Diesel

[pschijven]

Do you think that there will be a mini with Diesel engine in the near future?

[smiffy]

simple answer: yes & the engine will be supplied by toyota?

[pschijven]

Quote:

On 11-10-2001 18:21 smiffy wrote:
simple answer: yes & the engine will be supplied by toyota?

Do you know when the Diesel Mini will come out?

Do you know the specs of this engine?

De garoeten (Greetings),
Peter

[STWB]

ik ben een diesel-fanaat, lekker veel koppel, liefst nog een automatische versnellingsbak en CRUISEN

maar een MINI, diesel

NO WAY
een mini is een kart, om door de smalle straatjes van het stadscentrum te racen, dus heb je de snelle reactie van een benzine-motor nodig,
geen dieseltje,
vergeet ook niet :
dieselmotoren verbruiken de eerste 5km MEER dan een benzine motor (ivm koude motor) en in België is de taks ook hoger,
dieselmotoren wegen meestal ook meer, en de mini heeft al veel gewicht op de vooras (ik dacht 67/33)

CooperS is me te magertjes, wacht wel op Works of Alpina

[smiffy]

[quote]On 17-10-2001 17:38 STWB wrote:
ik ben een diesel-fanaat, lekker veel koppel, liefst nog een automatische versnellingsbak en CRUISEN

maar een MINI, diesel

NO WAY
een mini is een kart, om door de smalle straatjes van het stadscentrum te racen, dus heb je de snelle reactie van een benzine-motor nodig,
geen dieseltje,
vergeet ook niet :
dieselmotoren verbruiken de eerste 5km MEER dan een benzine motor (ivm koude motor) en in België is de taks ook hoger,
dieselmotoren wegen meestal ook meer, en de mini heeft al veel gewicht op de vooras (ik dacht 67/33)

CooperS is me te magertjes, wacht wel op Works of Alpina
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YEAH I THOUGHT THAT TOO! 8D 8D 8D 8D 8D 8D

[pschijven]

Alleen er even rekening mee houden dat ik totaal verliefd ben op de nieuwe MINI. Tevens rijd ik zo\'n 55.000 km per jaar, dus reken eens uit hoeveel het mij scheelt om Diesel of Benzine te rijden.

Dus : DIESEL YES YES YES YES.

Het is maar dat je het weet. BWM denkt er trouwens serieus over na om een Diesel MINI op de markt te brengen.

[pschijven]

This guy told us dat Diesel MINI is no option for him.

I told him that I hope that a Diesel MINI will be available, because i drive 55.000 km a year.

[edlfrey]

Quote:

Originally posted by pschijven
Do you know when the Diesel Mini will come out?
Do you know the specs of this engine?

Not a complete answer but an update from a review about the Toyota Yaris in Auto Express.

"Enter the 66mpg Toyota Yaris D-4D. With a new engine which will also power the MINI from next year, the diesel is the firm's most economical car, out-sipping even the Prius.The peak torque of 170Nm is realised at only 2,000rpm,... Power output is modest at 74bhp, but thanks to that torque the car feels perfectly adequate, with respectable acceleration and competent cruising abilities....the block is crafted entirely from aluminium, making it one of the lightest diesels on the market."

[CooperCrush]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by edlfrey
Europe will see it next year but the US is years away from having a MINI Diesel! I wish that were not so but it looks like 3 to 5 years at least IMO.
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What makes you say that, edlfrey? Are you basing your opinion on information from MINI, or does it have to do with the poor quality of diesel fuel sold in the U.S.... or something else altogether?

- Jeff

[m ben]

there are several reasons that there are not more diesel cars for sale here in the US.

1) demand - overall, our fuel prices are still quite low and there is consequently not a large demand for high mileage cars. at most of the stations I see diesel is also not much cheaper than base-grade regular gasoline, which means a diesel would only have improved fuel economy to offer, which the US consumer has generally shown is not a purchase priority.

2) diesel fuel supplied here in the US (primarily for commercial vehicles) has a much higher sulfur content than fuels in Europe, making it difficult to get a car to pass the stricter emissions standards we have. apparently most of the particulate emissions concerns have been overcome, it's just the sulfur-related stuff. making low-sulfur diesel the standard would add significant cost to the bottom line for millions of truckers who at this point are probably a much stronger lobbying force than the few of us who would drive diesel cars.

3) a perceived stigma associated with diesel - stinky, black smoke, clattery engines & the (in some areas, I don't see it where I live) apparent lack of lots of stations stocking it.

4) cost of certification of a unique powertrain for the US market with very low volume. generically the cost for an automaker to certify a unique drivetrain for sale in the US is around $1,000,000. this is hard to justify if you're only going to sell a small volume like MINI would if they sold the Toyota-sourced 1.4l here.

the only diesel cars for sale in the US now are the Golf/Jetta/Beetle TDi's which have been very successful here in their limited market niche.

Mercedes Benz will re-introduce a diesel E-class with the new generation of the E this fall. the current generation does not offer a diesel in the US, but the prior one did & M-B has stated that their previous diesel customers wanted it, so they are bringing it back.

personally I would love to have more diesels available here, esp some of the extremely efficient ones like the "3 liter" VW Lupo or the very powerful ones like the BMW 3 & 4 liters. I suspect the diesel Mini would also be a lot of fun.



Ben

[CooperCrush]

Well, I'm pretty familiar with the reasons why diesels aren't as prevalent here in the States as they are in Europe, Ben -- although you covered them rather succinctly, thanks -- but I'm still wondering why edlfrey made the declarative statement, "Europe will see it next year but the US is years away from having a MINI Diesel!"

If that's his opinion, so be it; but phrasing it as such suggests that he was basing his remark on some known, objective fact (i.e., BMW's/MINI's decision regarding entry into the US market with diesels) rather than just shooting from the hip... which is why I'm still asking, what makes you say that, edlfrey?

(Hmmm... I'll e-mail him directly, since I can, and since that's really why I brought this up... )

Thanks again,
- Jeff

[CooperCrush]

Incidentally, Ben, I'm surprised to hear that M-B has announced that they're re-introducing a diesel model in the U.S. for next year, because I remember that in the 1999 press release in which they announced the withdrawal of the diesel-powered E300 from the U.S. market, they said that they were taking that action not because of a lack of consumer interest, but because they had determined that they could no longer guarantee the successful long-term operation of their (highly sophisticated) turbodiesel powerplant running on (woefully impure) U.S.-spec. diesel fuel. (I remember this because it was shocking to me that our diesel fuel standards were so loathsome that we were, in effect, driving from our shores a truly progressive powerplant engineered by one of the planet's most acclaimed manufacturers!)

Given the lack of progress since then in terms of U.S. diesel fuel quality, I'm surprised -- but heartened -- to hear that M-B is willing to give it another go.

- Jeff

[edlfrey]

Quote:

Originally posted by CooperCrush
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by edlfrey
Europe will see it next year but the US is years away from having a MINI Diesel! I wish that were not so but it looks like 3 to 5 years at least IMO.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What makes you say that, edlfrey? Are you basing your opinion on information from MINI, or does it have to do with the poor quality of diesel fuel sold in the U.S.... or something else altogether?

- Jeff

My declarative statement that is quoted above has been removed from the original posting. I have no factual basis for making such a statement! Thank you for pointing out my posting error; I'm sorry if this has misled anyone!