I grew up on a farm and thus believe I have different perspective (could be wrong though). I’m a firm believer that a turbo diesel and diesels in your basic sedan application are better suited to an auto tranny. I love my manual vehicles (’00 Passat GLX V6 & ‘05 Suby Legacy GT Wagon) but the low redline/rpm of a diesel makes shifting almost laborious beyond enjoyment. And today’s autos can keep the diesel in it’s optimum hp/torque producing rpm better then a manual would. A lot of this has to do with keeping the turbo spooled up – shifting manual simply takes a bit longer then some of today’s autos, or a DSG (IMHO the holy grail), take. And ultimately this will affect your MPG which is what most of the diesel infatuation is about. My Old Man had a 1983 Pontiac 6000 diesel. This was the V6 that was designed as a diesel from the ground-up and not the disaster V8. The only problem he ever had was an o-ring going bad somewhere in the injector pump. It only had 85 hp (no idea on torque) but I could snap somebody’s head off at a stop light with the immediate torque. Anyway, the automatic made that vehicle and absolutely helped it get the great fuel mileage it had (you could get 40+ on the hwy).

As for Detroit not being interested in diesels somehow being an indicator of where the market is going? Let’s just go over a small # of things Detroit wasn’t “interested in”
-small cars
-four cyclinder engines
-anything more than a three speed automatic tranny
-anything more than a four-speed manual
-hybrids
-quality
-refinement
-variable valve timing
I could go on but it’s obvious where not being interested in these things has gotten them. Detroit got to the party late on nearly every advancement there has been in the last 35 years. Sure, Cadillac had the first electric starter but that doesn’t matter today.

With all that 2+ cents I can say that I’d be glad to purchase a Acura TSX with a diesel and an auto but even more so if it were a wagon with a DSG tranny.

I had to learn at 32, when I had to switch cars with my pregnant wife after she had a fender-bender in her old Civic hatch; and I was told I’d grow to love a stick; everybody does, after all.

Baloney. It was just awful having to keep shifting while stuck in stop&go traffic; and when in free-flow conditions, I lost the ability to have my arm on the window like I did in the AUTO convertible I had to switch out of.

Everyone is busy, but mostly with noise and nonsense. People chatting constantly on their cellphones but often with little of substance to say. Teens spending countless hours playing video games. Middle aged car nuts reading and writing on blogs (oops!).

I much prefer to drive a manual transmission car, but boy are they getting hard to find!

Years ago I tried to buy a Passat Diesel Manual Transmission Wagon … and was told that while they were available the dealer could only get one every three or four months. Crazy.

When hybrids came out their were a lot of naysayers including Detroit and we all know how that turned out, I wouldn’t use them as much of an indicator. And compared to a hybrid with a diesel you get to have great mileage and a really fun drive, and the added bonus is you can pack on the miles.

Around here there are a bunch of gas stations that sell diesel and some of them are brand new with nice clean pumps. The ones with nasty pumps, all the pumps are nasty including gas. When I had my 300TD I never had a problem finding a place to fill up even when I was in unfamiliar territory. And I know how to pump gas without getting it on myself, like using a urinal without peeing on your leg. And if you hands smell go wash them. If you don’t like them don’t buy them, more for the rest of us.

Sure, unless you want a stick and prefer to keep your cars forever. Then that auto-only and exceedingly complex hybrid cake doesn’t seem so tasty. Of course, Toyota is going to be far more successful selling disposable cars to the masses here than Honda and Subaru will be selling manual diesels built to last to Neanderthals like me. There’s no question about it.

Hybrids are a sort of “have your cake and eat it too” proposition. The convenience of gasoline with an electric motor around to stretch out your mileage even further. No need to suffer cramped tin can cars, dirty diesel pumps or reduced performance and, if you’re one of the many who own a Prius or similar, you get the “environmentally conscious” label to boot. It’s little wonder that Americans are far more receptive to those than they are to diesels. The fact that GM largely tainted the perception of the diesel engine with their abortive efforts helps none.

Three percent of the market for a typical car, on average, opts for manual transmissions. (We’re talkin’ Honda sedans here, not Boxsters.) So the vehicle manufacturer simply figures, “Our profit from selling 3,000 manual-transmission vehicles in the U.S. will be X. The cost to certify that powertrain will be X+. Tell me how hard this decision is?”

A Prius that get say 45 mpg uses electric motor get a percentage
of that MPG. While a diesel needs 100% of fuel to get say 55MPG.

In stop and go traffic the Prius can use the electric motor and not use any fuel! While a diesel has to use fuel regardless of how you drive.

A Prius can fill up at $30 while a diesel would cost $45-55 depending on location. In my area diesel is 30% more than regular.

Not to mention the cold weather issues with diesels.

A Gasoline powered 4 cyl Accord already gets very good gas mileage so truly what is the point of a low revving, stinking, funny sounding, slower, Accord that you needs to now “search” for fuel to fill it up?

The average Accord shopper will buy a Civic Hybrid, Camry Hybrid or a Prius before they go in for a Diesel Accord.

Diesels are cute but in the USA I think Toyota has already set a presidence with Hybrid technology that Americans will always consider cleaner and more conveinent than diesel (truck) fuel.

Notice none of the domestics appear to be very interested in jumping on the diesel band wagon but are willing to play the Hybrid game. I think with this matter they have a very good understanding of the American driver.

My wife would melt. When I replace my Ranger, the new whip will have an auto box. I’m tired of having something my wife can’t drive – she can’t use it when her car is being serviced. She can’t move it out of her way if I park behind her in the driveway. We can’t even trade vehicles for a day if there is some reason I need passenger space. I’m 51, been stiring my own gears for many years. I’m tired of it. Gas, diesel, hybrid, Mr. Fusion, whatever the power source, lack of an auto box would be a deal killer for me.

My son loves driving a stick, and I used to when I was his age. Now that I’ve gotten old and somewhat contrarian, I have to wonder what is so fun about a stick? I mean, in normal day to day traffic, moving a shift lever back and forth is about as much fun as operating a machine in a factory.

I agree that at current gas/diesel prices, the diesels won’t be big sellers, except among the biodiesel users (big here in Eugene), and diesel lovers. The economics just don’t pan out for most users, unless the manufacturers subsidize the incremental cost of the diesel engine to pump up their CAFE numbers, like MB is doing with their 320E CDI.

Sad story about the manual tranny…I can’t believe I have to give that up to get a Honda Diesel.

Why? Two reasons:

Diesel fuel costs more. For the same exact driving habits, diesel’s purported economic advantage is ALMOST a wash. Diesel fuel operating costs are not as low as most talking heads in the MSM say it is.

Yesterday, I pumped gasoline. The pump had both a diesel and gasoline filler hose. I actually had to stand some distance from my car while it gassed up to keep my clothes from saturating with the stench of diesel. (Needless to say, this gasoline retailer in my hometown has lost my business for good.) Is a 5% savings in fuel costs worth ruining your clothes and your home and your car’s interior with the stench of diesel?

What I want is a decent trade-off between size, performance, economy, and total operating costs. This is why I am partial to HONDA mid sized 5spd four banger sedans. Hybrids and diesels just do not cut it for me.

I predict that many of these buyers of new diesel vehicles will be sellers of these vehicles soon enough.

1. People are too busy. Adding the need to shift is just one more task to add to the smoking, telephoning, eating, drinking, TV watching, radio listening, makeup applying, and steering; and

2. it most cases it takes just one person in a household to refuse a stick shift to make every car in that driveway an automatic.

A diesel S2000? That’d be different, to say the very least, and maybe allow them to keep the platform around longer. They could call it the D2200, or S2200D.

I love manual transmissions. I will never buy a car equipped with a slushbox. Ever.

I love convertibles, especially 2 seat convertibles. If you have the balls to ship a 2 seat convertible with a Diesel, I’ll buy it.

–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org

We like gasoline engines, gasoline pumps are everywhere, we like that gasoline doesn’t add cost to the sticker of a new car, and we like that gasoline is cheaper than diesel.

We also like hybrids, and that might be the biggest hurdle diesel must face here above all.