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Small diesel truck - at last!
I've been having to do a 90 mile round trip each day since buying my Toyota Tacoma and have been thinking of selling it and buying a beater truck and a sedan that gets 30+ mpg to save some gas money, but...
while reading a Consumer Reports in the doctors office there was a small blurb about Mahindra bringing a compact diesel truck to the US in early 2010.
It's about time.
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| | re: Small diesel truck - at last!
Ken, it would seem they might be behind planned schedule but that is not uncommon.
There is at least one imported small truck now in the US. Sells for about 10,000 but don't think you would want to use for a 90 mile per day routine. Have a client who sells them. Think they are made in China. To me they look like for local runs.
Just wondering, what kind of MPG do you get on your 90 mile round trip? I have a 2004 Tundra which is not a lot larger than the new Tacomma if any and for my routine driving get 17 something tank in tank out. Have you a cover over the bed to cut wind drag?
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A friend with one of their tractors likes it.
I've been looking for a 42-50" mower (front-mount to get under trees) with a small diesel (around 10HP) for years. One local chain of industrial/consumer products (Princess Auto) sells such engines, so they do exist. I'm willing to pay the extra because diesels last way longer, use less fuel, are simpler to maintain, and (in the case of off-road machinery) are easier to get road-tax-free fuel for. But nobody sells them.
Can't blame the truck makers -- they'll make whatever people will buy. The problem is that, unlike the professionals, the average person won't pay the diesel-engine surcharge.
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Ken, since you're already on the Wet Coast, why not look at some of the Japanese imports?
There's a company in Vancouver (there must be some in WA & OR too), I talked to them when I was out there early this month, that custom imports vehicles from Asia, new or used, any model you want, for you.
As a 'one off' end-user import they are exempt from meeting US standards.
They had all sorts of diesel Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols, M-B G-wagons, plus all the usual cars, in both right & left drive models too.
Might be worth looking into.
Best of luck.
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KT, on the highway my Tacoma gets around 18mpg. It used to get 21 before the E10 mandate.
Murf, I'll have to check out the import of a small diesel truck. I've seen the occasional non-US vehicle here but don't know of an importer offhand. My biggest concern would be parts availability.
Maybe I could buy an old Tacoma with a bad engine and then pay someone to do a diesel conversion. I don't have the time to tackle a project like that myself.
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I think you'd have to do a little more than just swap engines, especially with a 4X4.
Most diesels run a different final gear ratio than gas trucks do. The diesel mill turns slower than a gas one so it needs to have a lower final gear set in order to keep the same top end as the gas truck.
As long as you stay with a top tier manufacturer parts aren't an really issue, both the manufacturer and specialized after-market shops can source them in most cases. The independent shop I uses services many Euro & Asia spec'd vehicles and doesn't seem to have a problem getting spare parts.
It's different up here, the spread between premium and regular is much wider, but I've shown time and again it's usually cheaper to drive a vehicle using premium than regular. This is even more so the case now that regular is E10 or E15 in most places.
Best of luck.
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Before Ford had a diesel for their pickup's a friend of mine bought a new Ford conversion van, an E-250, I think. They loved the room, the ride, towing capacity, and all that but the thing drank gas like a fish.
He had a "Friend" who convinced him to let him take the gas engine out an install a diesel, sounded great, yep do the business. WRONG!!!
I don't remember what kind of a diesel engine it was, but everything kinda went to SXXX. Spent a ton having a conversion bell housing made, custom engine mounts, none of the accessory drives,( alternator, AC pump, radiator fan ) lined up. The Ford tranny shifted at the worng points, rear end gearing was wrong., on and on. The freinship was strained to say the least and the van got parked under a tree. Frank.
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OK, I'm convinced, no conversion!
Murf, I ran a three tanks of premium through the truck and saw no increase in mileage whatsoever. I thought three tanks would be enough to allow the engine computer to recalibrate - maybe not?
This truck runs against conventional wisdom when it comes to mileage anyway. When it was brand new it was getting 21-22 mpg highway. That mileage did not increase a bit after break-in, the only change was a drop to 18 when E10 came out and it had 20k miles on it by then.
Our Subaru didn't increase at all after break-in either. Maybe machining tolerances and lubricants have improved to the point where break-in doesn't make that much difference anymore.
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Ken I am surprised at that 18 mpg but understand the ethanol requirement. It does not seem to affect mine so much, but does affect my son in law with the new style Tundra (only pickup in our family now is Tundra and each one is different). Here Sunoco does not have ethanol in it's gas but then it is not a state requirement and also we are running rather flat ground.
As to gas it does not seem to improve my mileage to use premium gas, in my wife's Toyota Avalon it does some. I do find some variance between brands and Exxon as brand name is the worst for my mileage and has been for years. It calls for regular unless hot weather or heavy loaded or such, she just uses it period as that is her baby.
As I was about to hit to post this a little thought came to my mind...what kind of speeds are you running on your trip. My wife's car has computer with nice large display and when on the road I often set it for mileage just to see what I can get. To run 70 mph drops the gas mileage about 5 mpg over 60. Decide I liked 60 and 30 mpg more than savings 10 or so minutes for a two hour drive.
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OK, I'm not an engeneer or a chemest, so shoot me down if I'm wrong
We have an 08 Impalla, an 07 Silverado, and an 07 Trailblazer We also grow corn so I shouldn't even be saying this, but here goes. I think the computer controled fuel injected engines we have now only consume enought BTU's of energy from the fuel whether it is straight gasoline, having the most BTU's to any blend of gasoline and ethanol, having less BTU's per gallon to provide the amount of combustion pressures needed to propell the car, truck, or whatever. So however it works out on a cost per mile basis not a cost per gallon basis is what counts.
I do keep pretty good track of fuel mileage on all the units and yes straight gasoline does improve mileage, but it is not always the least cost per mile. Frank.
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