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Automotive News & Views How The 35 mpg Law By 2020 Will Affect The Cars We Will Drive
538 messages, Last post on Jul 31, 2008 at 6:28 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: boaz47 (Dec 18, 2007 1:47 pm) I drive a 1971 model Ford 3/4 ton truck with a 360cid gas V8, 4-speed stick, and a 4.10:1 rear axle. This engine consumes a lot of gas and a little oil. I average 14.3mpg in this truck and it does everything I ask it to. A new 3/4 ton truck with an equivalent powertrain (F250 Super Duty, 5.4/6-speed, 4.10 axle) would get about the same mileage. So there's no sense spending $25K to buy a new one. I'd rather keep mine in tune and do without a giant car payment. However, a lot of these older truck owners are sick of getting low to mid teens for fuel mileage and some of them have gone out and bought used stepvans with 4-cylinder Cummins diesels in them to swap into their pickups. They can usually buy the old bread/snack vans for about the scrap value of the aluminum body. Then they've got a free engine to put in their truck. Most of these swapped trucks now acheive mid-20s for mileage and one guy with a half ton late 70s Chevy is boasting about 33-34 on the highway, even with a non-overdrive 3-speed automatic. 105hp but well over 200lbs torque, it's enough for a basic truck to get work done and even makes a better commuter than a small sedan with automatic (most are rated high 20s-low 30s). When my truck's engine decides to use as much oil as gas, it'll come out and get replaced with a small diesel like the Cummins 4-cylinder. I could care less about horsepower and speed, and the torque is more than enough to push the 3900lb beast around the ranch and get me to town and back when I need to. A 5-speed transmission from a 90s Ford 3/4 ton would stretch the fuel money even more. And since I have to change out the fuel tank anyway, I can take the one out of the cab and just put two tanks under the bed, doubling my range and eliminating a fire hazard all in one step. The most difficult parts of the conversion are splicing up the wiring harness and finding the right bellhousing adapter to whatever transmission you want to use. Most of these bread vans use a GM Turbo 400 automatic, which is great for say, a Suburban. But there are companies out there who can make a bellhousing for darn near any transmission out there. One guy has one of these diesels in an old Studebaker pickup and he got a bellhousing for his 3-speed manual for less than $500, brand new, freshly cast. I'll shoot for that 35mpg mark when I build a half-ton pickup, but if I can average 25mpg with this setup in my 3/4 ton truck, I'll be plenty happy. If I manage it, my truck will get better mileage than my wife's Taurus! |
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Replying to: tpe (Dec 28, 2007 5:20 pm) But to his credit and for very valid reasons IMO this new CAFE 35 was a key part of his State of the Union Message this year. After the Senate passed it's version before the summer recess and the House began dragging it's feet so that it appeared that nothing would get done in 2007 the Bush Administration stated that if the House didn't get off their fat butts the Executive would instruct the NHTSA to impose something unilaterally. Legal? eh? But it did light a fire in the House. |
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Replying to: occupant1 (Dec 28, 2007 9:07 pm) |
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Replying to: occupant1 (Dec 28, 2007 9:07 pm) My only comment is that having owned an '00 ton 1/2 Silverado X-Cab, their curb-wt was 4,800 Lb. I believe most 3/4 ton would be breaking 5,000 Lb. So I just don't see anything less than 3.5 or 4.0 L diesels moving them; unless you have some really good turbo setup on them. And if you go putting a lot of aluminum and carbon fiber on these trucks to reduce weight, and expensive engines, you'll simply drive the market away from buying new, and as I implied the aftermarket will explode with fixing up older trucks; or doing kit-trucks.
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Replying to: kernick (Dec 28, 2007 7:32 am) Just to let you know, I'm not trying to sell anything. I'm not affiliated with this product. I just want people to realize there is technology out there to help improve fuel efficiency today so the 35 mpg standard (for the entire fleet) is not as ridiculous as the auto manufacturers make it seem. We need to start looking at all aspects that affect fuel economy and not just engine design and vehicle size. |
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Replying to: kernick (Dec 29, 2007 6:43 am) My '66 3/4-ton GMC clocks in at just over 5,000 with a full tank of gas and a 190 hp/ 300 ft-lb, 900-pound engine. Part of the problem is that a 1/2-ton today is getting pretty close to what a 3/4 ton was back in the old days. |
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A new generation hybrid has stunning fuel economy and the power of a standard car. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/01/11/hunter.extreme.hybrid.cnn -Rocky
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Replying to: rockylee (Jan 13, 2008 7:31 am) |
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says to expect plug-in hybrids by 2010 along with two additional hybrid-powered models (new models, that is), and that it will meet the new CAFE standards in 2012 (showing just how weak the new standards are)... http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/FREE/394386099/1024/- FREE Edit...I just noticed that this particular article does not mention the 2012 date. That must have been in a different article I read on Watanabe's speech. One of the ways Toyota expects to meet the standards is with a so-called clean diesel engine (meaning 50-state compliant) for its large trucks including Tundra, Sequoia, and probably ultimately Land Cruiser too, I would think. They will offer diesel powertrains for those models within 2 years.
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I'd like to see a diesel Yaris, plus an "A" class diesel car. I remain an interested skeptic on hybrids; that is, so far I have doubts about their overall benefits, including the manufacturing and disposal phases of the vehicle life cycle. However, I remain open to the possibility that future generations of hybrids will be more competitive, overall. Ford's EcoBoost technology sounds promising. |
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