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Diesel People - Enlighten Me? (2014)

44K views 276 replies 62 participants last post by  SNUKE 
#1 ·
First, sorry about posting this as a new thread... tried the search function but didn't find an answer.

With the 2014 coming out, I was hoping some diesel people could post about the pros and cons of a diesel for daily use. I know very little about diesel engines and have never driven one, and I'm currently trying to decide between the 3 available engines.

I live in Colorado and my daily commute involves about 60 miles round trip. My family and closest friends are in Chicagoland, with a few scattered throughout the country, so I usually do at least 1, sometimes 2, long roadtrips each year. I will also be using the GC on forest service roads and the Colorado backcountry to get out to good hikes, climbs, camping, snowboarding, etc, though I won't be doing anything near as crazy as I've done with my JK (trading it).

I've considered all three engines. The V6 with the 8-speed may provide enough power, and certainly gets good MPG. The Hemi, well it's a Hemi, and it sounds like the power the on highway would be great, the torque offroad would be good, and the MPGs aren't too bad.

Now the diesel sounds like the perfect mix. Good power on the highway, great torque offroad (I don't own any toys to tow), and great MPGs. However, I am completely ignorant of diesels, so some practical questions:

How PITA is the who urea thing?

It gets cold here sometimes. Will a diesel engine with remote start actually warm up in my driveway? Is warming up a diesel engine before driving any different than a gas engine?

Does that black smoke happen with all diesels? My experience with diesel is always some dude in a F-350 blowing thick clouds of black smoke down the entrance ramp. I would be mortified if my vehicle did that. I'm all for rugged but I have a suit-wearing job and black clouds of smoke would be unacceptable to me.

Are there any other weird quirks to owning a diesel? Diesel intrigues me, but I'm at a point in life where I'd rather pay someone else to work on my vehicles. I just want something that gets me to work in comfort and style, gets me roadtrips without breaking the bank on gas, gets me down a forest service road without complaint, and does well at altitude.

I'm hoping that modern diesels are mostly behind the scenes, as in the experience of driving one isn't much different than driving a gasoline vehicle, except with gobs and gobs of torque.

So basically, what's it like day to day driving a diesel that's different than a gasoline engine?

Thanks!
 
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#267 · (Edited)
Hi from germany,

dont worry about the noise ... the engine runs really silent and smooth.

so , ... wait for the diesel and you will often smile on the road :D

for me, i am happy with the 5-gear-box, but the new 8-gear-zf is a brilliant one.
i tried on a X5 one time .... guess the fuel efficiency will rise.

especially here in europe where we like to cruise quite fast on highways ....
this will be lovely with 8 gears on board.
 
#268 ·
Hi from germany,

dont worry about the noise ... the engine runs really silent and smooth.

so , ... wait for the diesel and you will often smile on the road :D

for me, i am happy with the 5-gear-box, but the new 8-gear-zf is a brilliant one.
i tried on a X5 one time .... guess the fuel efficiency will rise.

especially here in europe where we like to cruise quite fast on highways ....
this will be lovely with 8 gears on board.
Thank you. Need a lot of patience since the diesel keeps getting delayed here in the US. Need to remember all good things come to those who wait.
 
#270 ·
Production does not start until the 22nd of April. We can't even order it yet... hopefully we will be able to place an order on the 2nd of April.

Waiting... impatiently.
 
#272 ·
Filled my diesel with fuel today and economy meter says 1120km till empty!!! I am very happy with the drive-ability derived from the huge low down torque reserves available with the diesel. The Hemi has to pull a lot of RPM to keep up. I do miss that ambience of the sweet V8 though.

Cheers Chris
 
#273 ·
The "1120km till empty" is only an estimate since it doesn't know how hard you will be driving. However, on a long trip you could get close.

Yep, V8s sure sound nice. With a V8 one has 3 even order harmonics 8,4 and 2 so it sounds harmonic. The V6 has 2 even and one odd order harmonics 6,3 and 2 which makes it sound a little discordant. Even a 4 cylinder sounds better than a 6 IMHO. I'm not complaining mind you. I'd still rather have the V6 CRD to V8. Of course a V8 CRD, that would be something else.
 
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