Diesel car sales will no doubt drop back below the 50% level - but while fuel throughout Europe is highly taxed, it's economy advantage will ensure its survival for non city-dwellers at least.

Petrol technology has moved on somewhat. I remember my 1984 1.4 Ford Escort that only just did 30mpg whereas my 2014 1.4tsi Skoda Superb barge does about 46mpg (51mpg at last fill!)

However I do miss the out and out range of my old Skoda Superb I 1.9 pd which did 650-700 miles on a tank of diesel - always 50+mpg

I might consider a hybrid next time. Two friends both swear by Toyota hybrids (Prius and Auris Touring) with stunning fuel economy in real life (60mpg+ with the Prius and 70mpg+ with the Auris). Capital cost much higher though

Oddly enough, virtually all the cars I've owned in nearly 50 years have done low 30s mpg - from a mk1 Escort 1100 thrashed mercilessly between the Midlands and Aberdeenshire regularly through to my current 3.0 V6 SUV - the exceptions were a 2.5 Subaru and a fully expensed 1.8 Cavalier, both doing 27 and a 3.0 Senator doing 18.

A friend has a company Prius, getting 50 mpg overall, but to me it feels tinny (metallic not small) to ride in.

I'd like to see the end of all diesel engines with 4 cylinders or less. Horrid things. Makes any car sound like a transit van coming down the road. Even the best attempts at making them refined end up with a dreadful metallic din. Anything over 2 litres and vibrations will be felt throughout the cabin. Anything above 3 litres becomes difficult to engineer because of said vibrations. Truly awful...

Should be 5 cylinders minimum!

4 Cylinders are fine, I would agree the old diesels were not too clever for revs but the new ones are much better, rev high, power when needed and quieter than they used to be. some are as good as petrols so not sure what your talking about

some companies are trying to refine them even more with lower emissions and even lower particulate levels

The future of diesel cars will be determined by the pace of progress in electric cars, in particular battery technology. A few years ago Renault announced they were going to develop electric cars and they've done a couple but other manufacturers have since pulled ahead in the race. Surely all eyes must be on the new Tesla Model 3 and how well that performs when deliveries begin. If it lives up to the promises in the way that the existing Model S has, then there will be a move away from internal combustion engines, both diesel and petrol.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 11/09/2016 at 23:53

The cat is out of the bag with emission cheating. That spells big problems for most diesels to even meet current regualtions never mind the next generation of euro regs. Even petrol engines with direct injection are now in the spotlight for partculates.

Just like coal, the writings on the wall for internal combustion engines in their present form.

Range is still the big issue for EVs, particularly if load weight needs to be carried - so diesel will remain king for vans and towing as long as it's not banned altogether.

I don't drive a van but do tow a 1500 kg caravan - currently I can tow for 9 hours (plus breaks) and refuel once/day - with the best EV, a Tesla, I'd be stopping every 2 hours for a full recharge taking an hour.

When EV range gets up to a genuine 500 miles on a 1 hour charge, then they'll make real inroads into sales.

If my memory serves me well, I believe that SAAB tinkered with a variable compression design at least ten years ago. I think the compression was varied by effectively changing the distance between the crank and the block/head assembly. This was achieved by tilting the block slightly, although the movement required was fairly small I believe.

I remember it as well.2000/1

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Variable_Compression_en...e