Chrysler & Cummins Restart Light Duty Diesel

[lil red cummins]

Hate to say it, but the EPA has doomed the light truck diesel market. They, by their restrictions, have made it impossible for a light duty diesel to compete with the gas engine version.



Who wants to pay $5000 more for a half ton pickup, that gets very little mileage increase over the gas version and the fuel to fill it costs more?? And by the way, if any of the exhaust after treatment parts go bad, they are expensive as heck. I don't think "economical" will be a word used with the proposed 1/2 ton diesels.



The same applies to our heavy duty trucks. Mine will be my last unless the EPA allows these trucks to run efficiently, the way it was intended. Mine gets ~20mpg around town. From what I have been reading, the new ones get around 15-17. The diesel advantage is minimal now. Longevity is the only clear advantage of the diesel.



I have yet to see a GOOD scientific reason why nitrogen-oxides are harmful to us. The EPA has their collective head up their tush and the manufacturers allowed this to happen without a fight.



Jim

 

[rscurtis]

I've said it before and it bears repeating, despite the disagreement of other members. The new market is in the small diesel pickup that can get 30 MPG and still have some capabilities. Hopefully, the Mahindra will get here in December as scheduled, but the distributor and Mahindra have some type of disagreement going on now. It has received certification from the Punishment Agency.



I also believe a Dakota sized pickup with a 200 HP CR engine would also be a hit in the market. The current crop of half-tons are just too close to the HD versions to offer any meaningful benefit to a diesel option, or much of a cost advantage for that matter.

 

[Elite1]

It baffles me that they won't build a 1/2 ton diesel truck. That's exactly what I need... and I suspect a few hundred thousand other guys like me who need an economical daily driver which also doubles as a decent tow motor when needed to pull a decent sized camper. When Dodge/Cummins ever gets off their butts and builds one, I will buy it.



I hope it's an inline 6 or 4... I don't like V8 diesels.



Make it simple, smooth and low maintenance.



Forget the Fiat crap! Why don't they do something based on the 4bt? Now that would interest me!

A few years back I went to Italy on vacation and rented a fiat diesel sedan, I was quite impressed with it's performance and economy... If a small truck came stateside with a Fiat diesel I would most likely purchase it...

 

[Regcabguy]

Dodge is probably testing it here for export to more diesel friendly nations. Not everyone over there wants to drive a mini-pickup.

 

['strokeThis_'07]

Who wants to pay $5000 more for a half ton pickup, that gets very little mileage increase over the gas version and the fuel to fill it costs more?? And by the way, if any of the exhaust after treatment parts go bad, they are expensive as heck. I don't think "economical" will be a word used with the proposed 1/2 ton diesels

I do. In fact, minus a diesel option, I'll likely never buy a half-ton. You can absolutely make these diesels more fuel efficient, regardless of the crap sitting downstream of the turbo. At a 6-8k buy-in, very likely. And diesel does cost more. I still say give me a 25mpg diesel over a 16-19 gasser anyday. As long as I can throw a prgrammer on it and delete the emissions, I'm in.



Either my 03 or 07 can pull 20mpg, with Smarty TNT cranked. The 03 obviously does it easier; it just pulled 19 average on TNT SW6, completely stock otherwise, 95% town driving. Be a cold day when a gasser can put 500hp to the tires and get 20mpg (07 5. 9 there... )

 

[mberry]

Mine gets right around 21 not running winter fuel. I would love to have a 1/2 ton pickup or even better, an SUV like a tahoe sized vehicle with a smaller diesel engine. If I could find a 4BT or an Isuzu equivalent to put in my Land Cruiser (that I could afford) I would do it in a hearbeat.

 

[rscurtis]

You will recall that GM offered a version of the Tahoe in the mid-nineties with a de-tuned (180HP) version of the 6. 5 engine. It was a poor seller, I couldn't tell you the last time I saw one. The same engine was available in the 1500 PU.



I seriously considered one before I bought my '95 Dodge, but wasn't sold on the 6. 5. Turns out my instincts were correct. I doubt it would have held 55% of its value when eight years old like the Dodge did, despite its faults.



Fuel was relatively cheap back then, perhaps today the story would be different.

 

[rscurtis]

Here is the latest on the Mahindra saga, as far as I understand it. Those of you who doubt that it will be imported may be correct- at least for the time being.



Initially, Mahindra thought they could sell 5-6000 trucks per year in the US. Turns out, that once Global Vehicles started to set up dealers, GV realized that their dealers could easily sell 50,000 trucks per year. Now, Mahindra wanted to side step GV and sell the trucks directly. This is why they delayed certification from the Punishment Agency, so that the original agreement with GV would time out in June, 2010. Mahindra then launched an attempt to take over GV. This issue is now in arbitration. GV apparently has a lot invested in this, they already have $300 million in financing arranged.



This reinforces my opinion that this is where the new market is in diesel pickups. You could have one of these for running around, and keep your Ram for the serious work.

 

[guldam]

I want one of these with the 60mpg 1. 3-liter 16-valve MultiJet diesel for around town driving.

GulDam

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[AABEN]

I would like to see them use the 4cl that cummins all ready have! You can get some good horse power out of it. All so be able to work on it. Do not need to fill up under the hood.

 

[AABEN]

my full bore McAfee SiteAdvisor has no problems with it

It shows up red but when you go on it it is OK