Diesels will never make it in the US for cost and  carcinogenic smog reason.

http://world.honda.com/news/2006/c060925DieselEngine/
September 25, 2006-Honda Motor Co., Ltd., announced it has developed a
next-generation diesel engine that reduces exhaust gas emissions to a level
equal to a gasoline engine. Honda's next-generation diesel engine employs a
revolutionary NOx catalytic converter that enables a great reduction in NOx
emissions sufficient to meet stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Tier II Bin 5 emissions requirements (based on Honda's internal
calculations). This catalytic converter features the world's first
innovative system using the reductive reaction of ammonia generated within
the catalytic converter to "detoxify" nitrogen oxide (NOx) by turning it
into harmless nitrogen (N2).

And the new Honda plant in Indiana
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20060518/ai_n16418095
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/HG01Dh01.html


I'll believe it when I see a few thousand sold in California :)

"Gasoline engines presently employ three-way catalytic converters that offer
NOx reduction rates as high as 99%, but this performance is possible only at
the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. In the oxygen-rich environment of a lean-burn
diesel engine, three-way catalytic converters only reduce NOx levels by
approximately 10%. Honda’s new catalytic converter efficiently reduces NOx
in a lean-burn atmosphere, enabling diesel engines to rival gasoline engines
in cleanliness. The compact system is also easy to install in passenger vehicles."

Perhaps this technology can be applied to the RX8 engine to run it lean and
reduce the fuel burn in the RX8 car by 10%. Right now the RX8 engine runs
stoichiometric 100% of the time.

Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

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