GM First Light Duty V-8 Clean Diesel for North America scheduled for late next year.

[xcel]

“It will meet the stringent 2010 emissions standards, and it will be compliant in all 50 states, making it one of the cleanest diesel vehicles ever produced”.

GM - June 15, 2007

Although a 25% over a real world 10 mpg in an H2 isn’t much, it is better then nothing Where is the fuel efficient 3.0L V6 diesel in every truck and SUV GM offers including the upcoming 2Mode’s for a real world 30 + City/Highway?

TONAWANDA, N.Y. – General Motors Corp. will introduce a new, state-of-the-art 4.5L V-8 Duramax turbo-diesel that improves engine fuel efficiency by 25 percent, reduces CO2 emissions by 13 percent and cuts particulates and NOx emissions by at least 90 percent for North American light duty trucks and the HUMMER H2 built after 2009.

The premium V-8 diesel is expected to deliver class-leading torque, power and refinement while maintaining a significant fuel efficiency advantage over comparable-output gasoline engines.

The new dual-overhead cam, four-valve V-8 diesel engine will fit within the same space of a small-block V-8 gasoline engine. This compact size is made possible by using integral cylinder head exhaust manifolds, integral cam cover intake manifolds and a narrow block … [Read More]

[ILAveo]

Originally Posted by xcel

“It will meet the stringent 2010 emissions standards, and it will be compliant in all 50 states, making it one of the cleanest diesel vehicles ever produced”.

GM - June 15, 2007

Although a 25% over a real world 10 mpg in an H2 isn’t much, it is better then nothing Where is the fuel efficient 3.0L V6 diesel in every truck and SUV GM offers including the upcoming 2Mode’s for a real world 30 + City/Highway?

… [Read More]

Same place as everybody else's V6 diesel (except Daimler Chrysler's Sprinter diesel).

BTW the current big GM diesel V8 is the nicest diesel engine I've driven in our work trucks(much smoother than Ford's or the old GM). In gentle driving it doesn't seem like a diesel at all except for the extra low end torque. I am encouraged that GM is extending this technology (that I believe it in large part acquired during its short-lived partnership with Fiat) to its smaller power plants. Diesel product development/introduction cycles seem to have been extended recently for all the automakers due to the changing US fuel and emissions standards. Daimler Chrysler and GM seem to be a little ahead of the others' diesel introductions, so I'm not angry with them for their _diesel_ efforts.

[c0da]

This is great that they're introducing diesels to the US, but I'd rather see them introduce one of their smaller cars or even a sedan along with this. So far all i'm seeing is a 10mpg tank getting 12.5 mpg now. Why the hell do we need cars this huge? I can understand trucks and the smaller SUV's, but comon' this thing almost takes up 2 lanes on the highway.

[WriConsult]

Still want to see that V6 diesel -- in a compact pickup. Far from ideal, but given our country's appetite for trucks it would do a world of good.

[GreenBlues]

It was not that long ago that we did not have big vehicles like these. Makes one wonder what has changed. It was not that long ago that a 6 cylinder engine was the standard in pick up trucks. There was farms then. There was construction sites then. In the rest of the world things are moved by pick up trucks that are in some cases minuscule by our standards. Since Detroit makes a ton of money on these over sized vehicles they will continue to push them as any pusher would his product. So burning slightly less diesel or perhaps E85 makes everything OK. Right?

[craig]

There is a time and place for these kind of vehicles. If you live in inhospitable places such as mountains, jungles, deserts, etc., you may need something like this. Or during weather emergencies. For example during the blizzard in the high plains this last winter, lots of private citizens with Hummers went out and helped people out tremendously. The problem is that most of the people that will buy them will use them as commuters or as family outing vehicles; and that is completely ridiculous.

[ILAveo]

Reading between the lines of the press release a little, it sounds like the Hummer line is in trouble. The actual news in this press release is only barely about the Hummer. I don't know how the new engine will be allocated or priced, but Hummer is a small part of GM compared to Silverado and the others that the engine will fit. I'm guessing that the press release focused on Hummer because that line has the greatest current need for good news.

[ILAveo]

Originally Posted by GreenBlues

It was not that long ago that we did not have big vehicles like these. Makes one wonder what has changed. It was not that long ago that a 6 cylinder engine was the standard in pick up trucks. There was farms then. There was construction sites then. In the rest of the world things are moved by pick up trucks that are in some cases minuscule by our standards. .....

I still remember my grandfather telling me how pleased the family was to trade up from a team of oxen to a team of horses for plowing and my uncles telling me what it was like to dig a foundation in bedrock using (animal) horse power.

US Construction and farm equipment has gotten a lot bigger over the years and makes an important contribution to productivity in those industries. My Ranger wouldn't last very long pulling around the construction trailer or loader at work.

[nash]

My farrier (someone who shoes horses) traded his Chevy dually 454 V8 truck for a Ranger 4 cylinder with a manual tranny a number of years ago. He has over 300,000 on that Ranger, hauling over 1/2 ton of horse shoes, iron stock, anvil, and forge all over; and is still on the factory engine and tranny. He went from 6 mpg to 25 mpg and has no regrets on the change. A small diesel pickup would be even better for him.

[GreenBlues]

I do not believe anyone has a problem with people that truly need a large vehicle. I'm not sure if it is this way throughout the country, but here on TV it is one pick up truck ad after another, trying to convince people that really do not need a monster truck that they should have one. I look out in the parking lot and almost as may people drove themselves in today with a large 4x4s as they did in cars. A common thing here is to buy a large boat or camper that you use a few times a year and then buy a monster truck to pull with. The only problem is that this truck then becomes the commute to work vehicle consuming great quantities of energy and putting out great quantities of pollution.