrol X5s?

Wholly agree that supplying a wealthy market (ie, North America) with cheap fuel is a recipe for misuse and potentially disaster but I'd prefer, and feel better about, driving something like an X3 20d rather than something like an Lexus RX400h, anyday. A petrol-electric hybrid from Toyota etc creates more enviro problems than it solves.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Fraser

Does this take into account the relative on-road consumption of diesel vs petrol X5s?

Wholly agree that supplying a wealthy market (ie, North America) with cheap fuel is a recipe for misuse and potentially disaster but I'd prefer, and feel better about, driving something like an X3 20d rather than something like an Lexus RX400h, anyday. A petrol-electric hybrid from Toyota etc creates more enviro problems than it solves.

Yes, it takes into account the on-road consumption (which is shown in the same report).

I agree that the 20d makes a lot of sense in a vehicle like the X3. The problem I see is that diesels are seen by some as a cure-all that will allow us to keep buying large, heavy, inefficient vehicles when in fact we need to address the problem on all fronts, with more efficient engines, lighter vehicles, and less driving.

[StumpyPete]

The pan probably had a BMW logo on it!

[motordavid]

capngrouch,
No offense taken, and I reiterate that the CarJones is insidious, but pleasing, and few of us can avoid it,
or else we would all be on the tree hugger, econo box boards.

I have a friend that drives his Turbo PCar a few miles every day to our golf course; I don't really have any
legit rationale on what one should buy for whatever reason...
just felt that that car, for a short daily commute, was sort of like a nuclear powered chain saw for trimming
branches around the yard. Drive what one wants. The oil clock is ticking, but other than price/cost, it will probably
still be ticking for a couple more decades. I won't much "care", at that time, I suppose...
GL, mD

[admranger]

Originally Posted by motordavid

capngrouch,
No offense taken, and I reiterate that the CarJones is insidious, but pleasing, and few of us can avoid it,
or else we would all be on the tree hugger, econo box boards.

I have a friend that drives his Turbo PCar a few miles every day to our golf course; I don't really have any
legit rationale on what one should buy for whatever reason...
just felt that that car, for a short daily commute, was sort of like a nuclear powered chain saw for trimming
branches around the yard. Drive what one wants. The oil clock is ticking, but other than price/cost, it will probably
still be ticking for a couple more decades. I won't much "care", at that time, I suppose...
GL, mD

I so want one of these, and I currently live in an apartment building!