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What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?
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Hydrogen fuel CELLS has easily been the hope of the future since Sputnik (late 50's) ! It was "discovered " in 1838 !? Maybe if we click our heels and recite: " there is no place like home" x .... (whatever makes a mantra) 2188 will be here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell
By the time all the really cool stuff gets here, my ashes will be floating down some river somewhere.
http://www.getransportation.com/rail/rail-products/locomotives/hybrid-locomotive- .html
We'll get it "any day now".
Now I'm not trying to defend Mazda too much here as I still have a beef with how they left once loyal owners out in the cold when their cars rusted prematurely during a generation when the competition was using extensive galvanized metal and had nowhere near that level of corrosion, resulting in significant depreciative loss for those victims, but I do think some of this bad press mentioned here with the SkyActives is not totally fair or justified.
Bite your tongue
While it might be tempting to think of European diesels as seamless to/with US market diesels, a lot of real world issues and variables serve as sometimes formidable obstacles. aka literal and figurative "OCEANS" apart.
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/videoController.action?op=playVideo&playlistId=4- 85DC4B7EAB238F2&videoId=cK5SQkEUBdo
I think they are only building them to win races and get attention for Mazda. I thought they had to be sold in the USA to qualify for racing.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/07/27/mazda6-indianapolis-speedway- -brickyard/2588713/
For as much fanfare as the 14 Cruze diesel has received, GM/Chevrolet seems to have opted for a so called "SOFT" opening, as it lists 1,296 DIESEL units in inventory, with a back drop of 32,343 units or (snapshot only) 4% diesels.
Makes me wonder how Rocky is faring getting a Cruse diesel "employee procedure"?
But yeah, there was a lot of fanfare not to pump up the supply line.
I doubt I will buy one, (a Cruze) but if I ever did, I would like to drop by and have him take a look. I think I'd even white lie and tell him I paid 500 over MSRP, haha
That sucks though to hear Mazda pulled them from the site. There were quite a number of very keen fans even just here on Edmund's Mazda forums in anticipation of an oil burner 6 and 5. I wonder if the % content biodiesel has to be massaged a bit more? Darn emission regs. Gawd they hate diesels.
For me I think I have the perfect match of power and MPG.
Good thing it's not an Italian job eh? :-)
http://www.autonews.com/article/20130722/OEM10/307229998/italian-diesel-maker-se- es-big-opportunities-in-n.-america#axzz2dQN3JuQt
Reading about the Liberty CRD was enough to raise my hackles about VM's diesels.
The bedrock assumption is the best mating is a 6/7 speed M/T. So an A/T must be stout enough and geared correctly to take advantage of large torque values @ low rpm.
6.7 L (408 cu in)Cummins diesel I6 (Aisin ASC69RC Automatic) 385 hp (287 kW) 850 lb·ft
Tow rating up to 30,000 lbs. I don't think Ford or GM can match Ram PU trucks for power or towing.
An easy one that comes to mind: even if the operator admits they burnt the (M/T) clutch out on PURPOSE, (which almost no one WILL) Dodge STILL has marketing, customer service, maintenance AND resale problems. A lose, lose, lose and lose scenario is NOT good business sense!! In addition, I am sure that Dodge has done the same as VW T Aisin 8 speed transmission as it has 2 (redundant) transmission cooling units. I would swag that Dodge RAM 1500 will not get dinged by the use of the Aisin 8 speed A/T.
I think if Dodge can market just half as well as FORD or GM (judging by their sheer volume and % of truck sales), Ram 1500 series will be an absolute hit.
Purely on an anecdotal basis, I am getting the sense the Aisin 8 speed SUV A/T is a very robust unit ! VW was smart to mate a 627# ft capacity to a 406# ft output engine ! (aka safety factor, or whatever anyone else calls it)
As you might agree, it is a very fine unit and extremely fun to drive.
I am sure on the European ZF 8 speed A/T side, it is also a very robust unit.
I was reading a bit about the turbo used in the Cruze diesel. It sounds sorta capable, but complicated. Variable vane tech etc. My first thought concerned longevity potential.
Apparently RAM is starting the build of the first ecodiesel in Sept for a Nov/Dec delivery date. No pricing yet but the guy thought it will be a 2800- 4300 Cdn hit. Some of that will be for the sturdy tranny it will come with. It is an 8 speed Torque Flite (sp?) I think? Forget the model..
And then people go ahead and buy a car after being mistreated by a dealer.
My swag is the writing has been on the wall for a good long while !?
The new 8 speed used in all the new Jeep GC and Ram 1500s is a ZF from Germany. Chrysler has bought the rights and plans to open a factory building them here.
The ZF 8HP is an eight-speed automatic transmission, designed and built by ZF Friedrichshafen AG's subsidiary in Saarbrücken. It had its debut in the new BMW 7 Series 760Li saloon fitted with the V12 engine and since then each new BMW model in all Series down to the 1 Series in rear wheel drive and all wheel drive version was equipped with it.
Chrysler Group LLC initially received the 8HP 8-speed automatic transmissions from the ZF Getriebe GmbH plant in Saarbrücken, Germany. By 2013, in parallel with Chrysler Group, ZF has set up a new transmission production plant in North America, where the 8-speed transmissions will be produced. ZF Friedrichshafen and Chrysler Group have reached a supply and license agreement for ZF's 8HP 8-speed automatic transmission. Chrysler Group is licensed to produce the 8HP at the company’s Kokomo Transmission Plant and the Kokomo Casting plant, starting in 2013.
wiki
http://admin.audionlinetraining.com/Upload/SSP/501_ssp466_en%5B1%5D.pdf
http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/ecodiesel/
Ya know..I thought it was going to have the ZF too, and was glad to know it. A great name. Although maybe not ZF's fault, but their use in the Dart is not going all that well..
And you probably are correct, they are still going to have the ZF - or I wonder if they are calling the ZF a TorqueFlite? Seems to me that name tho reminds of a name used long ago assoc with Chrysler.
Anyway, that quote above is just what I took right off the site there on the front page in yellow.
As for Aisin in the VW T, I'd love to have that tranny. I hear good things about it and love that it is so conservatively chosen. Some of my positive impressions I have gotten about it I know originated with some info Ruking linked to me last year.
Thanks for that other link..will have to go check it out.
TorqueFlite, a trademarked name for Chrysler’s automatic transmissions that launched with the 1956 three-speed unit and was discontinued in the 1990s, is being reintroduced with the 2013 Ram 1500’s class-exclusive 8-speed automatic transmission, which is supplied by ZF.
http://www.zf.com/corporate/en/press/press_releases/press_release.jsp?newsId=219- 07432
Funny thing researching the Aisin 8 speed transmission used in the Touareg. I could NOT find any mention of that model transmission on the Aisin website. It may have to do with being for VW and Aisin is owned by Toyota.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Hummer has engineered the H2H to use a supercharged version of the regular truck’s 6.0-liter V-8 engine.
The H2H uses a conventional internal combustion engine powered by compressed hydrogen, even though GM’s plans for its future model range involve hydrogen cars powered by energy sources called “fuel-cell stacks.”
The Honda FCX was a fuel cell vehicle that never went far. They promised to lease a bunch of them back in 2008 and only a handful were actually put out to customers in Los Angeles area. Where Hydogen was available.
Fast Forward and I see GM and Honda are joint venturing on Hydrogen cars. Not sure why?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/07/02/honda-gm-general-motors-hydr- ogen-fuel-cells/2481809/
There is someone lives on my road that has one of the older ones. I think he has done a bit of exhaust work, as it sounds terrific if he gives it a little once starting into a hill near me when he has a loaded tandem trlr out back.
Simple is better. But of course the modern day issues causing oil sump dilution is more because of the more rigid emission regs using raw fuel to burn particulates off the filter. Cold, short trip owners are the ones that seem to have the greatest incidences of this problem.
"They usually love the idea of something different," Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, said in an interview with The Times. "And they're willing to pay a little money for it."
Chevrolet Cruze diesel adds fuel efficiency but sticks to recipe (LA Times)
ETA is September. That's tomorrow. :-)
Oh, this part was interesting:
"Moreover, diesels don't compete directly with hybrids, even though both boast fuel efficiency as a main selling point.
"A diesel buyer is not even close to a hybrid buyer," Reuss said. Hybrid buyers "want the car because it makes a statement about sustainability more than anything."
This is one reason that the Toyota Prius — a conspicuous a statement about one's eco-consciousness — is the most popular vehicle in California."
Fiat 500's, Mini-Cooper's, and Hyundai Veloster's top the girls short list, and even the Smart Convertible was mentioned. Affordable, fun/cute, and fuel efficient cars are what they want, in that order.
(I have 6 nieces, 4 nephews and three kids and we are all at a bar-b-que today so I asked them. GM is dreaming).
Before buying, be sure that the TDI changes the equation. I spent about 6 years paying higher premiums on my '81 diesel Rabbit because Rabbits were 'sporty' cars and were all surcharged. This was a while ago, but I don't trust insurance companies to give up a chance to collect higher premiums.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I think when you say young buyers you would mean young family buyers with small children. I don't see anything sexy about the Cruze. Or a car young singles would buy. From the people in the waiting room at the VW dealership, college students seemed to be the main demographic. I can tell you the Beetle TDI is popular. Beetle sales were up 86% in July. I was tempted to ask to test drive the Beetle Convertible TDI. First one I have ever seen. He gave us the retro looking one. It was fun to drive. That is high on the list for young people.
I think college students get what pop hands them most of the time. My grandson is getting his dad's 7 old Yaris with nothing power including the windows. Likely be his car all through college.
And as for CUVs I agree about them as well, though I don't think there are really any true Low sedans any more ( they all seem to be the tall roof style now and seem to be as tall as the first generation CUVs) I do find that my Matrix ( which is almost a CUV) is easier to get in and out of than the Mazda 3 and I am only 45, so I get where you are coming from.
Watch it, sonny. I'm past 60 and I drive a Corvette.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Back when I was 60 I wanted a Porsche until I tried getting out in the showroom. It is like buying that cool house with all the step ups and downs or even worse two story. They are fine until your knees start acting up. We have ours all on one level with wide halls.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Something I see today that wasn't around in the past is foreign national students on (purchased) "student" visas rolling around in new Ferraris and other exotics, purchased by heaven knows what kind of embezzled, laundered, or otherwise sketchy money.
Regarding the debt, I think a lot of that is built in school rather than after, now that there is a much greater gap between lower wage jobs vs school costs than in the past.
The sporty temperament of the latest diesel engines finds even more potent expression in the BMW X5 M50d. This M Performance Automobile likewise gets a 3.0-litre straight-six unit, in this case featuring M Performance TwinPower Turbo technology with three-stage turbocharging. The three turbochargers work in harmony to maximise power output. Fuel is supplied via a common rail piezo injection system developing maximum pressure of 2,200 bar. This engine has a maximum output of 280 kW/381 hp and develops its peak torque of 740 Newton metres / 546 lb-ft between 2,000 and 3,000 rpm. The 0-100 km/h (62 mph) time of the BMW X5 M50d is 5.3 seconds (- 0.1 seconds), with average EU fuel consumption of 6.7 litres/100 km (42.2 mpg imp), an 11 per cent (0.8 l/100 km / 4.5 mpg imp) improvement on the predecessor model. CO2 emissions stand at 177 g/km (-22 g/km).
The 0-100 km/h (62 mph) time of the BMW X5 M50d is 5.3 seconds
I would agree with you that 6.9 seconds is more than adequate, but if someone offered me 5.3 seconds for the same price, with all else being equal, I would take the higher performance.
I was surfing the web the other day, and a window popped up -- one of those "like my music video so I can win $10,000" things. Before I had a chance to kill the window, the sound started and immediately riveted me to my seat.
Remember what a big block V8 with a 3/4 cam, and big tube headers sounded like at idle? That was the opening sound to this music video, and no finer music has ever been heard, at least not by me. I always wanted to be rich, like Reggie Jackson or Jay Leno, and have a 40 car garage filled with such sights and sounds. Sigh....