One has to be careful talking about this on both sides of the pond. In Canada our diesel fuel is very dirty, with far more sulpher and fewer performance additives. We are also not as big a Diesel market (although I think that is changing) so volkswagen is really the only fully commited diesel player in small vehicles.

Re: Ontario "Drive Clean" Program. I believe there are different levels of pollution allowed for the two types of engine. Saying an older car passed the emmission tests could just be a function of the levels set for Diesel.

Because diesel's are not a big market here some of the popular views are very warped. Diesels are dirty but our fuel that they burn is dirty. Diesels are noisy but our selection of diesel models is very small.

I bought my wife a diesel golf because she has a long drive to work. It is noisy and (I think) a little unglamorous but it has great mileage. She's really proud of the near 800km she gets to the tank.

Sigurd