3 Liter Diesel for the 4Runner

[boston_kevin]

"hybrid" locomotives and construction vehicles use the electronic motors for a couple of reasons, number one being the torque.. Where a gasoline (or pure diesel) engine can put out hundreds of foot pounds of torque, an electric motor of the appropriate size can put out thousands of pounds of torque (hence the widespread use of these motors). Also, there are fewer moving parts which reduces the likely problem of internal failure and increases the longevity of the motors.

Other hybrids include submarines and ships, nearly all military vehicles (including the new tanks) use this technology (just think about the power needed to get that aircraft carrier moving and why a nuclear reactor is the only thing that can generate enough electricity for extended periods of time). All cruise ships use the same technology too...

I think we just needed a kick in the wallet to figure out how to make these things smaller for passenger vehicles on the road.

 

[Kmvreter]

A diesel/electric (or nuclear/electric or engine/elctric) is not a "hybrid" system. Think of these as "pure" systems that use a power source (fuelled engine, nuclear reactor) to run a generator to power DC (traction) motors. Hybrid systems use this type of system as well as direct drive off the engine (to power a transmission) to power the wheels. The hybrid takes it a step further and uses the traction motors as generators to store energy when decelerating (braking.)

 

[T4RMatt]

Check out this article on the new MB GL320 CDI. This introduction might seriously shake up the current market trends. Most manufacturers of SUVs have diesel engines somewhere in production they could source if the Benz is a success. I am interested to see how it does. If Jeep ever put the little diesel they have the new Wrangler due out soon I would be pretty tempted.....
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=116192

 

[ovrrdrive]

Some of you guys need to go price a gallon of diesel methinks...

Down here it is the same price as premium gas. Sometimes its up to 10 cents more a gallon then premium even.

You would have to get 26mpg just to break even, then you also lose the convenience of filling up anywhere with three different grades etc.

Not to mention the smell gags me and is a pretty bad carcinogenic...


No thanks, I'll stick with gasoline.

Btw, there were a few guys over on yotatech that were doing diesel swaps. Some of them were downright badass too.

 

[khaug]

We purchased a Mercedes E320 CDI diesel sedan in 9/04, and currently have about 17K miles on it. It is quiet, hugely powerful and gets excellent fuel mileage (31.4 mpg overall so far, best tank=38 mpg, worst tank=29 mpg). It meets all current Federal emission standards, but not those of California and the other states that have adopted California's standards. If Toyota were to offer a similar high-quality, high-torque diesel in the 4Runner, I'd buy one in a minute.

As mentioned, the USA is currently transitioning from "low" sulfur diesel fuel (up to 500 ppm permitted) to "ultra low" sulfur diesel (15 ppm or less permitted). This will still leave US diesel fuel short of European specs (5 ppm or less), but will permit the addition of particulate traps which will eliminate virtually all soot emissions. Federal diesel emission standards will soon tighten substantially, necessitating fitting the particulate trap. Even with this trap, addition of urea injection will be necessary to clean up NOx emissions to the point that passenger car diesels will be legal for sale in California.

At present, about 50% of European new car sales are diesels. DaimlerChrysler is so committed to diesels that they have come out with an entirely new Mercedes diesel engine (named "Bluetec") for the U.S. market. This engine will debut in 2007, when ULSD has become universally available in the US. Other European manufacturers either already sell diesels here (VW) or plan to introduce them in the American market in the future (BMW, Jaguar).

Modern diesels using common-rail direct injection and variable-vane turbocharging bear virtually no relationship to the feeble, noisy, smoky diesels of the past. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is the Audi R10 diesel that won the 24 hours of Le Mans overall this year. IMHO, diesel is the wave of the future.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

What is often unmentioned regarding the overall sales of diesel-powered vehicles in Europe is the tax situation. They tax diesel fuel at a rate that is much, much lower than that assessed to unleaded gasoline. Here in the USA, the opposite is true. We tax diesel fuel at a much higher rate than gasoline, which leads to the pump price being similar (within 10 cents a gallon in most states, I guess).

If unleaded were costing you about four bucks a gallon and diesel were priced just below $3, I guarantee that more folks would consider an oil-burner for the family car. When you figure that a diesel sedan might get 31 mpg and its gas version knocks out 24 or 25 mpg, the true fuel savings becomes apparent. With modern technology, a diesel engine can easily outlast a gasoline one if it is given proper care.

The performance gap has narrowed somewhat as well. Getting a diesel vehicle used to mean zero to sixty in about five days, while today's modern diesel engines offset some loss in horsepower with great gains in low-RPM torque. How many gasoline engines develop their peak torque below 2000 revs?

Cold-weather problems have always infringed upon diesel sales, particularly in northern climates.......but technology has also helped that situation. Anyone who owned a diesel Rabbit or one of those dreaded GM diesels of the late-'70s will remember trying to get one fired up in the morning and what a pain it was to wait for the glow plugs to warm up.

When the glow plug light eventually went off, you had to cross your fingers and pray that your battery had enough juice left to turn the crankshaft and move the pistons through that thick 15w-40 or 20w-50 oil that had the winter viscosity of Aunt Jemima syrup! Then it took the car another ten minutes of idling before you could get it to run. Your neighbors would then curse at you for putting out more soot and smoke than Mt. Pinatubo on its worst day of erupting. Any other car on the road could follow your smoky trail the whole way to work. Ah, those were the days!
:bash:

The only solution at the time was to get a block heater and plug your car in every night. Not a bad idea, until you come out on a cold morning and trip over it; thus spilling your hot coffee all over your shirt.



We should be so thankful that technology has improved things so much. You young kids have no idea of how bad it used to be.
:cheers: :bigok: