A better place for your questions might be in the TDI-conversion or
Diesel-Vanagon Yahoo groups. We're all over there and generally offer more
of a knowledge base on the subject.

I'll show ya mine, let ya drive it, and tell you all about the positives and
why I would never go back to gas. [fuel economy 25-35 mpg? almost double the
torque of the wbx with small mods?] FWIW, particulate matter in diesel
exhaust [soot] is about to be a non-issue with the new fuel formulation, ULSD.

Karl

 On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 03:19:05 -0500, neil <goofymuso@YAHOO.CA> wrote:

>Oh dang it! Now you've made me Google and research
>emissions stuff!  Ack! Too much reading hurt
>brain......
>I'm not under the impression that the diesel is
>somehow "greener" in it's natural state. I was just
>combining my appreciation of the ( in this case) NA
>IDI diesels' simpler design, with possibly better fuel
>efficiency, and a glimmering hope of B20, or dare I
>say B100, being available in the future, somehow,
>somewhere.
>
>Of course all I really want to do, is be able to drive
>my Westy with less guilt about contributing to
>greenhouse effect etc. You know,  "have my cake and
>drive it too".
>
>> Well, if you really want to generate conversations,
>> I'll take up this
>> specifically:
>> I'm missing the point of this. Is it just that the
>> diesel options offer
>> great fuel economy or is there something
>> intrinsically "greener" about
>> burning diesel? If you plan to run recycled veg.
>> oil, I can see it.
>> Otherwise, a diesel still contibutes to CO load with
>> the added kick of way
>> more particulate emission.
>> Is diesel fuel cheaper to produce, buy and use? It
>> isn't in these parts
>> (mid-Atlantic). Plan on using biodiesel or
>> fryodiesel? Looks to be about a
>> decade before it becomes an economically viable
>> alternative.
>>
>> Diesels are presumably more reliable than an AC VW
>> or the WBX but that
>> Subaru engine is a workhorse. I can see the appeal
>> of a diesel conversion if
>> it got you a dramatic increase in fuel efficiency.
>> What's the MPG projection
>> for the diesel conversions you're considering? For
>> the kind of driving
>> of the Vanagon I do, the offset of fuel economy
>> isn't greater than the power
>> loss to a diesel.
>