Chicago Tribune Article on CRD

dog_party · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2006 8:33 am

BodhiBenz1987 wrote:

Hey ... I'm a "she-woman" AND a journalist and I do OK with my beastly, monstrous diesels. :lol:

Hey BodhiBenz1987! It's great to see the female CRD KJ owners on the forum! Especially owners of such a nice stable of diesels! Are you an automotive journalist? If so, do you deal with diesel alot/only/ever? I'd like to hear at least one honest auto journalist say something positive about my KickA under-dog truck.

BodhiBenz1987 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:55 pm

dog_party wrote:

BodhiBenz1987 wrote:

Hey ... I'm a "she-woman" AND a journalist and I do OK with my beastly, monstrous diesels. :lol:

Hey BodhiBenz1987! It's great to see the female CRD KJ owners on the forum! Especially owners of such a nice stable of diesels! Are you an automotive journalist? If so, do you deal with diesel alot/only/ever? I'd like to hear at least one honest auto journalist say something positive about my KickA under-dog truck.

dog party, unfortunately I'm a sports writer, not an automotive journalist (maybe that's why I can handle diesel!). I always figured I didn't have enough automotive knowledge to write about cars ... although now that I've read a lot of the pieces published on cars in mainstream newspapers, I have to wonder if some of these writers even know as much as I do. :lol:

Who knows, maybe someday I'll take a stab at a freelance piece touting the wonderful world of diesel. If I can I'm going to try to do something on the Audi R10 diesel race car when it takes on 12 hours of Sebring in a month ... hey, it IS a sports story!!!

In the meantime I'll just have to save my rants for family members and message boards ... I never get tired of complaining about Consumer Reports and their "11 mpg" KJ ... I just finished a road trip on which I got 27.9!!! :shock:

dog_party · **Posted:** Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:26 am

Sports writer? Nice! Audi R10 is DEFINITELY a sports piece! There's some diesel running in SCORE (mainly in the Baja 1000) too. There's a nice reason for an expense account trip out west for ya! Sebring's not too shabby either.

CTKJ · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:54 am

So you can visit New York, California, Maine, Massachusetts or Vermont in your diesel Liberty, you just can't buy diesel fuel when it's time to go home.

What???? They won't sell diesel to a Liberty owner??? I live in CT and buy fuel in Mass all the time to save on taxes.

I think they are a little confused.

TxAshurst · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:01 pm

MudTrac, LibertyCRD and others who like it loud. That big plastic piece under the oil filler cap is just a piece of insulation to

1. Reduce noise,
2. Make the engine look nice and smooth for sales purposes.

If you really want the engine louder, take it off. Just remove the oil filler cap and lift it straight up (there are 4 rubber sockets that hold it in place). Replace the oil filler cap and you are good to go. It makes it a little harder to listen to classical music on the radio, but you get a much beefier engine sound.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:09 pm

I've already removed the engine cover, the insulation underneath the engine, the factory muffler, AND part of the restrictive factory airbox. And it's still doesn't have as much of the famous diesel sound as I wish it did...but it's starting to get close. :wink:

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

The plastic cover will help the CRD retain engine heat while its warming up in cold winter months. The viscous heater will help heat the engine, but the cover helps keep heat loss from the cylinder head from the cold air flow. Shouldn't be a problem if your temps are above the 20's.

retmil46 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:37 am

LibertyCRD wrote:

I've already removed the engine cover, the insulation underneath the engine, the factory muffler, AND part of the restrictive factory airbox. And it's still doesn't have as much of the famous diesel sound as I wish it did...but it's starting to get close. :wink:

OK I'm curious, how did you modify the airbox? I've been contemplating removing that bloody inlet hose just to see what effect it has.

So far, I've heard of two aftermarket companies that are planning on offering modified air boxes, the Digi tuner company in Oregon that specializes in Sprinter vans, and TS Performance mentioned they had modified the airbox on their test vehicle.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2006 9:24 am

One of the reasons I took off the engine cover is because most of the time the weather is nice (above 50 degrees) and that engine cover traps way too much heat which isn't good for any engine. I guess in extremely cold climates it would be beneficial like you say. But for most of us...it's good to ditch the cover.

As far as my airbox goes...I removed the tubing that leads into the airbox from the area behind the headlight. I seemed to pick up 1 mile per gallon after doing this. So I did the same thing on my wife's gas version and she reported a record high average of 18 mpg with her 3.7L afterward. So I guess the factory setup is restrictive. If I could find a way to open it up some more and still provide adequate protection for the engine I would.

BodhiBenz1987 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:11 pm

dog_party wrote:

Sports writer? Nice! Audi R10 is DEFINITELY a sports piece! There's some diesel running in SCORE (mainly in the Baja 1000) too. There's a nice reason for an expense account trip out west for ya! Sebring's not too shabby either.

Just to update this with an all-important preview: I've composed (two weeks early) a column on the R10 which I think fellow diesel lovers will find highly amusing. I have no life, so I've been researching diesel racing, and adding to the things I already knew (too much) wrote a lighthearted story on it. Assuming nothing goes wrong with the Audis before March 18 (fingers crossed), it'll go to press that day ... as soon as it does, I'll post it here. Ah, the beginning and end of my career as a motorsports writer. :lol:

dog_party · **Posted:** Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:26 pm

BodhiBenz, I can't wait to read your article!! Post it as soon as you can!

Here's some info on diesel racing trucks that I dug up and posted in another thread. Don't know if you saw it or not.

"Banks has decided to build a road-racing diesel pickup truck. Banks’ 'road-race truck' is a full-tube framed effort being built completely in-house by Banks and his large staff of engineers and fabricators. Power will come from a heavily modified version of the latest-generation GM Duramax diesel engine. The truck will compete in endurance races, lasting from three to 25 hours, at selected events on thee West Coast in the Super Production class in the North American Sportscar Association (NASA) series."

And my favorite part...

"Initial dyno testing shows that the Banks race diesel will make about 900 lb-ft of torque from 2,500 rpm, and, with a very flat torque curve, maxing out at around 1,000 lb-ft of torque. The race engine produces 700 hp at its Banks-imposed redline of 5,000 rpm. A street version of the road-race truck is being developed simultaneously that will produce 900 hp at an even higher redline. The street version should produce over 1,000 lb-ft of torque, so you diesel lovers, get ready for the time of your lives, as good things are about to happen."

I'm sorry...did he say "STREET" version???

:twisted:

Mwwahh aahh haa haa :twisted:

skinny · **Posted:** Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:48 pm

The laim author of this article forgot to mention under plusses that the diesel noise puts kids to sleep quicker and longer for those long roadtrips !!

Oberkanone · **Joined:** Thu Oct 06, 2005 2:34 pm **Posts:** 26

http://www.suntimes.com/output/auto/car-news-car131.html

Decent review of CRD by Dan Jedlicka.

Now, if the Trib would just realize that Jim Mateja is better at delivering newspapers i/o writing articles for them!

BodhiBenz1987 · **Posted:** Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:49 pm

As promised ... Audi article ...
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/14128375.htm

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:21 am

Good article
Thanks for posting

valkraider · **Posted:** Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:43 pm

BodhiBenz1987 wrote:

As promised ... Audi article ...
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/14128375.htm

Yay, they won!
http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others/06/03/19/AUTO_Florida.html

dog_party · **Posted:** Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:35 am

BodhiBenz1987, you have a wonderful writing style! What a fun article to read! Thanks for sharing!

So, the R10 had to start from pit lane and still won the race. Woohoo!! What a monster! How long before ALMS changes the rules?

XJJeepGirl · **Posted:** Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:29 pm

I drive a 2004 Freightliner with a 425 Cat diesel engine. I have to fill it up every day with at least 80 gallons. I got these special rubber gloves that are resistant to diesel fuel. That way my hands stay smelling nice and not like diesel! When filling my CRD I grab a paper towel wipe by the windo washer box at the service station and use that to grab the handle of the nozzle. Anyway I wish the CRD had jake brakes like my CAT does. When going down a hill in my CAT I just take my foot off the pedal and the jakes slow the truck right down! I bought the CRD because I've gotten used to listening to my big diesel all day long. Believe me, our little CRD hardly makes any noise by comparison. All those journalists that like to rag on CRD's need to ride with me all day long and then do their CRD test drive. The CRD has a cute little diesel noise. Not to mention the libby looks cute as well. Around here I see more women driving libbys than men. Anyway I don't like how spark plugs, wires, distributors and rotors wear out all the time and have to be replaced. I bought my CRD because it is low maintenance and will allways perform the same. (Got tired of getting water in the distributor cap.) I also like the torque.

My only complaint is low ground clearance and that dang door whistle that apparently only I can hear. Oh and that the AC comes on in floor mode. Must find out a way to disable that.

I got stuck for the first time in my liberty this past weekend. Was up in the hills driving on snowmobile tracks in two feet of snow. Figured it was time to turn around and go back home. In the process of trying to turn around I got stuck. Like all four wheels spinning in the deep icy snow. High centered for sure. No shovel but had a cell phone and called a friend of a friend and was unstuck in an hour. Then the guy who got me unstuck got stuck himself in his 70's Ford 250 4x4 and I had to pull him out. He got stuck trying to turn aournd as well. So I don't feel so bad for getting stuck. I don't like that snow when it melts then freezes and gets hard and crunchy. Once you start spinning the wheels they just seem to dig in rather quickly. I think a winch is going to be next on my list. But I don't like being forced to pay 900 for a new bumper. Is there a way to mount a winch inside the stock bumper? The new Grand Cherokees have them built intot he bumper. Saw a picture of one today in a magazine.

Catherine

BodhiBenz1987 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:31 am

KJJeepGirl wrote:

I bought the CRD because I've gotten used to listening to my big diesel all day long. Believe me, our little CRD hardly makes any noise by comparison. All those journalists that like to rag on CRD's need to ride with me all day long and then do their CRD test drive. The CRD has a cute little diesel noise.

I hear you with the Freightliner's rumble. My dad has one with a Mercedes-Benz engine, which I've ridden in a lot (although not driven yet ... I look forward to learning at some point). The CRD's grumblings are like a kitten's purr compared to the big guy. I do love, though, how it sort of sounds like a "baby truck." I like for my diesels to sound like diesels and was glad to find the CRD does just that. But the thought of it being called "loud" makes me chuckle ... whenever I read that, I just think, buddy, you ain't HEARD loud!

Nice to see another girl on here who doesn't fear the diesel ...

dog_party · **Posted:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:37 am

Welcome to LOST KJJeepGirl! I grab a towel before grabbing the fuel handle too. But I found a big ol' roll of shop towels on clearance at Lowes and it came with a hanging dispenser. It hangs in the cargo area now, just flip the glass and there ya go. Helps out a lot because, in this area, fueling stations don't think that offering towels is part of their job. They hang the towel dispensers, just not the towels.

Nope, you're not the only one who can hear a door whistle. Some have had their door(s) realigned in an effort to get rid of it. Some success, some not. I say...embrace the whoosh! You should hear the noise I make with my Yakima roof rack, two kayaks and a canoe on top, and a Thule bike rack and two bikes on the back. whhHHHHHOOOOOOOOOooooossshh!!! I displace so much air that I sometimes see interstate signs topple over after I blast by at 80MPH. And you can hear it all in the cabin. I need more power for the stereo.

Daystar lift is the best option for putting more space between your seat and those high-center snowmobile tracks. AllJ's (boulderbars.com) is a valued sponsor of this forum, has all the Daystar lifts, AND they have the best price that I've found. Gotta love that, eh?!

There are a number of threads regarding disabling the AC in the output modes, but this is probably the best one. It has links to other threads and pictures and a bunch of great info. I haven't done this mod yet, but I will be.

Rumble on!

Chicago Tribune Article on CRD

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