I've owned an NA diesel camper Van (among many others), and I concur about
the uber-sluggish performance.  But, a tdi or 1.9IDI turbo (with some mods)
can easily outperform stock, and still return vastly superior fuel economy
than the Asian engines folks are stuffing into these things today.  In the
end, it's about priorities and subjective taste.  I hope to officially wash
my hands of SI engines for good, once (if) I ever wear out my WBX.

I suspect your diesel trucks aren't Dodge Cummins.  My previous '93 Cummins
Club Cab 4x4 routinely returned 21mpg.   I'm bullish on Cummins and MB
diesels, and to a lesser extent the VWs, but only because I hate timing
belts.  My old VW rabbit diesel ran to 275k

We each find our own pathway to hell...mine smells like a fish fry.

On 12/12/06, Don Hanson <dhanson@gorge.net> wrote:
>
>
>   Diesel has it's drawbacks, too.  I have two diesel pickups, mainly for
> towing.  Also purchased when diesel was far cheaper than gasoline.  They are
> smelly and loud, not very economical and  have cold weather issues..One,
> however, has gone almost 400000 miles, including 6 trips to the tip of Baja
> and back, so diesel IS dependable.
>
>
>   I'd take a test drive in a Normal aspirated diesel van before I
> intentionally went that route..
> but, if you aren't in a hurry and don't mind a few One finger greetings as
> people speed past...we got dozens in the canadain van in just 2
> hours...about 60 miles..Hee hee.
>      Don Hanson
>

--
Casey
Olympia, WA
Biodiesel: "I drive in a persistent vegetative state"
'87 300TD intercooler/propane #22 0-60mph 7.3sec (220k)
'84 300D (218k)
Gashuffer:
'89 Vanagon Wolfsburg Edition (187K)
http://users.zhonka.net/zeitgeist/Misc/IMG_0171.JPG