Forum Discussion
110 Replies
- I had a 74 Fiat 124 sedan that I bought in 76 and kept for about four years. I had very few problems with it even during Canadian Prairie winters but you had to give the heater a good head start when it was really cold or it would take forever to get the interior warmed up. Drove it from Toronto to Vancouver in January with no problems. Other than normal stuff like timing belt and brake replacement, all I remember is some leaking rear axle seals which I also put down to Edmonton winters as the problem never re occurred after we moved to the coast.
Body was a bit of a tin can but just about all cars had rust issues back then, Early Hondas and Datsuns weren't any better. It had a sweet little twin cam engine, really nice gear box, disc brakes and coils on all four corners. Pretty advanced for an econobox back then. Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
NinerBikes wrote:
On the other hand, VW builds marine turbodiesel motors, built the Touareg on a truck chassis, and all kinds of people all over Europe town their big caravans to the mountains, the Alps, to go camping, with VW/Audi/Porsche TDI motors.
You do know that VM also manufactures not only Automotive engines but yes marine, industrial and power generation power plants right? :R Your VW is the same displacement as the Ecodiesel isn't it?
The truck is already starting out 1000 pounds heavier than the Touareg, at 6000 pounds, day in, day out driving. It has the aerodynamics of a brick, compared to the Touareg, which is why the Touareg can consistently get 32 33 MPG on the interstate all day long, and the Ecodiesel RAM in 4WD struggles to get it's rated 27 or 28 MPG's. 6500 to 7700 #'s is the tow capacity. I'd be thinking that 25 feet of travel trailer, loaded, with passengers in the truck, and all the junk in the bed of the truck, is going to put it at the limit of the vehicle, legally.
And what is your Touareg rated to tow? The same, so whats your point here? The Ram with the Ecodiesel is not meant for towing large RV's and is not marketed as such. BTW with the 3.55 gears the Ram is hitting the 33MPG without issue the 3.92 is getting 30MPG. Highway at 70 I get 26 drop it back to 60 and I'm getting 29/30 now.Ram Still Officially Most-Aerodynamic Fullsize Truck
Europe, in general, has a different philosophy about building cars and trucks, limited life design, and the distances are a lot shorter. They want the car worn out and off the road in 150,000 km, or 8 years. That's the design parameters they shoot for in Germany, and the Netherlands, dead and junked, in 8 years, or they tax the******out of you to keep it on the road longer. The Italians aren't much better, ask anyone that's ever owned a Fiat or a Ferrari, you have to own a towbed truck company to bring your vehicle into the garage when it breaks down. I can tell you all about my father's 1974 Fiat 128 that I had to keep running on the road for him... he kept that car the shortest amount of time of any car he's ever owned, even after buying it brand new. Terrible reliablity. 2 broken clutch cables in 60k miles, distributor jumped timing twice... alignment from the factory was pathetic for camber and tow out, and we don't get much rain or pot holes here in Los Angeles in the SFV.
OMG are you kidding right now 1974? WTF man. You do know that the holy VW was not any better than a FIAT right? They were the turds of the German cars right up to the late 1990's Even the Karmann Ghia was a turd! The Benz is a joke and always has been, rust bucket oil leakers. Funny I have never seen the local VW dealership's service department slow. We got my DD a Volvo S80 the so called flagship of Volvo, that thing spent more time in the shop then even any of my Ford's did. BTW the Volvo dealership sells VW's also so yep I have first had knowledge on how busy the VW side was. I also owned a TDi Jeta, very fun to drive but nothing less than a utility vehicle. I wonder why VW had Chrysler build them a minivan instead of building one themselves? LOL
PDB, you will have folks with an ECO diesel overloading it beyond tow capacity... it's highly unlikely you'll have Touareg or Q7 or Cayenne owners overload the tow capacity of their SUVS, endangering others on public roads and byways or roads used for commerce. THAT'S the big difference.
For reasons unknown to me, people come on the internet with pictures of Herculean towing feats with their truck, grossly overloaded. I can't think of a more idiotic, self incriminating thing to do on the internet than such a bone headed move.
Too many cheap folks out there, using the wrong tool for the wrong job, overloading it, then selling it all messed up, to the next used car buyer at the car auction.
I've pulled off a couple of 37 MPG tankfuls in the Touareg, if I was on country roads and had to keep it at 60- 65. Same 3.0L sized motor, right?
You can look at every fill up here, I can guarantee you an Ecodiesel will not come close to the MPG's a Touareg will. 31-33MPG, all interstate. 16-19 MPG when towing my 21 foot travel trailer.
2012 touareg mpg
- Perrysbug Dodge boy,
I had 246k miles on my 1996 passat tdi diesel when I sold it. Did timing belts regularly, every 60 k miles. Brakes at 140k, all the way around.
I had 213k miles on my 1998 Jetta TDI when I sold it, same motor timing belts every 60k mile.
I had 320k miles on my 2002 Jetta GLS diesel on it when I sold it, timing belts every 100k miles. Had to change the seals on the injector pump at 240k miles. Brake jobs twice on it, and one alternator I pulled and installed new brushes on it, and reinstalled it.
You'd be hard pressed to show me an Italian car here in the USA that will reliably do those kind of miles. There's a very good reason they call 'em "Fix It Again, Tony's" and as for Fords, "Found on Road, Dead".
And don't give me the cr*p about first on race day... I don't race my vehicles around, they are daily drivers, I could care less about who wins on race day, it's irrelevant when it comes to working tow vehicles and RV's. Frankly, I am lost on the appeal of watching cars go round and round in big circles, kind of retarded if you ask me, if I want to watch stuff go round and round in circles, I should be a union worker, watching the hands of the clock instead. - Yeah, look at the resale values of those Fiat 500's.
Fast forward to 2014... when I picked up a rental VW in Amsterdam, I could NOT take the car into Italy, unless I wanted to pay a ridiculous insurance fee for the rental... Seems there is a huge problem with theft of cars in that country, the rental car companies charge you insurance rates while driving into Italy to discourage use in the country. One other thing, the post office in Italy is also rife with theft... buy some stuff on Ebay, and Italy is one country vendors refuse to ship to, among the European Nations.
Welcome to 2014... nothing has changed in Italy, it has just gotten worse.
1974, I'd have been sporting a Bosch 009 centrifugal advance, and a Zenith on my 67 Beetle. Didn't have anything to tow until 1988 when I bought a Ford F250 with the 7.3 Navistar. The Stanadyne injector pump was junk on that too, as was the whole Ford front end, which ate ball joints and inner and outer tie rods at ridiculous rates.
That was the first, and last American vehicle that I'll ever own. Pure money pit, beyond any VW or Audi diesel that I've also owned. Garbage engineering, front windshield would crack from cab flex, just pulling up into a driveway. Oh, and let's talks about quality of paint.... white paint peeling off in 5 years, with some garbage black primer underneath, whole hood and top of cab.
Disenchanted with American Quality on US trucks, you bet I am. Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
NinerBikes wrote:
On the other hand, VW builds marine turbodiesel motors, built the Touareg on a truck chassis, and all kinds of people all over Europe town their big caravans to the mountains, the Alps, to go camping, with VW/Audi/Porsche TDI motors.
You do know that VM also manufactures not only Automotive engines but yes marine, industrial and power generation power plants right? :R Your VW is the same displacement as the Ecodiesel isn't it?
The truck is already starting out 1000 pounds heavier than the Touareg, at 6000 pounds, day in, day out driving. It has the aerodynamics of a brick, compared to the Touareg, which is why the Touareg can consistently get 32 33 MPG on the interstate all day long, and the Ecodiesel RAM in 4WD struggles to get it's rated 27 or 28 MPG's. 6500 to 7700 #'s is the tow capacity. I'd be thinking that 25 feet of travel trailer, loaded, with passengers in the truck, and all the junk in the bed of the truck, is going to put it at the limit of the vehicle, legally.
And what is your Touareg rated to tow? The same, so whats your point here? The Ram with the Ecodiesel is not meant for towing large RV's and is not marketed as such. BTW with the 3.55 gears the Ram is hitting the 33MPG without issue the 3.92 is getting 30MPG. Highway at 70 I get 26 drop it back to 60 and I'm getting 29/30 now.Ram Still Officially Most-Aerodynamic Fullsize Truck
Europe, in general, has a different philosophy about building cars and trucks, limited life design, and the distances are a lot shorter. They want the car worn out and off the road in 150,000 km, or 8 years. That's the design parameters they shoot for in Germany, and the Netherlands, dead and junked, in 8 years, or they tax the******out of you to keep it on the road longer. The Italians aren't much better, ask anyone that's ever owned a Fiat or a Ferrari, you have to own a towbed truck company to bring your vehicle into the garage when it breaks down. I can tell you all about my father's 1974 Fiat 128 that I had to keep running on the road for him... he kept that car the shortest amount of time of any car he's ever owned, even after buying it brand new. Terrible reliablity. 2 broken clutch cables in 60k miles, distributor jumped timing twice... alignment from the factory was pathetic for camber and tow out, and we don't get much rain or pot holes here in Los Angeles in the SFV.
OMG are you kidding right now 1974? WTF man. You do know that the holy VW was not any better than a FIAT right? They were the turds of the German cars right up to the late 1990's Even the Karmann Ghia was a turd! The Benz is a joke and always has been, rust bucket oil leakers. Funny I have never seen the local VW dealership's service department slow. We got my DD a Volvo S80 the so called flagship of Volvo, that thing spent more time in the shop then even any of my Ford's did. BTW the Volvo dealership sells VW's also so yep I have first had knowledge on how busy the VW side was. I also owned a TDi Jeta, very fun to drive but nothing less than a utility vehicle. I wonder why VW had Chrysler build them a minivan instead of building one themselves? LOL
LMAO, 1974 just called Niner, they want their 8 track tapes, Mallory duel point and Holley carbs back. They also said time to move it on up about 4 decades in time and thinking. :BNinerBikes wrote:
I can tell you all about my father's 1974 Fiat 128 that I had to keep running on the road for him.
I can tell you all about my father's 1974 Ford Pinto and 1974 Chevy Vega if you want to hear about those piles of junk, but last time I checked, we were in 2015. 41 years is a long time.NinerBikes wrote:
On the other hand, VW builds marine turbodiesel motors, built the Touareg on a truck chassis, and all kinds of people all over Europe town their big caravans to the mountains, the Alps, to go camping, with VW/Audi/Porsche TDI motors.
You do know that VM also manufactures not only Automotive engines but yes marine, industrial and power generation power plants right? :R Your VW is the same displacement as the Ecodiesel isn't it?
The truck is already starting out 1000 pounds heavier than the Touareg, at 6000 pounds, day in, day out driving. It has the aerodynamics of a brick, compared to the Touareg, which is why the Touareg can consistently get 32 33 MPG on the interstate all day long, and the Ecodiesel RAM in 4WD struggles to get it's rated 27 or 28 MPG's. 6500 to 7700 #'s is the tow capacity. I'd be thinking that 25 feet of travel trailer, loaded, with passengers in the truck, and all the junk in the bed of the truck, is going to put it at the limit of the vehicle, legally.
And what is your Touareg rated to tow? The same, so whats your point here? The Ram with the Ecodiesel is not meant for towing large RV's and is not marketed as such. BTW with the 3.55 gears the Ram is hitting the 33MPG without issue the 3.92 is getting 30MPG. Highway at 70 I get 26 drop it back to 60 and I'm getting 29/30 now.Ram Still Officially Most-Aerodynamic Fullsize Truck
Europe, in general, has a different philosophy about building cars and trucks, limited life design, and the distances are a lot shorter. They want the car worn out and off the road in 150,000 km, or 8 years. That's the design parameters they shoot for in Germany, and the Netherlands, dead and junked, in 8 years, or they tax the******out of you to keep it on the road longer. The Italians aren't much better, ask anyone that's ever owned a Fiat or a Ferrari, you have to own a towbed truck company to bring your vehicle into the garage when it breaks down. I can tell you all about my father's 1974 Fiat 128 that I had to keep running on the road for him... he kept that car the shortest amount of time of any car he's ever owned, even after buying it brand new. Terrible reliablity. 2 broken clutch cables in 60k miles, distributor jumped timing twice... alignment from the factory was pathetic for camber and tow out, and we don't get much rain or pot holes here in Los Angeles in the SFV.
OMG are you kidding right now 1974? WTF man. You do know that the holy VW was not any better than a FIAT right? They were the turds of the German cars right up to the late 1990's Even the Karmann Ghia was a turd! The Benz is a joke and always has been, rust bucket oil leakers. Funny I have never seen the local VW dealership's service department slow. We got my DD a Volvo S80 the so called flagship of Volvo, that thing spent more time in the shop then even any of my Ford's did. BTW the Volvo dealership sells VW's also so yep I have first had knowledge on how busy the VW side was. I also owned a TDi Jeta, very fun to drive but nothing less than a utility vehicle. I wonder why VW had Chrysler build them a minivan instead of building one themselves? LOL- Actually the Touareg shares the same platform with the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. VM Motori has been around since 1947 and built diesels for Land Rover and London taxis.
The Texan wrote:
nevadanick wrote:
LOL ... my truck is factory rated for 10.7K towing and I routinely tow 10K when at the ranch or between Idaho and Nevada.
I'm with The Texan except i push it a little farther than he probably does.
Many people seem to forget that it wasn't to many years ago that the "standard" OTR semi engine, was a paltry 175 - 190 HP Cummins or Cat. Those anemic engines did a pretty darn good job of moving 80K pounds down the road, so I would bet my money that these "new" grocery getters will do an AWESOME job towing a 10K trailer or 12K 5er.
Those old trucks had 5.9L to 7.3 liters of displacement in the motor to do the work you speak of, that's a lot of square inches of metal to spread the workload over.
The Eco diesel is a 3 liter motor, half the displacement, and it was designed to go in a Maserati sedan over in Europe, another grocery getter.
On the other hand, VW builds marine turbodiesel motors, built the Touareg on a truck chassis, and all kinds of people all over Europe town their big caravans to the mountains, the Alps, to go camping, with VW/Audi/Porsche TDI motors.
The truck is already starting out 1000 pounds heavier than the Touareg, at 6000 pounds, day in, day out driving. It has the aerodynamics of a brick, compared to the Touareg, which is why the Touareg can consistently get 32 33 MPG on the interstate all day long, and the Ecodiesel RAM in 4WD struggles to get it's rated 27 or 28 MPG's. 6500 to 7700 #'s is the tow capacity. I'd be thinking that 25 feet of travel trailer, loaded, with passengers in the truck, and all the junk in the bed of the truck, is going to put it at the limit of the vehicle, legally.
Europe, in general, has a different philosophy about building cars and trucks, limited life design, and the distances are a lot shorter. They want the car worn out and off the road in 150,000 km, or 8 years. That's the design parameters they shoot for in Germany, and the Netherlands, dead and junked, in 8 years, or they tax the******out of you to keep it on the road longer. The Italians aren't much better, ask anyone that's ever owned a Fiat or a Ferrari, you have to own a towbed truck company to bring your vehicle into the garage when it breaks down. I can tell you all about my father's 1974 Fiat 128 that I had to keep running on the road for him... he kept that car the shortest amount of time of any car he's ever owned, even after buying it brand new. Terrible reliablity. 2 broken clutch cables in 60k miles, distributor jumped timing twice... alignment from the factory was pathetic for camber and tow out, and we don't get much rain or pot holes here in Los Angeles in the SFV.- Go to any live or internet bought major car auction. Most car haulers use radical 4500 or larger to tow wedge 3 car trailers ect. You never see these 1/2 ton grocery haulers in the lot.
