Shopping for a new truck? Looking to save money on fuel?

[Dave LeGear]

And though months away for me, I have been and stumbled upon this one (though not in the country just yet) and one really cannot vouch for the quality of the truck, I do hear they make quality tractor.

Mahindra Clean Diesel Pickup Trucks and SUVs

Now granted hard to compare the two since a tractor is much simpler and generally does not have a lot of emission considerations... I am impressed though at the towing ability and MPG of this Diesel engine when mated with a 6 speed trans. More information attached and if anybody gets a chance to drive one, let me know your thoughts

Now though it reminds me of a old Datsun pick up in appearance, got to love how it will add even more competition to the market and help push other OEM's to start using this engine technology to give you both towing power (torque) along with excellent fuel burn rates

 

[RoryWainer]

Can't comment on that brand, but my diesel SUV tows over 7,000 lbs and gets 28-33 mpg (city-hwy). One of the best things is the range - over 600 miles on a tank. At $4.50 (petrol or diesel) per gallon, everyone here is switching to diesel for SUVs and 4x4s.

 

[pamarine]

Diesel or hybrid is definitely the way to go. My isuzu trooper was sold with a 3l diesel everywhere but the US. I get 12mpg with my gasoline powered one, the diesel gets 18.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[Whitto]

These vehicles have been available in Australia for a couple of years ... The only one seen on the road for the first 18 months belonged to the importer!

The dealer here in Sydney went belly up trying to sell them, so did the tractor retailer down the coast who took on his stock.

Small numbers have since been sighted on the highway and a friend has just bought the new model. It looks WAY better than their first model.

I drive a diesel now too ... towing a 195DC with the wife's petrol car just burns 20 dollar bills.

 

[Dave LeGear]

Thanks and I am very impressed with the new CRD (common rail diesel) engines and the work they return for a gallon of fuel. These engines are even more efficient than some Hybrids in many aspects and the next evolution of such I would think would be the combination of a CRD engine combined with a Hybrid drive or least in theory...

That combo though may not see much gains by adding a Hybrid to a CRD engine since they are both harder to light off much less, having to move around the extra weight of a Hybrid drive system that would naturally negate some of those possible returns. Maybe the Honda hybrid version that is used in the new CRZ or the Porsche system Porsche Web Cinema would be a better match to a diesel engine than your standard Toyota /Prius type of unit. Here again some diesels have and still do better better MPG than the Prius and I would rather have one of them alone (much simpler) instead. In the US though, we do not have access to CRD technology in the smaller truck / SUV market like they do in other parts of the world. The new VW pick up truck 2010 Volkswagen Amarok, Official Information – The True VW Pickup Truck – Mibz.com would be a great addition to our market, but it is not known if it will be allowed and or imported into the US as of yet.

Flip side of the coin, Hydrogen burns very well (ask anybody who was on the Airship Hindenburg ) and in the long run that should be the fuel of choice if we could ever get Uncle Exxon's wallet out of the way of it's development That was the power system that took you to the moon and back 40 years ago if you recall

Thanks again for the tip on these trucks and I am early in this shopping process, but fearing a large jump in the cost of fuel am looking to (if possible) make a move and or at least break even by getting more MPG even though I am spending more for fuel. Now I simply love my 4wd Xterra and it is not really that hard on gasoline when compared to most body on frame trucks. I just wished that Nissan would drop a CRD into it for the US market and I would be a very happy camper

 

[slider99]

I started out with a 2000 F150 2wd with a 4.9l engine that we used to tow a utility trailer with for years, did everything I wanted. Then we decided to take up camping again and got a small camper. Truck handled that. Then we sat by the water and looked at all the boaters and wished we had a boat, so we got 2 kayaks. That was fun, but there has to be something better than manual propulsion. So in 2007 we got a 16' boat and joined the boating crowd. But only one truck and had to tow 2 things. So we did a lot of driving every weekend. Then we got a Forester in the fall that could tow the boat. All was good. Then we sold the camper and got a bigger one. Now the truck wasn't happy, so we sold that one and got a '08 F150 4wd with a 5.4l engine. No problem towing that new camper. But then after years of looking we bought a 19 f&s and sold the old boat. Now the Forester wasn't happy. Back to doing alot of driving. Started using son-in-laws Explorer to tow the boat, but the truck had some issues and didn't like that much weight. So we got storage space at a marina. Thats working out good except when we want to work on the boat, so we have to go get it and bring it home. But still, better than buying another truck to haul it back and forth. Then a few weeks ago on a cold and rainy Saturday we went and looked at new campers, walked away with a new one that happend to be 3,000 lbs heaver than the old one. Now the truck isn't happy towing it. So I'm looking for a new truck again. Test drove a 2011 F250 Super Duty with the 6.7l diesel yesterday and know that that's the next truck. And all this started because my golf game stinks so I wanted to do something else on a weekend!

 

[fridaysoff]

You can never have too many toys or one that is too big. Well done.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

Ford is revamping all the motors in their f-150s next year. Suppose to have great gas mileage and a ton of power.

 

[RoryWainer]

Good thing you didn't stop outside an airport. BTW: Qantas has some almost new A380s going cheaply, they just need a little work on their engines.

 

[slider99]

I looked at the new F150's, nice looking rigs. The ones that get the good fuel mileage can't tow much. They list some that can tow 11,500 lbs with that 3.5L V6 twin turbo model. But those aren't available yet, almost all they had were with the 5L and they are rated for around 9,000 depending on configuration and are still in the low teens for MPG. I don't trust a 3.5L V6 for long term life towing. So just to make sure I would have enough extra tow capacity I ordered a new F250 last week, going with the diesel. First time I've ever ordered something as I wanted it, instead of what was on the lot. You really have to be careful with that check list, things added up quickly. It should be here in mid February, just in time to start the season.

 

[Dave LeGear]

Nice truck and from what I have seen their testing of that engine has been pretty brutal and the turbo chargers of today are much better built and cooled than in years past which to me is the weak point in such a combo

Here again, I really do not need to move that much weight since I am only pulling a 190 Bay and with my Xterra rated at 5000 pounds of towing it handles it just fine. Would like the Toyota Highlander (looking for some luxury in my old age ) but just not convinced that a SUV devoid of a true ladder box frame has the true back bone to handle such towing chores even if rated for 5000 lbs. The new 4 runner is huge (more like a Land Crusher of years past) and just does not fit the bill and may settle on a older used Limited 4 runner in 4wd if I can find the right one that has not been beaten to death.

Love the input though (keep it up) and will keep shopping

 

[Dave LeGear]

Finally settled on and picked up another new Tundra with 4WD now that they have (in theory) the bugs worked out on the new 4.6 Liter V8 and it has been on the market for about 18 months or so.

Having spent 10 years as a Service Director myself as some here know. Rare that I ever get near anything on the 1st model run and that includes new engines. I don't care who builds it (and I worked for some of the best) until you give it to John Q Public and let them hammer on it, do you ever find all the bugs in any one car or truck or driveline for that matter.

So some will ask how is the fuel burn? With the 6 speed auto and that small of a displacement V8 pretty much inline with the Xterra I traded in. So I am quite pleased Another aspect is Beth has a little Corolla S model that we use to run around in, so the Truck just sets in the car port 95% of the time. If I am lucky it will get 2000 miles a year on unless I need to take some trips to see family in LA (Lower Alabama) so it can go weeks or longer and not even need any fuel and my runs to the boat ramp for most of my trips are only a few miles away

It also has (which is much improved over the Xterra) quite the command authority over the boat when hauling it around and does not feel as if it back there most of the time. And like our last Tundra, huge brakes which I had to test when some moron pulled out in front of me and the boat a few weeks back How one can miss seeing that Combo on the street with day time running lights on I will never know...

So if you are shopping around the deals are pretty good. And it comes in handy to have friends in the business still like I do, but as fuel goes up it will become harder to move those larger trucks which can become a shopping advantage for you and even better if you have another car as your daily driver

 

[mrgreencms]

I am really enjoying this thread. The adivce and reseach and real life activities helps me when deciding on a new vehicle. Currently I tow my 195CC with a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer with a 5.0 V8. I do not have far to go and it suits the purpose right now, but I am looking for a new vehicle. I have looked at the F150 3.5 ECO Boost turck (4x4) and I was looking at the Tundra and I really appreciate the advice, so I will be adding that one to the list. Thanks for the advice.
Dave

 

[slider99]

I posted this on the Ford Diesel Forum a bit ago. We are going to run the test again, but this time we will be adding a F150 with the 5.0L as well. As a side note, the F150 w/the 3.5 is getting about 23mpg on the road, I took the F250 on a 3,800 mile drive and it averaged 22mpg.

F250 vs F150 In a Tow Off
My daughters friend just got a F150 with the EcoBoost engine. It has the FX4 package, tow package, 3.73 rear and all the other goodies. Mine is a new F250 with the 6.7, FX4, 3.31 rear,basically we have the same truck options, same color and all. So we wanted to see how the 3.5L twin turbo engine that Ford is hyping so much about matched up against the big diesel. We used my 8,000 lb camper to test with. There is a nice 2 mile up hill stretch on I85 heading into Hillsborough NC that climbs about 300' that we tested with. The test was 0-70 pulls, starting on the bottom of the climb, left them in normal drive mode. The F150 did it in 59 seconds, and took about the entire run up the hill. It took off the line and pulled strong up to about 55, hitting 4th gear, the acceleration started slowing down until we hit 70, it didn't seem like it wanted to go any faster. Hooked the camper up to the F250, off the line it lost traction for a bit which knocked some time off the result which was 38 seconds. It showed no sign of slowing down and would have kept accelerating with no problems. I don't know what gear it was in at 70 because it was just driving normally and I didn't think to look. I know it wasn't that much of a comparison, but we wanted too see how it would match up. The 3.5 seems like it's a very good engine, it's sweet spot is between 3 and 4,000 rpm's, at lower speeds it pulled it with no problems. Given that Ford rates it for 11,300 lbs towing, I don't know about that number, I would think 9,000 would be about the max I would tow with it. While the F150 wasn't getting pushed around that much from the camper, you could definitely feel it, while a 8,000 lb load behind the F250 doesn't do much of anything to it. The F150 is his daily driver and occasional tower, mine is used for towing the camper and boat, not a daily driver, so the F150 is better suited for him. I got the F250 after we kept getting bigger campers and boats, the last truck we had was a '08 F150 with the 5.4 engine and we out grew it so I wanted something that would have extra towing capacity, stable ride and the outrageous power didn't hurt either.

 

[Dennis]

Try a 2005 f350 v10 king ranch towing a 195cc I get 8 mph. My other car is a Mini and I get 27 mph.

 

[Dave LeGear]

I am really enjoying this thread. The adivce and reseach and real life activities helps me when deciding on a new vehicle. Currently I tow my 195CC with a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer with a 5.0 V8. I do not have far to go and it suits the purpose right now, but I am looking for a new vehicle. I have looked at the F150 3.5 ECO Boost turck (4x4) and I was looking at the Tundra and I really appreciate the advice, so I will be adding that one to the list. Thanks for the advice.
Dave

One of the things I did not like about the new Tundra (07 and newer) was the bed height And unless you were a NBA sized center, just no way for most (me included) to reach over the bed to get something unlike the older body style.

Toyota though (and why they do not just install this on all of them is not logical?) has a cool "Man Step" (they call it bed step, God forbid we may offend anybody ) that comes in very handy that I had installed and have used quite often... Really came in handy this past weekend to get in and deal with all the bags of Mulch we had to load and off load Sometimes the smallest of things can make the biggest difference and you can find it on the link below

Toyota Tundra Truck Accessories

 

[slider99]

there are all kinds of step products that mount under the rear bumper that swing out. That built in step that Ford has is pretty good, the 3.5 F150 has it.

 

[Genelie]

It sure looks like my old datsun..on the bed side view. One thing that is missing from the specs.......towing capacity....other that, it would be worth looking at in person

 

[Dave LeGear]

For which Truck?