Someone needs to do an investigation or expose on why diesel prices are so high. I’m telling you there is some funny business going on there. The highest I ever paid for diesel was $4.99 a gallon, back when crude was $147 a barrel. Today diesel is $4.35 a gallon where I am, yet crude is $69 a barrel. Diesel fell 12%, while crude fell 53%. Nobody can tell me there’s nothing fishy going on there. Especially when in many parts of the world, including western Canada, diesel is cheaper than regular gas, and has fallen with crude.

You can laugh at diesel vehicle owners all you want, but you’re paying for the high diesel prices too – with everything you buy. This crap has been going on for too long – 4 years now.

@Z06ified, call Dick Cheney. Here’s his number (800) GREEDYOILBASTARD.

That number is unavailable or an unpublished number!

Ford is a great barometer for the rest of the industry. Whichever direction they’re pointed head the other way and you should be fine.

…I guess that would make them like a compass. Sorry, I have a cold. I’ll try not to sneeze all over the blog.

Dammit johnnycanack, you’re infecting all of us!

old news…..

For once, I completely agree with Z06. It is absolutely outrageous that Diesel isn’t more available in the states. If 25% of the cars we sold in the states were diesel, it would save us so much oil we could STOP BUYING OIL FROM SAUDI ARABIA.

what the hell ford grow some balls
and pardon my french but yeah **** high diesel prices its totally uncalled for

The biggest issue is, as ever, that the technology is not being properly implemented.

The Trident Iceni, that odd looking sports car with the killer diesel that gets better power than more supercars and better f/econ than a Prius, uses a weird little trick that I bet no one has really thought to take seriously. The car is also supposed to be very fast and made to last for-nearly-ever.

The Engine, a 6.6L turbo diesel V8, is slow. It tops out at around 4500 rpm. Most hi-pro engines don’t make best power for another 1000rpms and top out at twice that. Running so slow the engine is expending way less fuel per unit time than other modern diesels.

Modern? As in slow engines were typical in the late 19th and very early 20th century. Bentley and Rolls were well known for their locomotive inspired engines that could torque enough to slow the earth’s rotation and last forever and a day.

Today such engines gave way to the romance of higher-revving engines… that and transmissions made to make best use of slow engines were not being made except by a scant few automakers. They went out or had to buy higher geared trannies to stay in the game.

I would put more interest in slow engines and transmissions. They last longer and, it would seem, much more fuel efficient.

Blakkarr, slow as in RPM, not slow as in “a slow car”, right? I’d love a slow, torquey diesel engine.

I don’t know about US, but around Toronto Diesel only 6% more expensive then gas. Gas is $0.993, Diesel is $1.049 per liter. So, combine that with 30% better economy, diesel vehicle still makes sense. And in 2009 BMW starts selling 335d

Where I am, regular is $2.99 a gallon, and diesel is $3.59 a gallon. About 20% more.

Damn it, Ford! Don’t let us down now! You’re sooo close to achieving what many of us would never have even dreamed of…don’t f*ck it up!

I’ve always heard diesel like kerosene are pretty much by-products of gas production! For decades diesel and kerosene were always cheaper than gas…what’s changed? The oil companies are just ripping us off because OUR government lets them get away with it.

The fact that the 4.4 is a candy-ass compared to a baby Cummins and the 4.5L from GM had nothing to do with it.
DrFill

WOW!!! id love to put gas in my truck for $2.99!! i just paid $3.33 and it felt like i was getting a good deal.

So hypothetically, if diesel was on par with gasoline and i chose this 4.4L over the gas 5.4L what is the advantage of the diesel (besides better mileage)? Does it provide more torque? (I’ve never owned a diesel so im trying to get educated)

GM, Ford and Dodge deserve to go bankrupt…. I would hate to see them get bailed out by tax payer $$$. I hope the foreign auto makers make it big with small diesel engine here. My take has always been, why do I need a 3.1L v6 car (2001 pontiac grand SE) that I have at home if I can have something smaller??? Well in my case The only reason I have the car was, it was given to me so I will keep it for now. As I drive around I see most VW are 2.0L. Whats wrong with the picture…. It looks to me like mmmm we the American consumers (new car buyer) a like a proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water. Raise the temperature slowly and the frog would never jump out of the pot. Guess what.. the water is boiling and will keep boiling; but in this case both the frog and the cook (Big3 automakers) are completely poached. How would you like you frog legs need more salt??? Why is it every that where else in the world, diesel has a wider acceptance except here, huh. Tell me did I miss something. I know Chrysler makes jeep diesel, That’s why that will be my next new 4X4… People are Bit*&@!$ about the price of gas so high, well you can’t concoct gas at home; but you certainly can concoct Biodiesel. So if Ford, GM or Dodge doesn’t want to make a smaller diesel engine either for a car or a truck please by all means do what you want, it’s a free country. I know one of those foreigner automakers will make a small diesel engine for a car or truck (which already happens) and bring it here. Guess where my money will going to for a new Ride for my wife and my daughter will be.. it will certainly not Detroit except for the Jeep Brand. Yes the price of gas is going down ($2.94 last I saw today in CT, Date: 10.16.08) again but for how long; I don’t buy into it. Yes I too want power and freedom – POWER – diesel engine is usually more robust and powerful – FREEDOM – free to make my own fuel if and when I want to and not give any $$ to DICK. Yes the Big 3 is TOO BIG TO FAIL… Oops I heard that line before and Ooh yeah Lehman Brothers did FAIL.

eff1Fifty: yes, Diesel gives you tons of torque, so pulling/carrying a heavy load (which is what pick-ups are used for most of the time) is going to be a lot easier. Ask anyone, anyone serious about their work, and they’ll have a Diesel engine under the hood.

nice post Buccaneer,

Here is the deal, just by reading your post. If the Big 3 failed, and were no longer in business, I’m not so sure you would still be happy. I think you would still be complaining about those foriegn car companies. Just easy to read your personality…..never happy.

bucccaneer- Nice rant. I doubt you would be in any better condition with the Big Three going out than them staying. Nobody else has any serious, similar plans in the United States. There are almost NO foreign vehicles on the road that will run on biodiesel, except for domestic’s and a few older German vehicles. So why bang on the Big Three for not getting it out? No, their not pushing it extremely hard, I don’t believe biodiesel is the way to go with vehicles. Just to many things to go wrong, too many hardly compatible components for bio diesel. Personally, I would much rather go with an electric or hydrogen vehicle in the future than bio diesel.

What’s the foreign automaker that’s coming out with a small diesel with a fairly low price tag like your talking about? Aside from one Volkswagen model, there are no imports.

The biggest reason why we don’t run on diesel is it’s an export, not an import. We import and refine gasoline, and in the process we create excess diesel and ship it over to Europe.

And about this explanation for high diesel prices… I don’t see any other reason other than it being a scam. Five months ago I did some pretty extensive research on it, and found that prices were high simply because of the cold winters throughout the country, which drove heating oil and diesel prices up. But now I believe they are artificially high, meaning someones found a way to profit off of it….

Resonate some understanding Ford – no diesel = no thanks.

This is not a rant, but I do have to say that I have been expecting this new 4.4L diesel from Ford for a very long time. I have been following it’s progress now for over a year. I have even put off buying a new Harley F-150 just to get this engine in place of the 5.4, which is lagging in power, torque and mostly gas mileage. I love Ford, but they need to take a serious look at their decision to halt this engine, it’s only going to give ground to Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota (who’s president stated that a diesel is coming soon) when they release their versions in a year or so. It’s not secret to anyone that diesel is at an all time high on avg these days, but has Ford neglected to look at the fact the gas is also seeing it’s alltime high too? It’s not right that fuel companies are charging us a premium price on a fuel that cost less to make than kerosene, but there is nothing we can do about it but pay the cost. I am a Republican but I know that if Bush was going to intervene on this matter he would have done so coming into his second term, and it’s to late for him to do anything now with the elections coming up in 2 weeks. Despite all this, diesel is still a better alternative to me when you consider I only use Premium fuel in my truck now, and the cost between the two is not as big a factor when looking at the 20% increase in mpg, not to mention the increase in torque and reliability over the long run too. Ford, your track record this past decade has been subpar if anything, this engine could just be what turns the Titanic around in Detroit.

WELL, those of you old enough to remember, back in the early/mid 80’s all the farmers crying about how hard they have it.. well, THEY get tax free diesel, and all these subsidies. Well, at the same time, GM had diesels in their half tons. Well, not long after that, Diesel, started going through the roof. And since then, we have been getting the shaft from the american oil companies. Kuwait, in 2005, 100 octane, 39 pennies..for a GALLON! exxon made $200 billion in 2007 and they say there is nothing they can do??
johnnycanuk, well, looks like FORD will be the only one living after the end of march, GONE MOTORS(GM) is about to have to file bankrupt, becuase their CEO had to have something like $27M last year, and the company LOST over $200B!!!
hummmm.. let them rot!