Re:VW Scandal Will Speed Up Diesel's Demise
by ArkyBeagle on Monday October 05, 2015 @06:29PM
(#10335481)
I can't speak for everybody, but where I am in the US diesel means torque at the low end more than high RPM speed. It's used more for largerish farm trucks and real-work vehicles. It's for when a gasoline engine can't easily get big enough.
Dodge sort of* broke open light truck use when they offered a Cummins turbo diesel with ordinary sized pickups in the early-mid 1990s.
Prior to that, you needed to pull something to justify a diesel engine. Ford sort of numbers their trucks F150/F250/F350/F450 and diesel started being more of a thing about the 350 range. Some of these had dual wheels and what we call a "fifth wheel" setup - there's a largish plate oriented haul hitch in the middle of the bed for pulling cattle and horse trailers, heavier equipment.
*sort of - you'd find all the makers offering diesel in fits and starts through the years. So individual counterexamples abound.
Some people arbitraged the lower price of diesel for a while, but a few years back, diesel became more expensive than gasoline per mile.
Dodge sort of* broke open light truck use when they offered a Cummins turbo diesel with ordinary sized pickups in the early-mid 1990s.
Prior to that, you needed to pull something to justify a diesel engine. Ford sort of numbers their trucks F150/F250/F350/F450 and diesel started being more of a thing about the 350 range. Some of these had dual wheels and what we call a "fifth wheel" setup - there's a largish plate oriented haul hitch in the middle of the bed for pulling cattle and horse trailers, heavier equipment.
*sort of - you'd find all the makers offering diesel in fits and starts through the years. So individual counterexamples abound.
Some people arbitraged the lower price of diesel for a while, but a few years back, diesel became more expensive than gasoline per mile.