|
Diesel engines began to be used in automobiles in the 1930s. Mainly used for commercial applications early on, they did not gain popularity for passenger travel until their development in Europe in the 1960s.〔(If diesel engines are more efficient, why do most cars come with gasoline engines? )〕 Diesel cars continue to develop into highly desired, high performance vehicles given their simplicity, their ability to be made environmentally less damaging while retaining power and performance. ==Early 20th century== Production diesel car history started in 1933 with Citroën's Rosalie, which featured a diesel engine option (the 1,766 cc 11UD engine) in the Familiale (estate or station wagon) model. The Mercedes-Benz 260D and the Hanomag Rekord were introduced in 1936. Immediately after World War II, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s, diesel-powered cars began to gain limited popularity, particularly for commercial applications, such as ambulances, taxis, and station wagons used for delivery work. Most were conventional in design. Mercedes-Benz offered a continuous stream of diesel-powered taxis, beginning in 1949 with their 170D powered by the OM-636 engine. Later, in 1959 their OM-621 engine was introduced in the 180D. This 2.0 L engine produced at 4,350 rpm. Beginning in 1959, Peugeot offered the 403D with their TMD-85 four-cylinder engine of 1.8 L and , followed in 1962 by the 404D with the same engine. In 1964, the 404D became available with the improved XD88 four-cylinder engine of 2.0 L and . Other cars available with diesel power during this era included the Austin A60 Cambridge, Isuzu Bellel, Fiat 1400-A, Standard Vanguard, Borgward Hansa, and a few others. In 1967, Peugeot introduced the world's first compact, high-speed diesel car, the Peugeot 204BD. Its 1.3 L XL4D engine produces at 5,000 rpm. Following the 1970s oil crisis (1973 and 1979), Volkswagen introduced their first diesel, the VW Golf, with a 1.5 L naturally aspirated indirect-injection engine which was a redesigned (dieselised) version of a gasoline engine. Mercedes-Benz tested turbodiesels in cars (e.g. by the Mercedes-Benz C111 experimental and record-setting vehicles) and the first production turbo diesel cars were, in 1978, the 3.0 5-cylinder 115 hp (86 kW) Mercedes 300 SD, available only in North America, and the Peugeot 604. The biggest single step forward for mass-market diesel cars came in 1982 when PSA Peugeot Citroën introduced the XUD engine in the Peugeot 305, Peugeot 205 and Talbot Horizon. This was the class leading automotive diesel engine until the mid-1990s.〔"Diesel Car" (Future Publishing Limited, July edition, 1993), p.104〕 The first mass market turbo diesel was the XUD powered, 1988 Citroën BX and then the 1989 Peugeot 405, they gave power and refinement approaching petrol engine standards,〔"Diesel Car" (Future Publishing Limited, August/September edition, 1998), p.19〕 with the best chassis in their class. Diesel Car magazine said of the Citroën BX "We can think of no other car currently on sale in the UK that comes anywhere near approaching the BX Turbo's combination of performance, accommodation and economy".〔"Diesel Car" (Future Publishing Limited, August/September edition, 1998), p.22〕 These were the cars that started the diesel boom in Europe that has now hit 50% of the market in new car sales. Diesels carried a 2.5% share of the European Community market in 1973. Following the fuel crisis, this share increased to 4.1% in 1975. This more than doubled (to 8.6%) by 1980, and by 1983 diesels represented 11% of new car sales in the EU. Diesel Powered Passenger Cars in North America have been steadily increasing in popularity, especially in the early-mid 2000s. Diesels have typically only been used in trucks and commercial vehicles and buses. Jeep had offered a Perkins Diesel option for its models in the early 1960s and Chrysler offered them as well although mainly for the European market though some have probably been retrofitted to older AMC and Chrysler models in the US, particularly as taxis. Oldsmobile released a 350 cubic Inch (5.7 Litre) V8 diesel Engine starting in the late 1970s, most Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet and even Cadillac divisions of General Motors, had received this engine by the 1980 model year, and continued to be sold until the engine was discontinued in 1985. Whilst a very good idea at the time, owing to the recent 1979 energy crisis these engines had gained a terrible reputation for reliability. Part of this had to do with the fact that, whilst the engine block itself was indeed a diesel specific design (contrary to most people's belief that it was simply a dieselised version of the famous rocket V8), GM management made significant cost saving measures by using many parts from the gas V8 counterpart which were not up to the task of diesel engine operation, specifically the number and type of head bolts used, and the lack of a water and fuel separator in the fuel line, a big issue as a lot of diesel fuel contained water and also high levels of sulfur at the time. The engine was later revised into the DX block and most of the issues were fixed, a V6 version displacing 4.3 litres and a smaller 4.3 V8 were also offered around this time, mainly for the downsized front-wheel drive models of the mid-1980s and although they were much better in the reliability department, the damage had already been done and the North American diesel car market was severely crippled as a result, despite the best efforts by Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Peugeot, VW and others in offering their more refined and powerful diesel engines. All of these olds designed units were non-turbocharged (or natural-aspirated) diesels. This undoubtedly hampered them in the performance and efficiency departments, although there have been retrofits of turbochargers to Olds diesel blocks which are carried out by enthusiasts and collectors of these cars. It isn't well proven if turbos are reliable long-term with these engines, but so far they seem to be suitable, however, what performance benefit they bring could be considered as dubious given how low their power output was to begin with. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the diesel car」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|