Diesel confirmed for light-duty F-150 by 2009
There's been a lot of talk around the Autoblog offices about Ford's lack of bold moves. Thankfully, it's rumored they'll make a smart move by offering a diesel engine in their F-150 line of pickups. Dave Szczupak, who retired last week from FoMoCo, told Autoweek that a diesel should find its way under the hood by 2008 or 2009, and if the ex-exec's timeframe is to be believed, the F-150 will be the first pickup in its class to offer such an option.
The new oil-burner will likely come from Europe's Range Rover, in the form of a 3.6-liter V8. However, due to the stringent emission standards in the U.S., Szczupak says that Ford's engineers have some work ahead of them. First, the internal design of the engine has to be modified to produce fewer emissions, and then they'll need to address the emissions system itself, possibly utilizing a urea-based setup or some kind of NOx trap.
Unless GM, Toyota or even Nissan bring a diesel to market sooner, Ford will have a leg up on the competition, and will secure a much needed piece of the market.
[Source: Autoweek]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ken 10:01AM (10/13/2006)
Awesome! I hope they offer it in the Expedition too. I read the reason for such a large "dome" hood on the '07 Expedition is to make room for both a deisel AND a hybrid.
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Hamud 10:09AM (10/13/2006)
That's great news, too bad it will take so long to happen. Anyway, better late than never.
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Greg Murphy 10:28AM (10/13/2006)
Better late than never. This will put the pressure on GM and Toyota. Thanks for the news.
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Tal D 11:13AM (10/13/2006)
Great news for Ford and buyers.
Have always hesitated purchasing a PU because of poor fuel economy.
Maybe a diesel in a F150 or Expediton will bring fuel consumption down to a more affordable level for these class vehicles.
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JJ 10:40AM (10/13/2006)
So, a real Ford Diesel, not designed and built by
International Truck and Engine Corporation ! This engine is much smaller than 2008 6.4L, but does this spell the beginning of the end of the Ford/ITEC marriage ?
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Ryan 10:41AM (10/13/2006)
"However, due to the stringent emission standards in the U.S., Szczupak says that Ford's engineers have some work ahead of them. First, the internal design of the engine has to be modified to produce fewer emissions, and then they'll need to address the emissions system itself, possibly utilizing a urea-based setup or some kind of NOx trap."+
-First off, have they even started anything yet?
-Second, Diesel gas is some nasty sh** it smells, you sound like a school bus, the "advantages" of diesel have never been enough for Americans to demand we embrace it I just don't understand the "neat" factor of diesel.
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Jill 11:16AM (8/04/2007)
Ryan,
Obviously you are a city boy.
Jill
KT 12:01PM (10/13/2006)
Ryan...they are putting it in a TRUCK not the 500 or Freestyle. The complaints you have are not relative to the overall truck market.
The touchy point here is the price point. Will they be able to offer this option for a reasonable price? Also, they need to estimate the take rate on this option to determine if it's feasible at a certain price. If the emissions weren't a problem and they could just drop it in using parts they already have on hand, it would be a no-brainer.
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Ray 11:00AM (10/13/2006)
It's OK Ryan, you don't have to buy one. Nice to see Ford starting to move out of it's "my truck is uglier than yours" phase.
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Keith 11:15AM (10/13/2006)
Ryan, Americans have always embraced diesel trucks, much more so than cars. The "neat" factor about diesel is you get better fuel mileage and more torque which is great for towing. I was planning to get an F150 for hauling and towing a car trailer in 2008, but I may wait a year if I can get a diesel.
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Steve 11:31AM (10/13/2006)
Ryan,
Not all diesels smell like crap and sound like school buses. That's just what we are used to in this country, because they've put those type of engines in our trucks for years. And much of the smell comes from the sulfur, which is now being phased out of the nation's diesel pipelines as we speak.
I guarantee you there will be some cleaner, quieter diesels offered in many cars and trucks in the next few years that will change people's minds about diesel engines in America.
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Koba 11:26AM (10/13/2006)
This is ridiculous! I used to try and defend automakers, but now I'm convinced they intentionally thwart good fuel efficient designs. Does anyone remember that 4.5L diesel v6 that Ford was supposedly developing? Yeah, they developed it, built it, and emissions certified it. Guess what? You can buy a Ford truck with it in it!
https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/2006fleetshowroom/2006-LCF.asp
Now who's going to come up with a new excuse why Ford can't take this reasonably efficient diesel, mated to a FIVE Speed auto and drop it in an F-150?
Any company that develops something this good and then continues to drop ANCIENT (my father was buying v8 trucks w/ 4 spds before I was born) garbage in their cash cow DESERVES bankruptcy. I seriously think the only way a company could be this incompetent is if they try VERY HARD at it!
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Bill 11:34AM (10/13/2006)
I rode in a new LR3 Range Rover taxicab with a diesel a couple months ago. It was quiet (inside and out), and zipped up and down Swiss mountain roads with ease. From the "seat of the pants" you could definately feel the torque pulling, and I was watching the tach, and everything was taking place within a narrow rev range of only about 1500 to 2000 rpm.
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Pallinn 11:37AM (10/13/2006)
Oh come on Ryan... Have you even seen a truly modern diesel automobile? Here in Europe you can't throw a rock without hitting one and let me tell you, you're so full of it it's not even funny.
I'm generally not really a diesel fan, all this economy-first thinking bores me, but it's just ignorant to judge all diesel vehicles based on heavy-duty pickup trucks as you seem to be doing. Capable as trucks may be, refinement (understandably) wasn't a top concern in the design process.
My cousin owns a diesel Mercedes S-Class (S400) and it's just a thoroughly good vehicle. I'ts a few years old now but there's no smoke, no smell and little more noise than a comparable gas model. What it has is great torque and passing power and very good fuel mileage.
Diesel has it's drawbacks, certainly, but it's not smell or noise... It's mainly price and unwillingness to rev. In the US there's also less-than-perfect availability but that's no reason to dismiss it alltogether.
Prefering gas-engines is fine, you can certainly find reasons to, but these old arguments are quickly growing irrelevant.
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aaron 11:45AM (10/13/2006)
As far as I knew Dodge and GM already have plans to get into the light truck diesel market and Ford's announcement brings up the rear.
It was reported here a month ago at least that cummins had some smaller engines that are almost ready to drop and likely destinations will be the Durango / Aspen / Ram.
As well Gm confirmed that as I recall in 09, they will do the same thing.
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aaron 11:45AM (10/13/2006)
As for diesl's smelling and stinking and the like. Any idiot knows that europe has close to a 50/50 split of diesel versus gas so there is the potential for a market here. With the advent of cleaner fuel (like europe has) and cleaner engines diesels will not be anywhere near what a 25 year old school bus is. The f250 I drive daily for example is fine.
Speaking of which, those idiotic enough to sprew uneducated drivel like that probably spend alot of time on the short bus so they get their fair share of diesel fumes on the way to "special school."
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motorman 12:06PM (10/13/2006)
with diesel fuel costing more than gasoline,the extra cost of the engine,the required options and higher maintinence costs you would need to drive a lot of miles a year to break even over a gasoline engine
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Tal D 12:23PM (10/13/2006)
#9 Koba: I agree : if an existing diesel is available, why use older technology.
But I do wonder if the same 4.5L D engine that fits the LCF would fit the F150? They are two entirely different designed trucks.
I wonder if the 4.5L Diesel that comes in the LCF was specifically designed to fit that vehicle? Perhaps the heighth of that engine would not be compatable with a smaller engine compartment of a F150.
Maybe someone with engineering background can explain.
Again,I do agree ,Don't sell me old technology as new technology just to say you have one. Do it right the first time before you market it.
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KT 12:26PM (10/13/2006)
"As far as I knew Dodge and GM already have plans to get into the light truck diesel market and Ford's announcement brings up the rear.
It was reported here a month ago at least that cummins had some smaller engines that are almost ready to drop and likely destinations will be the Durango / Aspen / Ram."
WRONG. The story said that Cummins had agreed to design and build a diesel for an unknown source. They didn't "have one almost ready to drop". They only had an agreement to build one. Also, it was never confirmed who it was being built for. Since it's Cummins the obvious first guess would be DCX. However, nothing else has been said about that since the article was published.
This 3.6 is already available in EU and needs some tweaking for the US. I would guess it to be launched in early '08 as an '09 model.
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Ryan 12:25PM (10/13/2006)
". Ryan, Americans have always embraced diesel trucks, much more so than cars."
-While I do agree, unleaded pickups are still the far majority on the road. Alot of people just don't want to fu** with a diesel. AND the gas COSTS MORE.
"12. Oh come on Ryan... Have you even seen a truly modern diesel automobile? Here in Europe you"
-Ya really want to talk about EUROPE, I was in Amsterdam this past March and THAT IS WHY IM MAKING THE COMMENT I MADE. The buildings are all "black and dreary" looking because the diesel. Although I'm going to be sacarastic, a freaking ford ka drives by and it sounds like a MACK truck. When I was in Europe, you CAN SEE the diesel in the air, looked like dust flying around the road.
It's some sick sh**, although YES pickup trucks do offer diesel. I personally with never be interested in it. Glow plugs? WTF?
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