flash7210 wrote:
Quote:
The Ford US market is about to come to light.
Dont hold your breath.
I've already given up on Ford.
First they were gonna put a V6 version of the PowerStroke in the F150.
Dropped those plans.
Then it was gonna be a 4.0 V8 diesel from LandRover.
No chance of that now either.
It doesn't really matter anyway. With the EPA requirement for a DPF, any
economical advantage of a diesel is lost.
The 2010 F150 V8 gasser with six speed automatic gets 22mpg highway.
The F450 PowerStroke I drive at work gets 8mpg, unloaded, no trailer.
I know of 18 wheelers that get better than 8mpg with a fully loaded trailer.
I would bet the F450 has high reduction gearing and the winds up pretty high going down the road, even empty. Another factor is that Pickup drivers want the truck to be able to take on high line sports cars and out run them, this comes with a price of poor fuel economy, even with a diesel engine. Had Ford sold the truck with more adaptive gearing that drops the RPMs when there is no load, the truck would get much better fuel economy. Most of our CRD owners have the sense to lock out the OD when towing a large load up a steep mountain and ORT drivers know to drop a gear or two when doing the same. A lot of the Dullie crowd does not want to make the performance sacrifice and would go for a 1000 HP engine in a pickup just so they can pull that mega trailer up the mountain to the Eisenhower tunnel going 80MPH.
I agree totally that Ford, GM, Chrysler, and most of the other manufacturers have a bad case of Market Myopia when it comes to light duty diesels and our Moronic Government run by Burned Out Lawyers who know much less about the environment than a five year old with a back pack, making stupid laws. But when I comes to the F450, Ford built what the idiots want.