I know several European car manufacturers, among them VW, are developing diesel
exhaust filters to try to get rid of the soot. Still under development, no one
has come up with good results yet.

PerL
87 Syncro 112i

Dave Bayer wrote:

> Coddington wrote:
> >
> > I was told it has nothing to do with California. It's that VW is no longer
> > going to send them to the U.S. I'd really like to know the reason for this!
>
>         Right, ok a few calls and this is all straightened out.
>
>         The TDI does pass California emissions standards. However,
> it is a comparitively dirty engine thru california emissions
> criteria. California takes all the vehicles that a manufacturer
> offers in a specific vehicle class and "averages" the emissions.
> Whoever I talked to at the CARB said VW chose not to register
> the TDIs thi year (though I didn't ask whether that was due to
> possible higher taxes on a dirtier fleet or whether VW simply
> whated to claim that they only sold green cars)...
>
>         Right, they also said that TDIs, while clean for diesels,
> were worse in the NOx and particulate matter emissions than gas
> engines. So I asked about biodiesel and the CARB guy said that while
> biodiesel cut them significantly, they were still higher in
> particulate matter than any gas engine (not surprising). Does anyone
> know of any studies on biodiesel emissions especially focusing on the
> particulate content? I would like to know what about the particulate
> matter is most damaging...
>
>         So, right now I am trying to come up with a new engine
> for my syncro. All the conversions I have looked at have left
> me wanting in the end (due to one reason or another). I am
> thinking about a TDI with a subsequent 3rd and 4th gear change
> in the future.... Yes, this thread did have revalence to my
> van ;)
>
> dave