>With regards to the "soccer-mom" segment, the T5 in those pictures, if in
>fact that is going to be the new T5, looks very much like a Eurovan.

Soccer mums won't buy ugly vehicles, no matter how good they might
be. Image is all.

>Regarding diesel in this country:  I don't know anything about this, but I
>seem to recall a discussion on-line somewhere where somebody pointed out
>that the diesel fuel in the U.S. is not as free of impurities as it is in
>Europe and that this causes problems with VW's diesel designs here in the
>U.S.  Is there any truth and/or validity to this?

We have impure (high-sulfur, 5%) distillate fuel here too ("diesel"
is any fuel any diesel will burn, including kerosene, LPG etc). These
fuels cause excessive carbon particles in the exhaust , which also
makes its way into the oil. So there are a lot of diesel cars here
leaving behind dense plumes of black smoke. Some makes are more
inclined to smoke (Nissan, Mitsubishi) than others.
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut