GM To Debut New Full-Size Trucks Thursday

If the new Transit is being built-in america and it is going to offer the 5 cyl. diesel, I bet you it will be in the F-150 with in 1/2 model year later, thus beating everyone else to the punch, offering torque heaven, but without superduty monster diesel overkill.

Coming from someone who owns a 2500HD and regularly tows farm equipment and critters, there's just no economic reason to buy diesel. "Clean" diesels cost a fortune, don't save as much fuel as they used to, and highway diesel fuel is expensive as hell--not mentioning you have to add what is essentially overpriced cow pee into some reservoir hidden somewhere on the truck every few months. With the 5-10 grand premium of a diesel, higher fuel costs, whatever economy gains are lost unless you're pulling a rig on the highway on a regular basis. I got a 6L gas 4x4 WT V8 for 30 grand, I figure the 10 grand I saved will buy enough gas to offset the benefits of diesel for years to come. A small 6 cyl presumably non-turbo diesel would be slow as hell and wouldn't deliver the acceleration most "casual" truck drivers expect these days and probably wouldn't give the torque and towing capacity us farmboys have grown to expect from the bigger gas V8s. Diesels are only for construction foremen and rich boys with their ridiculously lifted trucks. Everyone else can't afford them.

@FJ60LandCruiser So you say it's not worth it as it is too expensive or costs more to drive it. Diesel in my area is right now $3.80 a gallon and the cheap unleaded gas is $3.15 so it's .65 cents a gallon more or about 20% more than a gallon of gas (this is primarily b/c gas has a much higher refining capacity than diesel in the US thus limiting supply and the reason it costs significantly more). My 4wd Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD I bought used is the same price for a similar 5.7 Hemi Jeep (similar setup). Even if we look at the EPA #s where the CRD (diesel) gets 19mpg combined versus 15mpg for the Hemi it is 4 mpg difference which is about 21% better meaning it's a wash and not a loss but in the end you use less fossil fuel but come out the same. I actually get ~ 24-26 mpg highway (engine is stock with no tuning or filter, etc.) and 20 mpg combined which is quite a bit better than EPA where where most Hemi JGC owners often are lucky to get only the EPA estimate. However, if I add a $700 ECU reflash it will bump up power from 250hp to 310hp and 380 ft lbs to 465 while also getting me another 2-3 mpg (dyno proven by tuner and 100s of owners who have had this done). Reason why is Daimler Benz CRD motor uses diesel fuel pulses to make the engine quieter and has no other purpose. The engine doesn't require the use of urea as it has diesel particulate filter that burns off soot into ash every 750 - 1k miles. In the end I come out ahead with a truck that can tow 7,500lbs fit in the garage as it's a mid size suv and not a full size pickup and get mpg of what CUVs get.

@rnc Ford would be smart to do this. Reason why diesels cost so much is their rarity and option levels are usually much higher (they get to gouge for more profit). Mazda6 and the Cruze will have a diesel next year as well creating competition for the TDI who has owned that market for years and has a 50%+ take rate for most its lineup that offers the TDI option.

@FJ60LandCruiser Some people will inevitably call me a "conspiracy-er," but I'd not be the slightest bit "shocked, shocked I tell you" if there wasn't some sort of collusion to price fix diesel.

jaje - you may recall that each of the domestics had light duty diesels ready to go for their light duty pick-ups. Ford had a 4.4L V8, GM a 4.5L V8 and Dodge a 5.0L V8. All were shelved back in 2008/09 due to a perception that they would not do well in an uncertain market. the 4.5 GM unit looked the most promising - google it - some impressive engineering.

@FJ60LandCruiser Actually there is, paper mills are required by law to use diesel in the production of paper even though it makes it cost more along with the environmental issues, those extra costs are taken care of via tax breaks of course*, thus taking diesel that would be used for transportation and directing it into an area it doesn't belong, increasing (or intentionally stabalizing) prices. (similar to corn and transportation). *I'm not sure that they are required to, I do know that if they don't the tax benefits given to the ones that do, outweigh the costs of not using it.

@Numbers_Matching - and that's generally the challenge with modern light duty diesels - they require a rather complex solution compared to their gasoline counterparts....complexity the light duty market may not be ready for.

@Numbers_Matching I do recall the talk of bringing them but they had the obstacles of the ever changing emissions laws. It was a disappointment it never materialized. So in order to work around diesel's greater efficiency to gasoline we did e85 which was the exact opposite effect as it had even worse energy density to gasoline (about 25% less) - then hybrids to increase gas efficiency but again at greater cost and complexity. I guess you pick your poison.

Only GM would keep the 4.3V6 in production for 30 years, skip the Atlas I-6 (yes that would have made me buy a base Chevy truck), and then put the supper rev hapy 3.6V6 in a truck. Sigh... I shall never own a brand new I6 powered 1/2 ton American made truck. I was born at the wrong time.