Saturday, May 21, 2011

Why I can't have a diesel Wrangler

Diesel Jeep Wranglers are sold everywhere but the United States. Wah, I want one! But I can't have one. Why? See my latest long technological explanation at Moto-Tux.

-- Badtux the Auto Geek Penguin

3 comments:

  1. Mr. Tux, sir...

    Consumer's Reports has a special place for Jeeps and an extra special place of diesel jeeps.

    That would be the garbage. Look it up, eh?

    Bruce, again

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah yes, you are new here, so you don't know about my hobby of ghost-towning here in the West. That is where you dig through old mining journals and topographical maps to find the locations of old mines and mining towns, then locate them in actual 3D reality (like, the REAL WORLD, dude, complete with, like, dirt and rocks and, like, this glowing THING in the sky, what a concept!). And since these are typically located in remote areas, one needs a capable off-road vehicle. There are places where nothing but a highly modified Jeep Wrangler or equivalent will get you without a 50 mile hike through waterless desert. (No, the Owens Valley wasn't *always* a desert, but then Los Angeles stole all its water....).

    I have not noticed that Consumer Reports has any experts on off-road vehicles on their staff. If you want a fine family sedan, reliable and comfortable, they're your folks. Meanwhile, since I need an offroad vehicle I consulted the experts and found that there is currently only one offroad 4wd vehicle sold in America -- the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Which gets lousy gas mileage, has slow steering, rides rough, and has ridiculously little room, but everything else sold in America is a mommy SUV, designed to carry little Buffy and Toddy to the soccer game, or a giant 4x4 pickup truck that will not fit on the ledge roads in the mountains that typify Western mining districts. There are capable offroad 4wd vehicles sold elsewhere, such as the Suzuki Jimny sold in Australia, but they aren't sold here because the cost of making them comply with U.S. emissions and safety standards could not be amortized given the limited market for offroad 4x4's in America (Jeep sells about 30,000 of the Wrangler Rubicon models every year, and can sell them inexpensively only because most of their parts are shared with other Jeeps not set up for offroading). Land Rover has brought over a few of their Defenders and Mercedes-Benz has brought over a few of their G-class, but the cost of outfitting them for U.S. safety and emissions standards means they're not really financially feasible for ordinary people (as vs. our cold-blooded lizard people overlords from Planet Sociopath who rule us). As in, a G-class is over $80K (EEP!).

    So anyhow, that's the background on why I have a Jeep Wrangler -- I have it to use it for what it's intended to be used for. And the moment Consumer Reports develops expertise on offroad vehicles, I shall vote for a Republican. Uhm, I'm not holding my breath on either one of those :).

    - Badtux the Explorer Penguin

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the glowing thing in the sky is likely to go into red giant phase before you would vote Republican. But more and more, I'm wishing we had the Australian ballot so I could say 'no' to both assclowns in a given race. I think the red giant will eat the Earth before that happens in the US.

    ReplyDelete

Ground rules: Comments that consist solely of insults, fact-free talking points, are off-topic, or simply spam the same argument over and over will be deleted. The penguin is the only one allowed to be an ass here. All viewpoints, however, are welcomed, even if I disagree vehemently with you.

WARNING: You are entitled to create your own arguments, but you are NOT entitled to create your own facts. If you spew scientific denialism, or insist that the sky is purple, or otherwise insist that your made-up universe of pink unicorns and cotton candy trees is "real", well -- expect the banhammer.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.