[Ken Scharabok]

http://www.switched.com/2007/07/31/diesel-accord-gets-63-mpg/

Does look like small diesel engines are making a comeback.

 

[wy_white_wolf]

VW is supposed to be bringing back a diesel version of the Jetta in January of '08. By what I've heard it to will be getting over 60 mpg.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4218116.html

 

[Jim-mi]

I cringe to think what those will cost.

 

[Ken Scharabok]

Yes, but eventually they will hit the used car market.

Am hoping all of the vehicles with small, clean diesels and very high mpg rates sell extremely well.

Friends who run biofuel from WVO had to go from the Midwest to, I believe, NM to purchase an early 80s VW pickup and sedan. Heck, I didn't even know VW made a small pickup. Looks like an early Ranger or S-10.

 

[Jim-mi]

Theres a VW pickup 15 miles away. I know the owner well. He's almost restored it. And even put in a 5 speed tranny. Its a sweet little set of wheels.
Two things against it tho.
1, I've got to use a shoe horn to get into it.
2, If he ever sells it, he will be asking well over 6k for it.

wonder what they cost new........

Any way its gonna be a BIG bunch of years before these Honda diesels are reasonably priced *used cars*

All the more reason to keep my old M Benz diesel a runnin.

 

[comfortablynumb]

I had an 88 nissan sentra diesel, it got 45-50 mpg while it was alive....

it kinda rotted in half

now in 88, they could make diesel go up tp 50 mpg....

our 2 festivas with gasoline engines get 45-48 mpg, 51+ on a long highway trip.
those are 1991 and 1993 engines, mazda 4 cyl EFI 1.3L 88HP engines.

new cars MPGs in my opinon are intentionally kept low, and designs intentionally made to waste gasoline.

if an old mazda B2 engine can get 50+ mpg, then 2008 technology should e able to get 60-80+ mpg as a norm.

nooooo..... put high tech in useful stuff like..... iPhones.

LOL

silly humans.

 

[Ken Scharabok]

There are a couple of VW Rabbit diesel pickups on eBay. The two in very good condition will likely sell for more used than new.

To me the more pollution controls they put on vehicles the lower the mpg. Today's clean diesel should provide a bonus for the small diesels.

Sooner or later Detroit should figure out there is a good potential market for a small diesel pickup.

 

[Cash]

Friend of mine has a diesel VW pickup that he keeps running with baling wire and duct tape. The engine won't quit, but the truck is falling apart around it. He's looking for someone who can move the drive train into another pick-up body.

 

[Bob_W_in_NM]

I'd like to see more small diesel vehicles available here, although a new vehicle is not "in the cards" for me.

Note of Ken-
I enjoyed your article in the latest Countryside. I'm glad you brought up the fact that the supply of WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) is limited. In my county of 63,000 people, I can count the number of vehicles using this on my fingers with fingers to spare. Just these few vehicles use up all the available waste in a county this size!

Bob

 

[OntarioMan]

The Geo Metros, Suzuki Swifts, some Dodge Colts and the Ford Festivas all were efficient vehicles due to their extemely low weight and small engines. Aside from the "Smart Car", the Metro type car is probably still one of the lightest and smallest engine size vehicle sold in North America in the last 40 years.

I don't think the North American automakers are keeping the efficiency low to waste fuel - they're just not making small vehicles available. NA manufacturers are concentrating on larger more expensive vehicles - as that is where the profit is.

No doubt, North American automakers could easily make available a 65mpg+ Festiva/Metro type car today - they just couldn't sell it for enough money to make their profit.

I had an 88 nissan sentra diesel, it got 45-50 mpg while it was alive....

it kinda rotted in half

now in 88, they could make diesel go up tp 50 mpg....

our 2 festivas with gasoline engines get 45-48 mpg, 51+ on a long highway trip.
those are 1991 and 1993 engines, mazda 4 cyl EFI 1.3L 88HP engines.

new cars MPGs in my opinon are intentionally kept low, and designs intentionally made to waste gasoline.

if an old mazda B2 engine can get 50+ mpg, then 2008 technology should e able to get 60-80+ mpg as a norm.

nooooo..... put high tech in useful stuff like..... iPhones.

LOL

silly humans.

 

[michiganfarmer]

Friend of mine has a diesel VW pickup that he keeps running with baling wire and duct tape. The engine won't quit, but the truck is falling apart around it. He's looking for someone who can move the drive train into another pick-up body.

I can do it for $1000

 

[michiganfarmer]

I had an 88 nissan sentra diesel, it got 45-50 mpg while it was alive....

it kinda rotted in half

.

do you still have that engine?

 

[OntarioMan]

Here is something somewhat interesting :

"1983 - The Ranger appeared in mid 1982 as a 1983 model year. This was the last year for the Courier as the Ranger replaced it. The Rangers bed was 85-inches long and 53-inches wide, and it was rated for as much as 1,500-pounds carrying capacity. Available in both 2 and 4 wheel drive versions, the base Ranger had the 2-liter inline 4-cylinder engine rated at 72 hp. A 4-speed manual transmission was standard. Optional were a 2.3-liter diesel 4-cylinder rated at 59 hp. Five speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions were available."

59hp in a diesel and 72hp in a gas engine for a Ranger? A Geo 996cc engine (Suzuki 1 litre, 3-cyl) makes 55 hp, a Geo 1.3 litre 4-cyl Suzuki makes 70hp and the Mazda 1.3l makes 88hp. All of these engines are available JDM for a very low price with very low miles.

Also, I've read about a few Geo Metro Kubota powered 3-cyl diesel cars.

Makes ya wonder how an older Ford Ranger would do, efficiency wise and how driveable/practical it would be, if powered by a small Suzuki/Mazda gas or Kubota diesel engine.

 

[WanderingOak]

If we can't get a small US made Diesel truck soon, the Indians will corner the market, catching the domestic automakers completely by suprise, the same way VW and the Japanese did with cars in the '60s and '70s.

 

[Ken Scharabok]

"1983 - The Ranger appeared in mid 1982 as a 1983 model year. This was the last year for the Courier as the Ranger replaced it. The Rangers bed was 85-inches long and 53-inches wide, and it was rated for as much as 1,500-pounds carrying capacity. Available in both 2 and 4 wheel drive versions, the base Ranger had the 2-liter inline 4-cylinder engine rated at 72 hp. A 4-speed manual transmission was standard. Optional were a 2.3-liter diesel 4-cylinder rated at 59 hp. Five speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions were available.""

I have an 82 Ranger with a 2.3 L gasoline engine. 4-speed manual. Coming up on 190K miles.

 

[Countrybumpkin]

A guy I work with has a '94 Ranger 4 banger, 2 wheel drive that he just serviced for the first time-at 150,000 miles. Plugs were not that bad! Origional clutch in the thing also...amazing for a later model Ford!

 

[Jim S.]

Ken, how about this? 1982 Datsun Diesel 720 pickup, 49 mpg. Bought it for $500 with only 88,000 on the clock. Hadn't moved in 2 years. Took another $250 to get it fixed up a bit.

I also have a gas 1989 Nissan Stanza, bought for $500, took another $600 to get it fixed up. Power everything, and it all works. I have 11,000 on it now (it has 195,000 on the odometer), and it gets 28.5 mpg. I drive 50 miles round-trip to work each day, and a 5-day week is about 2/3 of a tank of gas.

There are lots of low-buck, high mpg vehicles out there. I notice more and more VW Bugs and Rabbits and lil VW diesel pickups being pulled out of who knows where and put back on the road.

 

[Ken Scharabok]

For someone interested in a gas to diesel conversion see eBay listing #120151136997. Found it on a search for Ford Ranger Diesel. Imported from Japan.

 

[Helena]

Know really little about the gas vs diesel engines etc but what makes the diesel engines so much better on fuel. We had an '72 MB that ran great until some old lady ran the stop sign and almost killed hubby. Thank goodnes he was driving the old "tank" of a car that day ! But saw a '87 ?? VW stationwagon diesel for sale on the road..body was rought. Have a gas VW jetta and runs great on gas. Diesel vs gas..why ??

 

[SolarGary]

Know really little about the gas vs diesel engines etc but what makes the diesel engines so much better on fuel. We had an '72 MB that ran great until some old lady ran the stop sign and almost killed hubby. Thank goodnes he was driving the old "tank" of a car that day ! But saw a '87 ?? VW stationwagon diesel for sale on the road..body was rought. Have a gas VW jetta and runs great on gas. Diesel vs gas..why ??

Part of what makes the diesel appear more efficient is just that diesel fuel has about 15% more energy per gallon than gasoline. Just as you get worse fuel economy on ethanol than gasoline because it has less energy per gallon, you get better fuel economy on diesel because it has more energy per gallon. The more energy content also means more carbon content and more CO2 emissions.
The other part is just that the diesel cycle is more efficient than the cycle used for gasoline engines.

I think that eventually the greater energy content of diesel fuel might get reflected price -- or maybe not


Gary