Jim Dunmyer wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:
 >JD> the traditional objections and shortcomings of Diesel engines 
 >JD> are being overcome with newer technology,
 > 
 > What are those?
 JD> Excessive weight, hard starting when they're cold, noise, and 
 JD> smoking.
I can understand the smoking,  and the hard starting because you're dealing 
with a lot higher compression there,  but I don't understand why a diesel 
engine should be that much heavier,  nor why they're so darn noisy!
 JD> Many people forget that no technology is static unless/until 
 JD> it's abandoned altogether. There have been many engines 
 JD> proposed to eliminate the conventional gasoline-fueled piston 
 JD> engine. Turbines, steam, electric, and rotary come to mine. And 
 JD> while each offers their own advantages, they have 
 JD> disadvantages, too. Meanwhile, the technology for the old 
 JD> piston engine keeps evolving, making them better and better.
I kind of favor a hybrid approach myself,  and wouldn't mind trying one in 
one of my vehicles,  if I were a heck of a lot better at the engineering 
involved in the areas I'd need for something like that -- but I'm not that 
well versed in that stuff.
 JD> Many people look fondly upon the 'big iron' of the '60's, yet 
 JD> few would say that those engines were 'better' than today's 
 JD> stuff.
Well,  let me tell ya...   
I was at a service station once and they had a car there which was an early 
or mid-sixties GTO,  that belonged to some local radio station (that played a 
lot of "oldies" stuff).  I happened to glance at that car as the mechanic 
there raised the hood,  and it was a wonderful feeling -- to know *exactly* 
what I was looking at!  To be able to identify all of the parts,  and know 
what they were,  what they were in there for,  and to be able to get at 
stuff,  with lots of room.
What bugs me most about the newer stuff is that there is so much of it,  that 
there's very little help from the books and such that I've been able to get 
my hands on as to what's what,  and what it's for,  and how to figure stuff 
out when it breaks.  The vacuum lines on my '75 Dart (318) weren't too bad,  
and most of that came into play when the darn thing was warming up,  but 
didn't do much the rest of the time.  Much of the newer stuff I've had to 
deal with has been a real pain in the butt!
 JD> We have better reliability, longevity, economy, starting, and 
 JD> emissions than those antiques could even think of. 
Longevity?  Maybe.  Economy?  Well,  engines *have* gotten a lot better at 
producing a lot of power from a smaller engine,  but some of that is also due 
to how much smaller they've made the vehicles since back then,  and that's 
one aspect of it I *don't* care for at all,  mostly because of comfort,  and 
because I'm on the tall side.  Starting?  I guess.  Emissions?  Not a major 
issue with me,  and I wouldn't want to live someplace that it was,  like LA 
or wherever.  Reliability?  Not with the absurd component count that I see 
these days.  Diagnosis requires a whole lot more in the way of manuals and 
special tools,  working on the stuff takes a lot longer than it used to,  and 
also requires a lot more special tools,  parts cost more...
Me,  I'll stick with the old stuff as long as I can,  I think,  unless I get 
a *lot* better handle on the technology.
 JD> The only thing that today's piston engines lack in comparison 
 JD> is brute horsepower, and that's not because the technolgy is 
 JD> lacking.
Nope.
 JD> Same thing with Diesels: many people wrote them off because of 
 JD> the above-mentioned objections. Yet most of those can be 
 JD> overcome or at least minimized with better engineering. The new 
 JD> VW TDI (Turbo Direct Injection) engines are a good example. 
 JD> Quiet, easy starting, no smoke. And the Passatt gets over well 
 JD> 40 MPG in normal driving. If it holds up as well as my '91 
 JD> Jetta Diesel (213,000 miles and counting), it'll be a fine 
 JD> outfit. 
Funny,  but you're the second person to mention VW to me in the past day or 
so in echomail.  My brother is a VW nut,  mostly the water-cooled stuff,  and 
he's got several of them.  Gets different ones from time to time,  sells one 
from time to time,  etc.  He had one diesel rabbit that I can remember that 
had one *hell* of a rough idle,  shook the whole car.  I got to drive that 
one once,  not bad,  except for that vibration.
That's one thing you can say about those motors,  though,  is that you can 
get real good gas mileage from them.  I know of one guy who had one put in 
his RV, cost a lot more than the regular gas engine,  but he sure made it up 
in terms of not having to put that in the tank as often.
email: roy.j.tellason%tanstaaf@frackit.com 
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