Diesel

The Devils Fuel

Diesel is such a bad word in America, I recently read that the number of diesel passenger cars make up less than 5% of the U.S. market while in Europe it’s pretty much 50%, why is this? We haven’t always been concerned about the O-zone and global warming, so why in a nation as huge as ours aren’t we driving more diesels?
Answer: In America it’s only recently we are feeling the effects of driving in our pockets with gas prices being around $3 a gallon, in Europe the gas prices are around $8 a gallon.

Courtesy of goeurope.about.com

Euro-Diesel

Europeans don’t make 2.6x more than us to cover that huge difference in the price of gas instead they drive vehicles with smaller engines that get better gas mileage. One of the ways they do this is by driving diesel cars, because at the end of the day it comes down to MONEY, and while ‘going green’ may be a nice idyllic thought the truth is that hybrids are more expensive to build, buy and maintain. Diesel engines are cheaper to make, cheaper to maintain, easier on the pocket at the dealership and pump, and most engines will run forever.
Europe has more than a dozen diesel cars that get 60+mpg, even with all the hybrid technology American vehicles struggle to get 50mpg! Yes, I know generally they have smaller engines but we’ll have to go smaller too if we’re to please the tree huggin hippies -speaking of which I wonder why they’ve never had an all out boycott of Holland for cutting down trees to exploit American tourists by making their country emblem a shoe made from wood! Hippies are weird.

Diesel Makeover

Diesels in Europe have been advancing in leaps and bounds, they are no longer known as powerless, loud, rough riding smog machines, with new technology and better fuel injection they have increased power and fuel efficiency with much better acceleration. Bio-diesel and low sulfur diesel have also helped shrug off the O-zone poisoning image by meeting, and in some cases exceeding, the same emission standards as gas engines.

Diesel Power

Most Auto Manufacturers are working and experimenting with hybrid technology with varying levels of success or failure. So, I find it refreshing when I see GM announce their plans to bring out a 4.5L V8 diesel for the Sierra, Silverado, and H2 in 2009. They announced that fuel efficiency would be improved by 25%, there would be a 13% reduction in carbon dioxide compared to gasoline engines, and a 90% reduction of NOx (oxides of nitrogen) over current diesels while still putting out around 300hp and 500lb/ft torque and exceeding the new emissions standards set in place for 2010. These numbers can only get better with further research if Ferraris recent work on The Scuderia is anything to go, they recorded a 5% reduction in emmisions and an increase of 10hp after converting a F430 Spider to bio-diesel.

Diesel LS-series

Most people only caught that this was a diesel engine blah, gm truck line blah, and better emissions blah. What was actually said is that yes initially it’ll be in the trucks but this engine would be able to fit in any vehicle where a LS-series currently sits (that’s why it has a narrow 72 degree v-angle), which simply translated means anywhere there currently sits a small block Chevy engine you could swap it out for this, or maybe just start pumping them out at the production line level already installed in the Cadillac CTS, Buick La Crosse, Chevrolet Trailblazer, Lumina, Monte Carlo, SSR, Impala, Corvette, Pontiac G8, and Grand Prix to name but a few.

Smart Investment

It will be a while before we see hybrid technology take over the majority share of the car buyers market and I know it will get better as the years and even decades go on, but for right now I’m glad to see GM triple their original investment of $100 million to $300 million in a more affordable and viable option.

Image courtesy of motortrend.com

Thinking Outside the Block

The newly designed 4.5L DOHC diesel engine is original and unique in that the engine flow pattern is reversed. The intake manifolds are on the outside of the cylinder head where the exhaust manifolds would usually be and the exhaust manifolds are integral to the cylinder heads in the V where the turbocharger and intercooler are also positioned. The block is Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) with aluminum four valve cylinder heads.