Chevy Cruze Diesel on the way....

[pozi240]

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...source=twitter

Now Mazda and Chevy have new "oil burning" offerings in the compact segment, one wonders if Ford will bring the Focus diesel over here? Use a conventional 6 speed manual and I think they would have a winner (in Canada at least, since everyone up here loves the TDI VW/Audi's... )
I miss my old TDI Jetta sometimes, the nice thing about diesel cars is the consintency of the milage returns... city or highway, easy or hard driving, I always got over a 1000km to a tank (or 50-52 mpg), even winter driving was around 48mpg minimum...

[mac.mogul]

Ford has some of the best diesels in the industry so if competitors begin to make money on diesels in North America, Ford could very easily come in with a sure winner.

I still don't see the diesels being popular enough to sway Ford's decision though.

[gondorian]

Our emissions and fuel tax structure tend to be skewed against diesel. Not to mention all the tax incentives for hybrids that tend to pop up.

[YesMAN]

The Cruze diesel will get the same mileage as the Eco version but go longer between fuel stops? How is that possible? They're putting in a larger fuel tank as a marketing gimmick?

The trouble is they'll probably charge $1-2k for the diesel, and diesel fuel costs $.40 more than gas, and diesels cost more to maintain, all for what? Some more torque? If it doesn't significantly help acceleration it won't matter much. It'll be a poor value proposition for the masses.

[Bogey]

I'd buy one. In a heart beat

[YesMAN]

Originally Posted by Bogey

I'd buy one. In a heart beat

In a "heart beat of America"?

[scott7278]

I would love for Ford to come out with a diesel, but they only make sense for people who actually care about their cars...otherwise, everything else around the engine will be rusted and broken while the engine will go strong.

Sign me up!

[Deftmetal]

My mother has a Cruze. She likes it fine except the low end, I tend to agree. More low end torque would make that car much better. The gas engine they have in them doesn't like to stay running at parking lot speeds. A diesel would be worth checking out

[Supernaut]

I can't see diesel making much sense around here at least. In Edmonton, AB diesel currently costs about 15% more than gas does and has been that way for a while. With the extra initial purchase cost its kind of hard to imagine the diesel ever paying off even if the fuel price were equal. Plus there is DEF to deal with these days, yet another extra cost.

[whynotthinkwhynot]

Math is beyond most people. Here's a 300 mile comparison between a car that gets 30 mpg and a turbo diesel car that gets 40 mpg

3.20/gal
300/30= 10 x 3.20= 32.00
32/300= $.1067 per mile.

3.80/gal diesel
300/40= 7.5 x 3.80= 28.5
28.5/300= $.095 per mile

10k/yr
Gas: 10k x .1067= $1067
Diesel: 10k x .095= $950

Nah, diesel is more expensive- right? Those figures aren't even real world (more than 15% diff). Let's assume that the gas car gets somewhere realistic like 32-35 mpg, and the diesel gets what VW TDI owners report: 48-50 mpg. The stretch widens. There are places in the USA where diesel is as cheap as regular gas. If our oil companies weren't making a mint selling diesel to South America, the price would be lower. The price stretch widens further when you compare biodiesel blends to 100% petro diesel. Why our manufacturers- especially hybrids like the Volt- didn't combine diesel and electric, I'll never know. Especially since Clinton and Gore had a cooperative with the Big 3 building diesel electric hybrids that were reported to get 72 mpg - without batteries! Those cars were all built on the same principle that trains run on- diesel engines running generators powering electric motors. That's basically how the Volt runs also- except with a gasoline engine, and that the gasoline engine has the ability to drive the wheels whereas in the PNGV vehicles, the cars were specifically series hybrids where the engine isn't connected mechanically with the transmission.

Where's that tech today? Buried in an America that can only see what's in front of their face.

And Ford? Ford NA is so stupid that in spite of requests they still don't believe that a TDCI Transit Connect will sell to business owners. People who have vehicles used for making money know that the diesel fuel economy is affected less by a load than gasoline.