Conservation-minded Republican's choice: Dodge Durange Diesel
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The Tasty Thoughts from the Elitist Pig blog describes the car shopping experience of a conservation-conscious Texas Republican. He is faced with a fairly tough process, since he wants to make an economical and ecologically responsible choice, on top of being able to seat his family, drive long distances comfortably, and allow him to fit in with his pick-up driving neighbors. The article describes in quite a bit of detail his decision making process, particularly his choice of engine and his choice of fuel. So what did he decide on? The "BigAss Ecotruck", a Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel pickup with a four-door Crew Cab, fueled with biodiesel which is quite readily available in his area. Hybrids were discarded since no pick-up models were available, and while he considered ethanol, the lack of filling stations killed that idea. [Source: The Tasty Thoughts from the Elitist Pig]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sensitive_man 12:29PM (5/13/2006)
Well he lost me in the first paragraph..
"And, of course, it helps a lot if it's a pickup truck in order to fit in with the neighbors."
WFT is with that. Why not make a real stand for ecology and select a car instead of a as he puts is Big Ass Truck.
There are plenty of cars that will seat four that get reasonable to good gas mileage including of course the Prius and Honda Civic.
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Bruno Vanzieleghem 12:46PM (5/13/2006)
Some people actually need a pick-up truck, like my neighbor who works in construction, or the writer of this article, who lives on a pretty sizeable piece of property and has a genuine need to be able to haul a lot of stuff. The whole article is well written, describes all the research he did before buying the truck, and is pretty funny at times. While he says he needs the truck to fit in with the neighbors, I am fairly sure he bought the truck because he needs it. You are missing out if you don't even bother reading past the first paragraph. A Prius is not the answer for every family.
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sensitive_man 1:42PM (5/13/2006)
#2
If he said he needed it for work I completely understand but he never said that, did he?
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Andrew 8:28PM (5/13/2006)
"to fit in with the neighbors" is all I saw.
Bio-diesel seems like an excuse. First it is very small fraction of diesel. Second there is nowhere near enough to replace petro diesel. Third some tropical countries have started to destroy rain forest to raise palm for biodiesel.
The simple low-tech solution is to but a car with higher fuel efficiency. Screw the neighbors.
This whole green thing can be silly. You buy a Hummer ("to fit in . . .") but your hood ornament is re-cycled beer-cans. Presto green vehicle.
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jwer 8:21AM (5/15/2006)
What about the Silverado Hybrid? Did he do any research at all?
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Jay 3:08PM (5/15/2006)
nit picking: its not a Durange(sic) its a Ram.
Are you duranged? ;-)
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Duane 1:42AM (5/22/2006)
Well everybody, I have a Dodge Ram 4x4 That I run on biodiesel or vegetable oil because I need a truck!!!! I haul stuff around and pull a large travel trailer. I get really good fuel economy and emissions are very good with no soot or suspended particulates and run about 68% cleaner!!!! Sorry, a Toyota Prius or any other hybrid isn't for everyone. Oh, by the way, doge cummins diesels are 6 cylinder engines, very efficient, not thirsty V8's!! Tallyho!
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Dave Nalle 3:16AM (6/16/2006)
Nice to see my article linked to here. For the record, I drive a truck because I do a certain amount of remodeling work and need to haul lumber and equipment. I also sometimes haul a trailer and have kids to transport. Plus, living out here in rural Texas there are all sorts of needs one discovers for hauling capacity.
Someone mentioned the Silverado - read up on it sometime. Compare the gas mileage of the hybrid model with the standard model. The hybrid gets a grand total of ONE mpg more than the non-hybrid. That's a crappy and inefficient use of hybrid technology.
Dave
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