I'm a 240 guy at heart, but my main driver is currently a 1998 VW Beetle TDI.

I'm really hooked on diesel cars. Mainly for fuel efficiency reasons. But also for the ability to run on B100 biodiesel (100% made of soybeans).

Do you guys forsee the Diesel S60 ever landing on our shores?

I'd much rather be driving a Volvo than a VW.

Everything about it looks great. 43.5 miles/gallon (possibly imperial gallon)

163 hp, 250 ft/lb torque.

Low rpm at highway speeds.

I WANT ONE :)

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Luke Healey

Sure would be nice if came to the US. I went to Germany last year and rented a V70D5. I was impressed!! The turbo diesel ran well, no noise like most diesels. Manual had no indication of a wait time for startup. Drove 1200kms with some of it at sustained speeds of 100 MPH and after the coversions I averaged 37mpg!! I'll be first on the list when it does come to the US.

"Do you guys forsee the Diesel S60 ever landing on our shores? "

Well not in the U.S.A., al least not before the year 2006 anyways.

Why ? because currently, diesel fuel has a high sulfur content of 300 ppm and because sulfur has a bad habit of clogging up catalytic convertors as well as other assorted nasty emission problems.
now there are ways around it, particulate filters, urea injection, Yes urea!, but most all of the technology that is available now is not economically viable or requires excessively high maintenance intervals to meet current tailpipe emission standards. (passenger cars)

Now, until the Federal Governments mandate of 30 ppm takes effect in 2006 ,you just won't see too many diesels offered for sale here in the U.S.A.

By the way, the oil companies are fighting this low sulfur diesel fuel regulation tooth and nail. they claim that all of the addional refining necessary to obtain the lower sulfur content will increase the cost of diesel fuel by an additional 20-40 cents a gallon !(U.S.$)

BAAAAD OIL COMPANIES !!!

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You will never leave where you are until you decide where you would rather be - 2002 V70 stk, /w /tinted windows

"Do you guys forsee the Diesel S60 ever landing on our shores? "

Ever who knows. But very, very unlikely.

TDI Diesels in the rest of the world, and particularly in Europe, are making a killing. Even BMW, traditionally a performance oriented engine maker, is currently offering a broad selection of diesel powered cars, in its 3, 5 and 7 series. The famous Nurburgring 24 hour race was won in 1998 by a 3 series diesel BMW. The winners in subsequent years were Chrysler Vipers GTS-R and Porsche 911-GT3s. Diesels can now compete in that league.....

Why I am so pessimistic about these great diesels being sold here ? A combination of:

1)The widespread belief among the American public that oil/gasoline should be almost free (cheaper than bottled water), so no real incentive to good mileage cars;

2) The shortsightdeness of American environmentalists vis a vis their European counterparts; and

3) The enormous technological gap between US car manufacturers and their European and Japanese competitors in small diesel engines. That is why US manufacturers have (successfully) lobbied so hard to impose recent very strict emission regulations on small diesel engines that make it impractical for most European manufacturers to bring their wonderful TDI and CDI engines to these shores.

Andy
98 V70-T5 (Gasoline powered)

dont know if volvo will jump on the diesel bandwagon but rumors are that M/B will start importing them again and i know vw sells their passat diesel in canada so if oil gets more expensive i am sure you will see more choices of this type of vehicle.

i personally owned (2) M/B diesels and had no major problems with them.i think a volvo diesel would be a great addition to their line.

even BMW sells one in europe...can the USA be far behind?

with the big government push to get more mpg out of suv's and trucks, diesels may be the only way they can comply...its just a matter of time because we have just so much oil and when its gone, its gone...probably not in our lifetime but maybe our kids or grandkids will see it happen.

This is why I am excited about biodiesel technology (well, and being an Iowan, it woudl be nice to see farmers weaned from g'ment subsidies and back to making a profit on their crops)

Biodiesel doesn't have sulfer in it, to my knowledge. And once widespread refining is going on, the cost should fall quite a bit. (almost to the point it's cheaper to make than fossil fuel diesel)

It's not as efficient, and more easily gels up, but I think there is a definate future for it.

If every US automaker had a diesel offering in a small car, I think it could seriously boost the biodiesel effort's popularity.

It's too bad more of the euro makers are not sending their diesel vehicles over here though. I really enjoy the engine in my VW. (don't much care for the tupperware body around it though)

I'd definately drive a D5 S60. with 163 hp, it's not quite as zippy, but 250 ft/lb of torque? :)

Add that with the great fuel economy, and possibly team it with biodiesel fuel, and you have a fairly peppy, enviromentally cleaner car than your typical gasser.

My first favorite aspect is the fuel economy, but my 2nd is the low RPM cruising speed. It makes my Bug seem like a more expensive car than a 2.0 gas version.

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Luke Healey