| One of my favorite things to do each year is to attend the Detroit Auto Show. While the Canadian Auto Show in Toronto is a larger show, and the Montreal Auto Show is always a great excuse to visit the city, I like to go to the first of the North American shows because during the press days in Detroit I can generally find some of the vehicle engineers to speak with.
This year’s selection of cars, SUV’s and trucks that are appropriate for towing seemed to be especially interesting, with many of the manufacturers addressing the fuel efficiency and environmental impact of their vehicles. The fuel efficiency stats I will quote here are in US MPG or L/100 km. If you still think in terms of the old imperial gallons, just multiply the US figure by 1.2 to get the fuel consumption figure in the old imperial format.
Diesels
For those of us that tow, there are a lot of neat new innovations on the horizon. Diesels that produce huge amounts of torque, yet deliver excellent fuel mileage, are going to be introduced by many manufactures.
Mercedes has already introduced their 3.0 Litre V/6 Diesel that is available in the E series sedan, M & G SUV’s and in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both GM and Kia have similar engines in the works. These diesel engines have the power to tow almost any travel trailer and half-ton towable fifth wheels, and the fuel mileage is rated to be in the mid 20’s when driving solo in trucks and SUV’s, and the high 30’s in a sedan. Most of engineers agree that 14-17 MPG should be possible when towing an RV.
BMW has a new 3.0 Litre in-line 6 cylinder diesel that will be available later this year in the 3 series cars and X5 SUV. The in-line 6 has some advantages in that it has 7 main bearings instead of 4 and is easier to cool uniformly compared to previous versions, and it is a longer package to fit into vehicles. BMW are advertising a 0-60 time of 6 seconds in the 3 series.
GM has a very novel new engine slated to be available for 2010 - it is a 4.5 Litre V/8 diesel with 310 horsepower and 520 ft-lbs. of torque. It should be clean enough for use in half-tons and full size SUV’s. The prototype that we looked at was in a Suburban. The neat thing about this engine is that it flows backwards. The intake air flows in through the sides of the engine and the exhaust goes out the in the centre between the heads where the turbo is also located. This does several things at once: it cleans up the exhaust flow, places the exhaust heat on top of the engine where it is easier to deal with, and saves space due to getting rid of lots of plumbing. After all, the only reason the intake needed to be on the top of the engine was for the carburetor - which is long gone. The biggest reliability concern with Diesels has always been overheating the exhaust valves, and that should be harder to do with this engine.
The prototype GM engine has more power than any engine we could buy just a few years ago. I felt that the power race that has been on with the current large truck diesels had gone well past the point of common sense, so it is nice to see an alternative for those who are willing to trade some power for increased economy.
This hybrid system, jointly developed by GM and Chrysler, has 2 electric motors built into the transmission. It would take a couple of columns to explain how it all operates. The bottom line is 21 miles per US gallon highway, and 20 mpg (US) in the city in a full size SUV - and that is with the 6.0 litre or Hemi engines. The Hybrid adds considerable power to the gas engine when it is necessary so I wonder why they mate with such a large motor. GM’s 4.8 Litre V/8 is very fuel efficient on its own right and with the hybrid augmentation it would have plenty of power. I imagine this system will make it into several drivetrain combinations, and GM may have an even better combination than the 4.8 planned.
One car that caught my eye was the a full size Mercedes sedan with a diesel hybrid drivetrain, slated for a 2010 introduction with a projected combined economy of 42 MPG or 5.5 Litres per 100 KPM. This is Jetta diesel territory in a much larger car.
Sway control
Ford’s new redesigned pickups have a further evolution of the electronic stability programs that are becoming increasingly popular in all kinds of cars. This has Ford’s built-in brake control but it takes it to another level buy actuating the trailer brakes lightly when it detects sway. This does not replace the need for proper hitching and trailer balance, but when all else fails, it will be a great assistance. One note - this system won’t work with disc brakes as the time delay between sensing and brake actuation would be too long.
Another great feature in the new Ford truck is the availability of their excellent 6-speed automatic with both the 4.6 and 5.4 litre 3 valve engines. This should greatly improve the performance and mileage of the 4.6. The 5.4 still has more performance but I can’t think of many trailers that the half-ton will carry that the 4.6 won’t tow nicely now that it has the 6 speed.
Ecoboost
In the near future, Ford is going to introduce a series of 4 and 6 cylinder turbo-charged and direct fuel-injected gas engines. The V/6 will be available in the F150 and other vehicles, and will produce the power of a V/8 while delivering about 20% better fuel economy. Though not as good as the fuel efficiency of a diesel, the cost will be much less. We have used turbo engines in the past for towing but always told the customer to use the boost for short term acceleration, passing, getting up a short steep hill etc. but not to use the engine under boost continuously. These new engines will be robust and tested at continuous boosted operation to climb long hills or buck strong head winds. This makes a lot of sense as most of us need the full power of our tow vehicles for maybe 2% of our driving.
Dodge’s new Ram box is a neat innovation - it gives golf bag size storage on each side of the box, and the compartments are secure and weatherproof. If you tow a fifth wheel with an extended pin box you could have an interference problem, but otherwise it would great accessible storage for fifth wheel owners. The new Dodge has a rear coil suspension for improved ride and reduced chassis flex, this is not totally new – the half-ton GM and Ford trucks had coils in the 60’s but the new truck has much better linkages holding the axle in place.
Every visitor to the Auto Show comes away with a dream car in their minds - picture this sweetheart with an Airstream on the back, and GM’s soon to be reality 2.9 Litre diesels with 406 pounds of torque!
One of my missions at this show was to decide on a replacement for our 300C. The lease is about to end, and I would be happy to get another tow vehicle of this caliber, as it has done such a great job - but as they say, we have been there, done that, and now I would like something different to experiment with. Just what we select is not going to be an easy decision – but it sure will be fun.
Andy |
