New light duty diesels from Cummins

[Filthy Luker]

I found this in another forum (SA to be exact)... I'll just copy/paste as nothing really needs to be added:

 

 

New light duty V6 and V8 diesels from Cummings will be entering the market in the next 2 - 3 years. Cummins issues a press release a few weeks ago stating that they were going to be making engines for light duty applications, but didn't state who the engines were being produced for.

 

http://www.cummins.com/cmi/content.jsp?sit...o=true&menuId=4

 

quote:

Company to partner with major automotive manufacturer

 

COLUMBUS, IND. - Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) today announced it has reached agreement with a major automotive manufacturer serving the North American market to produce and market a light-duty, diesel-powered engine. For competitive reasons, Cummins original equipment manufacturer partner in the venture has asked to remain confidential.

 

As part of the agreement, Cummins will develop and manufacture a family of high-performance, light-duty diesel engines for a variety of automotive applications in vehicles below 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight, including standard pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Certain bus, marine and industrial applications also will be served by this engine family.

 

The first vehicles with this engine are expected to be ready for market by the end of the decade. Cummins anticipates that this diesel engine will provide an average of 30 percent fuel savings, depending on the drive cycle, over gasoline-powered engines for comparable vehicles.

The concept for this product is the result of a nine-year partnership between Cummins and the U. S. Department of Energy. The DOE contract began in 1997 because of the federal agency's ongoing interest in energy efficiency in the automotive market.

 

 

Here's the planned engines:

 

quote:

4.2-liter V-6 -- 190 hp, 455 lbs.-ft. of torque

5.6-liter V-8 -- 260 hp,597 lbs.-ft. of torque

Single overhead cam with 4 valves per cylinder

Variable nozzle turbochargers

Piezoelectric fuel injectors

 

Saaaweeet.

 

Autoweek is claming that Toyota, GM and Nissan already have diesels planned on their own, so that leaves long time heavy duty Cummins user Dodge at the helm according to this article:

 

quote:

If Dodge does use the new diesel in the Ram 1500, it would give the Chrysler group a vehicle to compete with a new diesel version of Ford's F-150, which is expected before the end of the decade. Ford is planning to use a 4.4-liter version of a Land Rover diesel in the F-150.

 

Diesel plans are less clear for Toyota and Nissan.

 

Toyota is widely expected to get diesels from its Hino truck affiliate. But Toyota has not announced any time frame. Nissan has been negotiating with International Truck and Engine Corp., Ford's longtime supplier. Nissan spokesman Fred Standish in Nashville would not comment on potential diesel suppliers.

 

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...41/TOC01ARCHIVE

 

I do think it's odd that parent company Mercedes already has vast diesel experience. My guess is that they'll use trickle down marketing from the heavy duty series to promote the lighter duty trucks. Power, torque economy, all right there.

 

This is really good news. With a lot of major manufactures dedicating resources to diesel technology, there might actually be a viable diesel market in the US in the next 5 years.

[zonianbrat]

That sounds pretty good but... if you look at the price increase of deisel over the past couple of years it has skyrocketed since all these guys now a days are like "I want teh biggest truck with the biggest deisel motor I can get. So oil company's have seen this trend and are like OK let's up the price of deisel because if you can afford a big deisel truck then put big tires on it so your only getting like 12 mpg city then hell yeah. My point is deisel is already higher than gasoline if the market is flooded with more deisel vehicles small or not then the price is going to continue to go up in my opinion. Then again maybe I am wrong. I like deisels my self but do not know if I will be able to afford to drive one. It sucks now having to drive and from work everyday 120 miles with a 4-cyl honda accord. :gossip:

[sammyb33]

if my commute was 120 miles....yea id move.

 

unless of course the cost of living is cheaper where u are currently living compared to where u are working....but then you are/should be saving yourself money....

 

but whatever, everyone is different.....

 

 

-sam

 

 

i would love to see a Diesel market here in the US....it would sure make me want to drive one...

[mws]

Bloody well about time... And I for one am happy to hear it. Isn't Daimler Chrysler going to be using the MB turbo diesel 5 cylinder in some vehicles? Or already are?

 

Think about it. If everybody drove a "modern" diesel, the total consumption of petroleum would drop by about 25-40%. So if our current import percentage is 80% of total consumption and 20% is domestic, the amount required to be imported would drop by 30-50%. That would make just a tad bit of difference to the global economy and politics, don't you think?

 

Sure, it will require several years to convert fuel production and vehicle production over to diesels, but it can and hopefully will happen. Anybody who's traveled outside of North America knows how far behind we are to the rest of the world.

 

If our government actually cared about the future beyond the next election year, it would raise taxes on gasoline and use that to subsidize reducing the cost of diesel fuel.

[cdhicks99]

When can I order my engine swap kit?

[vengeful]

Isn't Daimler Chrysler going to be using the MB turbo diesel 5 cylinder in some vehicles? Or already are?

The Diesel Liberties are using the 5 cyl CDI motor.

[nige]

mws, is diesel exhaust 'dirtier' than normal gas exhaust? when I was in costa rica, most of the trucks and cars down there ran on diesel and sometimes I found it unbearable on the lungs to hang out around the streets in some of the bigger cities. I'm not sure what their emissions standards are, but hopefully they will tighten ours up before releasing these small diesels to the north american market. I have seen a couple of Jeep Libertys around my town that are equipped with diesel engines. I never got to see one up close, but i'm eager to see them start appearing in the dealerships around here. Nothing compares to them when it comes to pulling power. The only thing I noticed about them is parts are sometimes crazy expensive. My best pal owns an '01 Dodge 2500 Cummins, and the fuel injector pump as died on it. His best price quote so far is $2875 for the part and installation So if you know anyone that has one of these kicking around, i'd love to take it off your hands.

 

On a side note, my hippie cousin has rigged his old MB diesel wagon to run on fryer oil. He has to cut it with a bit of kerosene in the winter. The filtration unit takes up a lot of space in the trunk, but it's pretty cool that it runs on a 'waste' product :cool2:

Edited August 3, 2006 by skrillaguerilla

[zonianbrat]

if my commute was 120 miles....yea id move.

 

unless of course the cost of living is cheaper where u are currently living compared to where u are working....but then you are/should be saving yourself money....

 

but whatever, everyone is different.....

 

 

-sam

 

 

i would love to see a Diesel market here in the US....it would sure make me want to drive one...

gee...you think???

 

Yeah I would move except we just signed a lease. I had a company vehicle with fuel paid for but due to rising petroleum prices I got screwed and they took my truck and company card away. I am looking for another job but have not found anything yet. Cost of living is a bit cheaper where I am at now but it is not worth the drive, hours spent driving,wear & tear on vehicle and ofcrouse gas $$. But what do you do? I have a 1 year old daughter now so I can not just quit like I would have in high school.

[mws]

Diesel exhaust used to be nasty - especially the particulates (the belching black soot you saw spewing out the tailpipe) and sulfurous compounds (the stink).

 

But they have come a long, long way. That's why I specifically said "modern" diesels. The particulates have plummeted due to more controlled injection and better combustion. Unfortunately, cleaning up the sulfurous stuff required more refinement of the fuel, which has driven the cost of production up.

 

And technology keeps getting better and better, so the diesel gets better and better . I honestly do not know which is considered more environmentally hazardous anymore as they each produce differing kinds of pollution (which is better, an apple or an orange?) and each has gotten so much better.

 

And yes, the parts do cost more because they need to be more robust. Add in the relatively low volume of diesel production in the US, and it is painful. On the positive side, they generally need less maintenance and fewer repairs per mile so the long term cost of operation per mile is better. There are many, many MB automobiles running around with over 1 million miles on them.

[unccpathfinder]

It sucks now having to drive and from work everyday 120 miles with a 4-cyl honda accord. gossip.gif

 

i go 140 a day in my pathy :sniff:

 

 

But they have come a long, long way. That's why I specifically said "modern" diesels. The particulates have plummeted due to more controlled injection and better combustion. Unfortunately, cleaning up the sulfurous stuff required more refinement of the fuel, which has driven the cost of production up.

 

yea where i work we're busting ass to try get our chassis to work with the new cummings and mercedes benz engines to meet the 2007 EPA standards...it'd suck to have an 07 diesel right now and the fuel isnt available yet...

 

i dont know if the personal vehicles are going to be like service vehicles but if so and they have the particulate traps and have to run regen cycles i wouldnt want 1 esp if they have to run them every 60 hrs or so of operation depending on the type of driving

[OR99.5Speed]

A good friend of mine works for Cummins...he said he's pretty sure Toyota is in talks...

 

Shhh... :X

[zonianbrat]

i go 140 a day in my pathy :sniff:

 

 

 

 

yea where i work we're busting ass to try get our chassis to work with the new cummings and mercedes benz engines to meet the 2007 EPA standards...it'd suck to have an 07 diesel right now and the fuel isnt available yet...

 

i dont know if the personal vehicles are going to be like service vehicles but if so and they have the particulate traps and have to run regen cycles i wouldnt want 1 esp if they have to run them every 60 hrs or so of operation depending on the type of driving

Dude? I would totally be in the poor-house if I had to drive my pathy. I give you props for "doin what ya gotta do"

[unccpathfinder]

im currently looking at places to live a lot closer and cut the drive down to about 40 per day or so...