Featured Mazda brings back the diesel war

Are they planning one for the us?

 

older diesels? & the "delete" crowd? sure - dirty. Newer / post 2011? What with particulate filters & urea fluid exhaust added, they're clean or cleaner than many new gassers.

Air pollution: Diesel is now better than gas, emitting fewer carbonaceous particulates | ScienceDaily.

 

Might depend on what you’re testing?

 

NOx has typically been the biggie - which is what gassers always had a big advantage - being much lower than diesel. until exhaust fluid tech got dialed in.
And w/ bio fuel - diesel becomes a bigger plus than what it'd be. Although w/ sub zero temps when we're up north - it can more easily turn to wax - so we have to run diesel #1 - at least in part - to keep it liquified.
EDIT:
but as far as NOx goes, our EPA here in the USA has set identical emission standards (80 mg/km) for gas & diesel - whereas the EU requires even more stringent NOx standards, ironically, after dieselgate.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2017/595363/IPOL_ATA(2017)595363_EN.pdf

.

 

In 2012, when I could no longer find replacement cylinder heads for my beloved '92 Subaru Loyale that I put 200K miles on I was trying to decide between VW to run on bio Diesel or a Prius... Not only did finding this website help me decide, but it was so dang hard to find people willing to sell their VW Diesel before the scandal was known.

And then before I knew it I realized that the Pacific Northwest roads that were once covered in Subarus quickly were upstaged by Prius being everywhere. The anonymity that comes from driving the most common car on the road has always been part of my security culture.

 

I thought they were only using pee, not poop to make diesel burn cleaner?

 

Concur!
Submarines.
Tractor-trailers.
Trains.
Some ships - but jet engines are better for those.

On a CAR?!?!

-WHY?

 

I'm not yet noticing any shortage of Subarus.

A 'real' PNWer will have a Prius or plug-in and a Subaru and some bicycles.

 

Mazda didn't bring back the diesel. They started a new line of them as part of SkyActiv in 2011. We just didn't get any in the US(and this likely won't come here either). They tried with a Mazda6, but couldn't match VW's diesel performance without knowing the cheating secret. So consumers missed out on what could have been a better option for them. It's the same story on why we didn't get a diesel Accord.

 

What did they fail to address?

Why not?

Sure, it's more expensive to build a diesel engine that gets the same emissions as a gasoline powered car these days. But what's not to love about a well designed diesel, even in a small vehicle?

The two cars I drove the most miles on and loved them both: 1993 Mazda 323 (gasoline powered) and a 1985 VW n/a diesel Golf.

The Golf had a lot of quirks I loved.

• I loved its low-end torque even with such a small "underpowered" engine.
• Shifting was a blast in that 5-speed. No need for more than some 50 hp. It was fun!
• The engine growl was unique. Not irritatingly loud, but different than everything else out there.
• And while this may not be a good thing, but it's exhaust did smell like a charcoal barbeque to me.
• Also, while not applicable to modern diesel cars, it had some 700,000 miles when I stopped driving it. And it was still running in the hands of the current owner last I met him. The car was immortal and very, very cheap to keep maintained.

 

Part of the way I make my humble living in big Phone used to involve being a first responder for our backup generators.
We still have an organic maintenance team for those, and the job title is still......Electronic (or communications) Technician.
This is because todays diesels - aren't, really.

They used to be simple, rugged, and last longer than the vehicle that they were installed in.
This is no longer true.

Nostalgia is a longing for a past that never was.
Or?
More cynically?
HISTORY after two or three drinks.
A 2026 Wabbit Diesel would be hideously expensive and more convoluted than a political speech from a former Vice President (Pick any of the last few!)

Expensive.
Built to STAY that way with more expensive fuel and DEF.
Only "statistically" clean.
About as reliable as an East German Trabant.....OR A 1980's GM Diesel!
HARD PASS!

I would not board a ship or submarine that DIDN'T have a diesel.
I would not drive a car or that DOES.

 

This video isn't Mazda doing anything. It is from a third party YouTube channel using a Mazda engine that got its last major update in 2023 to push their own views.

Mazda doesn't have anything against hybrids. They sell hybrids and PHEVs with their own parallel system. Probably still tinkering with a rotary series PHEV. The X-ray images of the diesel car in the video show the mild hybrid system.

Their marking wonks might have said something in the pursuit of sales against hybrids back in the day. Such statements could have come from Ford. Mazda corporate's main statement 'against' hybrids back then was that they weren't doing one was because they are a small company without the resources to develop their own system and their expertise was in engines. That's why their early hybrids used Ford, and then Toyota's, system in those early days.

 

What car isn't these days? There are ZERO cars these days that aren't hideously expensive and convoluted. I'm saying this as someone who makes a median wage in the USA. I can't even get a 5-year-old Toyota around here for a projected running cost of less than $900 per month. Other brands are cheaper, but tend to have sudden expensive failures, like a $9,000 transmission failure in 5 Ford Escapes I've known with 60,000 to 100,000 miles on them, and no help from the manufacturer whatsoever. Just pay it or weep.

The current car market caters to the rich and the rich only.

I liked the simplicity, reliability and cost factor of my, admittedly used, VW Golf diesel. And, admittedly, that's not happening ever again.

The Golf did have CV joint issues nearly every year. I got to where I could change a CV axle in about 15 minutes. The Golf did have one injector line blow, one time a faulty fuse connection to the glow plugs, and a couple of bad door handles. But the Golf also cost me $600, drove fine for the past 14 years, 7 of which I was driving up to some 30,000 miles a year, without any more maintenance than what I mentioned besides oil changes, belt changes, and tire changes, and one set of new shock cartridges in the struts. Plus I could get as much as 60 MPG on the highway with a little hypermiling. I drove it 14 times across country, and it never died on me once. Not one time.

Now find a modern car that does half of that for a similar price today. It's not going to happen with a new diesel, a new gasser, a new hybrid or a new EV. All modern cars are expensive, convoluted junk. Everything built in the past 5 years are all rich boy toys and will always be so. This is why I have to shift my car purchase considerations to 10, 20 or 30 years back.

 

I had three diesel merc's and a generator. I don't miss any of them. plus a '72? gas rabbit that was a complete pos.

 

Everyone's experiences and opinions are different. And we can respect them all.

I can say that I've owned both a 2nd gen Prius and an EV and both were something less to be desired.

I can also say I bought a pretty nice Toyota hybrid for about 1/3 of its original price with only 50k miles and 5 years old and no major damage. But those kinds of prices seem like they're never coming back, and newer cars seem to me to be more complex and less reliable.

 

But the video is not by Mazda.

Their gas engines have the same thermal efficiency of over 40%.