As for fuel economy: check out this article from 2006 showing the European diesels with the best fuel economy. At the top is the Audi A2 diesel, with a whopping 65 mpg city, 87 mpg highway.

Five Diesels from Europe that will out-eco a Prius

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2008/db20080321_748642.htm?campaign_id=yhoo

< By comparison, Edmunds.com estimates that Mercedes' E320 Bluetec diesel, which goes for about $1,400 more than the similarly powerful gas-fired E350, will pay for itself in less than 24 months. Over five years, the diesel costs about $2,500 less to own than its gas-powered twin.

This comes as a shock to some hybrid buyers. "Some consumers have unrealistic expectations of hybrids," says Omotoso. In surveys, J.D. Power found that consumers on average expect to get an 18.5-mpg improvement in fuel economy and to pay about $2,500 extra for a hybrid. In reality, they'll pay a premium closer to $5,000 and get improvement of about 9 mpg, he says. >

I suppose we could convince Jimmah Cahtah to get back into growing peanuts for oil.

Hybrids rule the roast in city driving…

Diesels rule the roast in highway driving…

Hybrid diesels would be the best of both worlds…

and the big 2.8 need something to stomp on the Prius with?

Hmmm…

And on a 2nd note, diesels are not for everyone, but should we not at least be giving the option of driving one other than a VW? I personally would LOVE a Ford Ranger that got 30 mpg and could tow an elephant!

And the Prius is faster than the 520d, what’s your point? Let’s also not forget the Prius is more refined. The 520d cannot beat the Prius when it’s running in electric mode, and it definitely cannot beat the Prius is city driving or in traffic.

This can be argued about all day long, but the fact is the Prius has more advantages over the 520d. The 520d is also a lot more expensive than the Prius, and the 520d is not available in North America.

I don’t see this as a zero sum game. I think choices in efficient vehicles would be great to see. There are instances where hybrids excel and others where diesel is the smarter choice.

I’d love to see more diversity in efficient small engines available in the US and less pushing of ethanol as some imaginary savior.

The hybrid has the advantage in town b/c of the option to run on electric only. On the highway the diesel has the advantage. Then add in the fact that the diesel makes tons more torque and can out accelerate the Prius even though the Prius is 450lbs lighter.

Want to tickle your brain – what if the Prius was a diesel hybrid. Why do locomotives use diesel engines for their generators rather than petrol?

When I hear “I see lots of yada, yada, yada” that’s the end all conversation ender – your observations mean little to me – those who dislike something are very predisposed to see what they dislike.

I do not think it is any longer fair to say that diesels will last longer than gasoline vehicles. The engine may be inherently more durable, but the quality of all vehicles has gone up to make that negligible.

A BMW 520d does not get better gas mileage than a Prius, unless the test is geared to it, such as a test where more than 3/4s of it is highway at speeds of 75mph.

The environmental cost of all those nickel batteries is way too overexaggerated. The nickel used in them is less than the nickel components in many other auto parts, and a lucrative recycling program exists.

The lower CO2 due to higher mpg is largely offset by higher CO2 in production.

ULSD, Urea, et al are adding to the costs of diesel fuel and engines, making the premiums close to what hybrid premiums are, and yet they still only meet T2B5, not coming close to the hybrid SULEVs and PZEVs.

The best examples out there now are the new MBZ diesel utes, which get 17/23 and 18/24, slightly slower 0-60 than their gasoline counterparts, barely pass T2B5. After all the cleaner diesel hype, this is what we get. Big thrill.

And I think that is the problem…there’s probably thousands of diesels on the road around you that you’d never notice b/c they aren’t an F250 soot belcher or a semi.

Nope. I see stinky Volvos and MBs. I’ve even seen a stinky TDI or two. But what I have yet to see is a huge fleet of non-stinky diesels, and, yes, I know what to look for.

As for the 520d beating the Prius – it was a completely rigged test (extremely high-speed highway driving with no urban driving at all). More realistic scenarios have the Prius beating it quite easily.

Well I’m not here to convince someones (seemingly biased) opinion just stating the facts. Heck I’m a amateur SCCA & NASA racecar driver and love my petrol engines and prefer them for racing and owning over diesels. But times have changed and with Honda/BMW/Audi/VW/Benz making some of the worlds best diesel engines to date – that biased stinky smelly viewpoint is no longer relevant unless all you consider are trucks. And I think that is the problem…there’s probably thousands of diesels on the road around you that you’d never notice b/c they aren’t an F250 soot belcher or a semi.

Diesels are making a comeback in the US – it is faster/cheaper and easier for the US to promote them b/c the entire framework is already in place – they get more mpg than gas and equal many a hybrid w/o the $2k / $3k hybrid drivetrain (if you’d made hybrid to a diesel you’d get even better mileage than the gas/hybrid) – there’s bio diesel which is waste to most people and clogs our sewers but can now be used by others besides hippies – diesel fuel is cheaper to produce and is artificially high b/c of taxes and lack of production in the US – and technology has finally catching up to diesels to have clean emissions (the only reason is that US allows such big loop holes for diesels for transportation).

Better mileage, check 502d > Prius

Better emissions, check (yep boys and girls, do some home work here, while diesels produce more heavy particulates, aka soot, they produce fewer green house gases)

Longer service life, check

Run on bio-diesel, vegtable oil, vodka, etc. check

But I’m sure all the naysayers are right.

The other reason to be skeptical of diesel: it apparently causes brain damage.

A few simple misconceptions:

Ever seen a gas powered old clunker that was noisy and didn’t run well. ALL poorly maintained vehicles are noisy and dirty.

Diesel actually emits LESS green house gas than gasoline, period. Diesel combustion does produce more heavy particulates (soot), but modern system are all but eliminating that as well.

To misquote Max Bob, Ethanol-is-a-crock-of… For the simple fact that in real world studies vehicles get significantly reduced mileage when burning Crisco.

This is like the old riddle, what’s heavier a pound of feathers or a pound of rocks. Whether simple minded do-gooders’ realize it or not, a 520D gets better gas mileage than a Prius. Therefore, it is better for the environment than a Prius. Never mind the enviromental impact of a 400 pound ni-hd battery at the end of the life cycle.

Please, please, please would everybody stop talking about Olds diesels from the 70’s. The whole problem with that lump was that GM tried to strengthen an existing gas-engine block to save money. Ka-blammo!

Finally, Bio-diesel, need a diesel, veggie oil from the local McD’s, need a diesel, hell you can run a diesel on anything. Never mind that the fact that it will last twice as long as a comparable gas engine.

All the thousands of trucking companies across great USofA must have the whole total cost of operation wrong. Yeah, that’s it.

Diesel is the answer. A diesel 5-series gets better gas mileage than a Prius.

The problem is our governments deep hatred for diesel. They would much rather you use MORE GAS…as long as it is made from corn.

Take the Ford Escape Hybrid for example. That “SUV” can only tow 1000 pounds. Thats it. So, if I want to pull two PWCs or a 16′ fishing boat, I am SOL…but I am getting good gas mileage. Now, with a diesel Jeep Liberty, I can tow up to 5000 pounds and still get 35 MPG on the highway.

With the puny Escape Hybrid, I am forced to buy another vehicle to tow my tows…but with the Libery Diesel…all I need is one.

VW, BMW, Mercedes, et al sell cars with TDI diesel engine almost worldwide. The low end torque allows a small displacement to have good pulling power at low rpm. The low end grunt allows the driver to cruise at lower revs and save fuel provided that engine is coupled to decent transmission.

I said almost worldwide, because Congress allows the Republic of California and states like New York to set the regulatory environment.

Congress could change that and have the Federal EPA set one standard. This would give the domestic auto industry some breathing room, if they’ll use it, on the approaching efficiency regs. Are they still referred them as CAFE?

Now the South Korean head honcho is saying no, it’s hybrids. And fuel cells down the road.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/24/hyundai-to-go-hi-tech-with-hybrids-and-fuel-cells/