I think you are being a touch pessimistic on the fuel consumption. I have a 1987 F-350 with dual rear wheels and a 4.10:1 rear. At the time I bought the truck it wasn't available with an overdrive transmission. I paid considerably extra to get the 6.9 liter Navistar Diesel engine. My fuel mileage was right at 12 mpg. However, the low rear end was only needed when towing and most of my driving was without a tow. I then bought an overdrive unit from Gear Vendors and that brought the truck up to 17 mpg. I had a friend with a Dodge with the Cummins Diesel and with the Gear Vendors overdrive unit he was getting around 21 mpg. The equivalent powered gasoline trucks are the ones that get around 7 mpg.
I also drive an old 1980 Volvo Diesel and it gets around 28 mpg town, 36 mpg highway, but it is underpowered and a dog to drive. It was imported with a VW truck engine. They no longer import it. You really have to love Diesels to tolerate it. I have driven several types of modern Diesels in Europe and love them. The last one that I drove was an Italian Alfa Romeo with a Diesel. Beautiful. I really wish that the various car manufacturers would be willing to import them to the USA. To my knowledge the only cars, as opposed to trucks, currently available in the USA market with Diesel engines, are the VWs and the Mercedes. The USA domestic manufacturers, such as Ford, do sell Diesels in foreign markets such as Europe. They apparently don't think there is enough demand in the USA to sell them here. Also, the Detroit Diesel Turbos, as in the Silverado you mentioned, built before June of 1999, were very prone to cracks in the #8 cylinder. I would stay away from them. If you find an old normally aspirated DD, they should be okay, or a turbo built from, say 2000 onwards, as the engine was built stronger. The new Duramax Diesel that GM is using is quite nice. Derek W. Hargis [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > If you can afford less than 10 mpg sure go ahead and buy a Silverado. A guy > I know who had a mobile home told me he used to get about 7 mpg. Sure makes > the open road look attractive dosnt it.There may be smaller engine sizes > available but all I can say when I see vehicles like that is no wonder > America uses 60% of the worlds energy. > B.r., David > > > Thanks for the info... never heard of tempo or escorts in > diesel > > formulas, but I saw a chevy silverado pickup on the highway the other day. > I > > wonder why they're so hard to find: either they are crap, and break > (junkyard > > time) or their owners are joyus with a 100% reliable, fuel-efficient > > vehicle... Thanks for the info, it does help. > > > > If anyone is selling a diesel in the Atlanta area for a purty good > > price, please let me know... > > > > -JIM Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
