Posted by jdemaris on November 17, 2007 at 18:14:56 from (69.67.229.9):
In Reply to: diesel gas posted by mf40-man on November 17, 2007 at 16:14:01:
You ask why Ford doesn't make a diesel Ranger? They did, and hardly any sold - so they dropped it - it had a Mazda 2.2 diesel. The little Escort was also offered here in diesel. Dodge offered a 1/2 ton truck with a Mitsubishi 6 cylinder diesel - and again, hardly any sold. GM sold S10 trucks with 2.2 diesels which also didn't sell well. GM is the only U.S. company to attempt making their own diesels for light-duty use. Some were awful (Olds 4.3 and 5.7 series), some pretty good (Detroit Diesel 6.2s) - but sales of light trucks and Blazers fell off fast. One bail-out was the Army buying a bunch -starting with 60,000 of them in 1984. In 1982 Chevy/GMC sold 10,000 diesel Blazers. 1985 they sold 2100, and by 1991 they only sold 92 of them and dropped it. Diesel engines are not inherently rugged and not all are terribly efficient. Diesel fuel though, weighs more than gas and there is more BTU energy in a gallon of diesel. Most diesels are rugged because there's more bucks spent on them and they are intentionally built to last. There are some diesels that are less rugged then some gas engines - when the extra money isn't spent - and they are short-stroked to behave like gas engines. The US public had it's chance with exposure to diesels and pretty much turned its collective nose up at the prospect. Now - with the new emissions regs - it's close to impossible to come up with a diesel car that's worth having. Jeep tried selling a diesel Liberty a year or so ago - few sold and fuel mileage not very impressive. At this moment (unless something changed in the past few weeks) nobody offers a pure diesel car that is legal in all 50 states. Mercedes is the only company to even try - and to do so - their car must be run with an aux. chemical injection tank to keep diesel emissions down. Overseas there are many fuel efficient small turbodiesel vehicles. None will meet the U.S. emissions regs - and even if they did - few would be bought here unless the performance was upped - and then fuel mileage would go down. Ask yourself - with all the moaning and groaning recently about fuel prices - how many drivers do you see changing to smaller vehicles - or driving slower? Not many, I bet. How many people are buying cars with smaller engines? Again, not many. GM is working on a gasoline powered diesel - that has the benefits of compression ignition - bugt also the lower emissions since gasoline is the fuel. Will it work - who knows? In regard to your Volkswagen - I find a consistent 54 MPG hard to believe. I've been driving them for years - since they first came out - and have three right now. Yes, I've gotten a little over 50 MPG on rare occasions on a flat highway - but mine all have an overall highway average of 45 MPG and 38 MPG around town. I have two 1981 Chevy diesel Chevettes and they do almost as good - 43 MPG and 37 MPG. My 1985 Isuzu 4WD mini-truck with 2.2 diesel gets 27 MPG - highway or city - makes no difference. My Ford Ranger 2WD with 2.2 diesel gets 34 MPG highway. My Mercedes 300D only gets a best of 25 MPG - which doesn't even do as well as many faster gasoline powered cars. My 82 Chevy 4WD 1/2 ton truck with a 6.2 diesel does almost as well as the Mercedes - it's gotten 24 MPG on a long flat highway. Don't get me wrong - I'm am advocate of diesel - but not an advocate of the current U.S. versions. If we could cut back on the regs, and get some simple, easy-to-work-on, fuel-efficient diesels - I think it would be great. But, it can't and won't happen - not in this country. At least in Canada, citizens are allowed to buy many of the Eurpean diesels if brought in used (not new) - but we can't have any in the U.S. If someone really wants a simpler, small diesel rig - there are still plenty of older ones to be fixed up and driven. I've got over 50 - more than a lifetime supply for me - since I'll be dead in 30 years - or less. But, if diesel keeps on getting much higher than gasoline - not sure it will be worth it. And maybe it's my imagination, but I seem to be getting worse fuel mileage with the new ultra-low sulfur diesel. I wonder if the BTU content has changed.
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