Will Nautiques add new DIESEL engine ?

[BASC]

I run a car and a 4x4 in the UK on diesel, it is actually a lot more expensive than petrol, with the modern fuel efficient petrol cars here there isn't a great deal of difference when you work it out on mpg, I'm not sure what this 'off road' diesel you guys refer too, any UK member shed some light on this.
I run my boat on LPG, you lose a little power but it is a lot cheaper than any other fuel source available, although I'm pretty sure it will not be long before the government start to tax that option hard.

[alanholt]

BASC, I'm in the UK too and also running on LPG, I think the "off road Diesel" they refer to is our "Red Diesel" Used by Contractors and Farmers, no road duty paid! Can't say that you'd notice the power drop off with LPG, runs a little hotter too, but i couldn't afford to run on Petrol!

[MattM]

Honda's European Diesel Accord whoops some serious butt.

Would luv to see how one of these performs in a ski boat.

[Alan-S]

You guys are all really old school on the diesel thing. And so is Ford, Chevy, Dodge. Take a look at VW, Mercedes, BMW, and Honda. These guys all make diesel cars. You can go around the corner and drive a Mercedes E 320 CDI if you don't believe me, but is is quieter, quicker, and more efficient than a gas E320. The new diesels are amazing, and I promise there is no black smoke, glow plugs, or bad smell. My dad has a 2005 E320 CDI, my little sister has a 2005 Jetta TDi, and my co-worker has the VW Tourag with the V-10. All three of these cars are silent, fast, smell and smoke free, and warm up just like a gas engine. It is really sad that americans have such a bad taste in their mouths about the diesels from the 70's, because foreign diesels are amazing. I have not driven the new Diesel Jeep liberty but I bet it is nice considering Jeep is owned by Chrysler and Chrysler ownes Mercedes, hopefully it was designed off of the CDI engine. As far as "diesels in a marine environment" goes, i think you need to go visit the ocean or at least get off the lake some time. more than 90% of all fishing boats over 30' are diesel. BTW George Bush was in my town last month at our Bio-Diesel plant talking about how Bio-diesel is the future of alternative fuels. Just in case you don't know what bio-diesel is here you go. Ethyl Alcohol + Soybeans = Bio-Diesel and Glycerine.

[MattM]

personally I'm hoping to run our super air on McDonald's fry grease at some point.

[ag4ever]

I drove a jeep diesel, and can say that it could not be related to the mercedes diesels. It was noisy and not really that powerful. The suspension was awful stiff. Overall, i think it is a depressing failure that will just further most people's opinions of diesels.

I have driven the mercedes diesel, and the vw diesels in a jetta and passat. i think they are hands and fist superior to the diesel engines us americans are producing. I also have a ford superduty with the powerstroke. While I love it, it too has it's short falls.

When nissan or toyota drop a diesel in their truck, I will be standing in line to get one.

I also wish audi would import some cars with the vw diesel in it. I would love an a6 diesel.

[DRAGON88]

I also wish audi would import some cars with the vw diesel in it. I would love an a6 diesel.

I'll take a VW polo TDI please. 100 mpg, represent! I'd also be keen on a TDI A3 Quattro, but I don't think that car will ever see stateside...

For now though I'll settle for my 4kq with the I5 motor.

As stated the new TDI motors are amazingly quiet and efficent. They really don't smell like diesels, we had one of the earlier TDI VW's before they really got popular, and pulling up to the gas station was allways fun. "Fill it with Diesel please"

"Um... Are you shure?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I just thought your car was running like crap."

They still have that great distintive diesel knock. The best thing about the TDI motors is how you can modify them up to about 300ft lbs of torque and still get 45mpg...

[Laptom]

BMW/Mercedes/Audi has diesels which consumes less fuel and are faster then it's gas engine (for example the 535i and 535d). The d has 45% more torque 15% more power and consumes 25% less fuel then the i. There is no need for glowing the engine, it starts like a pertrol engine (just turn the key). Those cars has exhaust filters which illiminates black smoke and make the engine 400times cleaner then before.
The real improvements on Diesel engines are comming from Peugeot and Fiat (Alfa Romeo) at the moment. They where the first with commonrail (cdi or tdi or whatever) and they are now making (not developing) new techniques. For example, 5 cilinder 2.4ltr diesels with standard 200bhp and more torque then a v8 petrol. When you go for tuning (fabric option) these diesels can have 280bhp and still run 50mpg on diesel/bio-diesel/sunflower oil/MacDonalds fry oil and run for 200.000 miles without a single problem.
I'm not a diesel freak (more an lpg guy), but I have to admit the diesels came a long and good way..

[leroy]

I think a diesel could work well in a boat. When we lived in Belgium, 60-80% of the cars in EU are diesel and they perform similar to gas, except get better MPG. We had a BMW525TDS and it was a joy to drive. Diesels have come a long way. Not the sick dog diesels of US vehicles though.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/outd...g/1276996.html

[ag4ever]

OK, so is mercruiser using the international or navistar engines? The description of the 7.3 engine was just about spot on for the description of my powerstroke in my '02 f250. If so, I hope they do better with the injectors than ford did with the lousy long lead injector no 8 which I think is out in my truck.

[OldFart]

So did u guys/gals ever decide, are u going to add a diesel to the nautique line. Who's the project leader? engineer? marketeer (derivitive of mouseketeer)? etc...