Diesel Mini Cooper, Euro Volkswagen Polo.

Got to wonder why we can’t have these cars here. Yes I do know some of the reasons, but they’re not good enough.

For those of you that have driven a Mini, you know that they’re a kick to drive. Lot of room for a car that small, and the handling is great. OK now take that car, put a turbo diesel in it, what you end up with is a car that get 60+ MPG in the combined city/highway test. The little Mini will net you close to 70 on a road trip. Another option with the Mini line is the new Mini Traveler update called the Mini Clubman (think station wagon but cute) this slightly stretched Mini holds four comfortably and has room for their bags. I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that the Wagon may drop a mile or two per gallon, but would still be well over 60 highway. Neat little wagon and the double doors are easier to work with than the standard hatch, or tailgate.

The Volkswagen Polo, while not as well known in the US, is basically an evolution of the Rabbit. Like the Mini room is good for a small car, and handling, a little softer than the Mini, might be the better commuter car, but personally, not my cup of tea. The 1.4 liter turbo diesel giving a combined MPG in the mid 60s, and highway over 70 is worth a look.

For those of you that are serious about mileage, there’s the Volkswagen Lupo, a little smaller than the Polo, but an outstanding 78 MPG City/Highway. Not a car you would want to take cross the country, although I did once drive a Honda 600 Sedan from Portland, Oregon to the Chicago area, and I’m still fine.
All three of these cars fall a few percent short of meeting the US emission standards. Mind you these are the standards established for the 1 ton Dodge, Ford, and Chevy pickup trucks. In some cases these regs didn’t make sense when you were replacing a gas guzzling 440/460/454 with a diesel getting nearly double the mileage. They really don’t make sense when we would have the option of have cars that can cut in half our use of oil.

Check my logic on this one. If I can keep warm with a fire that’s half the size of my last one, but the new fire pollutes 2% more by volume, isn’t the half sized fire, though a little dirtier a net gain ? This is a perfect example of the saying ” Perfect is the enemy of good”.

Washington (DC not the State) needs to open the flood gate for these fuel saving options from Europe. I’ve been there, seen them, driven some, and they’re a good way to get us off imported oil. The technology can make a quick transition to our own small cars. The Big Three all have platforms that would accept a small turbo diesel with no problems.

Wake up Washington, and let’s not forget California. What a nightmare that state has created for business. I just wish that one of these times when some idiot in the Cal State House brings up a total diesel ban for the state, they voted it in. Bringing their entire state to it’s knees might wake them up.