Diesel Roundup or Boschs Armada
Howdy there, partners. A couple of blog entries back I gave the lowdown on Gale’s and my venture with Bosch in Las Vegas during the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference, but I didn’t get to write much about the demonstration vehicles we had there for our Ride & Drive event. Bosch has corralled a pretty impressive array of diesel steeds for the press to drive and write about. The idea is to get out not only the word but also the feeling one gets from driving any one of the examples of modern-day diesel – and to let people know that they’re available on the market today.
I kinda gushed about my all too short time in the BMW 123d, but there were plenty more examples to be impressed with. As a Banks insider, I managed to get ahold of the spec sheets for each of the vehicles Bosch has in its stables. I’m not going to post any photos of Bosch’s diesel fleet because, really, they look like what you will find in any dealership here. No special wings or warp-drive engines protruding from the body; rather, a plain-Jane kind of look by today’s “look at me, I’m driving a car that looks like a shuttle craft from some sci-fi movie because I love the Earth and bunny rabbits” style. And why not look like you are from this planet while driving something fun with no compromises? It’s a car, not a statement.
Anyways… Where was I before I started to rant? Ah yes, the diesel vehicle spec sheets. They’re all here, so take a look and think about it for a little while. Yes, the price of diesel has now risen to stupid levels, just like gasoline, but when you look at the mpg compared to the stats on the standard powerplant that’s available in the same vehicle you’ll see that you can go farther, and in the long run for less dough, on diesel than on gasoline. Do the math. Figure in that most new cars today that are worth a darn to drive use super unleaded fuel, and the argument becomes even more in favor of diesel. Those that run on regular unleaded fuel often remind me of a boring kiddie ride. I’ve been to Disneyland; I’ve been on the People Mover and Autopia “attractions,” and they’re not very fun for an adult. Why drive one of those two examples when you can drive Guilt-Free PerformanceTM every day?