Am I the Only One Here Who Thinks Hybrids are <Diesels?

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I think there is supposed to be a disgustingly fast AMG Mercedes with a turbo diesel in it, but can't remember what it is called. As for a Turbo Diesel G body, you have to look at donor vehicles other than large trucks for a suitable one. BMW, Mercedes and Volvo all produce Diesel cars either in the US market, or for the European market, many of which are RWD ( MB and BMW have never built a FWD car). Diesel comprises around 50% of the new vehicle market in Europe unlike here where very few diesel cars are sold. As for GM's Duramax, it is not a GM USA design. It was designed and built by Japan's Isuzu which GM has a big stake in.

As for my own diesel aspirations, my timeline may have to get a little more urgent. It seems the redline powershifts I do to it all the time may not have sat well with the rod bearings in my Frontier. It still runs fine but is starting to sound like a diesel when it runs. So, I am now hoping it holds out long enough for me to save the $500-1500 it will cost me to get a replacement car( preferably a 300TD wagon). I can't just fix it as it would take time away from my job. I deliver pizza as my only job and can't work without it.

 

[rlsllc]

Yes, I agree about the weight of the Duramax being too much for a G-body, I was really just kidding.

The fact is, there aren't a lot of good choices for diesel repower in mid sized applications. Even the Cummins 3.9 is heavy, and at the lower end of the power level. A 4-5 liter inline 6 with a turbo and intercooler would be about right, maybe even a benz 5 cyl turbo if you added the intercooler.

I like the ideas here. Cool.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, despite what some may think, there are free thinkers in the domestic camp who like to think outside the box. As for a good midsize diesel, how about a Mercedes Benz W126 chassis 350SD engine? It's an EFI diesel that was only offered in the last few years of the W126, and has 3.5 liters of displacement in an inline six configuration. Plus, the W126 went out of production in 91 or 92, so it probably is not too expensive, and I have seen some of them tuned to decent power levels. ( There's a cool drift vid on You Tube of a diesel Benz of this era) The W126 is a little larger than the W123 that everyone loves, but probably still weighs around 4,000 lbs so it's not that much bigger or heavier than a loaded V8 G body wagon. EFI diesels seem to be easier to add power to than the earlier mechanical injection diesels-if not as reliable. To get more power out of a 1980 W123 300TD for example, you would have to get the fuel pump modified for additional flow whereas EFI diesels seem to more readily provide additional fuel flow with ECU reprogramming and do not need bigger pumps for modest gains. I dunno, I am still learning about diesels right now for fun. I am going through my general education requirements right now for Mechanical Engineering, so who knows? Maybe I'll come up with some better solutions in the future which allow fuel economy and good acceleration to peacefully co-exist. 🙂

Oh, I found the AMG diesel Benz on the Web. It's the little C230 hatchback with a 231hp, 398ftlb 3 liter diesel in it. Here's a link:http://www.supercars.net/garages/marcusmv3/146v2.html


Oh, and ....DAMMIT! I found myself a Diesel 1979 Mercedes Benz 240D that's the right color ( White!) and looks good in the picture the guy sent me for $500! No hubcaps ( no biggie) and supposedly it has rust and needs tires, but it runs and drives. From the pics, any rust is very minimal as I do not see holes in the normal places. It also looks very straight and may even have a dark blue interior as an added bonus. What to do? I want to offer $300 for it but... I really shouldn't buy anything else right now....but I WANT it!

 

[rlsllc]

Maybe I'll come up with some better solutions in the future which allow fuel economy and good acceleration to peacefully co-exist. 🙂

That's where it's at, along with the weight/size factor of the motor.

Oh, and ....DAMMIT! I found myself a Diesel 1979 Mercedes Benz 240D that's the right color ( White!) and looks good in the picture the guy sent me for $500! No hubcaps ( no biggie) and supposedly it has rust and needs tires, but it runs and drives. From the pics, any rust is very minimal as I do not see holes in the normal places. It also looks very straight and may even have a dark blue interior as an added bonus. What to do? I want to offer $300 for it but... I really shouldn't buy anything else right now....but I WANT it!

I'm there, man, I'm so there. I bought a 1981 Monte the other day that I needed like an extra arm growing out of my back. But I just HAD to have it. It is identical to a car that I looked at but couldn't afford when I was 16, other than 18 years older. It only has 99K on it, and I beleive it as actual. Totally stock 3.8 all original down to the hab caps, but with a new radiator, exhaust, and Uniroyal white walls. Fun (but slow) to drive to work. Still has the AM radio in it.

Tangent..anyway, I like the diesel idea, but in a familiar body. I don't have any desire to have a Benz again, too hard to troubleshoot the vacuum and electrical systems and such, but love the motors. I didn't know about the EFI ones, that's cool. Wonder if there is an adapter to go from a benz diesel to a GM trans?

 

[megaladon6]

here's an interesting bit of info i just read in AAA magazine (yes i'm that bored). CNW market research did a analysis of vehicles lifetime energy usage. included is plant to factory fuel costs, electricity used to build, fuel efficiency and many other factors. i don't know if they included the cost to dismantle and scrap. any way heres the list cost/mile: scion xb-.49c, neon .64c, chevy tracker-.67, ion .67, wrangler .70, corolla .72, chevy aveo .74, elantra .75, scion xa .76, and the s-10 at .76. not too surprisingly the prius is WAY down the list at $2.87! this is slightly better than average.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, I can believe that about the Prius! I can't wait to hear what an environmental disaster those nickel hydride batteries are in a few years. It's about as green an idea as nuclear power. Sure it puts less into the atmosphere during operation, but the cleanup afterwards is a b*tch. I'm surprised greenies haven't caught on to this yet-but then again I am not. Most of them are more concerned with the style points they gather from looking green rather than what the actual impact of their choices are in reality. It's all a scam and a farce propagated by anti-capitalist lefties trying to find a way to have more people give them greater control over their lives. As for me, I am interested in fuel economy for personal economic reasons as I drive 50k a year and fuel prices really hurt me. My G body is built with a balance between economy and performance in mind as my guiding philosophy, because it does me no good to build a fast car I can't afford to actually drive. Likewise, even in my extreme example, a Prius makes no economic sense at all due to it's high operating costs. I get 20mpg city right now and spend $400 a month on gas. A Prius would not save me $400 a month on gas and the payment would be more than that, for a net loss of money greater than the operating costs of the truck I drive.

As for the 240D, I decided to pass on it. The ad was taken off the site I found it on so it probably sold. Besides, I found an even better 1985 300D with double the horsepower for $600, plus the added bonus of the better wheels and the newer model's better rust proofing. I may call on it tomorrow even though the ad is about a month old. Just gotta be sure my bills are covered first. If not, I am sure I will find one cheap enough for me to buy and fix up. I am not worried about the Vacuum systems or the electrical on the Benz. I figure that I have managed to learn all of the systems in my G body and every other car I have touched, so I will just have a new problem to learn how to solve. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to properly sort all of the minor problems in a cheap good car and make it work like new. Maybe that makes me odd, but it's more fun than wasting my life getting drunk or high like so many others seem to do.

 

[megaladon6]

It's all a scam and a farce propagated by anti-capitalist lefties trying to find a way to have more people give them greater control over their lives

WHAT??? i agree with you on "style points" but not this one. how does a prius give someone more control over a person?

and nuclear power is A LOT cleaner than everyone thinks. unfortunately the press goes to greenpeace for their info instead of people with a clue. the US has had 2 nuclear accidents including 3 mile island. only one of them involved radiation leakage and is why the army hasn't been allowed near reactors since the 50's.
nuc waste is containable and unless spread over a large area, has no environmental impact.[/quote]

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, I was referring to most of the extreme environmental movement, not just the whole hybrid thing. They want us to all change our lives and live a more austere existence which supposedly has less impact on the planet. This does not apply to all environmentalists, just the extreme few who want to use the whole global warming thing as an excuse to tell everyone how they should live their lives. It usually involves higher taxes to "teach" people what they should do by economically forcing them to do so. This allows for a financial power grab by the government which they hope to control. This is why I view some of the environmental political movements as the modern incarnations of Marxism in the western world. These people do not believe in the right of self-determination by the individual and many of them wish to have more government in people's lives in order to force their ideology on the private and public lives of individuals.

As for nuclear, I think we need more nuclear plants in this country and not less. I was making the comparison due to the toxic waste both forms of energy create and the difficulty in getting rid of it. As far as I know, there is no way to recycle the batteries used in hybrids and they are highly toxic in their composition. I just find it hypocritical that greenies flock to one toxic-waste generating technology and oppose another. Both cut air pollution at the expense of ground pollution. Until a way is found to deal with the pollution both technologies create in the long term, neither can be considered green.

 

[megaladon6]

oh you mean al gore! :lol: but seriously i see what you mean. my personal favorite are the people who preach environmentalism just before they hop in their private jets. although i do beleive that people who own the large SUV's, and don't have a good reason, should pay a higher tax.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, the limousine liberals really get me. They sit there and tell us all to conserve yet they use more energy in a single day than I do in a month. Al Gore is but one example. His "carbon offset" scam is that he basically pays himself by buying offsets from a company he partially owns to allow him to live his private jet lifestyle. Plus, many of the companies offering these "offsets" are big lumber companies who would have planted new trees anyhow. It's like paying a wheat farmer to plant the wheat he would have planted in the first place! I applaud the lumber companies for adding an additional revenue stream by taking advantage of the gullible idiots who think they are doing something to help the planet. However, this does not excuse the idiocy of the individuals getting ripped off in these scams. They are not actually doing anything that helps the supposed global warming problem they say they care about so much. However, it is their intentions and not the actual outcome of their actions that are what they are judged on.

As for large trucks and SUV's, I think that most people who own them should not be allowed to for different reasons. Most drivers of these vehicles ( ESPECIALLY Dodge Ram Quad Cabs!) are not responsible enough drivers to be able to properly operate them. There should be an additional license test required when one is driving something that large so that the brainless will not use them as a battering ram in traffic, or to somehow compensate for shortcomings in other areas. I have had too many close calls with people in Dodge Ram Quad Cabs ( seems like there are more idiots in these than other trucks) and F-350's when driving a small vehicle to count. They don't look or signal but just expect people to move out of their way or be intimidated by the size of their truck.