Count me in as one more to support and bring the Cooper D over to the U.S.

I’m at a loss why diesel hasn’t caught on more in the US. Here, we pay around 95 pence – about $2 – per LITRE of unleaded petrol, and slightly more for diesel – so about 4.5 times what you guys are talking about. Economy is thus slightly important here. I’d intended to use the Mini D for fun for a commute around London’s M25 orbital motorway – probably the world’s fastest car park. The Mini didn’t have the economy required either. I needed performance and good mpg.

I settled instead, having ignored the fun factor, and bought a VW Passat 1.9 130hp diesel, and got 57mpg at 80mph+, as well as somewhere to put my legs…

I doubt 110bhp will be enough either. The hot hatchback diesel car of choice in Europe is – wait for this – the Skoda Fabia vRS, which uses the same engine as my Passat had, but in a car not much larger than the Mini. Currently, manufacturers are looking to squeeze 200+bhp from 2.0 litre diesels by using sequential turbocharging. In the economy space, it’s now getting normal to get 75mpg+ from a small diesel. The Mini needs a breakthrough engine pairing in diesel – a One D with a high economy engine, and, heaven forbid, maybe a Cooper D with a sequential turbocharger?

We’ve still got our heads in the sand over here. Car advertising totally ignores economy and is still hyping huge cars and SUVs…and the manufacturers are continuing to come out with bigger, more powerful machines all the time. This is of course just the end of the pipeline…the new behemoths were conceived years ago. Things will get smaller and greener over time. But every time I see ANOTHER new SUV introduced I get a little bit more angry.

I REALLY want a diesel Mini. I love economy, but I love an entertaining drive even more!

The new Passat also has a 168ps version of the same engine with even more torque.

This engine should come to the US eventually with ULSD.

However Toyota will shortly introduce a 2.2l diesel in European Avensis and Lexus with a 178hp version this has a whopping 400Nm (295lb ft)

My cousin has a 150,and has done some reprogramming to get around 180 hp and close to 300 torque. In gear passing is unbelievable even when using the stock program.

I traded my 03 MCS in for an 05 Prius, for many reasons, one of them mileage.

Those unsympathetic to hybrid technology always tout the fact that hybrids don’t get the EPA posted mileage, but, honestly which car does? Not one! I agree that hybrids are not the ultimate solution, and that a clean burning diesel is a strong contender for a green car. However, they both shine in different areas: Diesels are great for mostly highway driving, hybrids are great in city driving.

In my MCS I averaged a calculated (not OBC indicated) 24 mpg in mixed driving. The mean between EPA city and Hwy for the MCS is 28 mpg. My real life 24mpg is 14,25% less than EPA. In my Prius my current running lifetime average is 49 mpg, twice that of the MINI. The avg EPA for the Prius is 55, and thus my 49mpg is 10.1% less than EPA, a smaller discrepancy than for the MCS! I do have to admit though that if you want to, you can drive the Prius such that you will average below 30mpg! A susbtantial portion of the difference in mpg between these two cars is how they make you drive. The MCS is so much fun, it made me drive in a far less frugal way. The Prius on the other hand oozes ‘green’ and most owners as a result try to eek out every additional yard from every drop of fuel.

Both are cool cars, both have their place in the market. If at the time of giving up my MCS, a diesel MINI had been available, I would ave very seriously considered it.

Cheers, M.

Diesel is definitely a great way to go, I’d love for MINI to send me a Diesel to test drive and show off to everyone. I do enough driving and love talking to people. Let me drive one please! :)

We are coming into a wonderfully exciting time for auto enthusiasts, because choices will actually increase in the years just ahead and the experiments of the past 20 years are ready to come into the market.

Diesel fuel is one of these, especially for America. 2006 is the first big milestone date, 2009 the second. The regulatory direction will be determined by how several states decide to proceed (WA, OR, ID are current examples).

Power transmission is another. There are some truly wild alternatives out there.

Don’t make the mistake of looking at the current experiments as distinct alternatives. “Diesel” is really NOT separate from “hybrid” or “electric”. An evolutionary midpoint may well be PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), powered by a diesel engine; a combination of them all.

Hydrogen is politically sexy, an impractical and difficult idea, and a very, very long time away from any meaningful implementation.

The idea of “sustainable” will come into nearly every aspect of our lives, including cars. This is exciting, technically interesting, and a responsible way to view our role in the future.

A senior exec at Volkswagen AG told us that “driving will continue to be lots of fun.” VW is betting on diesel in a very big way, because they see it as one of very few economically viable ways to proceed. Toyota, Ford, GM, BMW, and the others all have significant programs underway.