It’s Vegas, Baby! Of all the vehicles at SEMA this year, Baby had to be the most unlikely candidate to appear in a starring role. As the focal point of the award-winning “Oil + Water – The Movie,” this remarkably repurposed biofuel-burning diesel-powered Japanese fire truck traveled more than 21,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina. … Read more
Of all the vehicles shown at SEMA 2008, PML Flightlink’s electric Ford F-150 sits proudly at the top of the hill when it comes to pure innovation. Don’t look for an engine under this F-150’s hood … the means of propulsion has been put out to the wheels, with PML Flightlink’s HI-PA Drive electric wheel motors (clad in shiny green metallic paint) nestled behind each of the conventional rims. This is four wheel drive (4WD) in its purest sense: four wheels, four permanent magnet brushless motors.
The 4WD PML Flightlink F-150 has a range of approximately 100 miles. A 40 kilowatt hour Lithium ion battery, weighing roughly 1000 pounds, is slung between the frame rails. While typical charge time is six-to-eight hours with the 110-volt charger, a fast three-phase charge can be completed in under an hour.
The compact Chevrolet S10 pickup truck premiered as a 1982 model and was replaced by the Colorado after the 2004 model year. When equipped with the most fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine and manual transmission, the S10’s gas mileage ratings floated in the high twenty mile per gallon (MPG) highway range for much of its run. For a time in the 1980s, the S10 could be ordered with a 2.2 liter four-cylinder diesel engine.
Here’s your chance to drive a mean, green high-MPG celebrity-owned collectible machine. But you need to act fast. Daryl Hannah’s flat black biodiesel-powered 1983 Chevrolet El Camino just went up for auction on eBay (where you’ll find a healthy assortment of photos).
A stroke of fate allowed us to catch up with Daryl just before her primered pride and joy hit the block.
Bring up the topic of diesel-powered Cowboy Cadillacs with most gearheads and they’ll only tilt their heads and look at you funny. Chevrolet produced diesel El Caminos for two brief years in the early 1980s. Only true aficionados know that a tiny percentage of 1983 and 1984 El Caminos were equipped with Oldsmobile 350 diesel engines. Alas, Chevy’s experiment was not a sales success … largely due to the fact that the Oldsmobile 350 diesel fitted in the El Camino limped by with a rating of just 105 horsepower and 200 foot pounds of torque … rather anemic, when compared to a strong Chevy V-8.
It was the remarkable mile per gallon (MPG) ratings that created the diesel El Camino’s appeal, of course. 22 city / 33 highway MPG was nothing to sneeze at. All you need to do is take a look at the mile per gallon ratings of today’s pickup trucks to realize … it still isn’t.
Need a four wheel drive with the best gas mileage? Get ready to downsize. None of the best gas mileage four wheel drives (4WDs) are jumbo-sized sport utility vehicles (SUVs).
Simply put, the aerodynamics and vehicle weight of the bulkiest SUVs cause gas mileage to suffer, leading to many a painful transaction at the pump. The trick is to get small(er), lighter, and more slippery. Credit Subaru for getting the ball rolling with popularizing economical 4WD drive passenger cars in the early days. Since 1997, every vehicle Subaru’s offered in America has been all wheel drive.
These days, it’s not just Subaru. There are plenty of four wheel drive choices that are neither truck nor SUV. And forget the notion of pint-sized economy cars. You’ll find a generous helping of 4WD luxury from manufacturers including Audi, Volvo, Cadillac, and Lexus … in fact, you’ll find many of their offerings in the 2008 list of best gas mileage four wheel drives.
Purists will gladly share that there’s a difference between four wheel drive and all wheel drive (AWD). And surely there is … but for a great many folks, it comes down to two simple questions: will it go in the snow and will I go broke feeding it?
At the other end of the spectrum, the little Suzuki SX4 delivers plenty of bang for the buck, by combining the best four wheel drive gas mileage with a low sticker price (for those who don’t just think miles per gallon … but miles per dollar.)
Along with its corporate cousins, the Ford Escape Hybrid proves the exception to the rule as the highest all around mile per gallon (MPG) four wheel drive vehicle. If you can’t get a great deal on an Escape Hybrid at your local Ford dealer, take a look at the Mercury Mariner Hybrid. And if you happen to live in Southern California, the Mazda Tribute Hybrid HEV might be an option … as long as you’re able to snag one of the 350 Tribute HEVs built for this test market.)
