Check this out:
Honda's new diesel engine

Note that Honda has been offering diesel engines in their european cars, but the engines were of Isuzu origins.

 

I hope, for the sake of all US Honda enthusiast's sanity, for Honda not to bring this diesel engine to the US.

Send in your petitions now for a preemptive strike!!!

 

I'd be very surprised about that. It is too impopular here to have a near futur in NA.

 

If they did, it would be great for a "truck". It would certainly end all the hillbilly remarks about "torqueless" Hondas. Oh and it would do a good dent to VeeDubya.

 

The European market is amazingly receptive to modern Diesel cars. Nowadays, Diesels are not smelly or smokey--as long as the car is properly maintained. Across the board, nearly all makes offer Diesels. Brands that were not available in Diesels have suffered.

 

You have heard that one of the reason diesels are popular in europe (home of the four dollar gallon of gasoline) is that in order to protect the trucking industry, diesel fuel isn't taxed anywhere near as heavily as gasoline is?

Or that US particulate laws are already way stricter than anything in europe? That diesel Honda is offering might not even meet US emissions laws.

Just two nuggets I recently ran into... :-)

 

Makes a whole lot of sense. Teamsters look like a bunch of fags when they get compared with european truckers; they can block out refineries for as long as they don't get what they want. I saw that happen, with all the people rushing to get gas before none was left.

 

European diesels are amazing and I can't wait to get something comparable here.

BMW has one that pushes almost 400 lb-ft of torque and still gets 40 mpg. VW has 150 hp/300 lb-ft model that will push a Passat, Jetta or Golf about as fast as a TSX, gets 50 mpg, and has a top gear pass from 50-70 mph of about 7 seconds. Weeeeeeeeeee!

 

There is *NO WAY* that a 150HP diesel engine is going to propel a car as fast as a 200HP engine. On a Passat, I'd say you can expect 9 second 0-60 runs. On a Jetta or Golf, I'd say 8 seconds is possible, but both of those cars are significantly lighter than the TSX.

 

Well, I did say "about" as fast, and you'd be surprised what 300 lb-ft of torque will do. Acceleration is about "area under curve" and these cars have have flat horsepower curves and inverted torque curves (very high at low RPM). You're correct that the Passat is hair slower but the Jetta easily clocked in 8 second 0-60 times. The street start times are actually faster as the low end-torque makes it difficult to launch these cars without excessive wheel spin.

All 3 cars will go 135-ish mph, about the same as TSX.

 

Slap in a good clutch, equivalent or better tires than the TSX, and get rid of the infamous VW shifters, and I'm pretty sure you're in for a good ride in a Jetta TDI 150. I wouldn't be surprised if it followed the TSX, especially when up to speed.

 

a key thing we are forgetting here is diesels tend to rev alot slower than gas powered motors. Yes it's about area under teh curve but also about how fast that is applied to the ground.