From 31 December 2002, it became mandatory for all diesel sold in Australia to contain less than 500 parts per million (ppm) sulfur. Previous production was around double that level.

This has brought our diesel in line with the US and Europe.

Prior to this date, our diesl wasn’t up to European standards. It’s also possibly a reason that diesel passenger vehicles were rare.

I believe a combination of improved diesel and increased petroluem costs have driven demand for diesel passenger vehicles.

All I can say is if it was mine, I’d have been telling them to keep the car Until it’s FIXED. I’ve done this before. It’s a nice little ploy that really rattles them and you end up with a nice loan car for 4 days. A Holden dealer couldn’t work out why my Astra air-con was blowing hot and cold. A VW dealer couldn’t work out why my Beetle indicators were blowing every 2 days. If they keep the car long enough and scratch their heads over it a bit, they soon work it out.

I must say it’s very hard to stay below 2000 rpm in town driving, but easy on the open road. 80km/h in sixth is about 1400 rpm and 100 km/h is 1850 rpm. Only at our speed limit of 110 km/h does it get to 2150 rpm.

The problem is that the filter for the diesel blocks up as the car need’s to be driven at over 2000 RPM.

When the filter is blocked the car drops power and then it has to be driven in Sport Mode which only has four gears and in drive mode it has six gears, so the fuel consumption increase’s and what also can happen the car will only engage two gears which are first and second.
Image if you are on a busy road and cars are behind you trying to maneuver past you and sounding their horns and almost rear ending your car and your stress levels go off the scale, It’s happen to me.

When I purchased the car I informed the sales person of the driving distances and the type of driving which he acknowledge.

The first time the warning filter light appeared the car was taken to Volkswagen Dealership and I was informed that they plugged into their computer and had fixed the problem and the dealer recommended that I purchased diesel from Shell or BP which I did.
The problem happened again, so back to the dealership only to be told that the problem has been fixed using the computer.
When the problem happened this time the car had to be towed, the dealership discovered through Volkswagen that this is an ongoing problem and the dealership advised me that the have had other cars with the same problem back at the workshop.

Volkswagen has since issued a memo to their dealers advising them of the problem with certain driving conditions and distance’s.

I had to purchase another car and I lost $6000, the sales people at dealership bent over backwards to help me. When I approached Volkswagen they washed they hands and blamed the dealer. I tried to explain to Volkswagen how they could release a car and not have it completely tested and that they should inform the public of the problem, I have also asked the name of the person who rejected my claim and I’m still waiting, they where not interested.

This issue has to be made public and I would also like to be reimbursed the $6000 and it won the car of the year award.

You know, I really wanted an A3 Sportback back in 2005. I went online, configured one with 2.0 Tdi, DSG, glass roof, metallic paint, sat-nav and leather and I reckon the sound of air rushing through my teeth must have been heard all the way over in Ingolstadt.

So I thought, okay let’s do one with white paint, 2.0 Tdi, DSG and hang the rest, and it STILL came to 45 large.

The rest is history :)

Golf Mk6 wasn’t planned for until 2010/2011. Current model is too expensive to build and had high development costs thanks in the main to an all-new multilink rear suspension.

So now, Mk6 is being brought to market in 2008 with cheaper and easier assembly methods to stem the burning of money. It looks like a substantial update, with most things changeing except windscreen, roof and door uppers. Even the rear suspension is mooted for simplification, but I’d hope that doesn’t sacrifice ride and handling, as they’re exemplary, even in my comfort-oriented standard Golf.

Apparently, VW build twifty six versions of the GTi alone for world consumption. I forget the exact number, but it sounds silly and will be adjusted radically downward for the Mk6, along with engine and transmission combinations.

VW was probably the first to build the twincharger such that it is tractable at low speeds, suitable for use in a road vehicle.

A bit of conjecture, happy to be corrected –

Not sure of the Lancia/Nissan method, but I doubt that they used the supercharger to spin the turbo at low revs until the exhaust takes over at approx 3000rpm – they probably used both to pump air into the manifolds. The VW supercharger also decouples when not in use, probably the others didn’t do this either.

They wouldn’t have been direct injection engines.

I’m keen to see what sort of output VW will get from a 1.8l or 2.0l twincharged engine. Would probably find its way into the Polo and Golf GTi cars, and would be brilliant. Not that the 1.4 is not brilliant, but more is always better :)

lanciaaustralia.com.au/pages/articles/DeltaS4.htm

Is it the case that VW was the first to combine them all? I don’t know this, so I’m putting the question out, you see.