As a heavy-duty diesel head, I've seen the light-duty sector go for diesels more lately, a trend that actually started in Europe. But like you I consider it a "transition patch" for light-duty vehicles, other than the engines last forever and are extremely dependable ... which is why they are used in nearly all heavy-duty applications.

So that's an astute comment and yes, the Jetta is better than owning a SUV but not as good as an urban assault vehicle, which I laughingly call a UAV because they're always crashing into one another. I suppose a hybrid or plug-in UAV would be the best fun, right?

But as I have said several times, the heavy-duty component is something to be treated very seriously if we want to win the war on Global Warming. Some estimated that the large ships of the world, perhaps only numbering 50,000, comprise slightly over 5 percent of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere, without considering any refining (ship fuel is not very refined, but low sulfur is being required more and more). If you add together all the diesel/distillate powered transportation sources such as ships, planes, trains, and trucks, now you're talking some major Mojo.

In that context, a couple of VW Jettas on the road seems rather silly, especially when the 40 ships a day that visit the Ports of Long Beach and LA emit more than the entire transportation sector.

We've got a long way to go, Pilgrims.

Onward through the fog

what was quoted:

That said, it's clear the TDI was designed to perform at the pump, not on twisting back roads ...

what was said:

That said, it's clear the TDI was designed to perform at the pump, not on twisting back roads, as evidenced by the immediate desire of the stock 205/55R16 rubber to relinquish its feeble grip on the asphalt. The brakes make a similar statement when jammed on before a tight corner ("Please stop driving like this"). Despite this, the Jetta TDI is quite fun to drive aggressively, thanks to a well-tuned suspension and good steering.

"quite fun to drive aggressively"? is that the "attendant engineering compromises" you're talking about?

the brakes are probably standard non-sport jetta, no reason to have changed them. the tires are the difference but even so, by hunting around on the net for reviews, as one would expect, the grip, control, power, and handling feel of the jetta are all much better than the "car of the future" prius.

(i agree with the green-ness, operating cost, and interior design comparisons.) (except for comparing refinery footprint while omitting battery manufacture byproducts.)

i'd really rather read a showdown between a prius and a train.

Did you know that the next generation of diesel-powered cars and SUVs is 98 percent cleaner than diesels sold just two years ago?

Be careful of percentages alone.  They can be tricky to those who would not look at the bigger picture.

For example, Hospital A says that their survival rate for trauma patients has increased 100% in the past decade, while Hospital B survival rate has increased only 20%.

Obviously Hospital A is the better choice...

...until you find out that Hospital B had a much higher recovery rate to begin with, and treats many more people than Hospital B.

Or, for another example, Forestry Group A says that they've increased the nuber of trees they plant by 1,000% while Forstry Group B has only increased by 20%

Obviously 1,000% is the way to go...

...until we learn that 1,000% of an original single tree planted equals only 10 trees, whereas 20% of a million trees planted equals 200,000 trees.

So while percentages are important, it's good to look at all the numbers as well.

First, this so-called "lay media puff piece" was a press release and should have been identified as such.

That said, the facts are there for anyone willing to drive the vehicles discussed, selective or otherwise: Jetta delivers real world fuel economy comparable to the Prius with significantly better real world performance.

Greenness has several different measures, but the CO2 reduction of a modern diesel cars (which meets the same tailpipe emissions standards as a gasoline version) is clear. We need to use every tool in the shed.

Commercial aside: Note the Prius ad at the bottom of the page of this post. Who's paying the bills at Grist?

And don't get me started on "diesel technology has peaked." This has to have been written by someone who has read nothing about the advances of common rail diesel during the past decade (and ongoing). Whew. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

If you look at the past 10 years of common rail diesel tech, they are now three generations into the technology, each one a significant (at least double digit percentage improvement) move forward in three areas simultaneously -- fuel efficiency, emissions reduction and power delivery. Try that on any other automotive technology -- and the turbine engine analogy for the car has yet to show up (hint: it ain't electric motors/batteries because, while they're getting better they are struggling to make the kind of progress you're seeing not only in diesel but also gasoline ICE engines).
Michael  

Good dialogue, but I have a little problem with the use of analogies. The ICE took over from the battery electric & steam engines of the early part of the last century not because of any oil/auto conspiracy -- they were cheaper, more reliable and delivered more of what consumers wanted. Turbos have been around for decades and are getting better all the time as enablers (all modern diesels are turbo and more & more gas engines). Electric motors have a longer history than ICEs and there are some exciting developments in them, but so far cost/energy storage issues are not on their side. The next few years are going to be an exciting time as all of these technologies develop further.
Michael

nothing really to debate. the prius drives well. i don't personally prefer how it feels, not good enough information about road conditions and handling through the pedals and steering, but i'm sort of sensitive to that and felt the same distancing in a matrix, so, it could be a toyota choice unrelated to the drive-by-wire stuff.

obviously though i like a well-balanced car and for both of the cars i've owned there were a couple years at the start where i took it into the hills and threw it around, mostly to learn how it handled under pressure, in detail; how to drive it smoother at speed; but it was also very entertaining, even with my patented "this is not a race track keep your head on" approach to twisty roads.

when i learned driving there were precious few cars with any CYA technology for the brakes or wheel spin. it was very important to understand how a car handled and also that a car be good at accident avoidance, with or without proper driver input.

having also driven a recent jetta, i guess all of this is to say that -- driving defensely being very important for health and gas mileage both -- i'm sure i'd survive a fast-changing dangerous situation on the road in either car -- but the jetta feels more capable of evasion in the hands of a driver who knows what they're doing.