Diesel Titan Info

brulaz wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:

brulaz wrote:

otrfun wrote:

...
For those that prefer a balanced combination of fuel economy AND towing/payload capability, we now have the Nissan Titan XD Cummins V8 diesel.

I would add the F150 HD Payload with the 3.5L EcoB to that.

Except that time and again tests and real world experience have shown that the EcoBoost has little to no MPG advantage over comparable V8 engines, towing or solo.

And the fuel economy of the Cummins 5.0 hasn't yet been released.

I am a fan of diesel power, but with the way fuel prices are right now, I am uncertain of the value of a 1500 equivalent diesel truck to the consumer. I understand the manufactures need to produce these for CAFE requirements (assuming the Cummins has good MPG numbers), but in my part of the country diesel is $1.00 more per gallon than regular unleaded. If it stays that way, there has to be a significant MPG advantage of a diesel to have equivalent or lower cost per mile for the consumer.

I like this engine, but with the way the fuel market is, this isn't the best time to be launching a diesel. Will be interesting to see what the EPA numbers are for it. I hope this truck is a success.

But those "comparable V8 engines" are not avilable in a HD model with payloads greater than 2000#. (Unless you mean Ford's 5L V8 which has a lot less low-rpm torque.) The F150 with HD payload is the only other truck in this "heavy-half"category that I'm aware of.

And we can assume that the 5L's fuel economy might be 20-30% better that the F150 EcoB. I think Nissan press release says 20% better than a big V8 when towing. But MPG is deceptive when comparing diesel versus gas engines.

As you point out, if you are strictly into the $$/mile, then diesel can currently lose out in some areas because of the high cost of diesel. Even ignoring the high upfront costs and possible maintenance diesel issues.

If you are into environmental issues, like Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, then most of diesel's 20-25% mileage improvement over similar gas engines is solely because it is more concentrated. It has roughly 20% more BTUs and carbon per gallon IIRC, and it consequently emits (roughly) 20% more GHG. So the net improvement over a similar gas engine may only be 0-10%. If you go to the EPA site and compare total GHG emissions for a 2015 4x2 F150 2.7L versus a RAM EcoD, the F150 is better despite a lower mpg.

There other advantages to diesel though: the exceptional low rpm torque and Exhaust Brake are two that I weight highly. I'm just not sure how much of a premium I'm willing to pay for them.