If you have a diesel car, look out.

[Tim Watts]

Your link to the article that shows they don't work please?

[Roger Hayter]

Does smoke emission correlate well with the emission of toxic small particles? I really don't know, but I'm pretty sure the converse does not apply.

[Tim Streater]

I assumed that the smoke *was* in fact, toxic small particles, BICBW.

[Tim Watts]

It's not exactly hard:

Cars have a lifespan of what, 15 years on average? That's 15 years you need to plan ahead[1]. the problem can be managed ahead of the curve without penalising anyone.

Unless you are a knee jerk idiot of a politician of course!

[1] A small proportion of vehicles will last (or be made to last) longer than this - the percentage being small enough to make no difference - like the numbers of 1960s cars on the road today. Saw a Morris Minor 1000 Traveller earlier. Who cares if it's not very environmentally friendly - it was one out of a 1000.

[Tim+]

No link, just the evidence of my own eyes. Considering the proportion of diesels now fitted with DPFs, visibly black exhausts ought to be disappearing fast. This is definitely not the case.

Tim

[Steve Walker]

The first I drove (a Fiesta 1.6D) beat almost anything from a standing start, but struggled to accelerate once above 30mph.

SteveW

[Tim Watts]

None of mine do that.

[tabbypurr]

there's the problem. So it will all pointlessly cost the country billions.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Many of which don't work.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You don't seriously believe official tests?

All hybrids do well in stop start conditions. The whole reason for them. They're totally pointless at cruise.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup - very fast from 0-5 mph due to the heavy flywheel.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Try looking at others, then.

[Bill]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I have no experience with hybrids, but something with a reasonable sized battery and on-board diesel engine to charge it seems possible way to go. The diesel could perhaps be designed to run at a constant maximum efficiency and have appropriate cleaning add-ons if necessary.

All I know is that my diesel vehicles use massively less fuel under long-stop start conditions than any petrol vehicles I've had. It's a huge difference and I do wonder what the petrol engines were throwing out in the way of un or partly burnt fuel when cold.

The evidence seems to be that particulates are mainly from tyres, brakes etc. and these are about 10 times the quantity produced by engines.

It seems to me that many people, even the ones here, are gradually being brainwashed by the drip of anti-diesel propaganda, much of which seems based on hearsay.

When a town near me bans or charges for diesels, I will simply never go or spend money there again. Shame about the shops and businesses, but my policy has worked with parking charges, and has been adopted by others judging by the increasingly ghostly local shopping areas.

[Roger Hayter]

As I say, I don't know but i suspect it is mainly larger particles and droplets. It might well correlate with more small particles I suppose.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Thing is, if you walk down any street in london, you always smell a badly cooked curry from a a bangladeshi testaurant.

That nation is reposnib;e for more stale methane than all the fracking put together.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Bless. You didnt think this was actually about cleaner air did you?

VAG car sales are down!

The German car workers pensions are in danger!

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ther is no visibly black exahaust on my 2005 freelander unless its either just been started or there is a split in the turbo hose.

And that's with the EGR bypassed as well.

[The Natural Philosopher]

The best pollution - like CO2, NOx and radiation - is *invisble* - that makes it *MUCH* scarier.

Since the whole point of 'pollution' is to enable legislation to increase car sales by German manufacturers.

[Tim+]

The owner is generally the last person to know though. It?s not easy to watch your own exhaust when you?re hoofing it.

Tim

[ARW]

Yep. An overall 20MPG on my trip to Grimsby last week. Thrashed it all the way. Now if I had set the CC to 70MPH I would have got closer to 35MPG