new22003

The local university has a whole fleet of dodge ram cummins turbos that run on soybean oil. Supposed to be almost no emissions.

I like my mustangs rear drive, v8, and gas powered though.

MustangDan

You should be able to fit two VW Jetta diesel motors under the hood and get some vinyl wood grain paneling off a 1977 Country Squirer and some 3" wide white wall tires and mount a full size spare off the back. There is a lot you can do with a Mustang but like the commercial said, "It's just not natural!”.

mr-mstng

I agree. Diesels in the US have had a bad rap since probably the 70s. The new diesels are much cleaner burning, get better mileage, and make a LOT of torque. I don't think a diesel mustang would be a big seller tough. People in the US typically associate a diesel with a loud, oversize truck.

Psycho911

better gas mileage, if ur getting 14mpg in ur mustang u could be getting 24mpg with a diesal (with a diesal engine putting out the same horsepower/torque)

SVTJayC

wow...unbelievable ignorance. I'd comment, but it would be lost on most of you. Just go do some research. Check out MB, VW, and almost every european car maker's site's. Im not saying a diesel mustang is necessarily a great idea...but some of your comments/ideas, are so far off it's sickening.

Galaxie

Jay, I agree, there is a negative stigma in the United States about diesels. Mecedes has the E-Class CDI diesel which is whisper quiet and I believe it has performance at par or better to the gas version.

I think this negative attitude goes back to the diesel powered disasters in the early 80's. The Oldsmoblile diesel had to be one of the worse engines ever.

Personally I don't think a diesel Mustang is feasible, but if I were looking for a daily driver or a light truck and a diesel was available, that would be my preference.

78Mach1

Why not a steam engine mustang?

GregS2005GT

I would consider it. That way I could buy Shell Rotella by the 55 gal. drum for oil changes. My truck takes 17 qts every 3K miles.

mustang_sallad

Hmmm, a sterling engine has a 2nd law efficiency of 100%, that'd be pretty good too.

Diesels are more efficient cause they can have a higher compression ratio. In North America right now, diesel fuel is full of sulfer, so it burns pretty dirty. But I've heard that in 2006, new regulations for fuel companies come into effect, forcing them to give us clean diesel. Then I think diesels will be cleaner than gas engines. Unfortunately, i don't think many people really give a darn. Just wait until we start footing the bill for all them baby boomers in hospital beds with respiratory problems.

Anything but a gas powered V8 may seem out of character for a mustang. But the industry is gonna be changing over the next couple decades, so the mustang will have to as well, or it'll just die or get killed off by regulations.

I think a hybrid electric/4.6L turbo-diesel mustang would fair pretty well at both the pumps and the drag strip, regardless of character.

MustangDan

Using waste vegetable oil kind of makes sense for the few, but it is not scalable for all of us, and I don't want my car to compete with my food. The corn gasoline has been an energy sink (cost more to make than you get) and soybean oil is more expensive than gas.

For the price of the v6 Mustang you can get if you want a turbo diesel Volkswagen Jetta Sedan GLS TDI-PD they feel like you’re going a lot faster than the numbers suggest.

1.9 L, I-4, 5 speed Automatic
0-100
38.10 sec.

0-60
11.70 sec.

1/4 Mile
18.60 sec.

70-0 Braking
172.00 ft.

Issue
Aug-04

Skidpad
0.85 g.

I think my 98 Windstar is quicker going straight:-)

Someday the Mustang will have something other than gas but I hope the next step is fusion or hydrogen.

houtex

Well, I don't like the clatter they make. I just don't.

And, I realize they're probably more efficient, but after seeing how much a friend of mine spent on his F250 Diesel, and then the maintenance costs, compared to a similar gas truck, well, he didn't save anything in money, ya asks me. Oh, and then he puts a chip in it, so it smokes and broke his turbo (oiling issue due to overpressure.) Nice.

Have ya been to see a diesel pump? Nasty things. Orangy residue everywhere, the pump's all nastified. And sometimes, they're not easily found. But besides bein' hard to find, I'm sure I want that crap in my Mustang.

NO thanks. Come up with something else. I'm with the whole Mr. Fusion thing.

Scootr

Mmm...the smell of bacon coming out the stangs exhaust and you could fill the tank while filling your gut at the local Waffle house!

The Boss Hog

The ISB Cummins in my '03 Dodge weighs in at a little over 1050 lbs, the NV-5600 6-sp manual weights in at about 600 lbs. When stock it dyno'ed 268 rwhp @ 2850 rpm and 505 rwtq @1400 to 2650 rpm. It also cost $5400 as an option over the gas V8. With that kind of power-to-weight ratio, I just don't think you would enjoy having it in your Mustang, especially when you consider I'm normally in overdrive by the time I hit 45 mph

The diesel is the correct choice for many applications but high rpm driving excitement in a sport coupe with a responsive, high winding engine is not one of them.

The Boss Hog
(P.S. it is much quieter than the old Cummins . . . . . . )

kirby

If there was a 4x4 turbo diesel option on the 05.. I would have been all over it


edited cause i can't spell :mellow:

adrenalin

Gotta admit when I read the title I thought you had to be joking. Since when is an American Muscle car a diesel, especially a mustang.

adrenalin

Guess I should have mentioned I have nothing against diesels, just would not want to see one in this car. Power, definately. My brother-inlaw has a Chevy diesel pickup and uses it at tractor pull competitions (ya, kinda redneckish). He put a performance computer in it and on a Dyno now has 425 rwhp and 675 rwtq. Now that is pretty sweet.

Jamie

</lurk mode>

Hey everyone. I have been lurking on this forum for like 6 months now and up to now have had nothing to say really. Mostly because I am too darn poor to afford this beautiful car yet. Notice I said yet, because I am very determined to own one.

Anyway back to my reason for leaving the land of lurking. BMW has recently developed what they call a bi-fuel system that allows a car to run on regular gas and hydrogen. The hydrogen doesn't burn as pure as it does in fuel cell vehicles but it is WAY below California's strict Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standard. They are planning on launching cars in the states around 2010 with this system installed. This combined with the U.S. governments commitment to spend $190 million to get Hydrogen filling stations up is a strong indication that hydrogen is going to be the way the industry goes I think.

Now all they have to do is find a cheap way to get the hydrogen.

Here is an article about it if you want to read more.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...018.htm?chan=db

And now back to lurk mode for me.

<lurk mode>

CP94GT

To me it still seams they are not doing enough with the engines
to try and improve fuel economy. I know Cadillac and Mazda
have tried some different methods to increase the fuel economy
of various engines, but with all the technology available today
they has to be some way to "de-tune" an engine at highway speeds
to increase fuel economy.

Don't get me wrong, I love the power my '94 GT has and it won't even
touch an '05, but I really don't need 200 HP to maintain 70mph on the
highway

Im definately optomistic about alternative fuels, and all the posibilities
they offer, but I think using essentially the same hardware to convert
the fuel to energy is a mistake.

SVTJayC

A) New diesels only clatter when they are very cold on startup.
B) In 2007 the US must adhere to new Diesel fuel laws.
C) If you look at the new MB E320D, it makes more power, has better performance (than the gas 320 motor), and gets 46mpg. And that is on the current fuel we have here.

There are plenty of diesel trucks that will put your pony's to shame at the drag strip. New aluminum casting methods will soon allow lighter/smaller diesel engines to make the same high boost levels (50+lbs), and be small enough to fit in even an econo car.

They are still too expensive to be an entry level engine, but don't discount diesels based on 30yr old technology.

2005muzzy

What !!!??? DIESEL!!! Has every one forgot one of the reasons why we love mustangs so much. THE SOUND!!! No other car on the road has such a distinctive sound. You always know a mustang is driving by even if you don't see the car. Out of all the muscle cars the sound of the mustang is unique. I was worried back in 96 when ford stopped putting the 5.0 pushrod in the mustangs, but they have done a great job keeping the sound close with the 4.6.
Ya don't worry about the gas milage if your a gt or cobra owner.When I'm out joy riding my foot is in it so much , I bet I only get 12-13 mpg. OH well- It's the price I have to pay to play!!!
I can't even imagine the change of the engine sound.i can see it now. Hey man your mustang really has bad #$S knocking sound to it.