Diesel (Long Speech)

[BunduBasher]

The duramax diesels are manufactured and assembled in the USA, it was just engineered by Isuzu.

My point was that the Japanese and Euros have for years manufactured/engineered great small and large turbo diesel engines - time we had some of them engines here - Chrysler/Dodge have no excuses for holding out or even charging a buy in - Mercedes have been engineering/developing and manufacturing probably the best diesel engines on the planet for the past 20 years - all they need do is stick them in some of the Chrysler products.

 

[Camstyn]

My point was that the Japanese and Euros have for years manufactured/engineered great small and large turbo diesel engines - time we had some of them engines here - Chrysler/Dodge have no excuses for holding out or even charging a buy in - Mercedes have been engineering/developing and manufacturing probably the best diesel engines on the planet for the past 20 years - all they need do is stick them in some of the Chrysler products.

They're starting to clue in, they put the MB inline 4 in the Dodge Sprinter vans.

 

[BunduBasher]

They're starting to clue in, they put the MB inline 4 in the Dodge Sprinter vans.

The Dodge Sprinter IS a Mercedes Benz :yikes:

 

[Treejumper]

all they need do is stick them in some of the Chrysler products.

The 05' Liberty is getting a diesel motor. I remember my Mercery Lynx with a diesel. It was nice getting 56mpg but i sure hated taking it to the truckstop to be worked on. Felt funny parking next to all those big rigs. :) Nice thing now is more "normal" garages/dealers know how to work on them. I wish my Ram was a diesel but like others have said i couldnt afford the up front $7K price increase. My brother had the same truck i did with the 5.9L. He got 6mpg towing a 24' camper from Idaho to Pennsylvania last summer. This summer he had the new turbo cummins diesel and got 19mpg. So for him the up front cost was worth it. I tow about 3 times a year and its a flatbed trailer.

 

[DoubleTrouble]

The Deal Clincher - Passat TDi only $200 More!

Good article on the subject: :ride:

The Diesels are Coming
Kiplinger's Personal Finance
August, 2004
On a sunny and sultry Virginia morning, I was in a convoy of Volkswagen Touaregs speeding through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We drove on roads barely wide enough for two cars, some unpaved and pitted, past sprawling estates behind stone fences and ranch houses with rusting trucks in the yard.
The primary mission of this troop of auto journalists wasn't to test the limits of VW's urbane SUV, which was introduced about a year ago to mostly rave reviews. We were there to assess the Touareg's new five-liter, ten-cylinder, twin-turbo diesel engine and to put the Passat turbo-diesel engine through its paces.
Mission accomplished. The Touareg's powerful engine, which has a low, reassuring growl, definitely passed muster. It sprints to 60 miles per hour in 7.5 seconds, has a top speed (VW says) of 130 mph and can pull nearly 7,800 pounds. All that power comes with more fuel efficiency than big gasoline SUVs--17 miles per gallon in the city and 23 on the highway. Not spectacular, but on par with many smaller SUVs. But you pay a hefty premium. The Touareg TDI costs $58,415, about $15,000 more than the gasoline V8.
After lunch, I switched to VW's other new offering, the Passat diesel sedan (it's also available as a wagon). The 134 horsepower isn't impressive, but there's adequate acceleration, plenty of power when you want to pass and more than enough zoom-zoom to handle winding, hilly roads and to pass lollygaggers on the interstate. Mileage is a sweet 38 mph on the highway and 27 in the city (about the same as the tiny Mini Cooper). Best of all, with a sticker price of $23,060, it costs just $200 more than a comparable gasoline-engine model.
* VW's Touareg diesel: More power, better mileage, at a premium price.
Not your father's diesel. Nearly half of the vehicles on European roads are diesels, mostly because the engines are more efficient and the fuel is taxed less heavily than gasoline. But until recently, only VW offered diesel passenger cars in the U.S.: the $19,245 (base model) Jetta, the $17,775 Golf and the $18,205 New Beetle TDI models (TDI stands for "turbo-diesel direct injection"). But your choices are growing. In addition to the new Passat and Touareg from VW, Mercedes-Benz introduced the E320 CDI in April ($49,795, or $1,000 more than for the gasoline version). And a four-wheel-drive Jeep Liberty SUV diesel (which costs about $22,000 for the base model) will join the ranks this fall. A number of pickup trucks are also being offered in diesel models.
The technology has come a long way since the smoky, smelly, clattering vehicles of a generation ago. In the early 1990s, there was a switch from indirect to direct injection of fuel into the cylinders at high pressure. This development created more efficient engines with more torque--the power to tow and accelerate from low speeds--than gasoline engines of the same size. Then, a few years later, advancements in turbo-charging made diesels more fun to drive.
The new generation, called clean diesels, typically burn at least 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of similar power. Diesels also produce lower emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Government standards slated to phase in by 2007 will require even cleaner-burning engines. Until those standards are met, diesels can't be sold in California and in a cluster of northeastern states--Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont.
One reason that clean diesels have been slow to catch on in the U.S. is that carmakers haven't had to be innovative to meet fuel-efficiency requirements. Carmakers will have a bigger challenge in 2006, when gas-mileage requirements for model-year-2007 light trucks (including SUVs and minivans) will be boosted.
Clean-diesel technology has pretty much been ignored as Toyota, Honda and now Ford have pushed gas-electric hybrids, the green vehicles du jour. Perception may also play a role. According to a J.D. Power and Associates study, consumer concerns about diesel focus on maintenance costs and the availability of repair shops and service stations. But you spend less on regular maintenance with diesel engines than with gasoline engines, and they are more durable.
Adding it all up. Although you pay a premium for a clean-diesel engine, the savings in fuel costs, plus higher resale values, can more than make up for the higher sticker price. Say you buy a Passat GL TDI sedan--paying a $200 premium over the price of a gasoline GL--and keep it for four years. Fuel costs for the gasoline model (which takes premium gas) would run about $5,280 over four years, assuming that you drive 15,000 miles a year and premium averages $2.20 a gallon. Diesel fuel costs 45 cents less a gallon than premium, so with the TDI you'd spend $4,120, or $1,160 less. If you traded the car in after four years, you could expect a resale value of 41% of the original sticker price, versus 38% for the gasoline version, which could garner another $700 or $800.
Note that the diesel Passat has less horsepower but more torque than the gas model, meaning you get good off-the-line acceleration and passing power but sacrifice a second or two getting from zero to 60. In my book, that's a second or two well spent. :aj:

Diesels have finally arrived!

 

[BunduBasher]

Touareg's new five-liter, ten-cylinder--17 miles per gallon in the city and 23 on the highway

WOW

 

[YZ165]

I was thinking about getting a diesel until I heard that Pred was going to take all the gas I saved! :ohmy:

 

[KiwiBird]

Just got back from 2 weeks in Europe where we rented a diesel Renault 1.6 litre that got 60 mpg and ran at 85+ on the freeway with "adequate" power to get about. I looked and would say that about 60+% of cars were diesel.

America could save even more if we used scooters like Spain where literally 80% of the traffic in Barceleno was 50cc scooters (with carbon fiber silencers and chambers too) Long live the 2 stroke!!

 

[gnarlykaw]

it is just a matter of time before we, or should I say, will have to, covert to diesel. i bought my first diesel, back in 03, and couldn't be happier. mazda, and toyota both, built diesel trucks back in the 80's but, they were a disaster. leakers, and poor power. don't forget V.W. had them in the rabbit, back in the 70's. and of course, mercedes, and BMW hat thers as well. with the introduction of fuel control via and on board computer opened up a whole new direction with diesels. the dodge cummins up intil 02, used a hang on rack pump, and then switched over to electric injectors, and this alone improved power, and over 60% of that clatter noise was gone. this was on the 250-throught the 305 ISB engines. then, the 600 ISB is even more quiet, and has much more power.
Sure, they hold more oil, typicaly, around 12 quarts on the trucks. and the fuel filter. but what else is their to maintain???? That's it. no plugs, wires, igniton "junk"
yeah, I'm sold........................................

 

[jsned]

Heck at $58,000 what a bargain, everyone should buy one, then all US manufactures go out of business, then all the people who work for them wont have a job so they wont have to drive anywhere and look how much gas that would save!!

 

[BunduBasher]

Heck at $58,000 what a bargain, everyone should buy one, then all US manufactures go out of business, then all the people who work for them wont have a job so they wont have to drive anywhere and look how much gas that would save!!

I think at $43000, the regular gas powered Taureg is not going to be on everyone's SUV shopping list !! :yikes:

on the other hand, more affordable diesel SUV's just might. (that is if you consider $30k plus affordable) :bang:

 

[DoubleTrouble]

Heck at $58,000 what a bargain...

Hey, AL, that's a whole $2K less than the Cadilac Escalade we checked out the other day! :yikes:

What the market will bear, demand, and volume will level it out eventually.

But hey, 300hp, 500lb torque, and 130mph, it would sure be sweet in a 1/2 ton truck :aj:

 

[Studboy]

Diesel's sound and smell like a garbage truck to me. I can't tell the difference when they're driving down the road.

 

[kx200]

I have a Dodge sprinter and it has a catalytic converter on it and it smell like a kerosene space heater. Man I like that van for hauling bikes.

 

[BunduBasher]

I have a Dodge sprinter and it has a catalytic converter on it and it smell like a kerosene space heater. Man I like that van for hauling bikes.

Which van have you got ... how do you like that Mercedes engine ?

 

[kx200]

I got the 158 inch wheelbase one. I was worried about what some people were saying about how small the motor was and how slow it was. Then I realized the most of the people complaining never even drove one. Sure it’s no big block but it’s not that bad the 5 speed auto helps. It will do 75 down the freeway all day long, and if you drive 55 to 60 it get 25mpg.