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Peeved by VW’s Diesel Malfeasance? Chevy’s New Diesel Engine May Be Your Salvation

2K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  Ruperts Trooper 
#1 ·
Peeved by VW’s Diesel Malfeasance? Chevy’s New Diesel Engine May Be Your Salvation

FEBRUARY 17, 2017
BY DON SHERMAN

Car and Driver

An old proverb states that what the Hindenburg did to hydrogen, Oldsmobile did to diesels. Fortunately, humans are a forgiving, forgetful lot. Both hydrogen and diesel fuel are likely to play important roles in our transportation future—as the new Chevrolet Cruze diesel is about to show us—no matter what rash moves you expect of our new government administration.

Of course, Volkswagen’s diesel misdeeds picked open that old(smobile) scab. Some industry wizards, such as FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, believe that the diesel engine’s reputation is so tainted that its future prosperity could be limited to pickups and large SUVs. Predatory law firms now hound diesels, filing class-action suits with little or no provocation.

Dan Nicholson, General Motors’ vice president of global propulsion systems, is more sanguine. He is convinced that diesel enthusiasm born of trucks and VW cars is pent up, waiting for the arrival of new models capable of fulfilling the compression-ignition crowd’s dreams.

Aiming to prove that theory, Chevrolet has just reintroduced a modern turbo-diesel engine for the U.S. market. Note our use of the word “reintroduce.” GM sold 12,298 cars powered by a 2.0 turbo-diesel engine in the 2014 and 2015 Cruze compact cars, taking a break when Chevy freshened this small sedan for 2016.

CONTINUE AT LINK ABOVE
 
#4 · (Edited)
Well.... lets see.

First and foremost, appreciate your presence and posting here, hydrogen.:)

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AMERICA 123 has been spending a fair amount of his very limited driving time behind the wheel of one of those affected.

Bailed out one of the younger ones that was having a less than stellar experience with one.......... he helped her find - and 'own'..... in a practical sense.

( Replaced by a newer same same just in front of the initial announcement / stop sale. )

So..... effectively I got to over pay in more than one way.... and sigh..... more than one time..... for this 'privilege'.

And..... I got to sort the car out.

And it is costing me some of what little stick time I still can have.

However....

Even ignoring some other highly relevant 3.0 / 2.0 TDI 'aspects' with all this, and focusing exclusively on this one formerly problematic step child of a sort..... AMERICA 123 is nothing but sad about how the whole thing came about and also separately, how it has been handled.

Furthermore, as always, but now more than ever.... all Diesel Product from whoever is always of some kind of interest..... one way .... or several other.

When .... consideration for the new Cruze Diesels ( especially the MT ) comes to mind..... it will not be to replace this particular Passat .... hopefully.

Well actually almost for sure.... because one way or another it appears likely this one is going to find a way to keep on keepin' on 'til at least whenever if not for as long as desired.

And that is a good thing .... for the Cruze.

Because in all fairness to both products.... no way do they line up - which is not a knock on either one.

None of that, any of that, has anything to do with some kind of smugness about superior German Engineering and Quality.

Furthermore, in becoming re acquainted with anything and everything 'VW', have not run into what you describe.

Very realistic, very normal, very typical from Dealer Principles on down to Porters etc and then the same with Owners and Lessors etc.

I suppose the closest is that when it comes up, they are liked and appreciated because they are likeable and appreciable....... in their own unique way and they float somebody's boat because of that.

The main abnormality I suppose that has been noticed, is an unusually strong, and often very attractive female presence of all ages.

Which also seems to proportionally be a little bit skewed to the Gassers.

Not a bad thing at all, but then again, not the topic at hand ..... directly.

This is often in spite of something small to large and even perhaps somewhat chronic in nature that cannot be considered a positive.

This is not generically any different than what I have over the Years, run into with everything else.

Or at least past some point in time, now long ago.

Before everything became some half assed variation of everything else...... or Fifty Shades of whatever without all the fun.....

Most do not fit the stereotypes so many trade on here @ GMI.

Even in the more 'Enthusiastic' groups.

To be sure though, you are touching on something else that is very real and yet .... just is.

VW offered for quite awhile exclusively, and still does by mass alone, almost all the least expensive gateways into full blown ( such as it is these days ) New German / European Vehicle operation......If one wants to get pissy about all that, then whose fault is it that this is so ?

Ford could have done a lot more with Ford Of Europe over here. GM could have done more with Opel Vauxhall the same way.

They, and literally all others chose not to...... often for sound financial reasons - is that VW's fault ?

Is that on the the VW Customer Base ?

Furthermore, this completely side steps what all could have done even as just a specialized Trimline with US Production.

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VW, thru thick and thin and going ages back, has been the only affordable / small Diesel Purveyor in this market.

So yeah, they have a well earned following of a special sort.

A Core Group.

Again, who let that happen...... even laughed about it quietly - virtually unchallenged ?

How big is it really, and in comparison to the VW owner base @ large ?

Some of this comes across hydrogen, almost as if the end users are wrong to want something different that what the US Brands have been..... and are now...... willing to provide.

Well, to each his or her own.

Seems this reminds one that each of our Sovereign Citizens ultimate Loyalty, Duty and Love if chosen to give...... is for our Country, and its Constitution, and not for a particular President, Federal Government, or a particular Policy including one dealing with Overseas.

Now lets get a little more specific.

The new Cruze Diesel appears to wear a super set of Hi Fuel Economy Rim Protectors for Tires.

That means some trade offs away from what is typically appreciated by a VW owner, but it also can be corrected.

Does GM offer that option ?

--

Cruze Diesel also offers that MT.... which is a far rarer bird than most realize.

By default, even for non 4 Cylinder Product.

Or RWD / AWD ( Diesel + MT )

All the last available Diesel plus MT including going way, way back before many were born on this Forum, was via VW, and the last of those was MYR 2015.

The market is completely flummoxed as to what a decent one of those is worth currently, because of the remaining uncertainty and some other related.

There is a certain amount of mothballed 2015 MYR Product that will eventually be released once fixed, or fixed enough pending other.

( And a real interesting set of questions concerning some 2016s that nobody wants to ah, 'talk about' .... but I digress. )

So GM / Chevrolet have a real and yes, actually far, far better opportunity because of all this.

But that's not the only thing Cruze Diesel is launching into, is it.

In fact, if you want to attempt to add up the Headwinds besides the Tailwinds Cruze Diesel is gonna' deal with..... possible, extra stiff, VW Diesel owner resistance of the type you describe ..... is not likely to even make the top Five.

Remember also ... if you wish to treat the VW Diesel Owners as some sort of Borg Hive..... not only is the Passat a serious type of mismatch for Cruze, Cruze also does not offer anything close to the Jetta / later Golf 'Sport / Station Wagons' which is where often, the strongest of the strong were located - along with Passat.

No match for a Beetle / Beetle Convertible either so realistically, against Golf (4dr /2dr HB ) and Jetta 4dr Sedan is where the best comparisons..... and opportunities lie.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I didn't read Sherman's article but I wonder if he delved into the other half of the "malfeasance" equation. That would be standards so impossible that almost everyone cheated on them. Orders handed down from On High in Foggy Bottom, damn the costs, side-effects, or blowback. Because bureaucrats, Lords and Masters, are divorced from reality.

I can sort of see the VWophile POV. I've had two, a '71 Super Beetle and a '99 Golf TDi. Both Official VW Green by the way.
While they were both good cars, they weren't so fantastic that I saw a need to repeat.

I very much liked my Golf diesel. Unfortunately allied systems kept failing, and with a 2/24 warranty I let it go and have not looked back at VW because apparently German Engineering is still sorting out those issues some 20 years later.

If Chibby can, against all odds and Unnatural Acts, somehow concoct a clever, catchy ad campaign for their diesels, I'd give them a good chance of snagging some VW drones. They could anyway.

OTOH, gassers are getting close to diesel MPG. Diesel has a big advantage in volatility or lack of, a big plus in a serious crash. But I'm guessing that factor is way way down the list of most car shoppers.
 
#7 ·
Diesels are at their noisiest on start-up from cold - some brands use clever pulse injection timing to reduce initial noise - as the engine gets going the noise level does quieten.

It's relatively easy to suppress the sounds inside the cabin, but the external noise is difficult to dampen, especially on non-premium models.

Ironically, my friend's BMW 320 petrol/gasoline sounds like a diesel on cold start-up for the first few seconds.
 
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