Diesel Conversion

[blacksambo]

You've got that right! Where pure speed and high performance handling is concerned gas is the undisputed king. Remember VX fans, the raison d'etre for the VX was "torque on demand", not torque after it reacts to the load! Load handling driving is typically not concerned with performance cornering ability... there is no such spec at Caterpillar, its purely load reaction engineering for diesel success. Where diesels race its just a novelty, they are not setting any speed records on road courses. Believe me, if diesel was a viable road course option they would have tried in Formula 1 the pinnacle in motor sport a long time ago. Not even the Safety Car in Formula 1 is diesel, it would be deemed too dangerous to use such a load reaction vehicle in high speed pace work. Also, remember that the VX came equipped, stock, with license plate holders. In other words, it was designed first and foremost for highway or road course type use...off-road driving was secondary in the original designers' minds. It's a street machine that adapts (sports car first,truck second), not vice versa.

[Joe_Black]

:laughg:

[moon buggy]

watching Foxtel hear locally, the 5th Gear program I saw today did a track comparison of the BMW Mini Cooper vs a Scoda VRS TDi...the TD won by 0.8 sec...even I was surprised, as the mini's 0-60mph was quicker and probably the Skoda would have got an even better time had it handled better...

here in Australia diesels are selling more every day all the big 4wd companies are selling heaps of diesels now more than ever with oil hovering at > $60US/barrell..V8s particularly guzzling models are heavily discounted $1000s just to move them, or come with a years supply of fuel for free ...

And as a driver of Turbo diesel 4wd [04 Disco 2 Td5] that achieves regularly 23mpg [Vx 15 - 16mpg] around town with regularly stomping on it in 'Sports" mode selected [hah!], it certainly doesn't have the poke of the VX [off the line - embarassing really], but once TD is past lag 0 - 1500rpm ...gallons of torque come on board...however it still does take a leisurely 17secs !!! to get 0 - 60mph, but timing it myself I reckon the first 5 - 6 secs is wasted then off she goes..on a trip ! well diesels come into their own where mine will get 1000kms to a tank if not more [90 litre]...with diesel becoming increasingly popular will make the manufacturers improve them more particularly if we end up paying European pricing for fuel, cars will need to be efficient..but they will need to be exciting as well [to sell them]...my excitement comes from driving past my wife at the petrol station filling the VX, but her smile is as she waits for me catch up at the next set of traffic lights...

[blacksambo]

Thanks for the "Down Under" diesel perspective. Yes, diesels sure have their place, but to retro convert a VX would seem a shame. It's not that much different than the "debadging" that goes on with the VX's. It's just a shame, and once it's done it's mostly done for the whole life of the vehicle (they never get changed completely back). I've owned ancient Porsches and let me tell you, later on down the road people are most always sorry that any body ever modified any thing versus the "original" design. Especially, from a price valuation standpoint, originality is everything. But I realize that you sometimes can't live with driving just "originality" and the urge to change things dictates where you are going to take your vehicle...that's why they made chocolate and vanilla. You've got to have a choice...it is afterall the American way.

[PeteVX]

For me its primarily an economy thing, as a daily driver i would use my VX much more if i were getting better economy, i can allready hear someone saying that the extra 8 or 10 mpg would take a lifetime to recoup the minimum $2,500 plus its to cost to convert but i'm sure a good used 3.5 gas motor has to be worth $1,000 of anyones money? thus reducing the conversion cost.

And then there's the enviro friendly lentil sprout eating hippy feel good factor that you're being good to the planet. Whats that worth? Nothing to some people, everything to others. Crikey, i even re-cycle now (though i'm sure it all goes in the same landfill anyhow but it makes my girlfriend feel better which makes me feel better)

Its great that people want different things out of one vehicle and are able to do it. I once saw a Ferrari Testarossa with furry dice hanging from the rearview mirror, one guy looking at the car was getting quite upset about it, i thought it was absolutely hilarious !!

Pete

[Joe_Black]

I'm generally not into doing something to a production vehicle that can't be put back to original very easily. That's why I'm primarily researching the Isuzu diesel rather than some other make, like the Mercedes OM617. With a diesel from a late-model Trooper you would use existing mounts and most linkages. Basically, it's a plug-n-play swap. Down the road you decide to go back to gas you can just swap it back, provided you've kept the original engine.

But for those who have real-world diesel experience, once you make the change it makes little sense to go back. The increased performance and economy will just overide the programming we've received here in the US about gas engines.

So far I've located 4 available engines and a few 5-speed transmissions, but am waiting for word back on a closer source for better pricing and an automatic. My wife's VX will likely get the auto while I'm getting jazzed for the 5-speed.

A local restaurant has contacted us about collecting their used oil and another friend who has a Golf TDI is interested in helping with biodiesel production, so we may end up with a collective effort. I recently picked up 12 55-gallon drums for collection and have just about everything else needed to start up, so am getting more and more excited about freeing myself from the grip of "big oil".

For the doubters, check out some of the crazy Finns and their hot-rod diesels...

http://www.saunalahti.fi/~hecekiel/dieselboost_demo.mpg

http://students.tukkk.fi/tuukka.simo...t/kiikala.mpeg

http://students.tukkk.fi/tuukka.simo...ukiihytys.mpeg

http://students.tukkk.fi/tuukka.simo...kiihytys2.mpeg

http://students.tukkk.fi/tuukka.simo...videot/std.wmv

http://students.tukkk.fi/tuukka.simo...liukasta2.mpeg

http://www.kolumbus.fi/sallatoimi/ep/veto1.mpg


If after looking at some of these videos you don't think diesel=performance then don't drive too far, you might fall off the edge of the world.

[mbeach]

Joe,
You should contact the guys with the SCCA Rally BioDiesel VW Golf TDI. They are huge biodiesel nerds and were eager to share all of their knowledge.
I met them at the Columbus (Ohio) Auto Show a couple of years ago. They were super-excited about their car and had just come off a fairly successful season.
I got to really check out the car (which still had race grime all over it) and I believe that they gave me some freebies as well (soypower stickers and a Kumho lanyard).

[Joe_Black]

I linked an article on them a little earlier, neat story. We had a guy bring a Gof TDI out to a recent rallycross at my place and he gave a couple GTI's a serious run. It's a quick car and apparently Banks has some tuning items for it too.

I picked up a 1st-gen Toyota MR2 last month and am seriously thinking of putting the VW 1.9L TDI in it. It'd be a real screamer and would launch like a rocket!

[ameetw]

So far I've located 4 available engines and a few 5-speed transmissions, but am waiting for word back on a closer source for better pricing and an automatic. My wife's VX will likely get the auto while I'm getting jazzed for the 5-speed.

Could you tell me which engines are you looking at?

[Joe_Black]

I'm most interested in the 4JG2 intercooled turbo as used in Troopers and Rodeos through around model year 2000. The other diesel is the 4JX1 intercooled turbo, used in the latest Troopers, but since it's an ECU-controlled common-rail engine there isn't as much "shade-tree" tuning capability. I haven't gotten any solid info on the transmission models these engines use though.