BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

While doing some car research (an activity my wife claims never stops) I stumbled upon this site. It apparently is for Honda in the UK and I found some interesting cars. A cool 5-door Civic that looks like a 3-door and some other great features. With a diesel option engine that gets 50+ mpg! A Honda Accord with a diesel engine that gets 50+ mpg!

Could some of our British brethern tell me if these cars are as cool as they appear? And could someone please explain to me why I don't have the option to buy a 50 mpg Accord? I would get either of those cars in a heartbeat to do my part to reduce Global Warming! (Please, no comments on that last remark so this thread doesn't end up in the Playhouse)

http://www.honda.co.uk/car/

Caution, the site is very graphic laden and is slow but it has a lot of good info.

From: http://research.cars.com/go/crp/researc ... logtype=18

Car pollution, also called emissions, includes stuff like nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, both of which are in high concentrations in diesel exhaust. Their contribution to smog is why diesel car sales are outlawed in California and a few restrictive Northeastern states.

Overseas, low-sulfur fuel and additional onboard pollution controls make diesel cars dramatically cleaner. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring the phase-in of this cleaner fuel starting in June 2006, after which any new, properly equipped diesel that burns it will meet stringent new standards.

Thanks NoRRmad - I knew your finely tuned net research skills would come in handy. I knew a cleaner diesel standard was coming but didn't know the particulars.

That must be why my local BMW rider/VW salesman said VW was not bringing in more TDI Jettas for a while. Perhaps when the new diesel standards take effect, we can get some of those cars.

Still doesn't explain why the petrol version of that Civic isn't here. I read on a Honda forum it was because the Japanese don't like us!

wncbmw wrote:Thanks NoRRmad - I knew your finely tuned net research skills would come in handy. I knew a cleaner diesel standard was coming but didn't know the particulars.

That must be why my local BMW rider/VW salesman said VW was not bringing in more TDI Jettas for a while. Perhaps when the new diesel standards take effect, we can get some of those cars.

Still doesn't explain why the petrol version of that Civic isn't here. I read on a Honda forum it was because the Japanese don't like us!

I read that the Beetle TDI was getting 48 mpg in some real world applications. That is getting close to or exceeding the fuel efficiency of some of the hybrid cars. I would rather have a diesel than a hybrid.

The folks at Honda should like us, since we buy a bunch of their product. If they don't like us I will go up to the manufacturing plant in Marysville, OH and protest.

I used to have an '02 Golf diesel and loved it. Never took it on a long trip (I wanted to though, to see what great mileage I got) but around town driving we consistently got 44mpg, average per tank.

I was talking at a VW dealer about a month ago and yes, they are not bringing any more TDI's inot the US for model year 2007, and starting in 2008 they will have completely re-designed the diesel line, bringing them up to higher standards. I can't wait!

Diesels last longer than gas engines. All else being equal, hybrids with their increased complexity will mean less reliability compared to just straight gas engine powertrains as they age.

I too would rather have a diesel.

I would love to buy a Honda Element..they sell well in the US..but you can't buy one in the UK or Oz......Bugger!

DJ

DJ - when my Subaru station wagon dies, hopefully not for a while, I am thinking about an Element with 4WD. Fold the seats back and use it like a truck. And it looks funky too!

wncbmw wrote:DJ - when my Subaru station wagon dies, hopefully not for a while, I am thinking about an Element with 4WD. Fold the seats back and use it like a truck. And it looks funky too!

I have a 2004 Element, fun ride!

R4R&R wrote:I used to have an '02 Golf diesel and loved it. Never took it on a long trip (I wanted to though, to see what great mileage I got) but around town driving we consistently got 44mpg, average per tank.

I was talking at a VW dealer about a month ago and yes, they are not bringing any more TDI's inot the US for model year 2007, and starting in 2008 they will have completely re-designed the diesel line, bringing them up to higher standards. I can't wait!

Here's a link to a site which might give you interesting reading until the new Diesel's arrive...

http://www.tdiclub.com/

In over 20 years of owning Mercedes Benz Diesel powered cars, (21 gallon fuel tank) I NEVER had a problem with finding Diesel fuel.

54

I honestly think that Diesel fuel is the way of the future. My brother got me into diesels and it just makes sense. They get great milage and can last years if maintained.

I did a research paper on alternative fuels last year in college, diesel was my main focus. If you want more power out of your engine all you need to do is add more air and increase exhaust evacuation. Besides all of these things, hybrids are too problematic and very expensive to fix.

Did anyone see how Audi spanked the field with their diesel powered race car?!

wncbmw wrote:Thanks NoRRmad - I knew your finely tuned net research skills would come in handy. I knew a cleaner diesel standard was coming but didn't know the particulars.

That must be why my local BMW rider/VW salesman said VW was not bringing in more TDI Jettas for a while. Perhaps when the new diesel standards take effect, we can get some of those cars.

Still doesn't explain why the petrol version of that Civic isn't here. I read on a Honda forum it was because the Japanese don't like us!

I was seriously thinking of the TDI Jetta, but it's made in Mexico. No thanks. I'm sure it's a good car, but being made in Mexico, not interested. Call it bias, just don't think the Mexican Auto industry is up to my standards. I think that the Passat though is still made in Germany, though I could be wrong.

I also like the Bimmer 330i, but it's made in the US...agian no thanks. If I wanted a North American built car I'd buy a Chevy, at least I wouldn't be surprised with unscheduled maintnance. I've owned a lot of cars, both from J A Pan and the US (read: Canada / US), hands down, Jap car far superior, IMHO. I've also been reading reviews of the US built bimmers...not doing well, and actually the Jetta is having some issues as well. Point made. For me anyways.
I always thought that having the Bimmer made in the US, but not a UAW plant would help with quality. Going to have re think that. Canada also has quality issues, the Honda Accord is made up here and I've been hearing rumblings from owners having issues with these Canadian built Honda's. I dunno, all the Jap cars I had came from japan and have been top notch. My North American built cars on the other hand.... never again.

I have a theory that I live by when it comes to cars:

If you're only planning on leasing the car then dumping at the end of your lease term, get a domestic no sense wasting good money on a quality car like Toyota (read: made in Japan, Toyota also has plants in Canada and the US). If however you intend to keep the car, go with the import.
The premium you will pay up front more then covers the agrevation of dealing with a shop because your goddam Ford Explorer is such a piece of #$it that in three years of lease ownership, and 150,000 Km's it needs $9,400 in unscheduled out of warrenty (warrenty expired at 60,000Km's) repairs. Never, never again. When I see Made with pride ... UAW on a car, I walk away. BTW, this is not an anti US, or Canada rant just against poor quality. As soon as Ford and GM somehow manages to get rid of the UAW / CAW, provide a better warrenty, and Consumer Reports to affirm the improvments; not interested.

Now, where is my goddam Heineken

Actually, I'm in a lot of pain right now, so I'm kinda typing with a wee bit of: "being pissed off, with the pain".

Osiris wrote:I honestly think that Diesel fuel is the way of the future. My brother got me into diesels and it just makes sense. They get great milage and can last years if maintained.

I did a research paper on alternative fuels last year in college, diesel was my main focus. If you want more power out of your engine all you need to do is add more air and increase exhaust evacuation. Besides all of these things, hybrids are too problematic and very expensive to fix.

Did anyone see how Audi spanked the field with their diesel powered race car?!

Good gawd man, I too did my paper on Alternative Fuel sources, though my focus was Hydrogen Fuel, not Diesel. Bio-Diesel sounds like an interesting topic as well, though I never looked into it at least nothing more then cursery.

Talking to a guy tonight who owns a restaurant and got a conversion done to his diesel van. He now run it on filtered, used, vegetable oil from his restaurant's deep fryers.

He has not purchased a full tank of diesel in 10 months.

sjbmw wrote:Talking to a guy tonight who owns a restaurant and got a conversion done to his diesel van. He now run it on filtered, used, vegetable oil from his restaurant's deep fryers.

He has not purchased a full tank of diesel in 10 months.

I've heard of this as well, I think the system is about $1000 to convert your diesel engine to run on french fry oil. Basically you start the car, truck with conventional diesel, then when the engine is warm, you through a switch and start running on the vegetable oil. Only problem that some people complain about is the exhust smell...if you get the oil from a Chinese Restaurant, your cars exhast will smell like Chinese food...I guess that means you'll be starving everywhere you go.

Doing some quick web searches, I think I will wait on another car until the 2008 models come out. With the increased (decreased? ) emmision standard and the upgrading of diesel fuel to the cleaner version here by '07, it appears some manufacturers may bring out some cool new diesel models in a year or so. Maybe we will see that diesel Civic and Accord after all!