Point de vu des US sur le diesel dans un Liberty

[OlivierLB]

Liberty CRD is for diesel lovers
GROVER CLEVELAND SERVICE PLAZA, I-95 NORTHBOUND, NEAR RAHWAY, N.J. — Diesel fumes hang so thick, they finally erase the aftertaste of the $10 Nathan's hot dogs from the last stop.
The 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD is rated 160 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque.
DaimlerChrysler

It's 15 minutes now that the Mack truck's grille has filled the Jeep Liberty's mirrors; 15 minutes that the semi in front has waited for the attendant to show up and turn on the diesel pump. It's so filthy that truckers, even gloved, use their boots to kick the pump handle.

Pay-at-the-pump here means waiting to give your money to the register jockey whose language skills consist of jerking his head toward the hose he wants you to use. He does recognize the English-language business phrase, "Receipt, please."

The result of that waiting and being put upon and getting filthy — the passenger-diesel marketer's nightmare — is a so-so 23.2 miles per gallon after 200 highway miles for the Liberty's 2.8-liter, four-cylinder, Italian diesel.

The window sticker says 26 mpg on the highway, but the shortfall is easy to explain. The test Liberty was fighting stiff wind and running in a fast crowd, about 80 mph most of the way, instead of loafing along as a rolling aggravation and safety hazard, or loping along at the fuel-economy test's 60 mph maximum.

Interesting thing about I-95, one of America's many unreliable major highways: It's either clogged like the parking-lot exit at quitting time, or flowing in a blur as if everybody's trying to qualify for the next NASCAR race.

The fuel-fill horror is easily avoidable at the neighborhood gas station — about 40% sell diesel fuel — and the Liberty diesel's good mileage gives you about 400 real-world miles to look for a gentrified diesel stop before you run low.

To find diesel in your area, try Jeep.com and dieselforum.org.

The Jeep diesel officially is called the Liberty CRD (not an acronym for "crud" as diesel-haters might suppose, rather a reference to "common-rail diesel," an oft-used modern designation designed to avoid the word "diesel" and the mainly false smelly, sooty connotations it carries among some potential buyers). It has been on sale since January, and to hear Jeep tell it, buyers are clamoring.

Diesels, Liberty included, have a funky charm. They clatter and rattle on a cold start, then smooth and quiet as they warm. Torque is their bragging point; low-speed power for towing, hauling and, in a small and relatively light vehicle such as the Jeep, scooting through traffic. A diesel typically has a lot more torque but less horsepower than a roughly similar gas engine.

The Liberty CRD is rated 160 horsepower and 295 pounds-feet of torque. The 3.7-liter gasoline V-6 in most Liberty models is rated 210 hp, 235 lbs.-ft.

On the highway, where horsepower usually is more important than torque, the diesel is only adequate at merging and other high-speed chores. But from standstill to, say, 30 mph, the Liberty diesel pulls like a small locomotive. At idle, the Jeep diesel clatters somewhat louder than the gentrified diesels in passenger cars, but underway, the engine quiets and is no worse than a grumbly gas engine — certainly no worse than the coarse 3.7-liter gas V-6.

Liberty CRD's extra torque can't be fully used. The vehicle is limited to the same towing and hauling maximums as the gas model: 5,000 pounds and 1,150 pounds.

Jeep's worried that elevating the towing maximum would encourage people to hitch up long, heavy trailers and the tail would wag the dog going down the road.

So what's the point? Entice those who, no matter what you tell them, get fixated on that 26 mpg on the window sticker and fantasize about tiny fuel bills these days of high fuel prices. Ain't gonna happen. At midweek, diesel averaged $2.304 a gallon, or 7% more than regular's $2.153. That eats into the 20% to 30% better fuel economy of a diesel.

And diesels, unlike high-efficiency gas-electric hybrid vehicles, don't qualify for an income tax deduction. Buy 'em because you love 'em, or leave 'em alone.

Those whose diesel experience is somewhat dated will delight to find there's not a long wait on a cold start for the glow plugs to warm the cylinders enough that the engine will start. Never takes more than two seconds.

Liberty CRD gives Jeep parent DaimlerChrysler more experience selling diesels to mainstream buyers. The automaker already sells a Mercedes-Benz E320 diesel.

Diesels, contrary to their image, don't pollute much, and in about two years, new regulations on diesel fuel and diesel engines will reduce their emissions even more.

Meantime, Jeep notes that every Liberty diesel is fueled at the factory with biodiesel, a mix of 95% regular diesel fuel and a 5% diesel-like additive made from Ohio soybeans, in a nod to Jeep's home in Toledo, Ohio.

Though a socially appealing move, biodiesel is a less-powerful fuel than straight diesel.

Pure biomass fuel — a full-strength concoction known as B100 — contains 117,000 to 126,000 Btu per gallon. Btu stands for British thermal unit, a measure of energy content. Straight diesel has about 139,000 Btu per gallon.

B5 has so little biomass in the mix that the watering-down effect is minuscule, fuel experts says. Higher concentrations, though, would weaken the fuel enough that you have to burn more to go the same distance, eroding the fuel-economy gains of the diesel.

Diesel or otherwise, the latest Liberty is significantly improved over the original, 2002 model.

Suspension modifications have made it better at steering straight, and they minimize the constant jiggle that marks the smooth-road ride of the earlier Liberty.

The Liberty's power-window switches now are on the center console near the gear shift, where you can see and reach them easily, instead of on the vertical face of the storage cubby farther back on the console. But either place is wrong. You never do get used to reaching for the center instead of for the door when you want to lower the windows, so it's an incremental improvement instead of the big change it should have been.

Standard on the diesel are Jeep's Selec-Trac 4x4 system. It's a dandy. You can leave it in two-wheel drive. You can put it into full-time four-wheel drive — set and forget, and have 4x4 traction instantly when you need it. You can put it into part-time 4x4, which locks up the system so that it sends power to both ends, regardless. That's for really tough going. And it has a low-range setting for deep mud, sand and slow going over scary obstacles. Take that, you weenie, car-based, crossover-SUV wannabes.

Seats are comfy. Gauges are big and easy to read. Controls are mainly sensible, though the radio push buttons still require two moves, instead of one, to set. But in return you can store two stations on each button.

If there is anything significantly disappointing about the Liberty CRD it's that the fuel economy, while improved, isn't stunning.

Otherwise, the Liberty CRD is one to love.


Tres drole non????

[Fab]

Ouais poilant, euh... tu peux traduire plize

[Koyl]

lol t'as traduis ca avec google :

[OlivierLB]

oua nulle ton logiciel de trad.....et moi j'ai la fleme de la faire.

Olivier

[chelele]

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