jason191918

Are you talking about the direct injected 2 stroke diesels? Those things are mean. Most efficient engine.

As far as decreasing emissions and improving efficiency on our "conventional" 4 strokes goes, Omni-Valves might be something to look into.

www.omnivalves.com

They say they can get an LS1 to have 440 ft lbs at 1500 rpm. Running lower RPM's=lower emissions.

nermalgod

I want a plug in Diesel Hybrid.
Essentially a battery powered vehicle with an onboard diesel to charge the battery. No need for a mechanical drive-train so it can be light weight and low maintenance.

Here is a great article about this very thing, except the guy isn't using a diesel, but a gas turbine, and the vehicle is a H2 Hummer. 60mpg and doubles the horsepower. It's a good read.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/..._Friendly.html

MMA_Alex

If you dont like the low efficiency of current internal combustion engines, and are really that concerned with it you could do all sorts of things to increase the efficiency....why not get an exhaust gas boiler that runs a turbine that'll charge your battery?

Oh, and smart cars dont get that great a gas mileage. Its like 40 mpg. Might as well go drop a buck or two on a geo metro...(you can buy em for $2 right?)

some of the info in this thread is a joke. the full size chevy crap hybrids get like 1-2 mpg better than the gas versions. the only reason chevy even started producing full size truck hybrids was because its a big selling point for contractors to have an electrical outlet in their beds that they dont have to have the engine running to use...

nermalgod

That's true for the gasoline versions that will be shortly available here in the states, but the original diesel version available to the rest of the world get at least 65mpg and I've heard people claim 90mpg.

elripster

You might want to read up, you are bit behind. Google "two mode tahoe" and get back to us. Of course how could that GM crap hold up to that awesome hybrid Tundra... oh... there is no hybrid Tundra. Give credit where it's due. It's this kind of competition that gets us better vehicles sooner.

Frank

MMA_Alex

Well I hate to break the news, but I, along with most of the site members live in the US, where the diesel smart car isn't available, hence our smart car gets 40ish mpg.

I haven't read up on the new one, but gm's hybrid program has been pretty weak at best, and thats how it was with the full size trucks as of a year ago anyway. They went the cheap way for the most part. Yes congrats on all your cars being able to run e85 GM.

Also someone pretty far up on the thread said something about how ford supposedly invented all the Toyota hybrid technology. If they invented it why didn't they patent it? they don't have to use it in a model to patent it...

MMA_Alex

Ok, I looked up the 2-mode hybrid Tahoe. It claims to get 20/20 for the 4x4. No thanks. Do you have any idea how much gas I could buy for a regular tahoe, just based on the price difference? I'd rather not pay $52,000 (base) for a SUV that they specifically lowered.

elripster

That was me! And I explained why they didn't patent it.

BTW, GM fixed a key flaw with the Toyota/Ford design with their weak hybrid program. Am I the only one who actually reads up on this stuff without brand loyalty blinders on?

The Sequoia gets 13-15, which makes that 20-20 look rather good.

Frank

nate V

Chevy has come out with a variation of what you are talking about in a Detroit motor show recently i have read about. Chevy Volt It is primarily an electric car that will run 40 miles on its own batteries and is a plug in car. when the bats are depleted a small engine turns on and recharges the batteries. From what I read the engine can run on diesel e85 gas bio diesel or veggie oil. Seems pretty promising but im not so pleased about the 40 miles thing because they said that is the average amount of distance that a working American travel to and from work every day.....clearly not the best that they can to, but a set none the less.

elripster

If the batt companies can pull through the Volt will be a big departure as far as automotive power trains are concerned.

And while 40 miles is that far it will get better. Also, Toyota is answering with a plug in Prius. In the end we get better rides! Competition, it's a good thing.

Frank

82yota

Its great that all of these companies are fighting eachother because they are all trying to get better and better vehicles out. Makes it better for all of us. As for the electric vehicles batteries need to get better but they are as well. The most efficient ICE is at 50% and is diesel. Burns 1660 gallons of heavy fuel an hour. Powers ocean going ships. The govts need to open up the North American market to more diesel options. I'll use Toyota for example as this is a yota site. The Yaris here in gas form gets around 50 mpg. That is 4.55L/gal. Not the 3.79 us gal. But the 1.4L TD that is sold in the exact same car 5 speed in the UK gets 73 mpg. That is a huge jump. Now that we have the fuel for the motors here with the ULSD there is not much of a reason not to sell them. They already have them in the same vehicles elsewhere exact same cars. Just need to put the motor and wiring in. Not hard. I really have no clue why. Just about every other manufacturer makes good diesels as well just don't sell them here. Alright sorry but had to get that out my system. Rants over. Just this pisses me right off.