Hybrid or diesel?

For the users who can drive, and especially those who might live outside the US (where opinions on cars can be a wee bit different) I'm curious if anyone has experience with hybrids vs newer diesel cars. They get comparable mpg, which surprised me (although I'm not really up on emissions or any of the technical stuff). Diesel gas is more expensive, generally, except for when regular gas is over $4. I'm more curious in differences between the handling and driving in hybrids vs diesels, since I've test-driven neither.

(oh, yeah, I might be getting a new car soon, thus the question...)

go away

Diesel is usually cheaper in Germany, by a good margin, too. Just shows how much of the price is down to gay taxation.

i want to use up all the gas in the world and make the prices rise to 7.00 a ****ing tank

What a *****

I am joking I own a focus, it is a 35mpg car so i am nice

are we talking about savin the earth's resources here?

Ride a bike! Leg power is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! clap

Between the two, I would choose diesel over hybrid. Hybrids just convert air pollution into ground pollution, and they've already got feasible diesel concepts that achieve 90+mpg. Now if only one ****ing autocompany would sign on and build it.

Originally posted by AngryManatee
Between the two, I would choose diesel over hybrid. Hybrids just convert air pollution into ground pollution, and they've already got feasible diesel concepts that achieve 90+mpg. Now if only one ****ing autocompany would sign on and build it.

Well, at least someone took it seriously...

I have heard the same about diesel, but for whatever reason here in the states the response has been slow to really develop technology or market them as "green cars" (maybe because diesel has a bad reputation from the days of the belching, stinky-exhaust diesel trucks and what-not?). Although a diesel jetta did just win "green car of the year" at the LA auto show (which a lot of people are complaining about.

The thing I'm interested in more, though, is how driving is different between diesels and hybrids, because everything I've read suggests that diesel gives you better mileage PLUS the benefit of a better, more powerful drive. Diesels typically rank better than hybrids on polls, like on carfunfootprint.com and their "fun scores" or carspace, etc. Only problem is that not many dealerships have them to test.

Originally posted by deathbucket
Well, at least someone took it seriously...

I have heard the same about diesel, but for whatever reason here in the states the response has been slow to really develop technology or market them as "green cars" (maybe because diesel has a bad reputation from the days of the belching, stinky-exhaust diesel trucks and what-not?). Although a diesel jetta did just win "green car of the year" at the LA auto show (which a lot of people are complaining about.

The thing I'm interested in more, though, is how driving is different between diesels and hybrids, because everything I've read suggests that diesel gives you better mileage PLUS the benefit of a better, more powerful drive. Diesels typically rank better than hybrids on polls, like on carfunfootprint.com and their "fun scores" or carspace, etc. Only problem is that not many dealerships have them to test.

That's quite true for the most part. You will definitely get more "go" with a diesel like in one of the new BMWs or Mercedes Benz or in one of the turbodiesel VWs. Hybrids that are designed specifically for economy are pretty much the least fun cars to drive both for their poor acceleration and their poor handling, and the ones that are quick, such as the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord Hybrid, only get slightly better economy ratings compared to gas counterparts. I remember I read an article on Lexus' luxury hybrid compared to BMW's 530i, and it only got 1 mpg better combined cycle but lost to the BMW in all other driving aspects.

Not to mention, with those diesel engines, especially the turbodiesels, you're just a performance chip away from huge power gains 😄 Those little tdi Jettas can be beasts.

Originally posted by deathbucket
Well, at least someone took it seriously...

I have heard the same about diesel, but for whatever reason here in the states the response has been slow to really develop technology or market them as "green cars" (maybe because diesel has a bad reputation from the days of the belching, stinky-exhaust diesel trucks and what-not?). Although a diesel jetta did just win "green car of the year" at the LA auto show (which a lot of people are complaining about.

The thing I'm interested in more, though, is how driving is different between diesels and hybrids, because everything I've read suggests that diesel gives you better mileage PLUS the benefit of a better, more powerful drive. Diesels typically rank better than hybrids on polls, like on carfunfootprint.com and their "fun scores" or carspace, etc. Only problem is that not many dealerships have them to test.

Diesels do poorly in the US for several reasons:

A) That stigma you talked about, despite today's diesels not being the smokey and noisy diesels of yesterday
B) We still use Diesel Fuel #2, which is far dirtier than the Diesel Fuel #1
C) The best diesels are made overseas (we use them mostly in trucks) and companies are reluctant to invest the extra-money to have them pass U.S. specs.

Having said that, Diesel is far better than Hybrid, imo. You can also convert almost any diesel engine to run off vegetable oils.

As AngryManatee noted above, there is also a huge potential for aftermarket power upgrades with a diesel, as 99% of diesel engines are turbocharged and they're designed to withstand massive amounts of pressure internally from conception. I've seen Dodge pickups with the 5.9L Cummins diesel 6-cylinder putting out 600+ horsepower with relatively few modes. In Europe, the diesel MBs and BMWs are tuned to put out disgusting amounts of power.