On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 22:12:38 GMT, the fly > wrote:
>On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 20:44:37 GMT, "Mark Levitski"
> wrote:


>>Why is that 95% of passenger cars in the US are gasoline, yet diesel used in
>>much of Europe? I read somewhere diesel is more efficient, plus unlike gas
>>engine even UNMODIFIED diesel unit can run on "biofuels" (filtered cooking,
>>etc. natural oils), so why diesel not dominating the market?

> Because General Motors did such a bad job with their
>Oldsmobile diesel in the early '80s. They slapped a diesel injection
>system into a 5.7 L gasoline engine. It was so miserably unreliable
>that it soured the US consumer on "diesel" power.

No, it's because diesels are slow to accelerate, start to start, stink, are
harder to find fuel for, and noisy.

They're great if you want to haul a massive load, but are mediocre at best for
day to day driving.