A question about diesel fuel in USA & Canada
- Thread starter gozz
- Start date
No, I mean, back here, gas prices (petrol and diesel) include spacial excise duties - road taxes etc...
But fuel oil used for heating homes etc. (which is nothing more but a diesel fuel) does not have those taxes included in price... (so heating fuel oil is chemically dyed red for easier detection)...
Therefore it is illegal to drive a diesel car on heating fuel, and if someone gets pulled over and checked for traces of red color in their fuel system, and found guilty, the fines are pretty high...
But, here's the irony: If you put plain old McDonald's used veggie oil in and run on it, declared as "alternative fuel", you're all legal...
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Why go VW when Mazda and Honda diesel engines are so much better? I wouldn't be suprised if I'll get a 3 2.2CD when I sell my MSP, I just don't plan to do so in a while though.
Well, back on topic.
All I can say is that here in Norway every fuel that has tracing color is illigal on the road. Too bad to since fuel tax is around $4 / gallon.
I would guess that the same regulations apply in Croatia, but isn't there a bio-diesel pump nearby that can save you some cash?
Saskatchewan17
Member
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- 2008 TR Mazdaspeed 3
They don't sell Mazda or Honda diesels in the USA. The Jetta TDI is one of the only diesel passenger cars we have over here.
who ever talked about road taxes is correct but hell kerosine is even more expensive...well here it is...like 50 bucks for 5 gallons.....that's what planes use as fuel....
if you had an 'offroad' diesel vehicle you can order fuel without the taxes.....but like the one guy said don't get caught.....but i have never seen anyone check passenger cars for the fuel being used......big rigs are a different story
if you had an 'offroad' diesel vehicle you can order fuel without the taxes.....but like the one guy said don't get caught.....but i have never seen anyone check passenger cars for the fuel being used......big rigs are a different story
Ya, the unfortunate truth. Otherwise I would go with the mazda probably...
Here the first time you get cought the fine isn't bad at all, the next time it's very expensive and the third time is just not worth it.
I imported a MSP from USA. Talk to your local DMV for possibilities, getting one shipped across the Atlantic ocean is as easy as calling up a dealer and ask them to deliver the car at Bremerhaven, just make sure it has DPF (Diesel Particle Filter) or I can guarantee that you will not be able to get it registered.
I know it's a bit of a hassle to get a ECE car registered "over there" but as long as you are importing a model that is also sold locally I would assume it's possible. Especially the 2.2 Commonrail Diesel is awesome with it's 258 ft / lbs torque. I would say it's well worth it even though the VAG cars is also very nice.
I seem to recall that the newest Lancer is the same all over the world. "A small revolution and the first car to do so" the magazine said - and the 2 litre diesel sport sedan is also very (cool)
I imported a MSP from USA. Talk to your local DMV for possibilities, getting one shipped across the Atlantic ocean is as easy as calling up a dealer and ask them to deliver the car at Bremerhaven, just make sure it has DPF (Diesel Particle Filter) or I can guarantee that you will not be able to get it registered.
I know it's a bit of a hassle to get a ECE car registered "over there" but as long as you are importing a model that is also sold locally I would assume it's possible. Especially the 2.2 Commonrail Diesel is awesome with it's 258 ft / lbs torque. I would say it's well worth it even though the VAG cars is also very nice.
I seem to recall that the newest Lancer is the same all over the world. "A small revolution and the first car to do so" the magazine said - and the 2 litre diesel sport sedan is also very (cool)
well, you would be surprised... not so may bio-diesel stations here in Croatia...
If they catch you running on heating oil, you have to pay according to how much fuel you had at the time left in your tank...
However, tons of natural-gas (ground gas) stations here... And the price is only half of the gasoline price...
Just for a refference, here are the fuel prices in Croatia (per liter):
Super 95 gasoline: $1.33
Eurosuper 95 gasoline: $1.37
Eurosuper 98 gasoline: $1.44
Premium 100 gasoline: $1.49
Diesel fuel:$1.23
Eurodiesel fuel: $1.26
Blue diesel fuel $0.68 **
Heating fuel: $0.76***
Natural gas fuel: $0.68
* "Euro" means low on sulfur
**(off-road diesel - street illegal, can be purchased with valid license for farm equipment, fishing boats, combines, etc)
***(can be purchased without restrictions, but it is street illegal)
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Well, here in EU every manufacturer has at least one (usually two to five) different types of diesel engines...
there's Honda accord 2.2 diesel:
http://www.automobilesreview.com/uploads/2008/11/honda-accord-diesel-automatic.jpg
mazda 6 diesel:
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/2009-mazda-6-mzr-cd-diesel.jpg
subaru boxer diesel
http://www.carblog.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/subaru-boxer-turbo-diesel-engine.jpg
Toyota diesel
http://nottingham.gumtree.com/posti...-1d4148eb830fd3c83aed67850a47135a.__big__.jpg
then, you have EU manufacturers, like:
AlfaRomeo diesel (personally, my best... the thing flies )
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/upload/7520/images/159ti_4.jpg
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/upload/7520/images/159ti_1.jpg
Renault, Fiat, Seat, VW, Skoda, Saab, Volvo, BMW, Audi, Merk, all make diesels...
Well, come to think of it, nowadays, you can hardly see an gasoline car on the streets...
And to top it all off, here it goes: (boom07)
Jaguar, Bentley, Porche, Lambo... all have or plan to have a diesel engine as an option...
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the 323F BJ with the 2.0l diesel (this is where your stock MSP radiator and intercooler comes from) is essentially an older version of the 2.0l diesel found in the Mazda3 BK... they're really both the same engines in and out, just the mazda3 has a bigger turbo and common rail fuel injection... I've heard of people who got a ridiculous number of torque out of their 323F diesels by chipping the ECU... these cars are old now and should be cheaper to get! will make a great daily driver.. too bad we can only dream on here in the US
the RF engine (as it is called for the 2.0l diesel) has really been refined over the years... this engine dates back to around 1983 when it was first used in the GC 626! the R2 engine used in the BL Mazda3 is just a refined/redesigned version of the engine that was originally used in the Bongo/E-series vans a few years back... it is a stroked version of the RF engine
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it's easier to import cars *from* the US than to the US... american laws are ridiculous on how vehicles are imported... the vehicle must pass emissions laws of its manufactured year and must pass the american crash tests (which aren't really much different from EEC/ECE ones, but they need you to do so anyway)... then finally the lighting equipment must be modified or changed to match US regulations... this is why certain cars that were imported like skylines costs 3x over the original used car price in japan
while it maybe relatively easy to modify the body to be the same as the US Protege, the emissions equipment is another story... the 323F diesel either was euro 3 or euro 4 emissions (I'm not sure), but either way it will NEVER meet the US anal standards as they are too concerned with NOx and cold start emissions
Well, I see your temtation, but I still wouldn't go for it. I guess you know that the tracer will color the fuel filter making it possible to check if you have used illegal fuel long time after it's gone from the tank
We don't have the heating oil problem here though, as it's almost 90% kerosene.
I feel that we do threadjack this thread a lot, but this is just to intersting...
Thanks for the information, in case I ever get a US work visa such information is nice to know. The 323(F) diesels didn't come with DPF, meaning they will not be able to get registered in the US at all, I think the TD version (99-2001) is Euro 3 and the DITD version (2001-2003, the one with the MSP intercooler setup) is Euro 4, but I am also not sure.
I would think that 2006- commonrail cars with factory DPF would be able to get licenced in the US. At least I would think that the Mercedes E- or S-class with AdBlue would pass inspection. The only thing special about Europpean lights compared to US ones is that ours is aspherical, but so is the headlights on some US cars (like my MSP) so I guess they allow it. The seatbelts in my MSP is also E-marked, so I guess E-marked seatbelts is also fair game. Collision test is maybe more of an issue, because if I have understood it correctly we fous more on stability, active systems and pedestrian safety where US is more about safety in case of an accident.
Anyways, cars in the US and here in Europe is getting more and more similar, so I would think it's easier now than 10 years ago, and certainly easier than importing cars from Japan, (also hard to do in Norway) but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Porche already has one, and you shouldn't forget that Audi has plans making a diesel R8.
