The Chrysler 300 diesel CRD
Posted By RichC on May 14, 2006
Chrysler is ‘diesel-izing’ the hot selling 300 for the European markets while North America waits … 2008 maybe … who knows? Nevertheless, those of us wanting a few more US diesel options are speculating what cars besides the Mercedes Benz 300E CDI will be ready for the US market. Joseph White reporting for the Wall Street Journal, had an opportunity to test drive the new Chrysler 300c last week; his impression was positive.
The Chrysler 300c is getting an all-aluminum turbocharged V-6 CRD engine. The new engine is smaller and lighter than the previous I-5 European diesels and is a 3.0 liters for displacement that produces 207 horsepower and a whopping 376 lb-ft of torque at 1600 rpm. The common rail diesel uses high-pressure injection, variable geometry fins on the turbocharger, four-valve heads, and dual overhead cams — the result is more power while burning less fuel, sending fewer pollutants out the exhaust. The diesel version of the 300Cs will be using same five-speed automatic used in the Chrysler Hemi. According to the EPA published numbers, the V-6 gasoline version is rated at 22 mpg and in Mr. White’s test drive the new diesel logged 28 mpg on a combination highway and city test drive.
According to Mr. White, the new diesel Chrysler 300 “is quiet, except for a pleasant rumble that makes it sound like an old-school V-8.” He continued with a positive comment regarding the low end torque of the diesel and it ablity to “lope along at 1800 rpms” on the freeway. The downside, unlike the new Mercedes BlueTec diesel, is that the Chrysler does not comply with the US clean-air rules. White quotes Mr. Klegon, the Chrysler product -development chief who says, “We know how to meet them [CARB standards], but at some cost.” That costs is estimated at around $5000 – 6000 per vehicle which is probably not realistic for consumers or for Chrysler.
There is some hope, since Mercedes already has their system ready to go call “Adblue” technology. It is being used successfully on commercial vehicles successfully in Europe, and is planning to adapt a number of their models. Volkswagen is also stubbling to get there clean diesel technology ready for the US too. According to recent reports, the 2007 Volkswagen line up in the US will be without diesels and that dealers will be doing their best to stock up on 2006 TDIs. With fuel prices at an all time high and consumers shopping for more fuel efficient vehicles this news is coming at a bad time. Currently Volkswagen has a very limited model lineup of diesel, yet 20% of their April 2006 sales were diesels, compared to 14% last year. Hopefully 2008 will bring improvements, as according to VW spokesperson Steve Keyes, Volkswagen will be offering new diesels that meet emission standards in all fifty US states in it vehicles, “including a new model — a diesel Rabbit.”
It hit pretty close to home yesterday when a local teacher in our Lakota district was arrested. According to local news reports, Angela Johnson a Lakota East High School teacher, was alleged to have sent unusual gifts (underwear) to a male student and sent inappropriate text messages by cell phone since January. Its sad to see someone who has the trust of the community, after investing years of education, waste it all by knowingly interacting with a student. I doubt her employment can continue in our Southwestern Ohio school district, yet since the student was eighteen I suspect she will not be facing jail charges? Hopefully with this kind of attention and quick response by administrators (and resources officers), the school district is able serve notice to other teachers to be ‘overly careful’ in how they interact with students.
When video segment from a Clearwater Florida Fox26 news station appeared on a forum, I soon remembered the welding and cutting machine and realized it was being used to produce the hydrogen to power a car. Dennis Klein is the patent holder and inventor according to a couple of articles and looks to be targeting a new market. It will be interesting to see if there is enough true to the claim of breaking water into Hydrogen at the scale of efficiency being talked about. I wonder if Mr. Klein is in the running for the 
I came across a nicely organized start up website today that deserves a quick look. Benjamin Turner, a student studying mechanical engineering, runs the site 
Counties often have part-time judges to ease the load on the courts and in some areas this might save taxpayers a significant number of dollars. Unfortunately it looks as if part-time judges, at least in my county, are paid very well for sitting on the bench one day per week and aren’t necessarily saving the county any money. Not only do they receive an annual compensation package over $70K, they are practicing lawyers the balance of the week. (that’s a pretty sweet deal) Nevertheless counties often see this as a necessary evil … but in our case we’ve hired not only one, but three! They’re all paid well and even receive taxpayer funded continuing education that seems to benefit their private law practice more than the work they do for the county. (besides … the 4 plus grand per year for these trips to Las Vegas seems like abuse of my tax dollars)
The magazine article quickly gets to the diesels strength in its review as it points to the fuel economy they achieved on their test loop: 42mpg highway and 33mpg around town. (equipped with the DSG 6 speed automatic) I suspect that most owners of the grown up Jetta will average just under the 40mpg mark. This is shy of my 45 mpg lifetime average in my smaller 5 speed 2003 Jetta TDI … but they are no longer the same sized cars. The new Jetta is powered by the Pumpe Duse 100 HP TDI engine and was, as expected, slow off the line. The reviewer comment that there was a “trace of turbo lag from a stop, which can be seen in the longish 11.6-second 5-to-60-mph run, but a more aggressive launch reduces the time to 10.3 seconds.”
For those who love diesels, the new Jetta isn’t so quiet as to be with out some of the startup noises. “When the engine is cold, a bit of diesel clatter can be heard from inside the cabin” states Tony Quiroga, “but once the engine is warm, there is mostly a mellow hum with only the slightest hint of the characteristic percolator-like gurgling.” He goes on to comment that the TDI versions is only slightly louder than the gas versions but at speed its background sound. After reading the comments, I still see the new Jetta an excellent buy and would gladly pay $25,000 for a well equipped Jetta over a ‘snooty‘ hybrid. (that jab was just to tease my friends over at 
Just finishing meeting a friend for lunch at one of our local favorite Mexican restaurants, Casa Grande (previously 
Cinco de Mayo was the day that the much prized European Mayonnaise was due to arrive in Mexico aboard the RMS Titanic. (May 5th, 1912) Europeans centuries have prided themselves on making the finest Mayonnaise in the world and that taste was appreciated by the citizens of Mexico. The loss of life the day the Titanic hit the iceberg overshadowed much of the cargo that was lost by all but the lovers of Mayo in Mexico. They marked the loss by establishing May 5th as a day to remember this event. Just as with many holidays, over time the true meaning is lost and commercialization of the day has taken over. Thankfully through the power of the internet, you know the true story behind Cinco de Mayo (The Sinking of the Mayonnaise) and can keep its true meaning alive.