The future is forced induction, whatever fuel is used, to try to pretend a 300bhp engine is unsuitable for towing a touring caravan is laughable. Are you seriously suggesting an XC90 with a 2litre 316bhp turbocharged & supercharged petrol engine is unsuitable for towing a caravan? In future there may be no diesels but there certainly won't be no suitable towcars for even the largest caravans.
I am a combustion engineer on industrial burners. However, Nox is formed by combustion that is too efficient and too hot. the way to reduce Nox is to recirculate exhaust gas back into the intake, that's your EGR valve ( exhaust gas recirculation) which feeds cooled exhaust fumes back into the sir intake this slows down the combustion but also makes it less efficient. Or the other technique is to burn fuel in 2 stages so to burn reducing which produces carbon monoxide then burn off the CO. Obviously engines don't do the latter. I am guessing the VW solution is to run with the EGR open more often. This wil effect fuel economy because the combustion is less efficient. These green do gooders are never happy. They want to reduce carbon emissions and then when the engineers do that they moan about Nox. But does anyone actually know what Nox does? It's not a greenhouse gas. It is supposed to cause respiratory problems if people are predisposed. There are far worse polluters than cars, like volcanoes for example, they knock cars into a cocked hat.
Ah but the do Golders like to think that they can do a better job than nature. ( I have just put my yin hat on )
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
I guess the VW engineers were thinking along the same lines? Nox ain't as bad as it's made out but to keep the greenies happy lets 'massage' the figures a bit? As pointed out storm in a teacup, diesel cars will be with us for a long time yet, in Europe with high fuel tax regime most drive diesels because they are cheaper to run not because they are 'green'.
In the US with cheap petrol, fuel consumption is not such an issue, I don't know if diesel cars are sold there as a 'green' alternative but the market is tiny & yanks continue to prefer petrol as do markets in other parts of the world with low fuel tax. Not many diesel suv's in Saudi.
Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 02/10/2015
The future is forced induction, whatever fuel is used, to try to pretend a 300bhp engine is unsuitable for towing a touring caravan is laughable. Are you seriously suggesting an XC90 with a 2litre 316bhp turbocharged & supercharged petrol engine is unsuitable for towing a caravan? In future there may be no diesels but there certainly won't be no suitable towcars for even the largest caravans.
I didn't mention xc90. I am not sure where you got that from. I didn't say petrol engines can't tow.
What I did say is that diesels are naturally better at towing as they tend to have more torque, especially at lower revs.
So to compete with diesel engines are you suggesting that petrol engines need both a turbo charger and a supercharger?
One thing to remember is that pretty much everything is moved by diesel engined vehicles. Ships , trucks, tractors, construction machinery - all are powered by diesels, and probably always will be.
If you look around there is probably nothing that wasn't delivered by some diesel powered vehicle.
The thread is about diesel cars & the op's suggestion that if there are no more diesel cars there will be nothing suitable for towing caravans, which is not the case. Petrol engined cars very suitable for towing the largest caravans are already available. They use more fuel but those that can afford them can afford the extra fuel cost.
I can't see diesel cars disappearing any time soon. How can you justify getting rid of diesel cars when there are so many other diesel-powered vehicles and equipment around? I would add to Brianconwy's list, buses, coaches, trains, and diesel generators. The diesel engine is probably the most versatile power-unit there is. Cars are only a small part of the diesel-engined machines.
The usual mass hysteria, helped along by a media/press who are only interested in scandals. And often making things worse than they actually are, because so many of them are actually ignorant of the issues they raise.
And when it comes to dangerous emissions, some locations in Glasgow city centre are supposedly among the worst in the UK. But interestingly, the majority of vehicles frequenting these locations are.............buses, taxis, and lorries!!