Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill in Houston
I think that we, U.S. consumers, have demonstrated that we will not buy vehicles that are smaller than a certain size, or slower than a certain speed. So why should they go to the effort of homologating them for our market?
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I hear what your saying and agree, but the problem has been that vehicles that can satisfy those " American " needs with safety and fuel efficiency have been made by our OEMs but not sold here.
I am especially pissed at the pickup truck situation. I've driven Ford products for years, and have had a couple of 7.3 Powerstrokes that have served me well. It wasn't until I was surfing MWM's website, the makers of pretty decent small turbodiesels that a lot of OEMs around the world use, that I got a slap in the face. These same engines are used in the South American versions of the same F Series that we get here, along with the Chevy Silverado, S10, and Ford Ranger. Have been for years. There's nothing different, from what I can tell between these trucks and ours except for the drivetrain and the fact that they get better than 15 mpg. The engines either 2.8L 4 cylinder or 4.2 inline 6 turbodiesels.
A Canadian gentleman got a hold of one of these Sprint diesels and with the factory pieces, put it into his Suburban. Very happy with it, gets way better fuel economy. ( There's a small article in Diesel Power Magazine about it, can't remember which issue though. )
We can get a 6.6L and up turbodiesel, in a 3/4 ton and up truck, that has 400 hp and nearly 800 ft/lbs of torque easily, if you have $50k + for it, yet the truck we need is probably half as costly, has half the power and gets twice the mileage, in the same chassis that we get here.
And available widely in the half ton chassis.
Hmmm.