Any more news on the Jeep liberty/rescue diesels?

[DKarvwnaris]

Just curious if anyone has heard release dates recently for the Rescue or the Liberty jeeps with the diesel options?

We were all set to pick up a Liberty until the local dealer said DM changed their minds on it. No diesel this coming year, Huh? Thought it was a done deal. He babbled about the rescue being slated for 2006. Any truth to it? I have been waiting for the liberty diesel since last summer, arrgg. We need to get a new toy for the Mrs. Soon. She wants something smaller than a quad cab :{ I just want a diesel motor, period. I'll deal with the platform so long its a diesel. I can't fit in the VW's so they're out.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

He babbled about the rescue being slated for 2006. Any truth to it?

I hope it's the truth. The Jeep Rescue concept is the vehicle of my dreams!



Matt

 

[fj40charles]

Local car guy on TV (Ed Wallace) didn't have much good things to say about the MB diesel in the liberty. He said it was loud, rough, and re-fined. Not a good thing IMHO if that is the case.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

He said it was loud, rough, and re-fined.

Compared to what? Bad press for the diesel Liberty's is not a good thing so early in the game. Daimler Chrysler should have given me one to test drive so I could write about it.



Matt

 

[DKarvwnaris]

Local car guy on TV (Ed Wallace) didn't have much good things to say about the MB diesel in the liberty. He said it was loud, rough, and re-fined. Not a good thing IMHO if that is the case.

I have driven several Diesel Mercedes vehicles while on numberous vacations in Europe, not to mention the US versions from a few years ago. None were any different than a typical passenger vehicle, some even better as far as power, noise, and "refinement" than their gas counterparts. Even the Italian diesel engines they have in their "A" class compact is a nice power plant.

I bet that the liberties will be just as hard to get ahold of as the VW TDI cars are lately.

Besides the actual performance of a vehicle and what some egotistical TV smuck with with a pair of drivers gloves and a face of makeup doesn't mean much to me. I have yet to see a fair shake of a diesel by any media source or vehicle evaluator.

I really just wanted to know if there are any finalized release dates yet. I am already sold on one, just need to find one. The Rescue would be alot more appealing to me though.

 

[zstroken]

The diesel in the liberty is not a MB, it is from an italian tractor company.

 

[rbattelle]

Motor Week last week had a test of the diesel Liberty. Nothing remarkable about it... they liked it. Said they felt it was nicely refined, quiet, and powerful. Didn't accelerate as fast as the gasser version, but got better mileage.



-Ryan

 

[swexlin]

I got both "Four Wheeler" and "4Wheel and OffRoad" yesterday, and the Liberty Diesel was in 4x4 of the year in both - both mags raved about the torque (295 lb/ft), and decent 160 hp. They said it WAS refined, and accelerated decently. Said it is MUCH better than the V6 gasser.



By the way, Four Wheeler gave the award the the Toureg V10 TDI. THey were RAVING about it - said this engine is THE shizznit!

 

[DKarvwnaris]

The diesel in the liberty is not a MB, it is from an italian tractor company.

Alot of the MB vehicles in Europe have Italian diesels in them, They have been stamped with MB in the cars, but the manufacturing is not by MB.

 

[TboneMan]

According to the JeepForum http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121929&page=1&pp=15

DC is taking orders. I think your dealer may be indicating that he will not likely see one since the allocation is supposed to be very tight.



I hope they can get this thing 50 state certified before my wife's '96 Intrepid with 148k dies.

 

[Dieselnut59]

I wish they would bring this thing to US. I have heard rumors that if the Liberty does well with the diesel, the Cherokee will be the next one to be available with the CRD engine already available in other parts of the world. The engine is made by the same Italian company in both vehicles.







JEEP® GRAND CHEROKEE VOTED THE WORLD’S BEST OFF-ROADER

17 Jun 2004

In a unique shootout between 10 of the UK’s favourite five-door off-roaders, 4x4 magazine has voted the Jeep® Grand Cherokee its ‘World’s Best Off-Roader’.



In a series of tests – each designed to put every vehicle through real off-road situations – the 2. 7 CRD (Common Rail Diesel) Grand Cherokee was awarded 193 points out of a possible 250.



John Carroll, editor of 4x4 magazine, said: "This test wasn’t about just driving the vehicles through the biggest mud-hole we could find. With a spirit-level, protractor and tape measure, it was about measuring their competence in a true off-road environment.



"Our judges felt that Jeep’s Grand Cherokee stood out as being the most capable, this-will-go-anywhere vehicle. The Jeep’s coil-spring suspension and Quadra-Drive system puts the Grand Cherokee in a different off-road league to the others and makes it a worthy holder of the title of World’s Best Off-Roader. "

 

[Dieselnut59]

This was on the same website too...



SUPERCHIPS CONVERSION GIVES VW’S MIGHTY TOUAREG V10 TDI EVEN MORE POWER

21 May 2004





The most powerful passenger car diesel engine ever built is made even more formidable



The Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI is a highly powerful machine in standard form, but the Superchips electronically enhanced version is another proposition again – a luxury 4x4 with serious attitude!



VW describes the Touareg V10 TDI’s 5. 0-litre power plant as "the most powerful passenger car diesel engine ever built", but by reprogramming the engine management system, Superchips has made it even more potent. Maximum power is increased by 26 bhp to 356 bhp at 3,414 rpm and optimum torque by a massive 108 Nm, to 855 Nm at 2,776 rpm. Still greater gains lie at 2,851 rpm, where power is upped by 47 bhp and torque by a staggering 116 Nm.



Such significant performance gains generally come at an equally significant price. Not so the Superchips conversion, which totals a mere £511. 13 including VAT – less than 1 per cent of the vehicle’s purchase price.



The conversion can be carried out at any one of Superchips’ 85 dealers nationwide, or at the company’s headquarters in Buckingham. In some parts of the country, it can also be done at a customer’s home or place of work, courtesy of one of the network’s mobile units. In each case the job only takes around 45 minutes to complete. If required, Superchips can even arrange favourable insurance via its specialist broker, Firebond.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

I wish they would bring this thing to US. I have heard rumors that if the Liberty does well with the diesel, the Cherokee will be the next one to be available with the CRD engine already available in other parts of the world. The engine is made by the same Italian company in both vehicles.

That's what repowers are for, If the frail little liberty can support that engine, a Cherokee will certainly hold it. I doubt you'll many of the diesel liberties in junkyards long if they get wacked. Why not import the diesel components of the cherokee's from Europe, The engine out of a US model would drop right in then, not to mention be EPA legal as they stamped it for the liberty already. I can see the Jeeper clubs planning this already. Now that the motor meets passenger car regs, it will be finding lots of repower projects.



I don't care for the Cherokees personally, but that is mainly due to my distaste for them replacing the fullsize platforms with the unibodied models. Oh how I miss my J series cherokee, what a capable trail mutt. A 360 AMC and 38" tires, ah, the memories. A TJ or TJ unlimited, now that would be a nice toy.

 

[fj40charles]

I have driven several Diesel Mercedes vehicles while on numberous vacations in Europe, not to mention the US versions from a few years ago. None were any different than a typical passenger vehicle, some even better as far as power, noise, and "refinement" than their gas counterparts. Even the Italian diesel engines they have in their "A" class compact is a nice power plant.

I bet that the liberties will be just as hard to get ahold of as the VW TDI cars are lately.

Besides the actual performance of a vehicle and what some egotistical TV smuck with with a pair of drivers gloves and a face of makeup doesn't mean much to me. I have yet to see a fair shake of a diesel by any media source or vehicle evaluator.

I really just wanted to know if there are any finalized release dates yet. I am already sold on one, just need to find one. The Rescue would be alot more appealing to me though.

Another thing this guy said was about mileage. He said the diesel got a few more miles than a gasser. I belive it was like 8 mile more per gallon or something like that. . I would have been nice to see something in the 35-40 MPG range, but that is not the case.



It doesn't matter what this car critic says, but it still makes your wonder about just how good this diesel is. . I would have expected a diesel motor that it real quiet like the VW TDI if they want to sell to the masses.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

I belive it was like 8 mile more per gallon or something like that. . I would have been nice to see something in the 35-40 MPG range, but that is not the case.



It doesn't matter what this car critic says, but it still makes your wonder about just how good this diesel is. . I would have expected a diesel motor that it real quiet like the VW TDI if they want to sell to the masses.

Yikes, I hope the mileage is better than that, the Jeeps we drove in Muniche were nearly double the range in distance per tank. I wonder if the US emissions cut the #'s down or something.



I would expect the diesel to be comparable to a diesel, but not a TDI, the VW motors are a high rev design with a different fuel system. If it is quieter than a 2005 Dodge cummins, or Powerstroke, then I would be content with that. It falls in the SUV category, not compact commuter. The masses are never going to accept diesels, too many bad memories from the 70's and 80's in most generations. It doesn't help that most newer trucks with diesels are being turned up and modified to bellow black smoke at the intersections. (mine is one of them unfortunately) TDI's are a great little car, but they barely make up a fraction of the VW production available in the states. The majority of fuel stations in most metro areas don't even have diesel. I would love to see the Jeep Diesels take off and be the standard, it would push the Big Three to get off their gasoline powered lineups and produce more alternate fuel platforms in the other models. I am sure the EPA/ Emissions standards are only allowing so many diesels to hit the road anyways. I fear the production of diesel vehicles is to get the manufacturers overall fuel mileage %'s down, not to satisfy the small # of us wanting them.

Just to see any manufacturer offer a diesel option is a step in the right direction to me. The opinions will be love/hate regardless of its qualities. (thanks in no small part to GM's pathetic attempts in the past).



By the way, not trying to argue with you, we all have different views of a subject. Glad to have your side of it to consider even though I think otherwise.

 

[rbattelle]

I fear the production of diesel vehicles is to get the manufacturers overall fuel mileage %'s down, not to satisfy the small # of us wanting them.

That's an interesting side I had not considered.



-Ryan

 

[ezcurra]

It's never too late to get another FSJ . I've had two 78 Cherokees (full size), a 71 J4000 and I now have a M715 (the military version of the J-trucks).



www.ifsja.org

Oh how I miss my J series cherokee, what a capable trail mutt. A 360 AMC and 38" tires, ah, the memories.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

It's never too late to get another FSJ . I've had two 78 Cherokees (full size), a 71 J4000 and I now have a M715 (the military version of the J-trucks).



www.ifsja.org

I would love an M715, my dad used to have one he bought for plowing and hauling wood, what a resilient beast.

My loving wife has put down a four vehicle limit. :{ Currently I am pushing that already with my '96 dodge, "90 suburban, '99 Mazda pickup, CJ-5 (johnny Cash title), and my '96 Volvo. Toterhome. The Mazda is on its way out now that we have a 14 month old son, Four seat minimum now.

My Cj is going to be getting torn down to the frame this coming year and rebuilt into a half breed, Fiberglass tub will be stretched in length to about a Scrambler and widened by at least 8 to 10 inches. I had considered using a FSJ frame for it, but I'm better off fabricating the frame to fit the dimensions I'll really need since it has a 4bt, SM-465, and NP 205 atop J series axles. Not to mention, I'm going with air bags for suspension. It is as close as I will get to a FSJ for a while. Maybe after the Suburban meets an untimely demise in an accident or something, Her family visits for very long periods so it needs to stick around for a while.

 

[Bill G]

DK & CO. Please get with the real world. The new WK Grand Cherokee will go anywhere that the old iron took ya, just in style!! This coming yr we will have out the XK, I believe they are bringing back the Comander nameplate for this one. As I know it no diesels slated yet. But a bigger Hemi!! The Xk is sweet. Bigger than the WK but shares many of the underpinnings. Looks sorta like the old XJ Cherokee on steroids. This will be built along with the Grand Cherokee at DMX's JNAP plant in Detroit. To all the nay sayers, please don't knock it till ya tried it. Oh-oh-oh 1 more thang. Check out the new Grand Cherokee SRT8 later this yr. This AWD Hemi puts a Viper to shame off the line. Hope ya all enjoy em.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

DK & CO. Please get with the real world. The new WK Grand Cherokee will go anywhere that the old iron took ya, just in style!! QUOTE]

I am sure the newer Jeeps are capable, but I am more the old school type and am of the belief that "Real Jeeps are BUILT, not BOUGHT".



I like the older Jeeps because the frames allow for more versatile repower options. Alot of it is also because I grew up with the "J" series vehicles and am VERY biased to them, more so than any other manufactured vehicle besides maybe the old Willy's Jeeps.

Technology, Mileage, Refinements and crash tests demanded the uni body Jeeps come to life, I just miss the old iron. It was what made the name for Jeep and means more to me that production cost savings etc.

I am glad the Jeep name is still continuing above all else, I was afraid DC would kill it for sure with their takeover.