DEP organizational chart for 9/11 emergency response, Sept 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Sp*m* • • as 10 parts per million — and therefore pro­ vering the car to within the customary Man­ duces higher sulfur dioxide emissions. VW hattan millimeter of a neighbor’s bumper Continued From Page 1 would like to see all the sulfur removed was more difficult without power steering. smart. VW plans a new, cleaner gen­ from diesel — Sweden sells fuel as low as 10 An m.p.g. needle gauge, similar to one eration of the engine for the 2004 parts per million — but it tunes the TDl’s that is standard in BMW’s, is supplied, and model year. The new engines will sold in the United States to the fuel here. in addition, the test car was run with a fuel have four valves, instead of two, per Diesels, you may recall from middle­ computer that measured m.p.g. — immedi­ i cylinder and finer injection spray, school science class, are the oldest form of ate and average — and other variables. At for cleaner, more efficient combus­ internal combustion engine and ignite from tion. Volkswagen is also planning a simple fuel compression, no spark needed. cruise, the needle showed us above the three-liter mark and even with much idle large diesel for its forthcoming D-1 They are simpler and have fewer parts than do gasoline engines and therefore are more time on the helix to the Lincoln Tunnel and other sluggish traffic funnels, the Lupo av­ luxury model, with 10 cylinders ar­ durable. The Lupo raises these questions: Is diesel eraged around 62 m.p.g. over several days ranged like a W. Other makers are a potentially comparatively quick solution of driving — a better real-world figure.than returning to diesel; the most power­ for reducing fuel consumption? Is it at least even the Honda or Toyota hybrids. ful engine on BMW’s new 7 series a short-term measure before hydrogen or In the New York area, the price of a gallon will be a diesel; it will be available fuel cells or other technologies mature and of diesel fuel is generally about 15 cents only in Europe. their supporting infrastructure is put in higher than that of regular gasoline. At one VW engineers say that relatively place? service station in suburban New Jersey, for little work on the catalytic converter Passenger-car diesel has a mixed record example, a gallon of regular gas cost $1.56; and particulate filter can improve in the United States. Its image suffers from diesel was $1.70. The price in the New York association with 18-wbeel tractor-trailers area is usually greater than that in regions diesel emissions significantly, and whose smokestacks gush clouds of soot and like the Midwest, which have large farm Federal regulations for 2006 will re­ memories of the erratic diesels General Mo­ economies and are laced with long-haul duce the amount of sulfur in Ameri­ tors offered in the late 197O’s. Even VW’s truck routes. can diesel fuel. Wolfsburg’s wolf may American-built diesel Rabbits of the early With its German plate number beginning one day mature into a larger beast. 198O’s were only partly successful. WOB, for Wolfsburg, the test Lupo caught Diesels inspire memories of slow winter the eyes of many passers-by. Just so no one • • • starts, sluggish performance and shudder­ missed the fact it was a green car, the tester ing at idle. But the TDI is a different animal. came in a hue charitably described as early In the Golf or Jetta, it runs so smoothly — spring grass and familiar to fans of certain without any “dieseling” vibration — and ac­ Dodge muscle cars of the late 196O’s. celerates so avidly as to be almost indistin­ “Is it Mopar?” asked one curious man, a guishable from a gasoline motor. Corvette owner. “A good commuter car for The turbo direct-injection engine, a 1.2-ti- someone, I guess,” he added doubtfully. On ter three-cylinder, makes about 61 horses. It an adjacent lane of Route 46 in New Jersey, comes equipped with a version of the Tip­ a man in a new Passat honked appreciative­ tronic transmission, developed by Porsche, ly and offered a thumbs up. A woman in which runs in either an automatic or clutch­ Manhattan’s West Village asked about the Lupo, then reminisced about her old Beetles. less manual. But it idles less smoothly than Another man was led to recall fondly his does the larger TDI available in the New trusty VW diesel Dasher. Beetle, Golf or Jetta. It does not offer the Several people swore they would buy one low-end response one might like on the 100- if it were offered for sale. Many used the foot merge ramps onto some of the New word “cute.” York area’s main arteries. When VW introduced the TDI in 1995, the Additional fuel economy is provided by response was underwhelming. Now, it looks the start-stop function. After three seconds Continued on Page 4 at a stop light, the engine switches off, as it does in hybrid gasoline-electrics like the Toyota Prius. (The engine automatically and seamlessly starts back up when the ac­ celerator is pressed.) To activate this feature the driver pushes the “eco” button, cleverly hidden among the climate controls. The feature is disconcert­ ing at first but the driver’s manual reports, “You will be happy to realize that one can very quickly get used to this driving style.” What one cannot become used to is the Lu­ po’s kinky power curve, with its lurching gaps between gears that see the engine drop from 2,800 revolutions per minute, to 2,000, for instance, as the unit shifts from first to second. The interior wears the familiar Braun- Krups black Bauhaus look of other VW’s, with cobalt and ruby-lighted instruments. Rear-seat room was not bad, according to a pair of customarily critical teenagers. The Lupo can fit into urban parking places that larger cars have to pass by, though maneu-

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