Ford, GM have discussed merger, alliance

I hate asian cars. Always have since the first one I saw. But the Daewoo gets a bum rap compared to Mitsubishi's bastard child, Hyundai..

You wanna see junk, wait till the geelys from china start showing up, understand they are already available in Canada. A 4x4 in competion with the Kia was tested in germany and scored "0" in the crash test. Driver and passenger would have died in the 40mph head on, driver may survive in the

30mph side impact but will suffer major injuries. But it will sell like hot cakes here.

Whitelightning

Oh my I hope not so soon. I haven't seen one yet. I'll not follow closely; protecting my tires from falling parts!

What I'd really like to see is a Ranger with a small diesel. Something with

200-250 ft-lbs of torque. The V-6 doesn't get significantly different gas mileage than the F-150.

Mark

I agree. Problem is diesels don't sell well in the US. They run a little different, smell a little different, feel a little different, need a little different care, YAAHH I can't handle change, I'll stay with what I'm familiar with!! I don't wanna change...! I'll just stay in my comfort zone and pay for gas. We, as a whole in the US, are so used to gasoline powered engines that we are afraid of anything new (different). I had the chance to drive the prototype of the GM EV-1 (Battery Powered) back in the late 80s, called the Impact. It was amazing!! As a Prototype it lacked creature comforts like AC, power accessories, stereo, etc. It would gate a Corvette of that vintage and keep up respectably in a 1/4 mile race, had a range of ~200 miles, handled great, and looked pretty cool. GM morphed it into the EV-1. With styling changes and the addition of creature comforts, the range was lowered to about 80 miles per charge. IMHO, it was still viable as a commuter vehicle, as the average commute to work and back is ~28 miles last I read. The EV-1 died a quick death once the CARB "0" Emissions mandate was overturned. I would have bought an EV-1 if it had been available in Northern Ohio back then. I would now buy a diesel powered car\truck if available in my "need" range from the domestic auto makers, like the Ranger you mention. Sadly, none are available.

Interesting, because having just visited Ford of Germany's website, the only available engine in the Ranger is a 2.5 L turbo-diesel. How tough would it be to bring that truck here?

Jeep offers a diesel in their Liberty, but with automatic tranny only. Being a die-hard clutch & stick fan, I did not even consider the Liberty as a viable option.

That's the kicker. Where did all these cars go? This would be perfect for the wife, who travels maybe 15 miles a dat tops. Put in a PV based charging system and you could run the car for next to free.

Mark

Not tough at all, I would imagine. They would likely not sell very well.

Hmmm, I wasn't aware of that.

That was the question in the back of my mind for many years. All of the EV-1s were leased. When the lease was up, GM pulled them and eventually crushed them. The EV-1 was only available in California. Many folks outside of that state didn't even know they existed. Other car makers got into the electric car game at that time also. Ford produced some electric Rangers for California. Not long ago I happened across a documentary called Who Killed the Electric Car. It told the story of the EV-1 and the processes that brought it into existance along with opinions about why it was discontinued. Although rather slanted (anti Big Business, anti Republican) it was really interesting. They gave the website

. I haven't had time to check it out.

< snip >

Most manufacturers (Jeep included) have pulled most (if not all) diesels off the market because of the ULSD issue, with them being re-introduced sometime next year. ULSD is "ultralow sulfur diesel". Basically, 2007 and beyond model year diesels have much more stringent emission controls (catalitic converters, etc.) and the "current" (up until September 06) diesel fuel (even a small amount) will ruin the emission controls. So, the new diesel is now at the pumps, but the manufacturers are being cautious, wanting to make sure ALL the old diesel fuel (LSD = low sulfur diesel) is out of the gas station tanks before they start selling "2007 models", so the real "2007 models" are really going to be "2007 1/2 models".

Diesels were selling pretty well until GM came out with the 350 diesel. Peugeot, GM, VW, Audi and DiamlerBenz all sold diesels in the 80s.

You mean like the scores of thousands of hybrids that have sold in the US?

VW still sells a diesel. Mercedes is bring them back. And Honda plans on selling them in the 2009 model year, if not sooner.

Jeff

My 2004 F-150 5.4L Triton 4x4 gets better mileage than my

2000 Ranger 4.0L 4x4 got. Not what I expected, but it is a good thing.

Here in Kansas City, you see F-250 Powerstrokes everywhere. My local dealer always has a very large number of these on their lot.

Yes, diesel trucks are popular. I was referring to cars.

I'm disappointed with the current hybrids they have out. You don't get that much mileage improvement for the significant increase in price. And the VW Jetta TDI gets better mileage thatn the Honda and Toyota hybrids.

My problem is I have to buy a $35,000 F250 to get a diesel. I don't really need something that big. It would be nice to be able to get a

300 CI diesel in an F150 or that European diesel Ranger, but nothing like that is offered in the US by any manufacturer.

Very. The oil companies do not produce diesel fuel in the US clean enough (low enough in sulfur) to run them. That is slowly changing.

What about those 80's Toyota's with the diesels, were they landcruisers or what.. i still see some of those (quite a surprising number for how many would have been here to begin with) running quite well it seems.

Actually, that will change in 2007 when new regulations go into effect.

Jeff

They've already canceled it.

Getting back to the thread, I agree that a small truck with a deisel would be a good thing to market in the states. Right now that would sell. They don't really make small trucks at all any more. I get autoweek, and they had a long-term Nissan Frontier (not a Titan) and that was getting 14 mpg, about half what Nissan pickups used to get 15 years ago.

Obviously there's an opportunity there.

The big problem is diesel perceptions, some of which are true, One their noisy, no doubt about that at all. The duramax is a lot quieter than the power stroke and the cummins, but its still noisy, especially' when its cold and first started. The mercedes were noisy, the little Isuzu diesel used in the pup trucks, I-Mark, Chevette was a clattering beast, which a lousy valve train. VW was noisy, and if the timing belt broke trashed the engine(The Isuzu trashed the cylinder head) They are expensive to repair. again true, however given proper maintenance they don't need repairs often. They smell, cant argue that one at all, diesels stink. On the repair front, they hard to get fixed, in that not every garage is going to be able to work on one that wont start. That's true only in the shade tree arena

while the general public has gotten better about oil changes, things like air filters and with a diesel, fuel filters have not gotten better. We all know the fastest way to shut a diesel down is feed it some dirty or water contaminated fuel.

Whitelightning

OK, explain what the sulfer content of the fuel has to do with these Euro diesels. Just curious to know as most of the old diesels would run on almost anything.