2/3     Can someone explain to me why no car mfgrs. produce a sports car
        with a turbodiesel?  I rode in a friend's A6 TDI, not a small auto,
        which went like shit off a shovel.  Just curious.  -John
        \_ Probably because not a lot of people like diesel, it's not even
           economical anymore. Plus a sports coup with a turbo diesel would
           probably not meet emmission standards, after all, diesel is
           dirtier than regular unleaded.
           \_ I think we've had this discussion before, about diesel vs. gas.
              We're not talking about a diesel tractor engine, but something
              like a CRD or TDI with particle burner, which runs very clean.
              As far as I can tell, the main differences between a sports car
              and small high-end coupes are the chassis, suspension, gearbox
              and maybe performance tweaks to the engine, but not the
              fundamental engine (i.e. where in between BMW 316 and M3 CSL
              does it become a "sports car"?)  Anyway, after some research I
              found the C30 AMG.  -John
              \_ I _have_ heard that acceleration is one of the disadvantages
                 of diesel engines, but I am not an engine expert by any means.
                   -- ilyas
              \_ Sure you can probably get diesel to be as clean as regular
                 unleaded. That's not really the point. The point is, why
                 bother when diesel is as expensive as gas for the end-user.
                 Plus, it would cost more to maintain since you'd have to
                 get special parts for it, etc. Diesel tanks also corrode
                 over time with mold/bacteria/etc. There are reasons why
                 diesel never became popular in the U.S. for consumer level
                 vehicles, and why it's still not necessarily as popular as
                 it could have been in Europe.
           \_ Provincial fool! You're talking to Eurojohn. Euros love diesel.
              Diesels tend to generate tons of torque but not too much HP.
              But gas engines still get better performance for a sports car.
              They can build the engine lighter and run higher rpms without
              blowing up. And they sound cooler. Sports cars don't need to
              pull stumps. A turbo gas engine of the same displacement would
              probably go like even faster shit off a faster shovel.
        \_ Related, are there any manufacturers besides VW selling TDIs in
           California?  I was very interested in one but I've nixed those plans
           on account of VW's quality problems.  TIA.
        \_ Heil Eurotrash John!
        \_ For one thing, diesel engines usually require more space to
           generate the same HP as regular engines. Secondly, new
           technologies such as the Accord Hybrid prove that motors
           in fact generate a lot of torque which really helps you
           get to red-line quickly even if your engine is starting
           from near-idle speed. The new Accord Hybrid engine is small,
           goes 0-60 in 6 seconds, is less than $30,000, and has 37MPG.
           I doubt conventional diesel technology has all the
           combinations of form size, torque, mileage, and price range
           offered by hybrid technologies.