Diesel Caravan?

"William Byrd" (thedriver) 12/05/2014 at 11:39 • Filed to: diesel dodge caravan

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Oppo, I feel guilty. I was gassing up the FoST at 7am this morning and saw a guy pull up to a yellow diesel pump in his Dodge Caravan. My natural reaction was to say "just in case you didn't notice, that's diesel". But I didn't. :(

Was there a diesel caravan in the States? !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! says there was in the Philippines and in Europe. So it's possible, like many in the DC area, he is/was military and brought it back with him. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! says Dodge was working on an engine for the Caravan that would burn diesel circa 2011.

OR, he's on the side of the road cursing life and his broken Dodge.

Thoughts?

Manuél Ferrari > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 11:44

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that would be one awesome van if diesel!

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 11:45

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You sure the pump wasn't gas and diesel? Or he just parked it there to run to the bathroom or something?

William Byrd > Manuél Ferrari 12/05/2014 at 11:46

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Van Diesel you say?

Manuél Ferrari > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 11:48

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Haha that literally made me lol

William Byrd > Manuél Ferrari 12/05/2014 at 11:49

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haha thanks. I actually thought that's what you meant at first.

Smoke em.

Chris Clarke > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 11:49

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Dat B-25!

Manuél Ferrari > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 11:51

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Haha I wish I was that funny

BoulderZ > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 11:57

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Just did a search on "dodge caravan diesel conversion", and apparently that is a thing. I've not seen one in person, and a lot of people do diesel swaps here, but I do like the idea.

William Byrd > BoulderZ 12/05/2014 at 11:59

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Ah good, I can sleep tonight. I'll just assume that. :)

deekster_caddy > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 12:06

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I'd assume if converted to diesel it would have also unmistakably sounded like a diesel, unless they picked a very new drivetrain to use...

BoulderZ > deekster_caddy 12/05/2014 at 12:09

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Most of the conversion links I saw were using VW engines, and I can usually hear the difference, though not always. Good question, though. Have you ever seen/heard a diesel engine that was quiet enough you thought it was gasoline? That'd be great for a small pickup rebuild project.

deekster_caddy > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 12:09

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Had a friend fill up his old suburban with a half tank of diesel one time... he called me and said "what do I do?" He was 2,000 miles from home. I said "fill the other half of the tank with regular and hope for the best" - it worked, ran like crap and smoked a lot but he wasn't stranded and didn't have to pay anyone to drain the tank, etc. Took a few tanks before it was back to normal but it all worked out.

Add to that he was crossing from Washington into Vancouver at the time... and the border crossing actually did NOT give him a hard time, with the thing barely running on 3 cylinders and belching smoke out the tailpipe... don't understand that one!

deekster_caddy > BoulderZ 12/05/2014 at 12:10

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The new VW and Audi diesels don't sound like diesels until you get really really close. They are amazing.

BoulderZ > deekster_caddy 12/05/2014 at 12:44

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Hmm, that sounds really cool. I thought it seemed like the VW's were getting quieter every year/generation. I figured the Audi's were, too, but was surprised I haven't seen any here even though there are a lot of Audi's driving around.

Come to think of it, the only time in the last 10 years where I heard a sound and thought "diesel!" and turned to see a VW was about 4 weeks ago. I was coming out of a job interview, it was -8 F and snowing and while I was clearing my truck someone else was clearing and warming up their TDI wagon, maybe a Mark IV? It seemed a bit loud, but I think it had more to do with the brutal weather and maybe a question of miles/maintenance. I didn't get to look closer or talk to the owner, as we all just wanted to get home at that point.

Have you driven any of the newer VW/Audi diesels? I'm kind of intrigued, as a next-car kind of interest, and diesel might be a good choice for us (three premium gas burners right now...). We love our Mark IV '04 Jetta, no troubles at all (admittedly low mileage, under 40,000), so that's certainly a manufacturer I'd consider, though I know others have had some significant issues.

deekster_caddy > BoulderZ 12/05/2014 at 12:52

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I haven't driven the new-new ones, when we were looking at wagons in '08 we test drove a golf diesel and it wasn't ... you know, loud... At the time they were having some sort of production issue with the Jetta Sportwagen but I didn't like the Jetta anyway (for size), the Passat was much more comfortable. We ended up getting a 2.0T 6 spd Passat Wagon, gas as there was no diesel option. It's pretty fun to drive with the happy revving turbo and 6 speed, and still good for over 30 MPG highway. I still wish we could have gotten a diesel though!

I understand Mercedes is doing a stellar job keeping their new blu-tec diesels quiet too.

BoulderZ > deekster_caddy 12/05/2014 at 13:01

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How would you compare the 2.0T to the 1.8T? We're on the shorter side, no one over 5'9" in this house, so the smaller size of the Jetta has been okay, but I do like the extra Passat Sportwagen room for camping/roadtrips for 3, or if my son decides he likes skiing/boarding as he gets older. And really, over 30 MPG on the highway? That sounds great! Man, I hadn't even thought about the three-pointed star. Definitely some food for thought, thanks!

deekster_caddy > BoulderZ 12/05/2014 at 13:07

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The 2.0T is a great motor. I didn't spend a lot of time in them but in general I found the 1.8T plenty powerful but laggy and peaky... the 2.0T has more low end torque and a bit smaller turbo that spools up faster so there is less lag. It's a much more pleasant experience overall. It has no problem whatsoever pushing the big wagon around. It's too bad they dropped the Passat Wagon in the US with the new bodystyle.

as to the 30MPG - it all depends how you drive it. Keep it at 80 and it will give you about 28. Keep it at 65 and you can get an easy 32, but who wants to go 65 all day...? So if you play with it by speeding up a little on the downhills and letting the speed bleed off on the uphills, you can maintain 32 MPG averaging about 75... I find the thing so aerodynamic I can neutral coast down a lot of grades at 70 and not lose any speed.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > William Byrd 12/05/2014 at 13:16

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