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Because in the mid 1970s Oldsmobile decided to produce a 350cu in(5.7litre) diesel based on the gasoline version of the engine. It failed spectacularly since it
by S_A_P 12y ago
Because in the mid 1970s Oldsmobile decided to produce a 350cu in(5.7litre) diesel based on the gasoline version of the engine. It failed spectacularly since it was not rugged enough to withstand the pressures of compression combustion. Plus GM had a crisis of quality at the time so it just sucked. While you could get German diesels all the while it was too expensive to be mainstream and most people's experience with diesel is that of heavy duty trucks. These are noisy, produce huge amounts of soot and are sometimes(note the word sometimes) driven by folks who must compensate for their manhood with such niceties as Calvin pissing on a different brands logo, taking the engine branding and making it a sexual double entendre, putting a giant 8" exhaust pipe in the bed(or more than one) or the ever popular set of testicles hanging from the bumper. So diesel suffers from an image problem here in the US.
- ams6110 12y agoThe smoke-belching pickups have been modified. They don't come that way from the factory; diesel today is very clean. There is a certain subculture of diesel pickup truck owners who alter the engine management computer with aftermarket chips to make it inject a ton of extra fuel, which doesn't burn properly and creates the black clouds of smoke.
- S_A_P 12y agoI totally agree. However particularly in the southern US where I live, these modified ridiculous diesels are a pretty vocal minority. To the point where anecdotally, at least, people associate diesel to that. I'm a huge diesel proponent, my next car will likely be an "oil burner"