Five SUVs We Can't Have in America

[Ben]

Looks like all five of them have diesel engines. Thanks EPA.


http://huckberry.com/blog/posts/124-5-awesome-4wd-s-we-can-t-have-in-america

[Perd Hapley]

I would hate for all the water and air in America to be poisoned and kill all the children because someone screamed that we should get rid of the EPA.

 

[Tallpine]

I would hate for all the water and air in America to be poisoned and kill all the children because someone screamed that we should get rid of the EPA.

 

Yeah, small efficient diesels will be the death of us all 

 

[Lee]

Someone needs to figure out a loophole, where you could buy the vehicle sans motor, and install the deisel at a third party. There is no law in Ohio preventing me from dropping a deisel motor in my Wrangler.
Oddly, they've been made in ohio for decades, and we can't buy them. Political idiocy at it's best.

[dogmush]

I fear you'd run afoul of the federal emissions laws. Basicly it's illegal to bypass or disable any emissions equipment your car came from the factory with. (Theres some exceptions for older cars) Also in states with inspections you'd still have to meet those standards. Which is the problem with euro deisels in the first place.

[birdman]

I fear you'd run afoul of the federal emissions laws. Basicly it's illegal to bypass or disable any emissions equipment your car came from the factory with. (Theres some exceptions for older cars) Also in states with inspections you'd still have to meet those standards. Which is the problem with euro deisels in the first place.

Unless its a kitcar...like a noble.  You could buy an SUV "kit" and a motor, and then assemble.  You would then have to meet emissions standards....which euro diesels do.

[MillCreek]

I would love to have a Hilux.  Of course, I would be compelled to mount an old Soviet 23 mm cannon in the back and pretend I was in Mogadishu. Tailgate this, numbnuts!  

[SADShooter]

Yeah, small efficient diesels will be the death of us all, but worse, an annoyance to Government Motors and the US auto industry.

 

[Ben]

Which is the problem with euro deisels in the first place.

The Euro manufacturers ( I think Mercedes in particular) have been investing a lot more in "clean diesel" tech. My problem with it is that I really don't know that there is much net reduction (if any) in pollution (and that's real pollution, not stuff like CO2 being a "health hazard").

I have a "clean diesel" 2008 F250 with the diesel particulate filter. The 2007 F250s get on average 5MPG more than I do. Guys in states where it's allowed have removed the diesel particulate filter from their 2008s and have recovered their fuel mileage. Since everyone has to use the ultra low sulfur diesel now, all I'm doing is using more fuel to go the same distance as an older model diesel with only a very slight reduction in pollutants. The particulate filter uses fuel to burn particulates into fine ash - when it's working (about every other fill up) I can use the MPG lie-o-meter and watch my MPG steadily drop at a fast rate for the twenty or so minutes that it runs.

May European countries, Germany for instance, have a pretty Green culture, which is why they have always been using small diesels in small cars. Burning 20 gallons of diesel at 50MPG seems to me to be a better way to reduce pollution than burning 20 gallons of gasoline at 20MPG.

[HankB]

. . . Guys in states where it's allowed have removed the diesel particulate filter from their 2008s and have recovered their fuel mileage.

Seems like it's calling for a quick-connect coupling; remove filter & improve fuel economy. When it's time for the inspection, put filter back on. Pass test, go home, remove filter. Pretty straightforward.

I knew guys who used to do that with their catalytic converters in the mid to late '70s.

[dogmush]

My understanding was that EU emissions aren't so much looser as they measure different thing. This, combined with American's aversion to non truck deisels has made it uneconomical to get good mpg euro deisels in this market. Also i understamd that US fuel is formulated differently which effects mpg here. But i am not a chemist.

Kit trucks would be an option but my experiance with kit vehicles are that they take more tinkering and maintaince then you would want for a daily driver.

[Ben]

Seems like it's calling for a quick-connect coupling; remove filter & improve fuel economy. When it's time for the inspection, put filter back on. Pass test, go home, remove filter. Pretty straightforward.

I knew guys who used to do that with their catalytic converters in the mid to late '70s.

Actually a bit more than that, as it's all computer controlled. There's apparently after market chips programmed for running sans DPF, so you'd have to reprogram the engine each time as well.

Though freakin' CA started smog checks for diesels a couple of years back, and mine got called in for it last year. I paid twice as much for it as a smog check for my gasoline vehicle, and it was literally a five minute visual inspection. They didn't hook a single sensor up to measure exhaust like they do with gasoline vehicles. Which would mean I could remove my DPF and no one would be the wiser - maybe. This isn't the state to take the chance in though - I'd likely have to take a loan out to pay the fine if I were caught.

[Tallpine]

Burning 20 gallons of diesel at 50MPG seems to me to be a better way to reduce pollution than burning 20 gallons of gasoline at 20MPG.

This 

[gunsmith]

last yr I read a thread on calguns that described buying a new hilux that was chopped in half, you take the engine and drop it into your toyota pu and you got yourself a small diesel pu truck.
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=352471&highlight=hilux

wow! 2010, how come I remember this but not the lyrics Hotel California?

[brimic]

Burning 20 gallons of diesel at 50MPG seems to me to be a better way to reduce pollution than burning 20 gallons of gasoline at 20MPG.

Folks at the EPA aren't very good at math, or science... or anything else.

[RoadKingLarry]

Sometimes it's enough to make a fellow wonder if it is less about protecting the environment and more about controlling the population...

[RocketMan]

Sometimes it's enough to make a fellow wonder if it is less about protecting the environment and more about controlling the population...

Nah, it couldn't be.  They're from the government, they're here to help.

[Scout26]

Just about every episode of "Top Gear"  (the British verison, not that American POS), they test a small diesel coupe of some type or another that's about the size fo a Camry.  And they all get 40-50mpg.  And I sit and wonder why we can't have nice things....

[Northwoods]

The diesel emissions regs in the EU and here will be near enough to the same by 2013 that any diesel meeting Euro 6 standards should be able to meet the 2010 US standards.  At least for the heavy duty trucks.  Not sure if the standards are the same for pas-cars.

[bedlamite]

I'd be all over a 30 mpg small pickup with a 2.5-3L turbo diesel, but not the auto-trans bloated poshmobiles with every option they seem to produce these days. I want one with 3 pedals, a manual transfer case, and an interior I can wash out with a hose.

[Tallpine]

I'd be all over a 30 mpg small pickup with a 2.5-3L turbo diesel, but not the auto-trans bloated poshmobiles with every option they seem to produce these days. I want one with 3 pedals, a manual transfer case, and an interior I can wash out with a hose.

Yeah, and not spending $40-60K for something to go bang around the bush 

[dogmush]

I'd be all over a 30 mpg small pickup with a 2.5-3L turbo diesel, but not the auto-trans bloated poshmobiles with every option they seem to produce these days. I want one with 3 pedals, a manual transfer case, and an interior I can wash out with a hose.

Sounds good, unfortunatly the market drives car design. And the VAST majority of byers want leather, a/c, good stereo and ride comfort. So the market for the pickup you describe is pretty small.

[Tallpine]

Sounds good, unfortunatly the market drives car design. And the VAST majority of byers want leather, a/c, good stereo and ride comfort. So the market for the pickup you describe is pretty small.

Unfortunately, most of the people who buy 4wds these days are city idiots 

So the rest of us have to try to keep some 30-40 year old pickup running to use to get some work done.

Who the hell is going to take a $50K pickup out into the woods to cut a $100 worth of firewood 

[zxcvbob]

I have a 2001 Silverado with the small V8.  I don't think it has ever gotten the 20 MPG it was EPA rated (it might have the last time I drove to Wisconsin, I didn't check it.)  I do get 19 if I drive it gently.

I'd kind of like to do a small diesel engine swap (like a 86-100hp Perkins turbodiesel), but I know I don't drive it enough to save enough to pay for it.  Still...

Is it even possible to swap the engine in a vehicle later than about 1995?  I'm not sure how far the computer's tentacles extend.  Dashboard gauges?  Transmission?  Brakes?  A/C?

[Tallpine]

Probably not :(

I knew a guy that had a GM V-6 diesel in a 1978 F-250 

It was a low-rider in the front 

It sounded like a real truck and looked like a small forest fire when he started it