Diesel particulates are not nice. Apart from being basically carbon (read
soot), they contain unburned or parially-burned hydrocarbons some of which
which are carcinogenic.

The soot is messy (it's what gets into the oil and thence into your pores
during oilchanges). Ever had a soot-blowing diesel with a leaky rear-lid
seal? The exhaust gets into the cabin and turns everything gray...my
Skyline did that. In my experience Nissans are the worst offenders for
blowing black smoke; Toyotas are generally very good. VWs...maybe only a
couple od diesels in town (Golfs), so I couldn't say.

The 78 diesel 1.6 Golf I test-drove was really sluggish but didn't seem to
smoke.

The new upcoming generation of hi-po DOHC direct-injection common-rail
diesels will be low-emission, you can bet on this.

Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
VW & mollusc nut
1984 Caravelle (currently SVX engine waiting for a trans)
1985 Mitsubishi Galant Sigma 2.0 (FWD)
1986 CE80 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX diesel
1989 CE96 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX diesel van/wagon
1989 CT170 Toyota Corona Select 2.0 diesel