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Old 08-10-2011, 01:31 PM   #8 (permalink)
jamesqf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave View Post
Trucks and engines can be made to get substantially higher FE today. But it's always a matter of cost. We can add additional technology to an engine (like more advanced fuel systems, more advanced turbos, etc.) that will improve FE, but if the increased cost is so much that it won't pay for itself, then the customer won't pay for it.
On the other hand, you have two factors in play here. One, as discussed above, is the "real truck" buyers, who (just like their oversized pickup-driving counterparts) are willing to pay the extra fuel cost for a truck that looks "tough" and "manly".

Second, once you have a significant market for those advanced systems, they get mass-produced, and the cost falls, just as with EFI & turbos on passenger cars. But unless there's some impetus to mass produce them, they remain expensive specialty items that few people buy.
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