Diesel News: POST HERE
- Thread starter Scott Brady
- Start date
cruiser guy
Explorer
racewave said:
I tend to think that the fuel standards south of the US will match with the US in time. The same thing was happening with unleaded fuel back in the late '70's and early '80's. Now you CANNOT buy leaded fuel anywhere that I know of (Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize), and you have not been able to for years.
Autobloggreen had a chance to spend a couple of days driving a Euro-spec Audi A5 with 3.0L turbodiesel. This combination is rated at 35.6 mpg (U.S.) combined on the EU test cycle, and averaged 32.5 mpg during our time with the car. Not bad for a car that can get to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds.
This is the engine that VW will import in the Touareg 2, and Audi will offer in the Q5 and Q7 SUVs.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/10/27/in-the-autobloggreen-garage-audi-a5-3-0-tdi-6mt/
This is the engine that VW will import in the Touareg 2, and Audi will offer in the Q5 and Q7 SUVs.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/10/27/in-the-autobloggreen-garage-audi-a5-3-0-tdi-6mt/
In a hyper-mileage contest in South Africa, the Peugeot 308 HDI (a 4 door vehicle about the size of a Honda Civic) recorded 69 mpg. The car was a standard 1.6-liter 110 hp model with an automatic gearbox and diesel particulate filter.
A small panel van with a similar diesel engine would be a practical work vehicle for lots of companies. Ford is starting to import a European model called the Transit Connect that would work great with a small diesel. In Europe, Ford sells this van with a 1.8L diesel that gets 30 mpg city. But in North America, Ford is only planning to sell the Transit Connect with a 2.0L gas engine that's rated at 19 mpg city.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/transitconnect/
I'm hoping that Ford is just delaying the small diesel until emissions controls are worked out.
A small panel van with a similar diesel engine would be a practical work vehicle for lots of companies. Ford is starting to import a European model called the Transit Connect that would work great with a small diesel. In Europe, Ford sells this van with a 1.8L diesel that gets 30 mpg city. But in North America, Ford is only planning to sell the Transit Connect with a 2.0L gas engine that's rated at 19 mpg city.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/transitconnect/
I'm hoping that Ford is just delaying the small diesel until emissions controls are worked out.
Autoblog reports that Korean auto giant Hyundai has developed
two new four cylinder diesel engines, in 2.0L and 2.2L capacity.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/04/hyundai-develops-high-performance-diesel/
Hyundai is not planning to import these engines to USA, at least
not until the Euro diesel emissions rules come closer to those
already in effect here.
The 2.2L engine is rated at 320 ft-lb of torque. This makes Mahindra's
claim of 300 ft-lb from their 2.2L truck diesel seem a little more
attainable.
Autoblog also reports that Mazda has two new light diesels for European
models. There's a 2.0L with 220 ft-lb and a 2.2L with 295 ft-lb.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/11/06/mazda-introduces-new-2-2l-mzr-cd-diesel-in-european-6/
Chip Haven
two new four cylinder diesel engines, in 2.0L and 2.2L capacity.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/04/hyundai-develops-high-performance-diesel/
Hyundai is not planning to import these engines to USA, at least
not until the Euro diesel emissions rules come closer to those
already in effect here.
The 2.2L engine is rated at 320 ft-lb of torque. This makes Mahindra's
claim of 300 ft-lb from their 2.2L truck diesel seem a little more
attainable.
Autoblog also reports that Mazda has two new light diesels for European
models. There's a 2.0L with 220 ft-lb and a 2.2L with 295 ft-lb.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/11/06/mazda-introduces-new-2-2l-mzr-cd-diesel-in-european-6/
Chip Haven
The diesel engined BMW X5 xDrive 35d has been officially announced, and delivery will start shortly.
It's powered by a 3.0L inline six cylinder diesel with dual turbos, producing 265 hp and 425 lb-ft, while returning an EPA rating of 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway. MSRP is $52,025. The same engine is available in the 3 series sedan, where it's rated at 35 mpg highway.
For comparison, the 3.0L 6 cylinder gasoline engine standard in the X5 runs on premium unleaded, produces 260 hp and 225 ft-lb, and is EPA-rated at 15/21 mpg. MSRP is $47, 100.
The optional 4.8L V8 offers 350 hp and 350 ft-lb. MPG is 14/19 and MSRP is $55,800 before any optional equipment is added.
These numbers make the diesel engine a big performance bargain. The 35d produces 21% more torque than the gas V8, gets 36% better fuel mileage, yet costs $3700 less. Even though diesel costs 20% more than premium gas, the dollar per mile driven cost is lower with diesel.
Like the six cylinder diesel powerplants from Mercedes and VW, the BMW 35d uses urea injection to reduce pollutants. The urea tank holds 5 gallons, enough for about 15,000 miles of driving.
The X5 is a mid-size SUV, with 102 cu ft interior volume for passengers and cargo. Competitors for the X5 xDrive 35d include the Mercedes ML320 Bluetec, VW Touareg 2, Audi A5, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, all of which are similar in size and available with diesel engines.
Chip Haven
It's powered by a 3.0L inline six cylinder diesel with dual turbos, producing 265 hp and 425 lb-ft, while returning an EPA rating of 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway. MSRP is $52,025. The same engine is available in the 3 series sedan, where it's rated at 35 mpg highway.
For comparison, the 3.0L 6 cylinder gasoline engine standard in the X5 runs on premium unleaded, produces 260 hp and 225 ft-lb, and is EPA-rated at 15/21 mpg. MSRP is $47, 100.
The optional 4.8L V8 offers 350 hp and 350 ft-lb. MPG is 14/19 and MSRP is $55,800 before any optional equipment is added.
These numbers make the diesel engine a big performance bargain. The 35d produces 21% more torque than the gas V8, gets 36% better fuel mileage, yet costs $3700 less. Even though diesel costs 20% more than premium gas, the dollar per mile driven cost is lower with diesel.
Like the six cylinder diesel powerplants from Mercedes and VW, the BMW 35d uses urea injection to reduce pollutants. The urea tank holds 5 gallons, enough for about 15,000 miles of driving.
The X5 is a mid-size SUV, with 102 cu ft interior volume for passengers and cargo. Competitors for the X5 xDrive 35d include the Mercedes ML320 Bluetec, VW Touareg 2, Audi A5, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, all of which are similar in size and available with diesel engines.
Chip Haven
I don't know if this is already posted, but:
https://www.ford.com.br/sr_f250_default.asp?sr=f250cd
Brazilian Ford F-250 with Cummins 4bt common rail. ~230-250 HP. Now why don't we get that here..
https://www.ford.com.br/sr_f250_default.asp?sr=f250cd
Brazilian Ford F-250 with Cummins 4bt common rail. ~230-250 HP. Now why don't we get that here..
Volkswagen is showing the 2009 Touareg 2 TDI at the LA Auto Show. It's powered by a 3.0L V6 turbodiesel rated to produce 221 hp and 407 lb-ft of torque. VW dealers are supposed to start taking orders in January.
The Touareg 2 with optional gasoline V8 engine has less torque, is rated for 13/18 mpg, and costs more than the TDI model. No word yet on the tax credit you'd receive by buying the TDI model.
The EPA rates the 2009 Touareg 2 TDI for 17 mpg city/ 25 mpg highway. VW promises to publish some real-world tests that produce somewhat higher numbers. I'd expect high 20's, which would be 50% better than the gas V8.
VW says the Touareg 2 TDI MSRP will start at $43,490, including destination charge. For that money, you get full time AWD, a transfer case with low range, and electronic traction control.
A locking rear differential costs $700. The optional adjustable air suspension can raise the car up to provide as much as 11.8 inches of ground clearance. All in all, the touareg 2 has the equipment to be very capable off-road.
Curb weight of the Touareg 2 is about 5000 lbs, with 1250 lb cargo capacity and 7700 lb towing capacity.
Chip Haven
The Touareg 2 with optional gasoline V8 engine has less torque, is rated for 13/18 mpg, and costs more than the TDI model. No word yet on the tax credit you'd receive by buying the TDI model.
The EPA rates the 2009 Touareg 2 TDI for 17 mpg city/ 25 mpg highway. VW promises to publish some real-world tests that produce somewhat higher numbers. I'd expect high 20's, which would be 50% better than the gas V8.
VW says the Touareg 2 TDI MSRP will start at $43,490, including destination charge. For that money, you get full time AWD, a transfer case with low range, and electronic traction control.
A locking rear differential costs $700. The optional adjustable air suspension can raise the car up to provide as much as 11.8 inches of ground clearance. All in all, the touareg 2 has the equipment to be very capable off-road.
Curb weight of the Touareg 2 is about 5000 lbs, with 1250 lb cargo capacity and 7700 lb towing capacity.
Chip Haven
If you've got $50K to spend on a big SUV, then consider the Audi Q7 with 3.0L turbodiesel. It will go on sale in late winter.
Edmunds Inside Line drove a preproduction version from Death Valley over Tioga Pass to Monterey CA. Trying every trick they could think of to increase mpg while maintaining legal speed limits, they recorded 30 mpg. Not bad for a 5500 lb, 7 passenger SUV! 22mpg was the result on Inside Line's regular test loop of mixed city/highway driving . Read more here
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Followup/articleId=136386
Edmunds Inside Line drove a preproduction version from Death Valley over Tioga Pass to Monterey CA. Trying every trick they could think of to increase mpg while maintaining legal speed limits, they recorded 30 mpg. Not bad for a 5500 lb, 7 passenger SUV! 22mpg was the result on Inside Line's regular test loop of mixed city/highway driving . Read more here
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Followup/articleId=136386
It's becoming really difficult to justify a diesel vehicle on a dollars per mile basis. At this writing, regular gas in the Las Vegas area is around $1.60. Diesel is about $2.25. That's about 40% more per gallon for diesel.
When gas was twice as expensive, diesel was still $.60 to $.75 a gallon more than regular gas. That made diesel maybe 20% more expensive. Because diesel vehicles usually increase miles per gallon more than 20%, diesel was a viable alternative. When prices rise again, diesel will be more attractive option. For now, however, a diesel engine vehicle will be more expensive to buy, and more expensive to operate than a similar gasoline powered vehicle.
There are a couple of alternatives to diesel under development.
Ford is having success developing its EcoBoost twin-turbocharged direct injection gasoline engines. The direct injection of gasoline under high pressure cools the combustion chamber, allowing a higher compression without detonation on regular gas. The result is a 3.5L EcoBoost V6 engine that is as powerful as Ford's 5.4L V8, with fuel economy more like a normally aspirated V6.
The EcoBoost engine adds maybe $1000 to the cost of the engine. Diesels carry a much higher price premium. And pollution control for a gas engine doesn't require particulate traps and urea injection, either. The first EcoBoost V6 engine should appear in Ford F150 and Ford Flex models for 2010.
Mercedes is working on an engine nicknamed DiesOtto. Its combustion is half diesel and half spark. A conventional spark coil per cylinder is used to start the engine, and when strong acceleration is required. Under steady state loads, the engine switches over to compression ignition. With twin turbos, an experimental 1.8L DiesOtto engine has produced about 200 hp and 300 ft-lb of torque.
Interesting new designs! Maybe it won't matter if diesel remains very expensive.
Chip Haven
When gas was twice as expensive, diesel was still $.60 to $.75 a gallon more than regular gas. That made diesel maybe 20% more expensive. Because diesel vehicles usually increase miles per gallon more than 20%, diesel was a viable alternative. When prices rise again, diesel will be more attractive option. For now, however, a diesel engine vehicle will be more expensive to buy, and more expensive to operate than a similar gasoline powered vehicle.
There are a couple of alternatives to diesel under development.
Ford is having success developing its EcoBoost twin-turbocharged direct injection gasoline engines. The direct injection of gasoline under high pressure cools the combustion chamber, allowing a higher compression without detonation on regular gas. The result is a 3.5L EcoBoost V6 engine that is as powerful as Ford's 5.4L V8, with fuel economy more like a normally aspirated V6.
The EcoBoost engine adds maybe $1000 to the cost of the engine. Diesels carry a much higher price premium. And pollution control for a gas engine doesn't require particulate traps and urea injection, either. The first EcoBoost V6 engine should appear in Ford F150 and Ford Flex models for 2010.
Mercedes is working on an engine nicknamed DiesOtto. Its combustion is half diesel and half spark. A conventional spark coil per cylinder is used to start the engine, and when strong acceleration is required. Under steady state loads, the engine switches over to compression ignition. With twin turbos, an experimental 1.8L DiesOtto engine has produced about 200 hp and 300 ft-lb of torque.
Interesting new designs! Maybe it won't matter if diesel remains very expensive.
Chip Haven
cnynrat
Expedition Leader
haven said:
I went through this arithmetic when I bought my F350 Powerstroke back in 1999, and had trouble justifying the purchase on purely financial terms even back then. The payoff time was simply too long - I seem to recall thinking it was going to be 125k miles or more to break even. And I was not contemplating the kind of price premium for diesel that we're seeing today. You're right that with today's fuel price situation it's probably not possible to justify the diesel based on operating cost savings.
In our case we went ahead and bought the diesel anyway because I wanted the performance characteristics and we were fortunate enough to be able to afford the up front cost of the diesel option. We carry a camper on the truck, and the diesel helps with the weight. I also wanted the limited loss of performance at high elevations from the turbo, and longer range between fill ups.
The price difference for diesel vs. gas right now is astounding. Seems like at this time of year you often hear the excuse that the refiners are putting their production into heating oil, so maybe we'll see some relief come spring.
haven said:
This is some very interesting technology.
jfarsang
Adventurer
Coffee anyone ?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/science/16objava.html?_r=1
:coffeedrink:
In research that touches on two of Americans’ great obsessions — coffee and cars — scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno, have made diesel fuel from used coffee grounds.
The technique is not difficult, they report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and there is so much coffee around that several hundred million gallons of biodiesel could potentially be made annually.
Mano Misra, a professor of engineering who conducted the research with Narasimharao Kondamudi and Susanta K. Mohapatra, said it was by accident that he realized coffee beans contained a significant amount of oil. “I made a coffee one night but forgot to drink it,” he said. “The next morning I saw a layer of oil floating on it.” He and his team thought there might be a useful amount of oil in used grounds, so they went to several Starbucks stores and picked up about 50 pounds of them.
Analysis showed that even the grounds contained about 10 to 15 percent oil by weight. The researchers then used standard chemistry techniques to extract the oil and convert it to biodiesel. The processes are not particularly energy intensive, Dr. Misra said, and the researchers estimated that biodiesel could be produced for about a dollar a gallon.
One hurdle, Dr. Misra said, is in collecting grounds efficiently — there are few centralized sources of coffee grounds. But the researchers plan to set up a small pilot operation next year using waste from a local bulk roaster.
Even if all the coffee grounds in the world were used to make fuel, the amount produced would be less than 1 percent of the diesel used in the United States annually. “It won’t solve the world’s energy problem,” Dr. Misra said of his work. “But our objective is to take waste material and convert it to fuel.”
And biodiesel made from grounds has one other advantage, he said: the exhaust smells like coffee.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/science/16objava.html?_r=1
:coffeedrink:
In research that touches on two of Americans’ great obsessions — coffee and cars — scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno, have made diesel fuel from used coffee grounds.
The technique is not difficult, they report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and there is so much coffee around that several hundred million gallons of biodiesel could potentially be made annually.
Mano Misra, a professor of engineering who conducted the research with Narasimharao Kondamudi and Susanta K. Mohapatra, said it was by accident that he realized coffee beans contained a significant amount of oil. “I made a coffee one night but forgot to drink it,” he said. “The next morning I saw a layer of oil floating on it.” He and his team thought there might be a useful amount of oil in used grounds, so they went to several Starbucks stores and picked up about 50 pounds of them.
Analysis showed that even the grounds contained about 10 to 15 percent oil by weight. The researchers then used standard chemistry techniques to extract the oil and convert it to biodiesel. The processes are not particularly energy intensive, Dr. Misra said, and the researchers estimated that biodiesel could be produced for about a dollar a gallon.
One hurdle, Dr. Misra said, is in collecting grounds efficiently — there are few centralized sources of coffee grounds. But the researchers plan to set up a small pilot operation next year using waste from a local bulk roaster.
Even if all the coffee grounds in the world were used to make fuel, the amount produced would be less than 1 percent of the diesel used in the United States annually. “It won’t solve the world’s energy problem,” Dr. Misra said of his work. “But our objective is to take waste material and convert it to fuel.”
And biodiesel made from grounds has one other advantage, he said: the exhaust smells like coffee.