Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Diesel focus?

I was reading through the the new motor trend last week and it had an article about a focus they are going to bring from europe were it has been very successful, IIRC it has a 1.9l turbo diesel does anyone know anything about it?

Ford is definitely looking into importing the TDCi (Turbo Direct Commonrail Injection) diesel engine. It's called the Duratorq and is actually sorced from Peugeot. It's a high quality engine, with the same performance characteristics of my TDI (low end torque, high MPG)

Ford may hold off until 2006 when ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) is available. The new emissions regs of 2004 is going to make it tough for TDI's to pass EPA NOX (Nitrogen Oxide) emissions requirements on the current diesel fuel, with higher amounts of sulfur. The EPA chooses to focus on Nitrogen Oxide emissions as opposed to the rest of the world, which chooses to regulate C02.

Ford and GM didn't make the investment in small diesel engine technology that most other European marques did (VW, etc) in the early 90's and were caught off guard when the TDI craze hit Europe. They had to buy their motors from other manufacturers (GM buys from FIAT).

Germans particularly like the idea of the TDI engine, diesel fuel is far cheaper in Germany (thanks to tax incentives) and you can cruise the Autobahn at 100+ mph speeds and still return a respectable 36-38 mpg! Plus since they charge taxes in Europe based on how much C02 your vehicle produces, TDI's get a break there too.

Heck, Honda just recently entered the market with the Civic CTDi.

BTW. It's 1.8L actually, not 1.9 (That's VW! )

Is it tougher having a diesel car here in the states? Not only as far as fuel prices, but are diesel engines harder and costlier to fix?

thanks alot,the only big problem is that most gas stations in the states don't have diesel,the only one I've seen recently is Shell
i wonder how you could have possibly known about the displacement :p

Depends on where you're at. Back east and on the west coast it can be difficult. But here in NM and back home in Iowa, finding diesel is not hard. And in my esperience it to be less expensive. Here in Las Cruces, diesel is 1.23/gallon while reg unleaded is 1.31/gallon. In IA diesel is either cheaper or the same price, depending on whether you get regular or premium diesel. In fact, the whole way down here, diesel was always a few cents cheaper than gasoline.

Repair costs on diesels depend on where you go. I never go to VW for anything unless it happened to be warranty work. I know a mechanic in Jefferson who knows how to work on diesels so I take my car to him for routine maintenance. My oil change intervals are 10k miles because I use high quality diesel grade synthetic oil. Try doing that in a gasser!

The diesel Focus has been discussed over at TDIClub for quite some time. We want more competition, that way VW will be forced to bring over some of the hi performance engines they only sell in Europe!

I drove an early 80's diesel Rabbit for three years and had no troubles with finding fuel, maintenance and what not.

Of course this was a pretty simple car, engine and transaxle. No A/C no CC, and power nutin.

Today's diesels are much nicer as it doesn't take 45+ seconds for the glow plugs to do their thing.

Other than the engine, and perhaps a vacumm pump for the braking system, or some other means of power assist, a diesel anything is mostly the same car with just a different engine and fuel system.

FWIW,

TB

IIRC, the 2.5D in the Opel/Vauxhall Omega comes from BMW !!

I'd love a diesel car, all that torque and not a huge drop in hp. Someday ..... someday.

Maybe so. I read somwhere that GM sourced at least some of their motors from FIAT. Maybe just for the Astra and Corsa. Oh well, not like they sell them over here!

That torque is nice. Once I hit 1900 rpm it pulls like nobody's business!

I've never had to wait for the glowplugs. Most TDI owners report no longer than a 30 second wait in subfreezing temps. Just be sure to buy arctic fuel or use anti-gel in the wintertime!