desperado-c

In light of the corporate decision to focus the firm's cross-country rallying activities on the development of a new diesel engine, Mitsubishi Motors sees it as a natural step for the Lancer (known in Japan as Gallant Fortis), a commercially and globally important model powered by the diesel powerplant, to take over the competition baton from the Pajero/Montero and the Pajero/Montero Evolution. The technological expertise accumulated thanks to the firm's cross-country rally program - which includes the Dakar - will be applied to its diesel engine development, including the new-generation clean diesel that will power the future production cars.

http://media.mitsubishi-motors.com/p...etail1805.html

Could a V-6 TDI engine make it into the 2010/11 RA-Sportback? 260 hp and 480 ft-lbs, niiiiiice. Just in case, I think I'll be taking note of where the stations around town are that sell diesel. Clean diesel fuel in the US is gonna make for some interesting engine offerings in performance cars. TDI, it's not just for trucks anymore. (Apologies for double-posting, sort of.)

hibby

Won't happen.

chewy8

agree with hibby

desperado-c

Here's why I think it might. Diesels are well developed in Europe in large part b/c of fuel prices. Development will continue unabated on engines for that market. Largely focusing on smaller more economical engines but also including bigger, more powerful engines for the small but healthy luxury and performance sectors. This provides a ready pool of improved TDI technology to be spread around.

On this side of ocean, we have a long tradition of bigger cars and more powerful engines given our relatively wide open spaces. By and large even those people living with ridiculously dense traffic still are very reluctant to settle for any less size and power than their budgets allow. Now that US fuel prices are squeezing those budgets to painful levels, the natural focus will be on TDI V-6's for larger cars and performance cars. The TDI V-8 truck market is already going pretty strong and even has a substantial performance component.

I imagine that high performance cars like the Evo will still have gasoline engines because they make better hp through higher revs and are lighter. But for mere performance/daily-drivers such as the RA, super-high hp isn't as important as awesome torque. Even your stoplight racers can be pretty happy with a high torque engine so long as hp can be brought up to a respectable level. Anybody have any idea if there's room for a TDI V-6 in the Lancer engine compartment?

chewy8

desperado i agree, but unlike europe... diesel is more expensive than gas. which would discourage americans from buying them despite the impressive technology

WoRkZ

iTrader: (2)

All the cars sold in Europe have a diesel option. How many of the same cars sold here have diesel engine option? And are people buying the few who are offered as a diesel? Nope.

Their diesel marketing efforts are targeted towards Europe where people are looking to buy diesel cars... it has nothing to do with North-America.

Oh and BTW: Modern diesel engines are fairly sophisticated systems using high-pressure fuel rails, direct injection and the likes. Those engines normally bump the price of the car to about 3000 to 5000$ from the base price. Would you pay 5000$ for your Lancer just so you can brag (!) that it's a diesel??? I didn't think so...

So yeah, not gonna happen.

WoRkZ

iTrader: (2)

Lately, in most European countries, the price of diesel has been overtaking the price of gasoline. The problem is that governments are taking back their tax reductions on diesel. And since the diesel that is sold in Europe is a much better fuel than what is sold here, the costs os production are even higher. So diesel is suddenly looking less and less interesting in some of thos countries.

Anwyay, I won't go on about diesel for the rest of the day... but I just wanted to make some facts known. [my wife is French BTW, that's why I know about all that]

desperado-c

This whole $4/gal. gas thing just started and you're talking about what people will or will not do going forward? Give it awhile before writing off the idea that people who want a powerful and economical engine won't go for diesel.

Really? They sure use the word "worldwide" a lot in their press release. They just might be looking at the future of the US market given the dramatic increase in fuel prices here (40-50%) in the last 18 months.

Holy smoke, they use high fuel pressure and direct injection! That is new-fangled . . . just like in my '07 MS3 which I willingly paid a $3000-$4000 premium for b/c I wanted performance. Also, on diesel prices and engine costs, you ignore economies of scale. If a large percentage of the fuel/engine market is diesel, the costs will go down. Diesel fuel is also higher in the US right now b/c we are at an early stage in the production of clean diesel, which added to production costs.

You may want to have your lenses for viewing the future checked out. Your focus is pretty near-sighted.

WoRkZ

iTrader: (2)

Oh, well... believe what you want. It's your own brain after all...

Here's my prediction for the future though: Hydrogen will take over way before diesel will.

desperado-c

Your facts are known to me, anyway, and I don't have a single French family member by law or blood. In any case they don't really change things much for what I'm talking about. Even if diesel and gas prices equal out in Europe, there will still be a significant fuel efficiency advantage for diesel in more powerful engines. As far as US vs. European diesel quality, I believe that for all intents and purposes that is a thing of the past or soon will be, which is why diesel is no longer dirt cheap here. Also, I believe that the production costs for even clean diesel would be lower than for gasoline if the economies of scale were more equal but I'm not certain.

desperado-c

Okay, now you've gone from near-sighted to hallucinatory. At least we have a distribution system for diesel. And you do realize that the RA-Sportback will never come with MT, right?

hibby

Give Audi another decade to continue marketing diesel as a fuel for performance cars (R10 race car -- Google it). Maybe by then, America will be ready to listen to ideas like this.

gnusmaS

mitsubishi already confirmed a diesel engine in 2011 modely year (2010 calendar year) lancer for the us market

i't probaby the 4N14 2.2 with obscene amount of torque

a 2.0 liter might also be developed
4N13 1.8 liter is for europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_4N1_engine

aestival

'Power' diesel does not mean what you think it does -- the power curves are terrible, and driving a power diesel engine at speed is so far from fun that there's really no point to it. Diesel horsepower means almost nothing at speed, as all the torque comes when you're barely moving.

100$ GUY

Seems like desperado is actually desesperado to have a diesel engine and to convince people of it.