[citation][nom]Pei-chen[/nom]So what is the msrp if you mass produce that truck? Car companies are trying to decrease the price of hybrids and I failed to see how you can compare a mass produced product with a one off build. A few years back I think Toyota managed to get a Prius to 90+mpg but concluded that the technology is too costly to mass produce. Honda Insight is now the lowest priced high mpg hybrid because Honda decided not to compete with Toyota on mpg but on price (reminds you of ATI vs. Nvidia)[/citation]
Ok, lets think about this from a manufacturers viewpoint. EVERY single piece on this truck except for the front crossmember and the exhaust system are either stock Dodge pieces or cheaper aftermarket pieces. This means that the R&D cost to bring this vehicle into production would be almost nothing, save for the time spent trying to find a tune that makes everyone happy and will suit all the potential customers. The parts themselves would cost no more than standard parts because they are all basically the same parts from a stock dodge truck. The only exception would be the twin compound turbos which is something that Ford has already done on their diesel trucks. Also the injectors were different. From an Manufacturers perspective this would be a ridiculously cheap truck to produce. Naturally this includes that the manufacturers would not have custom wheels or the sweet custom paint (which were probably the most expensive things on the vehicle) so really you would be left with a very powerful, very efficient, and reasonably equipped/priced half ton pickup. In a car, this would be even cheaper to do.
I doubt that this particular truck cost any more than $40,000 MAYBE $50,000 to build, including the price of the original truck and it's gas drivetrain. And that also include the custom work that no manufacturer would do. With the technology that a manufacturer posses, I can easily see how this truck could be sold for around $30,000. In a car, even less. The problem that one encounters here is all of the ridiculous laws that exist. (see below)
One thing that most manufacturers seem to be unable to do is realize the fuel mileage gains that are achieved with the proper application of big horsepower and gearing.
The problem with American auto makers is the fact that Americans seem to love to screw themselves over and over again with laws and regulations. If America would fix the federal government and redo all the ridiculous codes, rules, and regulations into small condensed and more effective versions, the country would run better and suck less. You could blame the special hypocritical/facist special interest groups, but I blame the idiot politicians that give into all of their crap and make everyone suffer.
California is the worst of them all at this. You can not build a new diesel vehicle without a catalytic converter, Diesel Particulate Filter, muffler, or whatever other emissions crap you have to meet. Even one off customs have to follow these rules here. That or you can never drive/register them. That is one reason why classic cars are cool here in California because they don't have to meet any of the emissions rules and regulations of other cars/trucks. For some reason the American politicians seem to believe that if we tax ourselves to death then we will make the world a better place.
This is all a part of the single greatest hoax of all time.
We don't have THAT bad diesel fuel here. Car and Driver bought a couple of the European diesels that requirement the European diesel, then they drove them and fueled them in America for several months, and they were perfectly fine.
The "clean" diesel performance movement is starting to pickup with companies like Banks building awesome race vehicles and aftermarket parts that don't spew black smoke everywhere. They currently have a dragster that runs the 6.6L V8 Diesel that GM puts in all of their trucks. It makes over 1300HP and a ridiculous amount of torque. Watch the video on
this page. This was filmed just outside of where I live. None of these were complete passes because they fragged the sliders in the Transmission every time.
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