Klean Diesel Kaput

I guess this is off topic, but . . .

What about safety standards and EPA fuel economy labeling?

It has been the exemptions from crash compatibility standards that most irked me.

 

I can't speak to safety. The CAFE changes a few years ago narrowed the SUV loophole but did not completely eliminate it.

 

Yes. Many (all?) of the loopholes for SUVs and light trucks have been eliminated - finally. The legacy continues, however, as we are still a nation of SUV and pickup drivers, even when such a vehicle might be less suitable for a given owner.

Tom

 

To bob Wilson.

I understand where you are coming from but you seem to be missing some things.

Every single one of the diesels in my other thread is a competition only vehicle and as I stated they run for only 15 seconds at a time.

From your post I sense that you think that burning all o that fuel for that short amount of time is a waste. That's your opinion and you are entitled to it, but on the flip side competition motorsports are many peoples passions.

For me it's sled pulling. It's my hobby, passion an consumes the better part of my life and bank account all for a 15 second pull. Most will say that is a waste but you do not know that. You have not been sitting in the truck with cold sweats and shaky hands and then you feel the chain tighten, you nearly blackout from the adrenaline but slowly you start to build the boost up and once that turbo lights reality hits you and it's go time you mash the throttle lockthe converter and hold on for the best ride you will experience.

I've got over 40 hooks under my belt and still get butterflys an chills everytime.

If you do not agree that your opinion. You probably have other hobbies and that's fine.

Also remember why motorsports were created, to provide safe and organized closed courses for people to compete versus doing it on the streets.

Thanks.

 

That thread was not an in your face post as you call it, just something to add for fun. read the thread description.

You can twist things how you want, that's up to you.

 

FYI these VW hybrids are going to be 2 cylinder diesels. Article was released in this months diesel power mag

 

I got the same impression as Bob did.

Your post showed performance Diesel has to be dirty and they are illegal on the public road. For the "clean enough" real world consumer cars, the real-world BSFC does not seem to be on par with a full hybrid even with the fuel with more energy than gasoline. EPA MPG confirmed this as well.

Sure, TDI fuel economy is better than a non-hybrid gasoline car. It even qualifies for tax credit as a bonus. The reliability, warranty and maintenance cost are not proven like a mass produced best selling hybrid, Prius.

TDI offers more of the same from the combustion engine while a full hybrid offers something special and different. There are hidden hybrid premium features (very underrated IMO) that owners just fall in love.

I did test drive a 2010 Jetta wagon and did not find anything unique or special compared to a regular gasoline car. The DSG upshift was fast and smooth but downshift was a drag. The "Diesel" torque was available only around 3,000 RPM and it disappeared fast once the gear shifted.

 

My post was not to show that performance diesel has to be dirty many of the vehicles in that post run clean.

But also look at performance gasoline, those engines are dirty too you just can't see it like on the diesels.

 

There seems to be some confusion. The performance diesels were ultra high performance off road vehicles. So stock emissions ratings do not apply, while some people may think that it makes diesels look bad I beg to differ simply because you can't tell me a top fuel dragsters does t pollute a lot too just because you can't see it. Nevertheless this discussion should be in that thread versus this thread.

I spend a lot of time on forums where I am the chocolate chip in a cookie so to speak. So I know how to make my points look good. I ha figured that most of the people on here were open minded and were overall car enthusiats so j posted that other thread just for fun. But I see it has gotten taken the wrong way by some. Nevertheless this thread is a lot easier to debate in that the environmental forums I am on where I discuss dairy farming.

As for my vehicle it has:

ARP2000 Head Studs: These have a 180,000psi Tensile strength. Their purpose is to replace the factory torque-yeild head bolts. Installing these over the factory bolts increases the clamping load to keep the cylinder heads from moving as much as possible. Stock head bolts can stretch and lead to headgasket failure. These are only needed when running high cylinder pressures.

"C" Headgaskets: These are the thickest headgaskets available and are installed because they are so thick. Being thicker they drop the compression slightly, which helps.

B/W Airwerks S472SX turbo with ETT comp wheel and 1.00 A/R turbine housing. This turbo is a large turbocharger. It has a 2.8" Inducer bore on the compressor wheel which has extended tip technology which means the fins are raised up on the exducer portion of the compressor wheel. The 1.00 A/R housing is somewhat "loose" which allows me to keep the turbo drive pressure (exhaust pressure) in check. This turbo has supported over 70psi of boost in competition. Although i am limited by fuel and a stock bottom end so I was running 50psi with it this past season.

Modded FPR and CP3 suction cover. The Fuel Pressure Regulator regulates how much fuel the CP3 can flow. The CP3 is the high pressure pump in a common rail injection system on a diesel. It flows 23,000psi stock on my truck. By making a small notch in the FPR, it will allow the pump to flow a little bit more fuel at a higher pressure. By modifying the rear suction cover, more fuel can get into the CP3 pump to allow it to hold the rail pressure for longer.

AirDog FP150 Lift Pump: This pump is an essential piece. Duramaxes do not have lift pumps from the factory, instead the CP3 sucks the fuel all the way from the tank on its own. The AD150 works to filter fuel down to 2 microns, remove the water and it removes the air, all while supplying it at a rate of 150 gallons per hour.

BD Full Bore manifold: on duramaxes the passenger side exhaust manifold was crimped down because they thought they needed more clearence for the steering shaft. Well they didnt but left it anyways and in turn that manifold only flows 80% of the passengers side. The BD manifold flows 100% with no crimp in it. However I will be getting rid of it for a se4t of Pro-Flows in the future.

3" Hot Side CAC tube modded to fit turbo. The S472SX turbo has a 3.5" V-Band compressor discharge. The factory intercoler tube is about 2.75". So I scrapped the entire Hot side CAC tube and bought a 3" one then cut it up some, and welded on some other pieces to mate it to my larger turbo.

I also installed a SunCoast Stage IV kit for the trans and will be freshening it up with GMax pieces this season. It also has a high stall 1055 torque converter. What this kit does is is allow the transmission to hold more power. The Stage IV kit or GMax kits can hold in excess of 1,000hp but other 'hard" parts inside the transmission may need to be replaced. The 1055 torque converter has the highest stall speed suncoast offers. It has a stall of 2600RPM. The stall speed is basically how long you can stand on the brakes and the throttle until the vehicle wants to move. This is just a laymens description of it. With that high of a stall speed I can get the turbo spooled up before I need to worry about getting going. The converter has 3 lockup clutches, and a billet cover as well.

The interior is gutted and there's a lot of non-power pulling mods geared at getting power to the ground. This should be self explanatory.

I do all of my own work on the truck and do my own tuning with EFI Live. EFI Live is a GM ONLY tuning device. It works on over 200 Gm vehicles. It is very common in the Duramax world. There are hundreds of engine parameters to alter to make that awesome smoke free tune. I cant count the hours ive spent tuning. I like it. Below is just a pic I found of an EFI Live table. There are hundreds of these, its not a software for the average person.

 

Your ride and a list of mods are like a foreign language to me...

Does any of them improve fuel economy or reduce emission?

 

i will edit the post to make it more english. None of them are geared towards improving MPGs or Emissions they are all geared towards power and putting the power to the ground. As Ive stated my truck is just a competition vehicle. I do not drive it down the road.

 

I guess I'll list my mods too. They're pretty straightforward in comparison.

Bosio PP520 injector nozzles: Less soot and more power

Aluminum skidplate: Vastly improved underbody protection

Scangauge II: Helps to coach me to drive more efficiently

Inline coolant heater: 1000W heater warms up the engine for improved fuel economy and faster heat on cold days

Front end swap with Jetta: All body panels from the front doors forward are from a Jetta. Gives the car a unique look.

E-code headlights: Better beam pattern with a sharp cutoff. Huge improvement for night driving.

Rear fog light: Useful in very foggy weather and for discouraging tailgaters.

Turn signal repeater: Integrated in the high mount stop light. More of a "I wonder if that's possible" project than anything. But I think it's cool.

 

Nice car seftonm.

My jetta has 110hp Euro injectors and a high flow exhaust. I also have been stalling the install of my gauges. 35psi Boost, 1600* pyro. Both Autometer Cobalts. Im mounting them in 42 draft designs factory matched pods.

I also have LED interior lights.

Im trying to keep this car stock, already have one bad habit dont need another.

 

Very interesting data you have there.

As for the intercooler, It wont be replaced until it cracks/blows out. The stocker is pretty good.

And when it does go out I will be either adding an ice box or just straight water injection. These two setups are only for short cooling needs so they fit my application.

With competition vehicles its always about the KISS method. The easier it is to work on the better.

I dont even want to know the return on investment for my modifications. I added it up once and total modifications was around $20,000 over the last three years with most of that being last year, that includes some repairs associated with the sport.

Wanna know how much I have made pulling?? 2007 I made $0. 2008 I made $270, 2009 I made $550. So total I have made $820 over a three year span.

But then you have to figure in the traveling costs. Which are a lot since the truck gets hauled on the trailer behind another Duramax, which i tuned for maximum MPGs when towing. Then there is the food, the hotels. It all adds up fast.

I do have sponsors and they have helped me out a lot, but with the way the economy is, they cant help as much as they want.


The old adage holds true, "Pulling is as addictive as Heroin only more expensive."

I still have tons to do on the truck yet and would like to build a race hauler in the future.

If you think my scenario looks expensive look at the National guys.

Many have over $250,000 invested in their setup when you include the puller, the hauler and tow vehicle. My neighbor added up his travel costs of going to all of the NTPA pulls and it was about $23,000 for one season. Granted they will make more money each pull but they have much more invested.

 

Just curious if it's a lower rad hose heater or a heater hose heater?

Now Mike, that is SERIOUSLY cool!

This is where you and I lead completely different lives

Maybe I'm just a cheap bastard, but I have an old saying:

"My vehicles work for me. I don't work for my vehicles"

If I can't write it off, I don't even think about it. My comfy and secure retirement is FAR more important to me than some gadget or toy

BTW: a perfectly legitimate write-off would be new tires, oil for servicing, etc. I don't understand how someone can have a vehicle for business and completely ignore maintenance needs

 

I write off the oil changes and tires on it. It still is a registered and insured vehicle for the farm. it has to be to pull in the class I pull in.

Its an expensive hobby, but its worth it.

All of the times that we are up all night just to get the thing ready for the next pull make it fun. And spending hours tracking down a $3 part and driving two hours just to get it so tht we can make it to the pull makes it that much more exciting. I get as big of a rush being slammed trying to get it ready for the pull as I do actually pulling.

Im very young, but I do have a 401K, suprisingly its actually making money right now too. I save up for my retirement as well, because as a farmer our retirement is what we get for the farm when we sell it, we dont get anything else.