honda insight

[etlsport]

i think it was a 98.. same body style anyway, manual..

yea the vx is completely paid off, i paid cash for it.. i know what you mean about extra expense but i would also love to keep the miles down on the VX so a second car is worth it... plus being able to put the vx out of commission for a little while for bigger mods

[Joe_Black]

i think it was a 98.. same body style anyway, manual..

That would be a Mk4 although it has a pretty good following and plenty of folk tuning it in TDI form. Definitely go take a look at the Mk5 (new as a mid-year 2005 model) as it's based on the same platform as the Audi A3 and is quite a different animal from the '98 you drove, plus a more powerful and refined TDI engine with the "Pumpe Duse" injection pump.

You need a nice 2000 proton to round out that sig-line banner. Give it a bit more pizzaz!

-- John

Yeah, somehow I think Kathy will be getting her 3.1L diesel Trooper built before I get another VX!

[JHarris1385]

As far as the 300D's I would really like to have an early 90's 300D but from what I have been reading those years are not as "great" as the older? My father's friend just totalled his E-Class diesel that had near 300,000 miles on it and running STRONG..... Which year gap would I most likely need to look out to get the best bang for my buck?

[Joe_Black]

Anything prior to '86 in generally the sweet-spot for MB diesels as the 6-cylinder that followed the 5-cylinder was prone to it's head developing cracks. The 5-cylinder 3.0L diesel is just a joy to work on as you couldn't get much simpler. It's like the Ford Falcon of German cars! And you will see a lot of high mileages on the ones that were well maintained. I've currently got an '80 300SD (W116 chassis) that has almost 600K miles on the clock and runs strong still with the original engine. The couple I purchased it from had been running it for years on soy oil they bought in bulk from a local discount center, which made it run much quieter until I started blending regular diesel back into it then the normal diesel clatter returned after the soy ran out.

Just remember to stick to the turbo cars for the extra power and economy. Actually, if you don't mind a little body and interior work I'm looking to part with an '82 300D Turbo that's been converted to 4-speed manual. It's very quick and an absolute blast to drive! If interested shoot me a PM and I'll get you the details.

[JHarris1385]

Ok I think I got it now. Anything prior to an 86 with a turbo on the diesel. I was under the impression that all were turbos but now I got to make sure to watch for that. Is there anything in particular that I should look for? I assume one of these with more than 100,000 is not too bad after all? I would heavily consider your car for purchase but I plan to watch these for a couple months and buy when my income settles (just started a new job yesterday actually + getting married in a few months). If it is still around Ill pm you for sure.

[nater]

Joe, I think you've been misinformed. If it's the "Hummer is better" story, that's been debunked, but keeps getting posted all over the Internet.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/8/27/124134/961

I now have the following vehicles in my driveway:

-2000 Isuzu Trooper (rarely moves)
-2004 Toyota Prius (moves occasionally, wife drives it)
-Extremely rare 2002 RAV4 EV, my daily driver. This car is a pure electric. It uses 1/4 the energy of a gasoline RAV4, and less than half the energy of the Prius. I charge it at home from wind power, so it is carbon free.

Our electric bill is an additional $25-30 per month for 1200 miles, and we spend about $25 to fill the Prius every six weeks. The Trooper of course takes about $65 to fill up. I filled it in August and again in January.

Our net fuel cost is around $50 and our carbon footprint has hit the floor. Diesels are popular, biodiesel is cool, but the emissions are still miserable.

The Insight has indeed been discontinued. Honda's system is parallel only, it doesn't scale like the Toyota and Ford systems. They use serial/parallel hybrid systems for better power an efficiency. The Insight got better mileage than the Prius because it was so small. The smart cars get worse mileage than the Prius, and I could tow one with my RAV4 EV.

There's a reason the Prius is so popular. It's a very good car, it's quite peppy, gets great mileage, and is large enough to actually haul people. I get about 45 MPG overall, even driving it hard. Of course, my electric RAV4 has 65,000 miles and counting, without a drop of gasoline.

Nate

[Bulldoggie]

nater;
I started a new thread, not wanting to hyjack this one.
a two part video of local EV racers, smoking Corvettes.
I think you might like it.



http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=12747

Glad to see you have one of the Rav4 EV's
I'm sure you saw the Doc. "who killed the electric car" about the GM EV's taken from their "Owners", who still wanted and Loved them, and were destroyed.
No salvage allowed.

[Joe_Black]

Joe, I think you've been misinformed. If it's the "Hummer is better" story, that's been debunked, but keeps getting posted all over the Internet.

Oh no, not into that line of thinking at all. Behemoth show-n-go diesels like Hummers and mega-pickups don't ring my bell. But I feel that gasoline hybrids have been over-hyped and aren't all that they're touted to the general public. Key word here: Gasoline. There are a number of diesel hybrids in the pipeline that are much more promising. But again, this isn't new technology as hybrids were here and in production 100 years ago through the 1940's.

As some have mentioned an ideal would be 100% electric, but our greatest challenge is to change our driving habits and continue to develop improved storage technologies for electricity. My biggest personal interest is for American energy independence, which I believe would then lead to increased competition and research for improved energy technologies. Biofuels is but just one part of the greater equation, but the one I feel with the great immediate impact and viability. This would be a foundation for other technologies to stand on and garner additional support among the greater unthinking American public, who get behind what's put in front of their faces by the media moreso than anything learnable.

Unfortunately all the viable building blocks of our own energy independence have devolved into little greedy special interests that seem to spawn studies and rumors debunking each other trying to grab the spotlight for themselves. This infighting makes for a lot of confusion and uncertainty, keeping that same ignorant public at the gasoline pump.

As an aside, nice score on the RAV4 EV! I got outbid on two on eBay a while back and pretty much gave up on trying to get one, although they're likely the best production EV currently around. Been keeping my eye out for a VW Vanagon to convert to an EV as it could easily support a solar panel "roof" with enough output to significantly enhance the range in a daily-driver application. Then again, I''ve got enough projects.

[Dumke]

i think it was a 98.. same body style anyway, manual..

yea the vx is completely paid off, i paid cash for it.. i know what you mean about extra expense but i would also love to keep the miles down on the VX so a second car is worth it... plus being able to put the vx out of commission for a little while for bigger mods

Well then go with what you want. There will always be posatives and negatives to hybrid and diesel. IMO I like the fact that you can get some used veggie oil from a cooking place sometimes for free and use that as fuel. Free is always good to me